System Fan Error

[Radeon962]

I moved my HP system over to an Antec Mini P180 case and really can't say enough good things about the new case or the 10º drop in temperatures. Only issue is that I get a "System Fan Error" on boot up. The HP case had a 92mm case fan connected to the motherboard (ASUS board made for HP). The BIOS is a very watered down version with nothing about fans in it.

The Mini has a 120mm Antec Tri-Cool case fan in addition to the 200mm case fan on top. Not that I probably need to run the 120mm, but they are both set on Low and it is pretty quiet. I believe the issue is that the Antec Tri-Cool and a Scythe S-Flex that I have and also tried are not PWM fans and/or start at a voltage that the mobo does not recognize. I tried a 92mm Scythe fan (also not a PWM fan) and the error did not occur and it booted right up, so I'm assuming it has to do with the 92mm fan starting voltage being different than a 120mm fan.

I can hit "F2" and the system boots fine and runs fine. All of the fans are spinning and nothing is out of the ordinary once I hit F2 and continue with the boot. Since it appears that it is a voltage issue is there anyway to get the Antec, Scythe or even some other 120mm fan to start at a voltage that the 92mm fan starts at so the error does not occur?

Or could I I just jump the pins on the motheboard system fan header and connect to a regular 4 pin from the PSU (I have a 3 pin to 4 pin adapter and had planned on using that to begin with)?

Thanks, Bill

 

[Zepper]

Unless I'm interpreting the above incorrectly, you don't want to connect any 4-pin Molex to any mobo connector that is not specifically for it (some few mobos DO have a 4-pin male molex on the mobo that does need to be connected to PSU). I'm guessing if you want to make that message stop, you'll need to connect a PWM fan to the system fan header on the mobo. If you use a regular 3-pin fan, you'll just make pressing F2 part of your routine and fageddaboudit...

Always some hassle with big box pusher mobos out in the real world. It may be possible to flash your BIOS with something more standard to get around HPs limitations. Or just wait until you outgrow it, and put it back into the original case to sell.

.bh.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Unless I'm interpreting the above incorrectly, you don't want to connect any 4-pin Molex to any mobo connector that is not specifically for it (some few mobos DO have a 4-pin male molex on the mobo that does need to be connected to PSU). I'm guessing if you want to make that message stop, you'll need to connect a PWM fan to the system fan header on the mobo. If you use a regular 3-pin fan, you'll just make pressing F2 part of your routine and fageddaboudit...

Always some hassle with big box pusher mobos out in the real world. It may be possible to flash your BIOS with something more standard to get around HPs limitations. Or just wait until you outgrow it, and put it back into the original case to sell.

.bh.

I think he was asking if he could use a dummy connector to jump the pins of the fan connector to fool the motherboard into thinking there was a running fan on the channel.

Do the 120mm fans you tried have RPM sense wires on the 3 pin connector? That could be the source of your issue, the motherboard isn't detecting an RPM signal so it thinks there is no fan on the cannel.

 

[Zepper]

What power do you have the Tricool connected to. Regardless, be sure the speed sensor connector (3-pin with only the speed sensor wire (usually yellow) or both speed sensor and ground) is connected to the system fan header on the mobo. The BIOS has to have a way to know that the fan is there or it will flash the warning. the speed sensor lead and ground are the same regardless of whether it's a regular, 3-wire fan or a 4-wire PWM fan. IOW, if you just have the fan connected to a 4-pin Molex from the PSU, there is no way for the BIOS to tell if it is there. IDK what the wiring harness of the tricool looks like, so you may have a 3-pin female connector with all three wires, or it may have just two or one wire (speed/ground or just speed) - the latter is to connect the speed sensor to a connector to read it while you get the power direct from the PSU. Clear, isn't it? Generally, if you connect the power for the tricool directly to the PSU, you can set its speed switch wherever you want, but if you connect to the mobo header for power, the switch will be set to High and left there or after a bit of experimentation, you may be able to go to medium.
. If the companies bothered with proper documentation any more, there wouldn't be this problem...

.bh.

 

[Radeon962]

Well, I picked up a Scythe S-Flex SFF21F which spins at 1600 rpm and the error is gone and the system boots up as normal. Apparently the mobo is setup to look for a fan connected to the mobo system fan header spinning at 1600 rpm. Any less and it thinks the fan is missing or not functioning properly.

I thought it would be louder but inside the Mini and at the rear it is hardly noticeable at all and moves a lot of air.

Thanks, Bill