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Hacking an HP Z800 motherboard into a standard PC case

Started by Andy Brown, November 01, 2014, 04:53:46 am

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msilveira

Anyone tried to flash the onboard SAS controller to IT mode?
I

msilveira

Quote from: msilveira on July 10, 2017, 06:57:51 pm
Anyone tried to flash the onboard SAS controller to IT mode?
I


I have created a zip with the necessary files to flash the onboard 1068E to IT mode.
Here: https://www.livreti.com.br/itfiles/1068E-Z800.zip

Just unzip this file to any DOS bootable usb and run hbaFlash.bat.
It will start a menu based flash process, you need to answer some questions:

Y - for backup
2 - for 3081 ( this is the same as LSI SAS1068E)
e - for pciexpress
t - for ti mode
6 - for B3 rev.( I bet all Z800 use the B3 rev. )
F - to confirm flash
Y - mismatch vendor id or product
Y - write IT over IR firmware

Or rather simply type: "sasflash -o -f  3081ETB3.fw -b mptsas.rom"
AFAIK, the mptsas rom is not really necessary ( I know it is troublesome with M1015 / PERCH200/300 9211-81 crossflashing ), unless you really want to boot off from a HDD connected to the onboard 1068E.

And it's done, now you have a total of 8 SAS ports working in HBA mode, or 14 SATA in HBA mode  ( 8 LSI1068E + 6 Intel AHCI ) 8)

Now you can play a bit with FreeNAS and lots of disks ;D

msilveira

Hi all.
I'll soon post my build, in a week or two.

But now, I REALLY NEED an information about the DPS-1050CB PSU.
I just got one, used, and I need to know a simple thing: Is it normal for this PSU ( or DELTA/HP's PSUs  ) to turn on when powered without the 24pin ATX connected to a Mb?
If I plug mains without a mb connected, it turns on, as if shorted GND + PSU_ON pins.
If I plug mains, with the 24pin ATX connected to the mb, it works as expected.

Is this behavior correct? I need to know before I pay the dealer.

msilveira

Hi all, I'm working on an "not-so-official" pinouts guide for the Z800 mb and I'd like you attention to P91: MEMORY FANs: fisrt attachment

Please help me fulfill the "P91 MEM FANS" pinout and I'll post the complete pinout guide WIP for review.

msilveira

Here's the final WIP, awaiting for review/P91 pinout confirmation.

denj

Quote from: bobdj_Z800 on June 28, 2017, 09:50:22 am
Hacked Z800 in its "own" case

Unfortanely long before Andy's great article I started hacking my Z800 in its own case.
I had a problem with the loud sound of the machine when I bought it. I like very quiet machines....


Great mod!  I was looking forward to doing this to my own case as well!  How is the noise profile under 100% cpu and gpu load?  And do you have sufficient airflow?

Urschnak

Quote from: msilveira on August 02, 2017, 11:03:10 pm
Here's the final WIP, awaiting for review/P91 pinout confirmation.


I found the information you are looking for on page 8 in this thread:

Memory fan is from top left to right:

PWM, PWM, TACH
TACH, 12V, Ground


Urschnak

Hi

Does anybody know, how to regulate the fans: front, rear and ram with fanspeed?
The cpu-Fans work perfekt, but i can not get access to the other fans.

Thanks for help

Tom

cpudreamer

Quote from: msilveira on July 21, 2017, 02:09:32 pm
Quote from: msilveira on July 10, 2017, 06:57:51 pm
Anyone tried to flash the onboard SAS controller to IT mode?
I


I have created a zip with the necessary files to flash the onboard 1068E to IT mode.
Here: https://www.livreti.com.br/itfiles/1068E-Z800.zip

Just unzip this file to any DOS bootable usb and run hbaFlash.bat.
It will start a menu based flash process, you need to answer some questions:

Y - for backup
2 - for 3081 ( this is the same as LSI SAS1068E)
e - for pciexpress
t - for ti mode
6 - for B3 rev.( I bet all Z800 use the B3 rev. )
F - to confirm flash
Y - mismatch vendor id or product
Y - write IT over IR firmware

Or rather simply type: "sasflash -o -f  3081ETB3.fw -b mptsas.rom"
AFAIK, the mptsas rom is not really necessary ( I know it is troublesome with M1015 / PERCH200/300 9211-81 crossflashing ), unless you really want to boot off from a HDD connected to the onboard 1068E.

And it's done, now you have a total of 8 SAS ports working in HBA mode, or 14 SATA in HBA mode  ( 8 LSI1068E + 6 Intel AHCI ) 8)

Now you can play a bit with FreeNAS and lots of disks ;D


This is an impressive batch file. Im most curious about 6- for B3 Rev.  Is this going to take my Rev-002 board and make it a Rev-003 ?
If so i am full of glee ;D Let me know for certin.  id love to be able to pop in some X56xx Westimere chips in my bad boy 

b1Ack

In case somebody try to repeat process stated in main article and will go this far to read.
This info can save you a good PSU or MOBO, just your luck decides what will burn if do things wrong.
And this can be related to lot of other brand PCs, Z600 definitely too, lot of HPs and some DELLs maybe.

!!! NEVER CONNECT 5V (pins 1 and 10, direct on one side of 18 pin connector) FROM 18 PIN MAIN POWER TO YOUR PSU OUTPUT !!!
Just because that's not a power input, but output from DC-DC converter on board. To power HDDs, I guess.
If your PSU is modern and have separate DC-DC converters for 5 and 3.3V and you connect it to that 5V - sooner or later something will die. Your PSU or board. And it will happen anyway. If it's something older with ferrites-based stabilization - ok, PSU most likely can withstand this, but I will not sure about board. Just because it's very bad idea to connect different switching power supplies in parallel, without synchronization, without balancing load (just thick wires in this case - not enough), especially two push-pull DC-DC based on MOSFETS (just like one already present on board).
What to do right? Just not connect that 5V to ATX PSU in any way. You don't need it. Your drives will get power from another place.

About memory 5V power - I'll think it's better to feed it from 5Vsb (if you have it power enough) or at least via schottky diodes to not get current back to your PSU in any way (and potentially get not working some sleep modes).

How update bootblock ?
I'm surprised that lot of people was looking for right rev.003 full image, not looking what we have - a /B option for DOS flasher. Just used it and my bootblock became a new one with 2018 BIOS version in some time. And - process look really long and looks like it hang. For more than minute. No progress, no numlock reaction - nothing. Don't panic, read what you have on screen, all fine, obey and go make some tea and not look on this f***ing thing - and it will end and be ok.

About other stuff (F1 warnings, right type speaker, ambient temperature sensor) - here is some pictures how to make it think all is fine.
Just needed two fans of any type (3-4pins) for front and rear.
https://imgur.com/a/Yhf95RC
Yep, that's chieftec LBX/LCX chassis, board fit there good enough, but will need few extra holes for HPTX standoffs and some metal cut out for fit power connector and maybe one side of COM port.

In text brief:
USB 8+10        |    Front Audio 2+4    |    1394 11+12 (and pull out pin 11 to use default case header)
Rear fans 3+5   |   Mem fans - thke both TACH and solder it to pin 3 of front fan 2 (2nd show itself in BIOS monitor, 1st - not, so I choose 2nd).

Front panel 2+4 Power LED - put there 2pin opposite dual color LED matching your case size. Just for errors indication. Simple way to see how it works - pull out video card and turn on without it. And wait few dozens of seconds.

Ambient sensor - just take TO-92 2N2222A (or any modern low-power single NPN transistor in TO-2 case without resistors inside) and connect its emitter to pin 12 and soldered together base and collector to pin 11. What profit? You will may use simple PWM case fans and it will rule them. Only PWM, here is no voltage control at all. Picture is for DELL, HP looks like have already onboard all other little stuff except transistor.

Why big speaker? This thing have audio amplifier onboard. You don't need anything additional to watch youtube now xD

fisk

New user on the forum and new owner of a bargain HP Z800 002 in HP case(850w psu), boot block date 01-30-09.

did the HP bios update through HP's Windows tool (v3.61) and now running 2x X5650 without further mods. so far boots up every time.

build breakdown
HP Z800 with 2x X5550 and 40gb picked up @~£110
16gb extra ram (was cheaper than just buying 8 ) £30
2x x5570 (for safety) and 2x x5650 shipped @~£55
6x 1tb sata drives @£35
GPU nvidia 740 (free, from the stash)


now all i need is recommendation on a better cheapish GPU as it wont boot with HD6970, HD 6950, HD4890x2, GTX 280, GTX 280.
im thinking something like 1050 maybe a rx560, what would be the max tpd i can use with the 850w psu

kind regards

redeyeninja

Thanks to Andy and this forum, I've embarked on refitting a Z800 into a larger case with room for 17 HDD + 2 SSD and NVME PVI-e boot from a m.2 drive, for a total of 20 drives, hosting a 75tb [physical] Windows Storage Spaces single node array.

I have written out a how-to on booting from a generic/amazon PCI-e/NVME adapter and m.2 drive:

https://steemit.com/hp/@fobio/load-win10-on-nvme-pci-e-on-hp-z800

Currently, I'm tackling the F1 boot prompt for various missing pieces from knightcrusader's post:

http://andybrown.me.uk/forum/index.php/topic,14.msg351.html?PHPSESSID=mi0vs2bst08m691utbni83qka6#msg351

One of the first hurdles was to tame the fans that I have migrated over for now from the Z800 case, namely front chassis and memory.  I plan to eventually swapping them out once I finish wiring the adapters but for the long term, I would still have to solve the temperature sensor issue.  Instead of hacking and wasting the oem front panel cable, I bought some  2n2222a temperature sensors off amazon in TO-92 size and arduino crimping set.  And instead of wiring and soldering, I was able to just crimp C and B together for Pin # 11 [grey] and crimp E for Pin #12 [brown] and pushed them into a 2-pin Dupont housing...plugged it in and the fans are spinning normally now.  Here's a pic of the transistors:

https://www.digikey.ca/en/articles/techzone/2017/dec/transistor-basics

Once I get the rest of the parts, I'll tackle the memory, fron chassis, rear chassis and maybe the heatsinks.

Also, by hiding the 1394 port in BIOS under Security, I was able to eliminate it from alerting in the F1 prompt.  I may do that for the USB headers as well, since I have a USB3 card that can power/connect to the front USB3 port on my case.  Btw, I'm using a Fractal Design XL R2.


plattfuss1972

Hello everyone.
After rescuing old Z800 from being dumped (bad PSU), I decied to give It a go with something new.
How to fit ATX PSU into HP Z800 on top.
After cable and case mod, this is what came out:

Plattfuss & Bigfoot co.
Plattfuss & Bigfoot co.

plattfuss1972

January 30, 2019, 08:38:31 am #373 Last Edit: January 30, 2019, 11:21:13 pm by plattfuss1972
Quote from: b1Ack on July 03, 2018, 09:42:52 am

How update bootblock ?
I'm surprised that lot of people was looking for right rev.003 full image, not looking what we have - a /B option for DOS flasher. Just used it and my bootblock became a new one with 2018 BIOS version in some time. And - process look really long and looks like it hang. For more than minute. No progress, no numlock reaction - nothing. Don't panic, read what you have on screen, all fine, obey and go make some tea and not look on this f***ing thing - and it will end and be ok.




No luck for me.
BootBlock remains 01/30/09.
What CMD line must I use to upgrade bootblock with flashbin.exe?  :-\ :-\

Regards
Plattfuss & Bigfoot co.
Plattfuss & Bigfoot co.

plattfuss1972

February 13, 2019, 08:07:56 am #374 Last Edit: February 14, 2019, 09:30:43 am by plattfuss1972
CPU Cooler alternative for HP Z800.
LC-Power's LC-CC-120-LiCo Liquid cooling fits like a glove on original CPU heatsink nuts.
https://www.lc-power.com/en/product/cpu-cooler/lc-cc-120-lico/
Same goes for normal Air cooling LC-CC-120.
https://www.lc-power.com/en/product/cpu-cooler/lc-cc-120/
Using It's standofs for AMD fit and 3mm washer on top, then using bracket for Intel 115x, It works perfectly.
Combinig standofs from LC-CC-120-LiCo and everything else from LC-CC-120, I got this...
Temperature droped from 47C (stock cooler) to 34C (LC-CC-120) in idle, and from 59C (stock cooler) to 48C (LC-CC-120) under full load...
Running 2x Xeon E5520.
Next step, BIOS chip change (rev 001 BootBlock to 003 BootBlock) for 2x E5645.
Plattfuss & Bigfoot co.