PCIE Slots Priority Posting in BIOS

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   Does anyone know if any of the ASRock boards allow for adjustment of the PCIE slots priority posting? 
After doing nearly 2 months of research, it certainly seemed as if nearly all the VT-d compatible prosumer motherboards were X99, had NO integrated on-board graphics, and had multiple PCIE slots. And so, what does this imply? Well... it seems to imply that PCIE slots should be assignable, even to the initial post splash screen... right?? 

I was back and forth on Extreme4 vs TaiChi vs Gigabyte boards... watched multiple reviews... even almost went for SuperMicro but I couldn't find anyone who could update the BIOS for a Xeon v4 since I don't have a v3 laying around... TaiChi had a BIOS ready for v4 Broadwell... so I bought it and put everything together KNOWING that I was going to be using it for virtualization. (I like the UnRaid hypervisor software... kicks major ass).

But guess what? The TaiChi does not have a BIOS that allows you to run the post of the splash to any PCIE slot except PCIE2!!! So essentially, the ASRock motherboard designer is saying: "F YOU! This PCIE slot is MINE! You are not allowed to use it for ANY virtualization features WHATSOEVER!!! HAHAHAHA! You thought your Intel chip could handle that, didn't you?! Well I WON'T LET IT!! AAAAH HAHAHA"

So anyway, is this standard along ALL of the X99 boards??? I actually bought a PCIE x1 craptastic video card so that I could post to the minimum number of PCIE lanes on the least graphically intense screen that the computer will ever have to post... cause that would be the smart thing to do, right?  Wrong... cause if you wanted to run VMs, then when you buy this ASRock TaiChi motherboard, you actually end up having 16 PCIE lanes taken away from you. You can't use them. The motherboard needs them for the splash screen and the BIOS config utility. Yeah. 16 PCIE lanes for the BIOS. Shove that up your pie-hole.

So again... does anyone know if there is any MB at ASRock that allows this change from the default PCIE slot for the splash? 

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egeisfb Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26 Nov 2016 Location: Florida Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote egeisfb Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: PCIE Slots Priority Posting in BIOS Posted: 26 Nov 2016 at 12:41am
	Does anyone know if any of the ASRock boards allow for adjustment of the PCIE slots priority posting? After doing nearly 2 months of research, it certainly seemed as if nearly all the VT-d compatible prosumer motherboards were X99, had NO integrated on-board graphics, and had multiple PCIE slots. And so, what does this imply? Well... it seems to imply that PCIE slots should be assignable, even to the initial post splash screen... right?? I was back and forth on Extreme4 vs TaiChi vs Gigabyte boards... watched multiple reviews... even almost went for SuperMicro but I couldn't find anyone who could update the BIOS for a Xeon v4 since I don't have a v3 laying around... TaiChi had a BIOS ready for v4 Broadwell... so I bought it and put everything together KNOWING that I was going to be using it for virtualization. (I like the UnRaid hypervisor software... kicks major ass). But guess what? The TaiChi does not have a BIOS that allows you to run the post of the splash to any PCIE slot except PCIE2!!! So essentially, the ASRock motherboard designer is saying: "F YOU! This PCIE slot is MINE! You are not allowed to use it for ANY virtualization features WHATSOEVER!!! HAHAHAHA! You thought your Intel chip could handle that, didn't you?! Well I WON'T LET IT!! AAAAH HAHAHA" So anyway, is this standard along ALL of the X99 boards??? I actually bought a PCIE x1 craptastic video card so that I could post to the minimum number of PCIE lanes on the least graphically intense screen that the computer will ever have to post... cause that would be the smart thing to do, right? Wrong... cause if you wanted to run VMs, then when you buy this ASRock TaiChi motherboard, you actually end up having 16 PCIE lanes taken away from you. You can't use them. The motherboard needs them for the splash screen and the BIOS config utility. Yeah. 16 PCIE lanes for the BIOS. Shove that up your pie-hole. So again... does anyone know if there is any MB at ASRock that allows this change from the default PCIE slot for the splash?
	UnRaid enthusiast

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22793	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 26 Nov 2016 at 2:01am
	Part of the problem is that you are using a prosumer board and expecting workstation/server features. I don't mean to sound rude here but the Taichi was designed for use as an all purpose productivity workhorse and is touted by ASRock as being best suited for designers. That said, you could try contact tech support and inquire about your issue. They have in the past been willing to help users tweak their products to suit their needs with custom BIOSes etc. I can't make any promises as I do not work for ASRock but it's worth a shot. Something like this would have been better suited to your needs: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EPC612D8A-TB#Specifications Unraid can be used on the integrated graphics. I am not sure if you follow youtubers but Linus Tech Tips did an extreme build using 10 gpus for a 10 VRM system. If you watch the videos you will see there is a good reason he chose a server grade board for the project. While VRMs on prosumer boards are certainly not out of the question they are not the ideal. Again, try tech support and see if they are willing/able to help you out.


egeisfb Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26 Nov 2016 Location: Florida Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote egeisfb Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 Nov 2016 at 3:14am
	When I tried tech support, they "suggested" how I use it... they didn't tell me anything definitive about the BIOS customization. Also, while I understand your argument about prosumer vs. server hardware, I don't think there needs to be too much of a difference anymore, especially considering the available technology that exists right now. The board you recommended requires a BIOS upgrade, has more PCIE slots than I need, and only has 1 NVMe M.2. What I am asking about only requires a software tweak... not a hardware tweak. I don't want 10 GPUs simultaneously operating on 10 VMs... I only want 2 (which should be available to anything with 2+ PCIE slots and an X99+LGA 2011). I don't understand why I should overcompensate and buy hardware created for 10 stations when all I want is something that every mid-tier motherboard (that can power an E5 Xeon chip) can do out of the box... especially if it's touted as "all purpose".
	UnRaid enthusiast

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22793	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 Nov 2016 at 3:18am
	So the issue is only that the system insists on using PCIe 2 as the default primary graphics adapter? If so have you tried installing your "cheap" gpu in slot 2 and allowing it to be the default? Even an X4 slot should still be fine for higher end GPUs, I know it isn't ideal but it could be what you need to get the system and vrms up and running.