Lenok

I had intended this machine to form the basis of a powerful NAS but decided to use it as my primary Linux desktop. One reason for this is for conducting audio-visual experiments. Another is the realisation that second user server hardware vs PC has better PCIe expansion possibilities if you want to add lots of storage controllers.

Specs

  • Intel Core i-3 9100
  • MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard
  • Two x 8GB DDR4 DIMMs
  • Crucial P3 1TB SATA SSD
  • Gigabyte GV-N2100C Geforce GT210 graphics card
  • Sunix MIO5469A serial and parallel card
The graphics cards is mostly about supporting multiple monitors. There are plans to do budget monitor upgrade but have to work with what there is for now, especially LCD TVs. 

The Sunix card was purchased with installing OpenWRT on old wifi routers in mind. 

Case

It is built in an old Evesham case primary Windows desktop machine used to live in. It's pre-2008 and a pretty ugly case. 

Old cases can have a certain funky charm (this one doesn't) but they often have limitations. Case design has progressed. Well, maybe not at the budget end of the market. The Evesham case has PSU mount at the top, no space for routing cables behind the motherboard tray and USB and audio front panel outputs at the bottom of the case. Limited number of drive bays and fan mounting points. Support for 120mm fans and upwards can be an issue.

Problems

Lenok was built on a bench and fired up with no problem. Putting in a case, it worked for a while and then progressively failed. Firstly, the fans would spin but no post. Latterly, the fans would not spin at all. The PSU is switching off almost instantly on power on - short circuit protection.

Taking the motherboard out of the case wasn't easy. Screws did not want to come out of stand offs. But once on the desk, it powered up fine and went straight into BIOS screen. There are two potential culprits for the short circuit.

On disassembly, one of the fingers on the rear I/O shield may have been shorting the DisplayPort output. Because only one 5.25" bay blanking plate was found, an IDE optical drive was retained and a SATA to IDE adapter used. It's possible that the adapter was shorting against the case of the drive but it does have some insulating tape on the back in places.

It turned out the adapter causing the short. Although I do have another adapter, decided to pull a SATA DVD drive from another machine. 

Ubuntu Studio

This distro was chosen because I want to do some audio-visual experiments. It comes with plenty of software that covers most of my needs. 

Storage

The plan is that Lenox will be used for experiments. At the moment, just audio experiments. The Crucial SSD is plentylarge/fast enough for that.

The intention is to install a dual port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card and connect directly to a NAS which removes the need for more storage in Lenok itself. 




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