With the help of the folks on this forum, I put together a DIY NAS build. Unfortunately I’ve run into some issues trying to get the NAS to boot. I’ve built a DIY NAS with the intention of migrating data from my 3 node Proxmox cluster to the NAS. After putting it together and booting it up, I get the following errors:
PEI Intel Reference Code Execution 19
then a few seconds later
PEI Intel Reference Code Execution 0
I’ve moved the RAM around a few different configurations and tried booting with only a single stick. I also reset the CMOS jumper but the error still comes up on each boot. This is the NAS build:
Part
Type
CPU
Intel Core i3-9100
RAM
Kingston KSM26ED8/16HD DDR4-2666 16GB ECC RAM
Motherboard
ASRock Rack E3C246D4U2-2T
Power Supply
Seasonic Focus 750W SPX-750
Boot Drive
Western Digital NVME
Data Drives
8x HGST Ultrastar DC HC520 12TB
Any thoughts as to what could be causing this issue? Do I need to purchase a different type of RAM? Any assistance is appreciated.
Well according to the sticker on the motherboard it shipped with version L2.02P, so my guess is that’s the issue. I’ll have to figure out how to upgrade the BIOS on this since it won’t boot.
TIL I learned a new way to use PCPartPicker. thanks!
No worries! I built my NAS from scratch as well. It was also my first time ever building a PC. That site was an invaluable resource. It gave me the same warning about needing a BIOS update for my Mobo/CPU, but, thankfully, the ASRock Mobo I purchased shipped with the latest firmware.
One option is to install (if available) an older/supported CPU → flash the BIOS → then reinstall the i3-9100.
The other option (which it appears your motherboard does not support), is a built-in BIOS flash button. (Some ASUS boards, for example, have a button near a special USB port to flash the BIOS without the need to boot the system.)
I wasn’t able to figure out how to connect to the server when it’s plugged in directly to my laptop, however I was able to plugin the IPMI management port into my switch and access the server using the Asrock management app and web interface. It seems like kind of a common issue, but the BIOS version is not displayed in either the thick client or the web interface. I attempted to update the BIOS a few times in both places and the version number still doesn’t appear. I didn’t get any error messages, but from what I’ve read the BIOS version will only appear after successful POST. Since it still won’t POST, my guess is the BIOS flash failed. I was able to update the BMC version, however.
I did notice that if I leave it running, stuck on the “PEI Intel Reference Code Execution 19” it will eventually change to “No usable memory detected PEI Intel Reference Code Execution 53” and start beeping. I moved the RAM around and nothing changed. We’ll see what happens when the other CPU/RAM get here, thanks for your assistance so far!
I did try another BIOS update but it’s the same story. It seems to complete successfully but the version is still not reflected in the web interface and it still boots with the same error message.
You may need to power cycle the board after updating, but otherwise this is totally flabbergasting. I’ve never heard of a C246 board which would not take Core 8000/9000 CPUs.
I just came out of a very similar situation with my asrock rack board. I got the same error message during POST after an CPU upgrade. I received an inofficial BIOS from Asrock support that solved the problem.
