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
System Fan Error Antec Tri-Cool / Scythe S-Flex 120mm and 92
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Are either of the 120mm fans physically starting when you power on (i.e. before you go into BIOS)? Does either fan have a yellow wire going to the 3-pin plug?
If there's no yellow wire then the mobo can't detect whether the fan is spinning, which would in turn cause the error you describe. Tri-cools don't (afaik) have this sense wire, but I thought all S-Flexes did...
Only other thing I can think of is if either fan does have the yellow wire but you still get the error, then the fan doesn't spin as fast as the mobo is expecting it to (i.e. at least as fast as the original 92mm one). In that case you could try getting a faster fan.
If there's no yellow wire then the mobo can't detect whether the fan is spinning, which would in turn cause the error you describe. Tri-cools don't (afaik) have this sense wire, but I thought all S-Flexes did...
Only other thing I can think of is if either fan does have the yellow wire but you still get the error, then the fan doesn't spin as fast as the mobo is expecting it to (i.e. at least as fast as the original 92mm one). In that case you could try getting a faster fan.
The 120mm fans are:
Scythe S-Flex SFF21E (1200 rpm) with red/yellow/black wires
Antec Tri-Cool 3 Speed (stock rear case fan in the Mini) (1200/1600/2000 rpm on L/M/H) with red/black wire only
The 92mm fan is:
Scythe Kama-Flex (1600 rpm) with red/yellow/black wires
I'll have to retry the Tri-Cool again tomorrow at the Medium and high settings and see if what happens with that.
And yes, the SFF21E does spin as soon as I power the machine on.
Any other fan experts, feel free to chime in. It has been running all day and all the fans are spinning, but I still would like to clean up the error.
Thanks, Bill
Scythe S-Flex SFF21E (1200 rpm) with red/yellow/black wires
Antec Tri-Cool 3 Speed (stock rear case fan in the Mini) (1200/1600/2000 rpm on L/M/H) with red/black wire only
The 92mm fan is:
Scythe Kama-Flex (1600 rpm) with red/yellow/black wires
I'll have to retry the Tri-Cool again tomorrow at the Medium and high settings and see if what happens with that.
And yes, the SFF21E does spin as soon as I power the machine on.
Any other fan experts, feel free to chime in. It has been running all day and all the fans are spinning, but I still would like to clean up the error.
Thanks, Bill
You will always get the error from the tri-cools, as the mobo cannot sense whether they are turning and therefore assumes they are not.
With the s-flex: someone else should be able to confirm this, but it is quite likely that even though the s-flex is moving, it is probably moving too slowly for that particular mobo to detect it as the mobo was designed with a much faster fan in mind (hence no error when you use the Kama Flex). You could try a 1,600rpm S-Flex (SFF21F) although the silencing benefit will be minimal - in fact it will probably be louder than the Kama Flex.
Your original idea of somehow fooling the mobo into thinking it has a fan on that header might be better - I don't have a clue how you would do that though.
Good luck!
With the s-flex: someone else should be able to confirm this, but it is quite likely that even though the s-flex is moving, it is probably moving too slowly for that particular mobo to detect it as the mobo was designed with a much faster fan in mind (hence no error when you use the Kama Flex). You could try a 1,600rpm S-Flex (SFF21F) although the silencing benefit will be minimal - in fact it will probably be louder than the Kama Flex.
Your original idea of somehow fooling the mobo into thinking it has a fan on that header might be better - I don't have a clue how you would do that though.
Good luck!
Problem fixed
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
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