Prebuilt [SFFn] ASRock's DeskMini A300 - Finally!

[Valantar]

http://www.panlishop.com/product/detail/586897901923.html
Hi, SFE EOL, It is from TaiWan ASROCK office site. The international shipping of this Deskmini A300 is about £40-60 though its price is only USD 174. it is available to ship UK from Taiwan.

I think you misunderstand. @SFF EOL is asking why one would want to order a product like this (which has broad distribution in Western markets and is relatively easily available) from an east Asian distributor - which would mean no warranty service to speak of (unless you enjoy shipping your PC halfway across the globe) and higher prices too. Plus import duties and all that jazz, of course. Sounds like a very bad idea unless you have no other choice.


Edit: I'm pretty sure this profile is a spam/marketing profile for Panlishop. Reported so that the mods/admins can look into it.

 

[LostEnergy]

Just a quick reply, I'm 1-3 minor revs off most of your package list [VLC and such; LostEnergy], […] Anyway I get the same 20-50% core loads as you with vlc, no dropped frames(which only happens on 4kx60 clips from 4kmedia.org). On mpv running hardware acceleration core loads are mostly low single digits with spikes up to 12% using vaapi-copy. Looks/sounds better in mpv as well […]

Thanks, I'll try mpv over the weekend. Maybe I just don't know better and see an improvement. Appreciate the exchange! I've archived most of my videos as h265/hevc 10bit, but am coming from a GTX 960.

If you have a sample video that doesn't work for you—I just picked the first one Google search displayed—I'll try it and help diagnose further. We just need to agree on something or else progress will remain elusive.

Perceived quality on VLC was bad for me too, blocky and bandy, but turning off de-interlacing changed that. Hotkey d.

Update: Nice, thanks for your three settings for mpv! Dropped CPU usage significantly. I've tried some video files and didn't find any that didn't play smoothly, i. e. with lost or dropped frames. — What I did notice, though, is that both players don't have frame interpolation one might know from Windows, and AMD/Nvidia/Intel's driver magic there. That is, 60 frames sometimes still look jumpy. Alas it's sixty: I did record the screen with my mobile phone (the Elysium demo again) and clicked through the frames. They're different.

 

[Stevo_]

Thanks, I'll try mpv over the weekend. Maybe I just don't know better and see an improvement. Appreciate the exchange! I've archived most of my videos as h265/hevc 10bit, but am coming from a GTX 960.

If you have a sample video that doesn't work for you—I just picked the first one Google search displayed—I'll try it and help diagnose further. We just need to agree on something or else progress will remain elusive.

Perceived quality on VLC was bad for me too, blocky and bandy, but turning off de-interlacing changed that. Hotkey d.

Update: Nice, thanks for your three settings for mpv! Dropped CPU usage significantly. I've tried some video files and didn't find any that didn't play smoothly, i. e. with lost or dropped frames. — What I did notice, though, is that both players don't have frame interpolation one might know from Windows, and AMD/Nvidia/Intel's driver magic there. That is, 60 frames sometimes still look jumpy. Alas it's sixty: I did record the screen with my mobile phone (the Elysium demo again) and clicked through the frames. They're different.

Cool, I was using the RedBull expect the unexpected and Sony swordsmithing vids for testing from 4kmedia.org watch your temps. This all came about from another thread on this site listing AMD mobos that support hdmi 4kx60 that weren't advertised as so. Maybe start a separate AMD APU graphics tweak thread after this.

 

[LostEnergy]

Can confirm that the video “RedBull expect the unexpected” doesn't play fine, neither with VLC nor mpv. Now the question is, is that a device and Linux specific issue. Colors are off under Windows, but there's no red or blue shadow like under Linux. I'll try some things.

Something else, here is someone examining different small and flat coolers for the Asrock A300:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/wisteriear/archives/1073654956.html

 

[Stevo_]

I'm on an MSI b450I mobo mpv plays it fine (was considering an A300), a few dropped frames on startup but VLC is unwatchable, on my j5005 fanless box VLC plays it fine with Intel iGPU I'll PM package etc info. Could be a mobo issue as well, here's the hdmi 2.0 mobo compatibility thread I mentioned earlier.

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2-0-compatibility-—-1st-gen-am4-motherboard-test-request-megathread.6709/

Here's screen info from mpv playing redbull

Spoiler: command line stuff

mpv Samsung\ and\ RedBull\ See\ the\ Unexpected\ HDR\ UHD\ 4K\ Demo.ts
Playing: Samsung and RedBull See the Unexpected HDR UHD 4K Demo.ts
[ffmpeg/audio] aac: This stream seems to incorrectly report its last channel as LFE[3], mapping to LFE[0]
(+) Video --vid=1 (hevc 3840x2160 59.940fps)
(+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=und (aac 6ch 48000Hz)
mesa: for the -simplifycfg-sink-common option: may only occur zero or one times!
mesa: for the -global-isel-abort option: may only occur zero or one times!
[ffmpeg/audio] aac: This stream seems to incorrectly report its last channel as LFE[3], mapping to LFE[0]
AO: [pulse] 48000Hz 5.1 6ch float
Using hardware decoding (vaapi-copy).
VO: [opengl] 3840x2160 p010
AV: 00:01:17 / 00:03:17 (39%) A-V: 0.000 Dropped: 13

Edit: VLC on J5005, no config file for vlc just does the right thing

vlc Samsung\ and\ RedBull\ See\ the\ Unexpected\ HDR\ UHD\ 4K\ Demo.ts
VLC media player 3.0.8 Vetinari (revision 3.0.8-0-gf350b6b5a7)
[00005561a029b570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin
qt5ct: D-Bus global menu: no
qt5ct: D-Bus system tray: no
libva info: VA-API version 1.1.0
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_1
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
[00007faaa8c11a70] avcodec decoder: Using Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) Gemini Lake - 2.1.0 for hardware decoding
[00007faaa8c84790] main decoder error: buffer deadlock prevented
[00007faaa8c85020] mpeg4audio packetizer: AAC channels: 6 samplerate: 48000

 

[LostEnergy]

I've yet to encounter something like this in practice, that is, with longer videos downloaded from sth. else or my encodes. Wouldn't classify it as a show-stopper for the A300 and Linux.

The video track is a “frameless” h265 file, supposedly Sony cameras produce these. Some say it's a broken file.

When I play it, I get color shadows on moving objects. Other than that, you can certainly make out objects and whatnot.

I've re-encoded it to get those I/B/F-frames back or whatever was missing like this, and the result plays like any other video file.

Spoiler: commands with how to encode to a h265 video file

if command -v "ffmpeg" &>/dev/null; then \
  let ffmpeg="$(command -v ffmpeg)"; \
else \
  mkdir -p /opt/ffmpeg; \
  curl -fL --progress-bar \
    "https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz" \
  | tar --strip-components=1 --no-same-owner --exclude "manpages" -C /opt/ffmpeg/ --xz -x; \
  let ffmpeg=/opt/ffmpeg/ffmpeg; \
fi

# Sam*ts is the video file that has missing frames
${ffmpeg} -hide_banner -i Sam*ts \
  -c:v libx265 -preset ultrafast -x265-params crf=22:merange=57 \
  -c:a copy \
  -c:s copy \
  redbull-t2.mkv

 

[Stevo_]

When I transcode it with ffmpeg per your method above it plays smooth but colors are washed out ans cpu usage is still high as in no hardware acceleration. I think this is still a VLC issue as mpv is fine but A300 may not be capable at x60 fps as the mobo may have issues as well. Game benchmarks like Unigine heaven run fine(1080 @ 60)that may be a better gauge.
Videolan seems to keep closing out bug reports as resolved with no actual resolution. If you cant run mpv at full rate likely the the mobo.

 

[SFF EOL]

I think you misunderstand. @SFF EOL is asking why one would want to order a product like this (which has broad distribution in Western markets and is relatively easily available) from an east Asian distributor - which would mean no warranty service to speak of (unless you enjoy shipping your PC halfway across the globe) and higher prices too. Plus import duties and all that jazz, of course. Sounds like a very bad idea unless you have no other choice.


Edit: I'm pretty sure this profile is a spam/marketing profile for Panlishop. Reported so that the mods/admins can look into it.

I was just surprised to hear of shortages, it wasn't available until about May in the UK with any regularity, now it is pretty much always in stock and I imagined that would be the same for a lot of us, so America, Europe and Australia. It was just a general question- but if there was a shortage I might buy one or two more to avoid a shortage. I'm sure like the rest of you the AsRock Deskmini is really the only A300 we have available. I have heard of others, and the X300 but they aren't in stock in the UK.

 

[LostEnergy]

From Chad:

The A300W comes with an Intel AC 3168 or 3160 wifi card. Here are two alternatives, of which the AX200NGW can do all three: Bluetooth 5, WPA 3, and 802.11ax
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=99445,189347,94854

… you'd then need 2× MHF4 to male RP-SMA cables, ideally 22–25cm long. 19–20cm will do, and are indeed shipped as part of the wifi-pack, but are a pain to work with. (Update: It seems some got longer cables.)

Spoiler: card and pigtails (cables) displayed

And then there's the issue of bent M.2 cards. The standoffs on board r1.02 don't end on the same level as the M.2 slot, and distance between both is off as well. Mount a card, apply 0.12 to 0.18Nm torque to the bolt (PH1 JPN is the drive), and you get this:

↑ goes up, minimal flex, ↓ stark warp and flex, gets a “belly”

[… video plays] but colors are washed out […]

That's a missing color space transformation we left out (or the player did). Common oversight with UHD material.

 

[Stevo_]

That's a missing color space transformation we left out (or the player did). Common oversight with UHD material.

OK, I did a bit more experimenting, I can get H/W acceleration if I specify the Wayland instead of openGL versions of the switches below, but then no video display in vlc window but do get sound. Need to figure out the Wayland part

cvlc --avcodec-hw vaapi --gles2 egl_wl --glconv glconv_vaapi_wl --vout any Samsung...ts

[00007f9408c078e0] avcodec decoder: Using Mesa Gallium driver 19.0.8 for AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.27.0, 5.0.0-23-generic, LLVM 8.0.0) for hardware decoding

Edit: In debug mode actual chosen decoders etc are not what is on command line

 

[LostEnergy]

Linux again, because everyone cherishes and uses it. Here's my config for sensors and fancontrol:

Spoiler: recipes for Linux

# /etc/fancontrol
INTERVAL=10
DEVPATH=hwmon0=devices/platform/nct6775.656
DEVNAME=hwmon0=nct6793
FCTEMPS=hwmon0/pwm2=hwmon0/temp2_input
FCFANS= hwmon0/pwm2=hwmon0/fan2_input
MINTEMP=hwmon0/pwm2=50
MAXTEMP=hwmon0/pwm2=75
MINSTART=hwmon0/pwm2=150
MINSTOP=hwmon0/pwm2=0

apt-get --no-install-recommends install \
  lm-sensors fancontrol

if ! grep -q -F nct6775 /etc/modules-load.d/modules.conf; then \
  modprobe nct6775 && \
  printf "\nnct6775\n" >>/etc/modules-load.d/modules.conf; \
fi

sensors

systemctl enable fancontrol.service

Keep in mind that the Asrock A300 has two 4-pin PWM headers, change pwm2 if you used pwm1.

It's for a Wraith Stealth cooler, but should work with others.

----
Edit 2020-04-01: Starting with Linux version 5.6.0 any NVMe drives will be listed before the plattform temperature and fan control unit `hwmon0` whose number will change. Change `hwmon0` to → `hwmon2` if you have two PCIe drives installed, to → `hwmon1` on just one M.2 drive.

 

[wertigon]

Interested in buying this beauty for a headless mini-build machine server to sit on my desktop @ work. Main idea is to run a Ryzen 7 3700X 8c16t headless configuration (e.g. no graphics card) that I can access over SSH.

Questions;

1. Will the motherboard VRMs be good enough for the 3700X?
2. Will the PSU brick be powerful enough to drive the 3700X?

Thankful if anyone got answers!

 

[NateDawg72]

Interested in buying this beauty for a headless mini-build machine server to sit on my desktop @ work. Main idea is to run a Ryzen 7 3700X 8c16t headless configuration (e.g. no graphics card) that I can access over SSH.

Unfortunately the answer isn't going to be one that you will like - The Ryzen CPUs without graphics won't boot on this board. A couple members have tried with no success. Several members have looked into modding the BIOS and didn't make much progress either.

 

[W4RR10R]

Interested in buying this beauty for a headless mini-build machine server to sit on my desktop @ work. Main idea is to run a Ryzen 7 3700X 8c16t headless configuration (e.g. no graphics card) that I can access over SSH.

Questions;

1. Will the motherboard VRMs be good enough for the 3700X?
2. Will the PSU brick be powerful enough to drive the 3700X?

Thankful if anyone got answers!

Like Nate said. It won't boot with any non-APU ryzen part, so the best you could do would be a 3400g. We had another thread about trying to get a modded BIOS to allow non-APU and/or overclocking, but that thread has all but died.

 

[wertigon]

Unfortunately the answer isn't going to be one that you will like - The Ryzen CPUs without graphics won't boot on this board. A couple members have tried with no success. Several members have looked into modding the BIOS and didn't make much progress either.

Like Nate said. It won't boot with any non-APU ryzen part, so the best you could do would be a 3400g. We had another thread about trying to get a modded BIOS to allow non-APU and/or overclocking, but that thread has all but died.

Thanks for the quick replies. Shame, would've been a real help, though I suppose a 3L brickless J-Hack Pure case isn't that bad either. I do like the $150 PSU + Case + Mobo combo though, kinda hard to beat that price...

 

[GLSRacer]

LTT just posted this...
A pretty impressive SFF build.

 

[wertigon]

LTT just posted this...

A pretty impressive SFF build.

Hmm, you sure you meant to post that here instead of in the Velka thread? It does answer my question about the NH-L9 and the 3700X though.

 

[GLSRacer]

Nope, I meant to post it here cause you guys were talking about this CPU/Fan combo

 

[m4758406]

little bit google translated cause my english poor )
...
Thats my cooling solution.
1.) "Jonsbo HP-400" with own made copper sheet metal duct.
Cooper is 0.6mm thick.

 

[m4758406]

2.) using "Noctua NF-F12 PWM, 120mm" (0,6 wattage)

3.) my Fan settings
https://s17.directupload.net/images/191014/l9kea3xx.jpg

4.) CPU-Stresstest (2400G used cheap china cpu-thermal-paste)
https://s17.directupload.net/images/191014/oagv7wsl.gif

Motherboard and SSD Temp very low, cause of the better airflow.

5.) in Action
https://s17.directupload.net/images/191014/j38jrcw3.jpg

6.) Love it !
https://s17.directupload.net/images/191014/yqmcnm6d.jpg

This solution is little bit work, to make this copper-drain or something which do the same.

Whichout this copper sheet metal it do not work.
Stresstest fail with +90°C !

Little bit cheaper as "Noctua NH-L9a-AM4".

Lower Wattage, only 0,6 max. instead of 2,52 Watt (NH-L9a-AM4).

Using it as Office machine (firefox + Excel), most ~485 rpm,
sometimes up to ~850.

I am super happy !