setting up Dell Poweredge R720 + Nvidia Tesla P40 24GB

README.md

  Dell Poweredge R720
  Nvidia Tesla P40 24GB 
  GPU pass-through via Proxmox

psu

• ? am using only one 1100w psu, the other 1100w is not plugged in.

• dont have a UPS yet.

idrac

• upgrade idrac firmware, so you get to power on/off via http.

risers

• if installing at riser3, ensure the pci-e is x16 - some servers may come with a riser with 2 slots each with x8.

gpu power cables

• Please be mindful when purchasing the gpu power cable, there are 2 kinds of gpu power cables for dell servers PCI risers, one for the Nvidia Telsas and one for consumer "general purpose" GPUs. This is a step that SHALL NOT GO WRONG or else you may fry your server&GPU! read more here: https://kenmoini.com/post/2021/03/fun-with-servers-and-gpus

fan control

• determine if you should enable/disable "3rd Party Card fan behavior"
• (?) enabling this allowed the GPU temp to hover at around 60C - while being used, Fan hovers in the range of 4200 to 7000 RPM. (typical GPU temp in a server room with AC will be around 55C under load). The Inlet and Exhaust Temp at 31 and 38C respectively (server is placed in the garage with no AC, with outdoor temp at 29C).

http://www.righteoushack.net/dell-poweredge-13th-gen-fan-noise/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Proxmox/comments/uf2d7l/proxmox_tesla_m40_passthrough_ubuntu_server_vm/iif2en3/?context=3

• current settings, likely not optimal.

ssh idrac

racadm set system.thermalsettings.AirExhaustTemp 255
racadm set system.thermalsettings.FanSpeedOffset 0
racadm set system.thermalsettings.ThermalProfile 0
racadm set system.thermalsettings.ThirdPartyPCIFanResponse 1

racadm get system.thermalsettings

Fan at 9480RPM

GPU Temp           60 C per nvidia-smi

Fan1             | 8520 RPM          | ok
Fan2             | 8400 RPM          | ok
Fan3             | 8520 RPM          | ok
Fan4             | 9360 RPM          | ok
Fan5             | 10560 RPM         | ok
Fan6             | 9960 RPM          | ok
Inlet Temp       | 33 degrees C      | ok
Exhaust Temp     | 37 degrees C      | ok
Temp             | 55 degrees C      | ok
Temp             | 46 degrees C      | ok
Current 1        | 2.60 Amps         | ok
Current 2        | no reading        | ns
Voltage 1        | 110 Volts         | ok
Voltage 2        | no reading        | ns
Pwr Consumption  | 294 Watts         | ok

Chassis Temp 38C

proxmox

• follow below link and stop prior section "Configuring the VM (Windows 10)", note the modifications listed below. https://gist.github.com/baodrate/64f617e959725e934992b080e677656f

  • in proxmox web interface, select vm, for hostpci - check All Functions,ROM-Bar,PCI-Express

  • for vm BIOS, use Default (SeaBIOS).

  • for vm Machine, use q35.

  • edit vm conf /etc/pve/qemu-server/${VM_ID}.conf per below

cpu: host,hidden=1,flags=+pcid
args: -cpu 'host,+kvm_pv_unhalt,+kvm_pv_eoi,hv_vendor_id=NV43FIX,kvm=off'

# below is based on needs
cores: 10
memory: 262144
scsi0: local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0,size=768G
boot: order=scsi0;net0
scsihw: virtio-scsi-pci
hostpci0: 0000:42:00,pcie=1

• turn on the vm.

• when installing ubuntu, don't install the driver.

• boot up vm

• check if gpu is present

lspci | grep 01:00

• install driver

sudo apt-add-repository -r ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt remove nvidia*
sudo apt autoremove
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

• run nvidia-smi and get complaints, run below.

sudo rmmod nouveau
sudo modprobe nvidia
# https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/219059/remove-nouveau-driver-nvidia-without-rebooting

• run nvidia-smi to confirm presense of gpu.

• install nvidia container toolkit https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/latest/install-guide.html

• confirm install success docker run --runtime=nvidia --rm nvidia/cuda nvidia-smi

Good luck. Hope you figure this out soon!

@IzumoNoOkuni Did you end up solving this issue?

@IzumoNoOkuni Did you end up solving this issue?

The P40 working now, just have to found the right driver.