MSI Cubi 5 12M PC

Decided to by MSI Cubi 5 12M:

https://www.msi.com/Business-Productivity-PC/Cubi-5-12M
- bought from: https://www.alza.cz/msi-cubi-5-12m-261beu-d12533745.htm
CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U 10 cores (2 fast, 8 slow)
added: 2 x Kingston SO-DIMM 16GB DDR4 3200MHz from: https://www.alza.cz/kingston-so-dimm-16gb-ddr4-3200mhz-d6489545.htm
and NVMe disk GIGABYTE AORUS Gen4 5000E SSD 500GB from: https://www.alza.cz/gigabyte-aorus-gen4-5000e-ssd-500gb-d7668103.htm?o=4
- I plan to add 1TB Samsung QVO SATA 3 SSD for multimedia, where speed is not so critical.

Please note that it is NOT fully passive PC - there is small fan inside.

Some info (but not much) is on Support site:

https://www.msi.com/Business-Productivity-PC/Cubi-5-12M/support

WARNING! If you plan to also add SATA drive - insert SATA cable before inserting NVMe (it has to go under NVMe (!) - in other words cable must point to center of cube - please see this video https://youtu.be/mD_NoJzvfBU?t=2577 around 42 minute. It saved my Cube. In my case I have also to lift a bit 2 WiFi wires to be able to insert that connector.

I had issues with NVMe detection - because one have to properly insert it in that way so no pins are visible! Pins must be hidden under connector. So now I know :-)

I have to buy new monitor, because:

I have VGA, 1440x900
adapter DP -> VGA supports only up to 1024x768
adapter HDMI -> VGA (bought for RPi 1.B) supports up to 1900, but not 1440x900
it is cheaper to buy new monitor than more and more adapters...

My first impression is good - so far no problems with hardware - and NVMe boot is really fast. Currently testing openSUSE LEAP 15.6 with XFCE (X-Server).

Here is output from inxi -Fz:

System:
  Kernel: 6.4.0-150600.23.22-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce
    v: 4.18.1 Distro: openSUSE Leap 15.6
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: MS-B0A81 v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 8.60
    date: 02/16/2023
CPU:
  Info: 10-core (2-mt/8-st) model: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U bits: 64
    type: MST AMCP cache: L2: 6.5 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 400 min/max: 400/4400:3300 cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400
    4: 400 5: 400 6: 400 7: 400 8: 400 9: 400 10: 400 11: 400 12: 400
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-UP3 GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution: 1280x720~60Hz
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.3.4 renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL GT2)
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
  API: ALSA v: k6.4.0-150600.23.22-default status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PulseAudio v: 17.0 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-P PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE driver: r8169
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  IF: eth1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb type: USB
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 6.79 GiB (1.5%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Gigabyte model: AG450E500G-G size: 465.76 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 97.87 GiB used: 6.79 GiB (6.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.7 MiB (1.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 32 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 265 Uptime: 0h 14m Memory: available: 31.13 GiB
  used: 1.35 GiB (4.3%) Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.27

Output of lspci -nn:

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-U15 Host and DRAM Controller [8086:4601] (rev 04)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-UP3 GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] [8086:46a8] (rev 0c)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake Innovation Platform Framework Processor Participant [8086:461d] (rev 04)
00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 12th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x4 Controller #0 [8086:464d] (rev 04)
00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 PCI Express Root Port #0 [8086:466e] (rev 04)
00:08.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation 12th Gen Core Processor Gaussian & Neural Accelerator [8086:464f] (rev 04)
00:0a.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Platform Monitoring Technology [8086:467d] (rev 01)
00:0d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 USB Controller [8086:461e] (rev 04)
00:0d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 NHI #0 [8086:463e] (rev 04)
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH USB 3.2 xHCI Host Controller [8086:51ed] (rev 01)
00:14.2 RAM memory [0500]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH Shared SRAM [8086:51ef] (rev 01)
00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P PCH CNVi WiFi [8086:51f0] (rev 01)
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH HECI Controller [8086:51e0] (rev 01)
00:17.0 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P SATA AHCI Controller [8086:51d3] (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:51b8] (rev 01)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH-P PCI Express Root Port #9 [8086:51bf] (rev 01)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCI Express Root Port #9 [8086:51b0] (rev 01)
00:1e.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH UART #0 [8086:51a8] (rev 01)
00:1e.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake SPI Controller [8086:51ab] (rev 01)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH eSPI Controller [8086:5182] (rev 01)
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio Controller [8086:51c8] (rev 01)
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH-P SMBus Host Controller [8086:51a3] (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P PCH SPI Controller [8086:51a4] (rev 01)
01:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Phison Electronics Corporation PS5021-E21 PCIe4 NVMe Controller (DRAM-less) [1987:5021] (rev 01)
2d:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller [10ec:8125] (rev 05)
2e:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15)

Tips

Setup & Boot menu:

from https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/bios-and-boot-menu-at-start-cubi-5-10m-007beu.371869/
press DEL many times to enter Setup (was ~~BIOS~~ now it is UEFI)
press F11 for boot menu
it is notoriously HARD to enter Setup or boot menu! I found following way:
- watch your keyboard until Num Lock LED will lit
- immediately once press DEL or F11
- Setup should properly react

Issues

PicKit3 programmer does not work:

Attempt to access it from MPLAB X will throw Connection error.
These 2 HUBs exhibits same problem:
- (bought in 2024) https://www.alza.cz/EN/alzapower-alucore-usb-a-m-to-4-usb-a-f-space-grey-d6964384.htm?o=1&setlang=en-GB
- (bought in 2017) https://www.alza.cz/EN/axagon-hue-s1b-usb-3-0-quattro-hub-d4953772.htm?o=1
However it occurs also when connected directly to USB port if "USB Redirector" is used under KVM.

There seems to be mixed causes

USB hub is unable to provide necessary current (unless it has its own Power supply)
using "USB Redirector" under KVM.
once it happens you have to disconnect and reconnect PicKit 3 to USB port (!)

If it happens you need:

if there is red Status LED lit permanently on PicKit3, disconnect it from USB port
reconnect PicKit3 directly to USB port on PC (do not use HUB)
after reconnect Status LED must be green and stay green (unless programming is in progress).
If you use KVM VM you have to define USB Host passtrhough for "Microchip" Device. So it must be connected to USB port, before you start VM with MPLAB
now PicKit3 should work again...

LM Sensors do not see fans, because ACPI issues

from dmesg:

nct6775: Found NCT6798D or compatible chip at 0x4e:0xa20
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000000A25-0x0000000000000A26 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000000A25-0x0000000000000A26 (\MIOD) (20230628/utaddress-213)
ACPI: OSL: Resource conflict; ACPI support missing from driver?

solution proposed on https://github.com/lm-sensors/lm-sensors/issues/197 is boot parameter acpi_enforce_resources=lax and very long: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204807

Propo

Resources

FreeBSD-on-Cubi

Cubi - hpaluch/hpaluch.github.io GitHub Wiki

MSI Cubi 5 12M PC

Tips

Issues

Resources

⚠️ GitHub.com Fallback ⚠️

Cubi - hpaluch/hpaluch.github.io GitHub Wiki

MSI Cubi 5 12M PC

Tips

Issues

Resources

⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️

⚠️ GitHub.com Fallback ⚠️