Hi,
Has anyone tried, or is it even possible, to run the CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe from a RouterOS CHR or x86 RouterOS image?
In other words, I would like to have a server running a bare metal x86 RouterOS, or virtualised CHR, and being able to use a CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe plugged into the chassis.
Thoughts?
thanks
I haven’t tried it, but I guess my question is why? I think it probably makes more sense to go the other way, and just get a standalone pcie atx psu and don’t plug the card into a computer at all.
… just get a standalone pcie atx psu and don’t plug the card into a computer at all.
I was under the, probably mistaken, impression that the PCIe card would need some sort of host computer. If it works from just a PCIe PSU that’d eliminate the need for the PC part.
that’s a very interesting option (if it’s possible)
with a tiny power supply will be a very nice mini router
Interesting idea. A device like PE-2SD1-R10 by IEI might help with power and power-on signalling.
They‘re used quite a bit in homelab JBODs powering simple SAS expander cards from Intel or HP.
If you’d be willing to test one: let us know if it works 
I just put it in a SFF computer and run Proxmox VE on the computer. Proxmox can recognize the NIC and get ip address internally (directly) from CCR2004.
I was also thinking to run this board independently of any host, using some PCIe riser, like for instance https://www.newegg.com/p/1W7-005X-00095?Description=usb%20riser%20pcie&cm_re=usb_riser%20pcie-_-1W7-005X-00095-_-Product&quicklink=true
I see no reason why it would not power on but it would be nice if someone could actually confirm.
I don’t want this beast to become garbage if I am not running a server 24/7…
Hi,
I happen to have such a card, which I’m unable to use in my Opnsense box (!@!!#).
I like the idea using it stand alone. So much so, that I have just purchased a PCIe Riser for Bitcoin mining .
(There was no PCIe backplane available on Amazon and this is also really cheap for 14EUR.)
If it arrives until this friday I will test it this weekend, and report back.
Why did I not think about this before?
W
Ps. the issue I see is the standard ATX power supply, which will be very inefficient for this low consumption setup and also the size of the PC case.
Hello everyone!
wowland, did you manage to test the card outside a full fledged computer?
I’m very interested by this usecase.
For information you can find pcie brackets on aliexpress to stand the card if you choose to go that route.
Also, some power supply can be modified to power the pcie riser (mainly cutting wires and attaching it to a pcie connector, beware of the polarity when doing so, thouth), i was thinking to use a second hand ADLX36NCT2A from lenovo to potentially powers the card.
Max power consumption for the mikrotik card was about 29w if i recall correctly, then accounting for 3.3v power convertion loss, a 12v 3a power supply might be sufficient (36w)
Hi!
No, not yet, the delivery of the PCI Extender was delayed and I “meet” my CCR PCI card only weekends.
This extender board has DC-DC downconverters, so it needs only 12V, I can directly cable an external 12V supply.
I got some old PSUs, but the reliability is key here. I dont want to leave something unsuperwised for weeks, if I am not pretty sure it will work reliably.
I looked at Aliexpress, but did not yet find a solid casing. If I am to use this card permanently in standalone, then I will go for a metallic case for better fire protection.
Also it should not take up more than 1U rackspace. And it would be best to use some even smaller format. Not to forget the need for cooling.
I think for a permanent solution I will wait for an RB5009 or until the CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe gets support for BSD…
I plan to have this card tested this sunday.
W
Hi!
Good & very bad news!
It works in standalone mode and I was able to upgrade the CCR to 7.6beta8 without any issues.
Setup: external 12V PSU connected to a PicoPSU 12V 80W, which again connects with a molex 4pin to a PCIe 1X to 16X adapter. The PicoPSU also connects to an ATX breakout board. That connection is just there to force the PicoPSU to switch on and to be able to measure the correct voltages (a piece of wire could have been used as well to short PIN14 to any of the COMs).
I took a photo of it, see attachment.
Here comes the really bad part:
Then while configuring it for about 10mins, my 12V PSU started to make strange noises and I jumped up to turn the whole thing off.
As I reached for the cable, one of the capacitors (Electrolytic of course) got blown apart with a loud bang.
With it went my CCR.
If I plug it into my original mini ITX setup, the blowers dont spin up. Strangely my switch negotiates a 100Mbit/s connection with it, but no packets are flowing.
I will give it a try to repair the CCR, I hope I can do it, but it won´t be easy without a detailed schematic.
Update: I measured FU2.
I hope its just the blown fuse FU2, I could not replace it yet, as I’ll have to order that first.
The lessons I learned:
-don´t trust old PSUs (both the 12V external PSU and the PicoPSU were in service for 6-7 years beforehand)
-even less trust should be given to a chineese cheap (14EUR) PCIe break out board, I won´t use any in the future
-it can definitely be done and it would be a great solution
-happy that MT placed a fuse on it! sad, that the Chinese didn´t care to put one on the PCIe Extender
W
Many thanks for the test woland, although the outcome was not the one expected, i hope it’s just the fuse.
I checked to see if an enclosed pcie box can be found on aliexpress but for your usecase, i did not find any interesting cases some seems that they could work but not without modifications.
If you are interested i can buy you the card for what you paid for, and try to change the fuse myself, as i feel a bit bad for this failed experiment, and this card does not seems to be in stock anywhere at the moment.
But thanks again for your tests and the detailed outcome.
Hi,
@masterteif: no worries, but thanks! I hold a degree in electrical engineering, so I hopefully should be able to replace that fuse by myself, even if I haven´t done electronics for the last 25 years.
Also I bought that card basicaly to experiment with it and OpenBSD, which did not work out as well. Looks like a ROS bug and no fix yet. (There is a thread somewhere here about that as well.)
Yeah theese days I also struggle to get anything else useful for me from MT (mainly rb5009 & CAPacs) !
W
Then I wish you the best odds for the repair!
And thanks again for the test.
Are people buying this as a cheap dual 25G NIC?
I don´t know if there is someone who bought this as a 25G NIC. I did buy it for playing with an Opnsense+ROS or a Proxmox+ROS combination.
Honestly I am not sure if it works with anything else then Linux properly.
Hi,
I’m hereby reporting my success in reviving the CCR2004-1G-2XS PCIe card. 
After replacing only the fuse which has blown, all is back to normal.
It’s hard to get a replacement fuse, except from China, but that meant almost a month of delivery delay.
W
I’m thinking of using CCR2004-1g-2xs-pcie to build 1U Supermicro server + router systems for remote deployment. My worry is that if a server is accidentally turned off from the BMC (connected to the console port), power to the CCR will be lost and turning the system back on will require a site visit. It doesn’t sound like the CCR would work with the 5v standby power.
Any workarounds? Or am I just over thinking this and the solution is to just never power off?
hi markonen!
That is unfortunately true. I have proven it by blowing the fuse for the 12V supply… On standby of the host PC, ROS does not run.
Even a reboot of the Linux on the PC resets my card and it stays down for a minute so (it boots fast).
Maybe you could just use a small and cheap external box (hap ac2 or maybe even a hap mini, but beware of the limitatons) connected to the BMC.
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/Feature+support+based+on+architecture