Proliant 7000 won't boot. 4

[AmonRa79]

Hello all,


a couple of days ago i have bought 2 servers a proliant 800 and a 7000 the 800 works perfect.

The 7000 on the other hand seems to have problems to start up. It starts up ventilating .. then nothing happens.

I have looked on the compaq site for support documents. So i have found a couple of document about the configuration switches on the PCI board (they are in the right position)

Then i have looked at all interlocks on the server (otherwise i won't start.

Does one of you guys have anyidea why this critter won't boot at all ?


Thanks =)

 

[jfrantz]

Be sure to re-seat all components in the machine. Shipping can loosen some daughtercards and such. Some Compaq machines are touchy and need cards seated firmly or they'll just power up and sit with no error status.

-Jeff

 

[ntinlin]

Agree with Jeff.

Remove and reseat the CPU's, RAM etc. Make sure all interconnection cables between the various boards are properly in place.

Do the PSU fans start up then nothing happens and they stop again?

Check power distribution board on the LHS. I had this issue after a 7000 was shipped to me. There was a loose connection from one PSU to the board and it was stopping startup for some reason.

Neill

 

[AmonRa79]

Thank you guys for the quick response,


A little update, i have reseated all the possible connectors and things that might loosen up during transport as you recommended.

But still nothing, last message i forgot to mention the PSU fans start after a while (PSU selftest) and then shift into a lower gear (so it seems =) then nothing happens, no screen that is and no boot.

 

[ntinlin]

Does the CD light flash a couple of times?

If it does then the CPU's are probably ok.

Presume you have no IMD to give you some idea which stage it is getting to on boot?

 

[ntinlin]

I also wonder if the firmware might have been corrupted somehow (straw grasping time).

See

http://h200006.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/...ual/TPM_328686-002_ch3/TPM_328686-002_ch3.pdf

for how to do a Rompaq disaster recovery on a PII Xeon 7000.

Another daft thought is the onboard battery might be dead. I've seen PC's where the system will boot up without a battery but not with a dead one. Don't think it is removable on the 7000 but you could switch it to use an external battery and see what happens.

http://h200006.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/...ual/TPM_328686-002_ch4/TPM_328686-002_ch4.pdf

Table 4.7
This doc also has the codes for the interlock LED's which might be helpful.

Neill

 

[AmonRa79]

Thank you Neill,


I can allready confirm the CD light flashes for a couple of times, so processors are ok.

The battery might be something worth to have a look at I know it has been standing there for ages so it is a possability but i will need to look into that maybe tomorrow since i run 12h shifts at the moment .. so i am not realy in the mood to start looking an thinking for another few hours =)

The document link you have attached is something I allready looked into (interlocks)before i posted this thread. I believe i have mentioned that in the first post.


The first thing I will try is the battery.
Forgive me for my bad english, I am not a native english speaking citizen so you will need to give me the words for the abbriviation IMD =)



Thanks for the help so far i will keep you posted .


Tim

 

[ntinlin]

There are so many different documents, and split into different chapters, that it is difficult to know exactly which document you were referring to.

IMD - Insight Management Display.
LCD display on front of server that displays events if a drive has failed etc. but also shows you the startup sequence before the display starts.

Your English is fine, better than a lot of my American colleagues. :-D

Neill

 

[AmonRa79]

Ok Neill



I have tried to change the battery with an external one but no succes. The server still ventilates and furthermore nothing.

The IMD works allright, it displays the firmware that is on there (1.9 if i am correct.)

I thought it could be the memory also, but i replaced it with new one and still nothing.

Perhaps you and others might still have ideas what is going on.

 

[ntinlin]

So when you start up does anything appear on the IMD?

It should go through a checklist, I forget the order but it is something like system board, CPU, last item is video which is when you will see the ProLiant logo on screen.

If you see the firmware version then it means the IMD is properly connected.
Try the PSU in a different slot, i.e. if it is bottom slot try it in the top one or middle one.

I'm still thinking power somehow you see. I had a very similar problem as I told you which turned out to be the power distribution board on the left hand bottom which the hot-plug PSU's connect into.

Neill

 

[AmonRa79]

The only thing that appears in the IMD is
"compaq LCD Model # 56022 Firmware 1.9"

Furthermore nothing.


I've tried to switch the PSU's but still nothing. So i thought of a bad connection so i went to my local electronic shop and bought a contact cleaner and cleaned all the possible contacts on the PSU and the distribution board. Tried it again and still the same thing.

A few more details on how the startup goes.

1. The lights of the PSU's start to flash green.
2. Fans start
3. Led of the CD rom flashes
4. All the leds of the SCSI interface (hotplugs) blink.
5. PSU fans switch into a lower gear.
6. Fans keep on ventilating.



I have some thoughts .. could it be possible that the onboard video card is dead ? If so do i need to turn off that option and slide in a PCI graphic card in the PCI extention board ?.



Tim

 

[Hemo]

Make certain the memory is the correct type and speed. My Proliant 800 refuses to get past the stages you list unless it has true ECC memory installed.

just adding another straw to your grasp list....

 

[ntinlin]

Hemo is correct.
I'd try and boot with minimum ram possible if you haven't already. Can't remember how many DIMMS are needed to start but if 2 start with 2 and so on. Obviously check part numbers with a google search to see if correct ones for machine.

Check Switch 1 on the peripheral board. It should be set to off for onboard video to work. Try setting it to on to disable and put a PCI card in. Shouldn't really stop it displaying on IMD though, video is last thing it initialises.

 

[TheLad]

On a Proliant 7000, memory must be added in banks of 4 DIMMs. The links below refer to the Proliant 7000 server (depending on what model it is):

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant7000-xeon/

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant7000/

There is a memory link on the left hand side of both, click there for confirmation regarding memory configuration. There is also a lot of other data that may be of help.

-----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
-----------------------------------------------------

 

[AmonRa79]

Ok ... mmm now i know what is going on, there are only 2 dimms in there .. so i need to look for 2 other.

Hemo, you are right .. i've read that in the manual, the dimms are from compaq itself, and if i look at the reference number it's correct so no problem there, but like 'thelad' said i only have 2 dimms installed.

So i will need to find those dimms somewhere cheap .. since the are very expensive and i am running low on cash .. LOL
I will keep you guys posted if that is the problem (most likely but there could be more probs comming ..)



Thanks alot allready

 

[AmonRa79]

Hello, i am back and with a ... semi working server.


As "thelad" told the problem is with the Dimms. So now my system boots up and displays alot on the IMD that everything is ready to go.


By the way it's a proliant 6000 and not a 7000 (saw that in the IMD) Now i get the following errors

163, 1785, 162, 172-1, 172 EISA.

I have been told you need to reconfigure the complete system with software from compaq/hp. I just don't know what software to use/download. Perhaps someone can tell me what software is used to configure and maintain the server.



Thanks all for the reply's you have all been very helpfull.
I will try to visit these forums more often to see if my expierence can be of any use =)


Greetz

Amon

 

[ntinlin]

You should really try and get hold of a SmartStart CD of v5.4 or less which will support a 6000. That will have all the correct drivers for the system and can do a semi-automatic install of the OS etc. if required.

If you ask nicely someone here can probably send you one. I can if you are in the UK.

To get started with downloaded stuff though you'll need the System Erase Util, Array Config Util, and Diags Partition setup util.

Neill