Dell Poweredge 860 pre-booting-halt at ipmi BMC
Hi experts.
I need someone who really knows the bios internals of that power edge 860.
The cmos battery was exchanged because the diagnostic software reported low cmos battery voltage. Afterwards, the BIOS settings went back to defaults. We had it on defaults before, so I just adjusted time, date and year and rebooted.
For some odd reason, it now stops right before windows would boot and asks me if I wanted to use the BMC setup (F2) or continue (F1) and stays there...meaning everytime I needed to restart the server, I would have to enter the server room...
Does anyone know if the BMC setup includes an option to stop asking? Or where do I turn this off?
I had this problem years ago (solved it but can't remember how) and I am sure it was not that simple, that's why i did not even try to enter BMC setup but just F1-booted the server to make it accessible again.
I need someone who really knows the bios internals of that power edge 860.
The cmos battery was exchanged because the diagnostic software reported low cmos battery voltage. Afterwards, the BIOS settings went back to defaults. We had it on defaults before, so I just adjusted time, date and year and rebooted.
For some odd reason, it now stops right before windows would boot and asks me if I wanted to use the BMC setup (F2) or continue (F1) and stays there...meaning everytime I needed to restart the server, I would have to enter the server room...
Does anyone know if the BMC setup includes an option to stop asking? Or where do I turn this off?
I had this problem years ago (solved it but can't remember how) and I am sure it was not that simple, that's why i did not even try to enter BMC setup but just F1-booted the server to make it accessible again.
It sounds like a motherboard replacement or BIOS chip replacement solution to me. You can always try powering the device off, and discharging any static electricity, and pushing in on the CMOS chip to better seat it in the socket - an old-school approach that has solved many a problem over the years. It is, however, much less successful on modern machines.
I don't know about that Dell's BIOS but I would go into the BMC and do any setup or set to defaults that it gives you. I'm guessing that the MB sees that BMC isn't setup and wants you to do something.
Here's a bunch of stuff on BMC:
http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena/dept/cron/documentation/dell-server-admin/en/BMC/bmcugc0b.htm
Here's a bunch of stuff on BMC:
http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena/dept/cron/documentation/dell-server-admin/en/BMC/bmcugc0b.htm
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You can also flash the BIOS to the latest update from the manufacturer. This can solve problems like you are experiencing but also brings the risk of killing the CMOS chip. Again, rare these days and more common in the past, but to be aware is to be prepared. Have a replacement motherboard or BIOS chip handy before flashing the board, or at least make sure there are failover systems in place to avoid any disruptions. (Also, are your backups current and tested?)
I would suggest making sure your system firmware is up to date AFTER resolving the F1/F2.
ASKER
Read all suggestions, will only reply to one, for now.
PowerEdgeTech, you might be right and I am just missing that it is not the BMC talking to me but the BIOS. There is indeed no SATA drive connected (but SAS) and the POST messages warn me that there ain't. So what I am gonna do on tuesday (cannot do it before), is deactivate the SATA controller as the DVD is not needed at all for now.
Like I said, I once had exactly this on another 860, I solved it (cannot remember how), it was no hardware error but just some stupid Dell Bios Default setting that you would not expect to find on a server.
Of course I will also try to configure BMC to be quiet but as far as i remember, it was something different.
Will update this.
PowerEdgeTech, you might be right and I am just missing that it is not the BMC talking to me but the BIOS. There is indeed no SATA drive connected (but SAS) and the POST messages warn me that there ain't. So what I am gonna do on tuesday (cannot do it before), is deactivate the SATA controller as the DVD is not needed at all for now.
Like I said, I once had exactly this on another 860, I solved it (cannot remember how), it was no hardware error but just some stupid Dell Bios Default setting that you would not expect to find on a server.
Of course I will also try to configure BMC to be quiet but as far as i remember, it was something different.
Will update this.
If this is an F1/F2 thing, then the BMC is simply the last thing to load before BIOS gives you the F1/F2 prompt and is completely unrelated.
Even if there is no SATA drive, occasionally, there may be one of the onboard SATA ports enabled with nothing actually connected to it (BIOS hiccup, power loss, BIOS reset to defaults, BIOS updates, etc.) ... this is probably the most common cause of the F1/F2 prompt when no additional error messages or system status errors/warnings are displayed. If your DVD drive is the only SATA device and turning it off resolves the F1/F2, then the drive may be bad (or simply needs to be reseated).
"There is indeed no SATA drive connected (but SAS) and the POST messages warn me that there ain't."
What do you mean the "POST messages warn me that there 'ain't'"? What exactly does it say?
Even if there is no SATA drive, occasionally, there may be one of the onboard SATA ports enabled with nothing actually connected to it (BIOS hiccup, power loss, BIOS reset to defaults, BIOS updates, etc.) ... this is probably the most common cause of the F1/F2 prompt when no additional error messages or system status errors/warnings are displayed. If your DVD drive is the only SATA device and turning it off resolves the F1/F2, then the drive may be bad (or simply needs to be reseated).
"There is indeed no SATA drive connected (but SAS) and the POST messages warn me that there ain't."
What do you mean the "POST messages warn me that there 'ain't'"? What exactly does it say?
ASKER
It informs me "there is no sata drive connected", the exact message is not at hand.
I'm not familiar with what the exact verbiage of the POST/BIOS message would be, but it would make sense to get a message like that if you had, say, port 1 turned on with nothing connected to it (again, this is the most common cause for F1/F2). Good luck!
ASKER
Perfectly right, it was simply the sata port running amok with default settings - it was not even connected - BIOS judged the status as "unknown". After deactivating, the server boots without stopping. [I confirm that there was no misconfiguration and no defect either - we had the same problem years ago after a BIOS reset of another 860, must be a bug in that BIOS]
Thanks!
Thanks!