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Dual ATI Firepro 2450 X1 Graphics Cards no output to HP DL380e G8
Hello Experts
We have 2 HP DL380e G8 Servers, brand new. Each is required to have 8 video outputs. We have purchased 4 ATI Firepro 2450 X1 graphics cards (2 per server) and each card has 2 adapters providing 4x DVI outputs.
So far when the cards have been installed in the server they have caused problems setting up RAID 6 (now resolved) and problems installing Server Operating System (Windows Server 2008 R2).
On one server we now have the operating system installed and the graphics cards are both showing in Device Manager, but we cannot get any video output other than via the onboard VGA graphics port.
The second server will not even boot if the graphics cards are installed. It gets as far as HP Smart Array checks and says there are no logical drives detected. Chances are we will completely wipe this server and start afresh if we get the issue resolved on the first server.
Has anyone else had similar issues?
We have 2 HP DL380e G8 Servers, brand new. Each is required to have 8 video outputs. We have purchased 4 ATI Firepro 2450 X1 graphics cards (2 per server) and each card has 2 adapters providing 4x DVI outputs.
So far when the cards have been installed in the server they have caused problems setting up RAID 6 (now resolved) and problems installing Server Operating System (Windows Server 2008 R2).
On one server we now have the operating system installed and the graphics cards are both showing in Device Manager, but we cannot get any video output other than via the onboard VGA graphics port.
The second server will not even boot if the graphics cards are installed. It gets as far as HP Smart Array checks and says there are no logical drives detected. Chances are we will completely wipe this server and start afresh if we get the issue resolved on the first server.
Has anyone else had similar issues?
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We spoke to the Graphics Card vendor and have been told that the cards are not compatible with Server 2008 despite being given information to the contrary.
First of all, the installation of graphics cards shouldn't affect the performance of hard drive setups, nor the installation of an OS. If the servers are running fine minus the graphics cards, chances are it's a power supply issue and the cards are requiring extra power the PSU isn't able to supply.
The issue with the first server sounds relatively simple, sounding like a conflict of hardware. Check the BIOS settings for the onboard graphics. On my personal gaming PC, there is an option to select the inital display output (the options on mine being IGFX or the 3 PCI-E slots) it sounds to me like a similar option needs to be found on your servers BIOS (if it exists) and ensured it is using the cards over the integrated chipset. If the integrated graphics can be completely disabled, that would ultimately be a better result.
As for the second server, it sounds like you are still having trouble with your RAID setup. By saying it can detect no logical drives, it is saying there are no boot volumes that it can identify. This can also be an issue cause by incorrectly setting up hardware in the BIOS. It can however also be caused by faulty hardware. If the BIOS can detect any installed drives, then hardware failure can be ruled out. I would start from there with this issue.