First of all, if this problem gets too involved I will split it out into multiple questions as we conquer one problem at a time.
I recently acquired a used Dell R710 server.
The system had a system board replacement right before I acquired it, and I did s secure wipe on the drives to remove old software and proceeded to start reloading it. I'm not extremely well versed in Server systems, and even less so in Dell, so forgive my ignorance as you attempt to help m.
I loaded Server 2016 on the system via DVD and this resulted in some missing drivers, as you might expect. When I started trying to hunt down drivers I found the suggestion that I should upgrade the bios as well as the iDRAC and LCC.
I'm not all that familiar with iDRAC or the LCC, so I spent some time reading up and attempting to upgrade these. I did finally get the iDRAC upgraded to the latest version, but have been unable to get the LCC firmware updated. The updates I've attempted, via the iDRAC, remotely from within my LAN, have just sit and spin and tell me that the file is being uploaded, and days later it never changes.
I tried accessing the LCC using F10 on bootup, and this has proven futile. I did manage to access it once, but was unable to navigate to the updates that I had on my network share, and while I was in there I noticed some errors in the logs about new hardware installed, such as the ram, processors, etc.... this was a result of the new mainboard being installed, and I found something in the LCC about inventory, so I told it to search for inventory on reboot. This didn't prove very useful, it never succeeded, and it hangs on that when trying to boot the system. I tried going back into the utilities with F10 and it hangs at 'entering UEFI please wait....
I don't have enough experience with Dell Servers, to feel comfortable and I've already spent weeks trying to get answers to my lack of knowledge, so I'm here.
My train of thought is that I need to get the bios and LCC firmware up to date in order to go forward, and I'm open to advice and suggestions on the best course of action.
I did download and create a bootable usb that was supposed to update all the necessary equipment from https://dell.app.box.com/v/BootableR710
I booted and ran this, and it gave an extremely long log of stuff that looked as if it wasn't successful on anything. The LCC definitely did not update, nor did the firmware, as for just making bios disc and booting to it, no I have not.
I understand that 2016 may not be supported, and I'm ok with that, and I'm also ok with the EOL on the server. It's a learning experience and a way to have a backup server if the need arises for me. I have however read several posts of people who are running 2016 on the R710, and Dell recently updated the iDRAC version to accommodate, among many things, the use of 2016. But everything I've read and come across seems to indicate it's essential to bring the bios and LCC up to most current version.