Fan at max speed on C6300 server with 2 x Xeon Phi

Hello Xarboule,

On the fan speed running high; Does it matter which one is installed first? Does the issue follow the blade or does it not matter which one is installed first?

See if you have the current BIOS:

Dell Power Edge Server BIOS C6320P Version 2.3.0

Release date :  06 Feb 2020

https://dell.to/2EiGVXC

Was this working normally before and just started doing this? Was anything changed before this started?

Has anything changed on the hardware like added memory?

Are there any hardware issues on either blade?

Please let me know and I'll be happy to assist you.

Hello,

That hardware change might have caused this. There is unsupported hardware or near-maximum hardware configuration that can be cause fan issues. Can you try a simple step at first with doing drain flea power? because I'm seeing this RAC0501 warning at the screenshot.

1. Turn off your server.
2. Disconnect the power cable.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds to drain the flea power.
4. Connect the power cable.
5. Turn on your server.

While not sure, there may be an issue with the iDRAC firmware. Have you performed the iDRAC update recently or have the fans started running at maximum speed after the iDRAC update? We once solved it by rollingback to the previous version because the iDRAC update caused the fans to run at maximum speed. In generally fan issues solve after release new iDRAC&LCC FW versions for poweredge servers.

Let us know if it helps.

Hello,

Nothing new after draining the flea power. It was worth a try though.

I recently did the iDRAC 2.75.75.75 update, hoping it would solve the problem. So we already had the problem with the previous version (2.55.55.50).

For the hardware change, I tried to remove both SATA cables to the front panel, so the machines don't have access to any disk and stay in the BIOS. But the problem remains. (Even after draining the flea power).

Thank you for helping

Hello,

Thanks for info, and sorry for continuing problem remains. I'm digging our articles and try to find out what causes this issue. I assume you didn't upgrade any memory or change memory slot, did you? I have seen a similar situation for C6525 model. I'm asking this because such an additional memory can also cause the wrong memory population to increase the high speed fan idle conditions. 

Hello Xarboule,

That would be a good test to try. Leave one DIMM per processor. Check results.

You may take them down to minimum to post, see if the fans are normal and put things back a little at a time until you find the faulting component:

Minimum configuration to POST

One power supply unit
One Processor (CPU) (minimum for troubleshooting)
One Memory Module (DIMM) installed in the socket A1

Please let me know your results

Hello,

No problem, it is already great to have some help / feedback.

We did not add memory, nor change the slots in use.
Do you think it could be interesting to remove all the RAM modules to try without ?

Thank you!

Hello,

I just tried, with minimum config to post. And I even changed the RAM module remaining in each blade, to make sure those are not responsible.
No change.

So, I only see 2 possibilities:

    1.  The fan control card does not understand something that happens when we plug 2 blades with this config, but it does not come from 1 specific blade. Only the combination triggers the problem.

    2. From what I read, the fan speed is sent by the iDRAC to the fan control card. If that is true, what if the 2 iDRAC disagree on the value to set ? They have the exact same version and settings in the FAN section though.

Hello Xarboule,

Please check the LifeCycle log for any errors reported. You can see this log in the DRAC or in the LifeCycle Controller by choosing F10 on boot up. 

Can you confirm all fans are working?

 A fan failure or temperature that is too high in the system will result in a notification from the BMC and the remaining fans will ramp to 100% duty cycle.

Try swapping the fans to get a good reseat -  remove fan 1, move all other fans down one and put fan 1 in the last slot.

Hello,

I found no thermal-related alerts in the Lifecycle Controller. Nothing about temperature or fans.

And unless my iDRAC is lying, the 4 fans seem to be working.
I will try the fan swap tomorrow, I will keep you informed.

Thank you again.

Hello Xarboule,

That sounds good. I'll watch for an update. Check over these things also:

CAUTION: To maintain proper system cooling, all empty hard-drive bays must have drive blanks installed.
Dummy HDD (Required for non-populated drive slots)

Ensure that none of the following conditions exist:

System cover, cooling shroud, drive blank, front or back filler panel is removed.
Ambient temperature is too high.
External airflow is obstructed.
Cables inside the system obstruct airflow.
An individual cooling fan is removed or has failed.

Hello Xarboule,

That is great to see you were able to get it working. 
If you want to investigate the other slots more, you may check any cable connections for lose connections or any bent pins.
Hope you have a great day!