Broken USC for R310

Question

Main Problem I have a PowerEdge R310 with only the BMC (no DRAC). From within Windows, I updated the Unified Server Configurator (USC) to newer versions offered on Dell's support page.  When I reboot and try to enter USC, the USC fails to load.  Depending on the version of USC I try to use, either the USC freezes while loading or displays a message saying it failed to load.  I tried over 10 different versions from Dell's website (ranging from 1.3.0.15 to 1.6.5.12), and none of them work. Main Question Does anyone know of a working version of USC for an R310 with no DRAC?  I think the original working version that came with my system was something like version 1.3.x.y, but I'm not exactly sure.  Alternatively, is there something I could be doing wrong to cause USC to fail (even though the Windows updater says it was successfully written)? Background For some reason, Dell Online Diagnostics 2.30.0 gets stuck forever at 90% when performing a Disk Self Test on one of my HDDs (in Windows Server 2008 R2).  Therefore, I have to run the disk self-test from USC, which takes a long time and can't be performed remotely.  My original version of USC didn't support logging the results to a file on a modern drive (it was apparently made to log results to a floppy disk), so I decided to update the USC to see if a newer version could log the results to a USB flash drive or HDD.  This led me to the problem described above. Secondary Question Does anyone know why Dell Online Diagnostics for Windows would get stuck at 90% when performing a Disk Self Test when the test runs fine in USC?

Daniel My · Answer

Hello

I tried over 10 different versions from Dell's website (ranging from 1.3.0.15 to 1.6.5.12), and none of them work.

The latest version of the USC that I show is 1.55. If you installed version 1.6.5 then you installed the LCC. If you don't have an iDRAC in the system then I don't think the LCC will work as the LCC is a feature of the iDRAC and the release notes for 1.6.5 state that iDRAC 1.97 or later is required.

I suggest that you update the system BIOS, BMC, and install the latest USC version.

Thanks

CARES · Answer

Could you provide a link to the exact download page? I started by trying versions that didn't seem to require an iDRAC, but I tried everything when those didn't work. Dell makes this very confusing because they conflate USC and LCC/iDRAC and often assume that everyone has an iDRAC. For example, all the USC downloads on the support page for my service tag (which has never had an iDRAC) show up under the "Lifecycle Controller – Legacy" section.

I already have the latest BIOS and BMC installed, and the system works fine outside of the USC, but I will try reflashing them in case they were somehow affected by one of the USC/LCC updates. Thanks for the suggestion.

Daniel My · Answer

Could you provide a link to the exact download page?

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YV2KT&fileId=3154787896&osCode=WS8R2&productCode=poweredge-r310&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SV

That is the latest version of the USC/LCE/LCC that I see which does not list an iDRAC firmware version requirement.

CARES · Answer

Thanks for the response, and sorry for my late reply.

Unfortunately, I still cannot update/restore my USC to the suggested version (1.5.5.18) or any other version.

I first reflashed my system BIOS and BMC to the latest firmware versions, which was successful. However, when trying to update my USC to 1.5.5.18, I receive the following error after a few minutes:

"Update Failure: Partition Failure - Attach partition has failed"

Windows also creates an error dialog indicating that the disk in drive F: (the virtual drive created by the Dell updater) is not formatted.

I tried installing the update multiple times in multiple ways (e.g. restarting after each update, resetting the BMC settings, etc.), but nothing works.

Any other thoughts on how I might restore my USC?

Daniel My · Answer

resetting the BMC settings, etc.)

Resetting the BMC to defaults would have been my next suggestion. I suspect that is what you are referring to with the above statement?

My last suggestion would be an LCwipe. I'm not sure it will work with a BMC/USC, but it is the last thing I can think of trying aside from replacing the system board. The errors you are receiving indicate that the update process is having issues writing to the non-volatile memory that the USC/LCC is stored on. The LCwipe command is designed to wipe that partition. It would be similar to formatting a drive.

I have links in this thread that discuss what the LCwipe is and how to perform it:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/956/t/19627216

Thanks

PowerEdge Hardware General

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