Poweredge 2400 issues on boot, F1 to continue, F2 to enter setup

Question

I have two 2400's, no hardware ever added or removed.  I get the message, hit F1 to continue, F2 to enter setup.  Only thing I notice is the PCI bios failed to install and battery not present during post.  I have no PCI slots in use in either on them.  It seems to be a common issue on these from the posts I've read, but no answers were given as to how to address this.  Both are running v. A09.  I've tried resetting the bios to default settings.  They both have Perc 2/si raid 5 setups.  Not being able to remote reboot these machines is driving me crazy.  Any help is overly appreciated.   Thanks in advance Jeff

85250RFan · Answer

Hi there,

I have a Demension 2400 doing the exact same thing. F1 to continue, which when pressed does nothing, or F2 to go to setup, which does nothing for me either. I first I thought my HD failed, but reading posts like this one makes me wonder what is up. Have you found anything out at all?

speedstep · Answer

F1 with what error?

The cmos battery is probably bad or there is some other FATAL hardware error like bad keyboard or missing keyboard due to cmos failure and it wanting to SEE a keyboard.

Kvm Swithches help with this by faking out the system into thinking there is a mouse and keyboard there.

85250RFan · Answer

When the computer boots up, it comes up with "Strike F1 to reboot or F2 to enter setup Utility"

I found I had a hardware failure. The HD crashed, the BIOS seemed to change and read no HD at all anymore. I replaced the HD and stll the same error so I figured I would reset the BIOS.To enter the BIOS setup program, I rebooted the computer. Thats when the error comes up with Strike F1 to reboot or F2 to enter setup utility, so I hit F2.Once inside the setup program I was presented with a series of menu items across the top of the screen and specific setup items in the middle of the screen. I was also presented with navigation instructions at the bottom of the screen. To reset the BIOS to factory defaults I pressed at the same time. That resets all the BIOS settings to there standard from the manufacturer configuration.Under the "Boot Sequence" menu I moved the "IDE CD-ROM Device" to boot first. Went down to "Report keyboard Errors" and changed to "Do Not Report" And exited saving the configuration, and the problem is now gone. Unfortunately I lost everything on that main HD. Going to try to work with it tomorrow. Maybe even go so far as to remove the disk and see if I can put it in another HD to get the info back.

Hope this info may help anyone else...

Majestic · Answer

Wellyman, click here for the on-line version of your system's User Guide and the section pertaining to replacing the motherboard battery.  A new 3.0-volt, coin-cell, CR2032-type battery will cost around $3 and is available at any Radio Shack, computer store and most discount stores.

wellyman · Answer

Thanks for the replies.  I had these servers hooked up to kvm switches, but removed them and put a dedicated ms/keyboard when this problem started so I can tell someone to hit the f1 key on a specific keyboard vs. trying to tell them how to work the switch, in the event of my absence.  I didn't think about the cmos battery.  I've never had to mess with one before.  Are there any special instructions on replacement?  Which battery do I need and is it a generic type that I can find in a walgreens?

wellyman · Answer

Thank U kindly Majestic.  Will try this out.

PowerEdge Hardware General

Poweredge 2400 issues on boot, F1 to continue, F2 to enter setup

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