Dell R210 II could not turn on

Question

The Dell R210 II is used as a software router with an Intel SATA SSD and ethernet card connected to it. Opnsense was installed on the machine for it to function as a UTM. The unit shut off suddenly causing the entire network to went down. The room temperature is high around 30C, not a dustless room but maintained constantly. 8GB of DDR3 ECC (non-REG) ram were installed as 2 +2 +2 +2 and an intel E3-1220V2 was installed on the machine as well. the unit is rack-mounted but since I don't have the proper mounting gear, it was supported by a plate instead.

After the sudden shut down:

Unit shows no response to the power button ( no fan, no light, no sound after pressing the power button )

The Green LED on the motherboard was turned on, suspected to be the power indicator. The power supply is expected to be good and functional.

Unit shows response after pressing the "i" button with first a blue light flashing and an amber light after the second press.

Additional information:

The unit is installed in a well-developed region with a steady power supply in the residential area.

Hope this information is enough since I am stuck here with little knowledge of this machine, therefore, incapable of curing this machine by myself. Please help, any reply and/or suggestion will be appreciated! Thanks!

DELL-Shine K · Answer

Can you check the diagnostics light status? Status LED will be available on front panel. You can refer section "Diagnostic Lights" on page 17 of below link for more details.

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_poweredge/poweredge-r210-2_owner%27s%20manual_en-us.pdf

Peter Wan · Answer

Hello,

Thank you, but unfortunately, since the unit DID NOT respond, meaning no sound, no fan, no power indicator and of course no Diagnostic Lights on. The bugs me a lot as the old OptiPlex 755 is still operational and I am currently using it to temporarily replace the non-functional unit. (and I just used the diagnostic indicator on that unit to find out that 3 of the 4 install ram on the Optiplex is faulty) This is also the reason why I am here because I have no clue about what is going on and staffs of dell seem to be here answering questions. so I am still looking forward to finding a solution here either suggested by dell and/or other users.

Much appreciated!

Best,

Peter

DELL-Shine K · Answer

Can you try to boot the server with minimum to POST. For minimum to POST you need configure the system with one DIMM on slot A1 and one HDD with no additional cards

Peter Wan · Answer

Hello,

I have tried minimum Post, but still no response like before. I have also tried removing the CPU and the PCI-e raising plate, but still no luck. The replacement unit shows an unexpected response with the NIC being shorted/dead, causing the unit to fail to boot. It is suspected that the NIC on the Poweredge could also be damaged due to the ethernet connection? but I really don't know how and when the PowerEdge is powered, the NIC shows a positive response being both input's amber and green light blinking. So I am not sure if the ethernet connection has caused damage to the NIC or not. The NIC I was using on the Optiplex (which died causing the unit to have a keep blinking amber light in extremely fast speed possibly shorted) is a PCI-X 64bit card which I plugged into the PCI slot(32bit) and it was working until now. I think the death of the card could be caused by improper use rather than the ethernet connection. There are 2 devices connected to the damaged NIC are the Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and an Apple airport extreme, both of them are still functional today, and that is why I believe the possibility of the ethernet connection destroying the NIC and the motherboard is low.

I have noticed a special thing about the PowerEdge. When I press the power button, the unit did not respond, so I unplugged the unit and pressed it again. My understanding is that if the power button is pressed, it should activate the power supply, quickly drain all the power inside for whatever process it needs to run like the BIOS, but the green LED did not fade any faster than letting it go by itself, I suspect the power button is not working or something fired and the unit did not receive the poweron function at all. i wish to know if there are any methods for us/me to jump start the unit like a PC?

Thanks for taking your time and keep following up! Much appreciated!

Best,

Peter

PowerEdge Hardware General

Dell R210 II could not turn on

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