New Dell T40 Does Not See USB3 Drive on Book For OS Installation

Just to let anyone else here who finds this post know. I got a PM asking for my service tag from a bot but I can't figure out what it wants. I have logged in to support and can see my service tag is now registered with support out to 2024. The  standard three year warranty.

So now I am just waiting to see if someone can answer as to why I can't see the USB boot drive or why the F12 one time boot menu does not appear.

Thank you for any assistance you can be in this matter.

If there is some place to go to talk directly with someone that would be great but it's a bit time consuming for the other person. Someone else must have had this problem before.

Thanks.

Peter

Hi Charles,
In the dell T40 technical guide on page 5 it says:

New technologies
The following table shows the list of new technologies offered by the PowerEdge T40:

"New Windows Server OS Support Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2016 support"

Is this incorrect?

In the support panels it actually specifies Windows 2019 server LTSC is supported.

Does this mean that Windows Server 2019 Data Center is not support on the T40?

I can get Windows Server 2016 Data Center because we are an MSDN.

But I read that line in the technical guide and presumed that windows server 2019 is supported on the T40.

Yes. I have checked the BIOS for all USBs ports to be active. 

I have seen on other posts only some ports will accept bootable drives.

So I tried a whole bunch of ports too.

I will create a USB Boot drive for Windows Server 2016 and try that.

Could you please tell me if F12 is supposed to bring up the one time boot screen on the T40?

I see other people talking about F12 is how they see the one time boot screen.

Thanks for your help.

I will let you know how I get along here.

I won't be able to get back to this until later this evening. 

Best Regards 

Peter 

Hello Peter,

Thank you for pointing that Windows Server 2019 LTSC is listed on the T40 product support page. I guess the link I posted for Supported OS's is not updated. I apologize for that. Yes WS2019 DC should work.

Have you try your bootable USB in a different system to see if it will boot?

Do you have any other known good bootable USB you can test boot with?

I would say go ahead and try at least to test boot a WS2016 usb install device and see how it goes.

Did you see on the link you provided on your first post , bottom of page 2, Steve Bungay successfully installed  "The Server recognized the USB in UEFI mode with legacy boot disabled."

      Try disabling legacy boot  and see if OS installs

You are correct that F12 should bring up boot menu. Owner manual page 17-18 : https://dell.to/3wHSyNh

Press F12 when the Dell logo appears to initiate a one-time boot menu with a list of the valid boot devices for the system.

Take a look at this post it may be helpful Dell Poweredge T40 OS Load :  https://dell.to/3rj3wYz

Hello Peter,

I'm sorry to see the T40 is not seeing the USB drive. The system has USB 3.0 ports identified as Blue USB ports, they are USB 3.0 Type-A port. One on front and four at the rear.

Have you validated the USB is bootable in another system?

Check your BIOS USB settings make sure they are not disabled:

USB Configuration

Front USB Configuration

Rear USB Configuration

You may consider another OS. WS2019 is not validated for the T40 and as such we would not have support for it or drivers on the T40.

You can review  PowerEdge T40 supports these operating systems : https://dell.to/3klwky1

    Ubuntu® Server 18.04 LTS

    Windows Server 2016

To talk directly with technician you can call to support. For US/Canada the number is 1-800-945-3355.

Please let me know how it goes.

Hi Charles,

well, I have been in IT 40 years now so I guess I know my way around support pages! LOL! 

Yes, I went over to the support page and saw 2019 LTSC as well.

In any case, I will give 2016 a go and see if that will work.

I sent that last post before I read your last post. Sorry.

Yes. I have followed all the instructions that I have found.

Legacy boot is not enabled.

I connected the server to my TV and I was able to see the emc logo soon enough to press f12 and get to the boot menu. The USB drive was not visible in the one time boot menu either.

The BIOS is set to "factory settings" for 1.3.1 level.

So I am at a bit of a loss to know why it is not seen.

But sooner or later we will figure this out I am sure.

Thanks for your help.

I will keep at it now that I have plugged the T40 in to the TV and don't have to swap my screen out to test it! LOL! 

Best Regards 

Peter 

Hi Charles,

I was just reading the technical guide some more and on page 6 it says:

"New Server OS support
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2016
Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS"

If it only supports 2019 LTCS or whatever that is called then I think an update to the technical guide is needed.

I read this guide when deciding whether I should get second hand T30 or a new T40. And of course T30s don't support 2019.

In any case. I am going to try and install an eval version of windows server 2016 on it just to see if I can get something installed on to it.

Thanks 

Peter