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Oddity upgrading R610 from 2.2.10 bios to 6.x.x
Hey all,
So I've seen this happen on two separate R610s now in the last 2 days. We recently received 2 R610s back that was on loan to a vendor for the last 2 or so years. Before bringing it back into the pool, I plopped in a CD generated from Repository Manager that has the Linux Deployment Media on it in the first server. We've used this CD before on the other 20 R610s I support without issue.
However upon rebooting, the BIOS which was supposed to be upgraded from version 2.2.10 to 6.3.0, has the BIOS Revision set to "blank". Yes. The POST screen says "Bios Revision" instead of "Bios Revision 6.3.0". After installing CentOS and attempting to re-run the Bios Update BIN file it says that the installed version is nothing.
Yeah. Not good. And because of this I can't access the System Services / USC / LifeCycle Controller. It just hangs there.
Everything else updated fine (iDRAC, LifeCycle, drives, raid, network, etc).
So I thought... try 2. Install OS first (CentOS) and run patches from root when install is finished. Same deal and same issue. Everything else patched fine except the BIOS.
I have tried:
- Forcing a downgrade to 2.2.10 and 3.0.0 but both fail (even with the -f -q flags)
- Re-flashing it and the LifeCycle controller
- Attempted to run the Lifecycle repair package via the iDRAC interface (update the .usc file and have it run...)
The system itself is operable, but I have no idea what impact this could have long term.
brokenpipe
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January 10th, 2013 14:00
Want to report back for others.
Unfortunately the flags 'rebrand' and 'brandname' didn't work however when I tried 'FORCETYPE' (as in /FORCETYPE), it loaded!
It has been flashed and everything is working fantastically. Thanks for the help!
DELL-Daniel My
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January 8th, 2013 13:00
Hello brokenpipe
Do you know if these are OEM systems? Do you have the normal Dell logo during POST? Also, check to see if a service tag is programmed into the BIOS.
Thanks
brokenpipe
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January 8th, 2013 13:00
From what I can tell these are Dell direct systems. I do get a Dell logo during POST as well. The service tag pulls up as well. See two screen shots (service tag partially removed on purpose).
FWIW, I can't open up a support ticket right now because I am still waiting on the ownership to transfer over to my company :-(.
DELL-Daniel My
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January 8th, 2013 14:00
Try flashing again and add this switch: -rebrand
That is the switch to convert from an OEM BIOS to a standard BIOS. It may allow it to overlook the issue of not recognizing a current BIOS version. If that does not work then I would suggest clearing NVRAM via jumper on the system board. If none of that works then the boards may need to be replaced. I suspect someone force flashed the wrong BIOS on these servers.
Also, try these switches
-brandname
/brandname
And be sure to choose 0 for poweredge. Selecting 1 will designate it as a PowerVault.
Thanks
DELL-Daniel My
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January 10th, 2013 11:00
The instructions I have state that the non-packaged version must be used. Copy the Hard Drive version to a bootable USB or some other media. Run the commands from that command line.
Based on the information I have available I doubt it will work with the .bin, but I would have to test to be certain.
brokenpipe
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January 10th, 2013 11:00
Thanks Daniel.
Before I go cowboy'ing. Does the BIN utility support passing either of these commands or is this only supported on the EXE version of the BIOS flash utility?
DELL-Daniel My
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January 10th, 2013 14:00
Thanks for the update! I'll go ahead and mark it as the answer for anyone that has this issue.
pmcdaidie
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May 10th, 2018 10:00
Hi, I'm seeing the same problem after running R610_BIOS_60HK9_WN64_6.5.0.EXE
The system rebooted but then I see the BIOS version as blank. When I re-run this after it boots up to windows, the utility tells me it can't detect BIOS version.
The extracted files don't take the parameters mentioned in this solution. Can you help?
If I run: msinfo32 I see BIOS version:
DELL - 1, Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10, 19/02/2018
BIOS Mode: Legacy
Atanas Stoyanov
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July 5th, 2018 00:00
Hello,
I am having the exact same issue after trying an upgrade of the BIOS from 2.X to 6.5.0 on a PowerEdge R610.
After the reboot server tried to load LC but with no success for more than 60 minutes.
Is there a way to fix it?
Whenever I run the update now I get this:
This Update Package is not compatible with your system configuration.
Same Update works on all of my other R610s.
I am trying to start the update via Linux command line.
Kind Regards,
Atanas Stoyanov