PE2850 Firmware update (SUU) fails at 5%

If it worked on two 2850's but not these two, then you have the right version for the 2850

e: By "worked" i mean that it recognized that there were no updates necessary, so i'm not sure if that necessarily means the version or burn are good.

What are the firmware revisions of the two in question?

I believe the current bios versions (which is what appears to need updates) are A06 and A05 for the 2 separate machines.  6.4 says they need A07.  Everything else appears to be up to date already.  I've also tried a 6.3.0 and a 6.2.0 SUU and neither have worked since i last posted. edit: 6.1.0, same result

It says "checking for firmware updates" and sets the progress bar right at 5% at the very beginning of the install, but then fails after just a few seconds and prompts me to reboot.

But you were able to update a 2950 and 1950 with those same DVD's, right?

BIOS should not be an issue, and as long as the other hardware is original (hasn't been swapped around with possibly older and/or third-party hardware), then there should not be an issue there either. 

Just checked and 6.4 is indeed ok for the 2850.

You might try swapping the DVD drive out for one it worked with.

Try de-selecting the DRAC checkbox and see if it works. Seems to cause a LOT of update problems for me. OK if I update the DRAC by itself, but not as a set.

2c,

JB

But you were able to update a 2950 and 1950 with those same DVD's, right?

Yeah, good point.

You might try swapping the DVD drive out for one it worked with.

Tried that, to no avail.  Is it possible that some other component of my system is bad? or.. Is there another way to upgrade  the bios via some other means than a dvd?  I see a few options listed when the SBUU asks where to look for a repository, so maybe i'll investigate some of those.

Have you tried resetting the bios to it's default setting via the berg pin jumper?

I would try pcmeiners' suggestion, as it can fix a host of "weird" problems ... it clears the configuration and hardware list that BIOS keeps for hardware, forcing it to rebuild on the next boot.  If that list had been corrupted and something was not reporting right, then clearing it would fix that.

It is possible something is bad, however ... there's more than one way to skin a cat :)  If they have Windows on them (or you can install Windows on them temporarily), all the updates can be done individually (or en masse via SUU) from the OS.  (Can be done in Linux too, but I'm not a Linux guy, so I'll leave that one alone.)  If you do them individually, you'll just want to remember to do them in this order:  BIOS, ESM/BMC, DRAC, RAID.

awesome suggestions, i'll give them a try (probably won't get to them until tomorrow or later in the week) and let you know how it turned out. Thanks again!

Also, if the above suggestions do not work, while you have it down, run diagnostics  on the memory.

Hey all,

 Well, as it turns out I was able to update the BIOS via a floppy disk, don't know why I didnt just try that before.  It appears that there is some mysterious problem with the SUU 6.4.0 dvd i was using. What would happen (when it "worked") was it would start an update on say, a 2950, and sit at 5% for about 30 minutes, after which it would automatically reboot.  At that point, re-trying the process of SBUU 6.4 followed by SUU 6.4 revealed that the updates had in fact taken.  I'm not sure if this is just pure luck on our part, or if the higher end systems are able to read poorly burned dvd's (i suspect that when we created the iso for 6.4 we didn't concatenate the 4 files properly)

Moral of the story: always be sure of your isos, and if all else fails, low-tech rules :) Nice to see that floppy's can still serve a purpose once in awhile.

Thanks again to everyone

Glad you got it sorted.

Evening - I am hoping to get some advice on the following please - I have been struggling to update the firmware for a brand new R710 server:

Below is the main page I been going through:

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/systems-management/w/wiki/1968.dell-openmanage-downloads-explained.aspx

- I have do downloaded latest version of 'dell Systems Build and Update Utility' = A00 7.0.0

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=V72P3&FileId=2895811358&productCode=poweredge-r720&urlProductCode=False

I have downloaded latest version of Repository Manager - v1.4.113

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/systems-management/w/wiki/1767.dell-repository-manager.aspx

Its been about 3 days trying to update the repository with the windows and linux drivers / firmware for the R710 model only - is this normal? The usability of the Dell software network and tools is shocking to say the least.

I have also tried downloading 'Dell DVD ISO - Dell Server Updates' about 4 times from various locations, first ISO downlaods without issue and am able to open the iso with winrar, the other 3 ISO's all seem to error 'corrupt' when I try open them with winrar to verify if they downloaded correctly. Seems like the archives are corrupt on dells FTP server? Anyone verify if they are working?

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?c=us&s=bsd&cs=04&l=en&DriverId=R286271

Have managed to create a linux ISO from repository manager, booted server with dell Systems Build and Update Utility, pointed firmware update to custom ISO created, highlights 3 pending updates:

- OM FRMW LX R271656 Dell embedded openmanage for ESXi4.0

- perc H700

- 10GB NetXtreme II BC M57711

Every time I try and complete a firmware update, the setup stalls/fails at 5%, collecting server info (checking for firmware updates) or with error message 'failed to update firmware: firmware failed'

I have only managed to get the PERC H700 updated by selecting that update only, no other updates will run successfully.

Any help from dell would be great as this should be 'bread and butter' work for Dell and this process is just not up to scratch when compared to HP's process. I was hoping OpenManage Essentials would cover all this pain for me but currently it does not!

Thanks in advance for the reply

Warren Estermann

Above is a screenshot of the firmwares that refuse to update - same results on 2 servers - no specific reason for the failures :(