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16562
February 18th, 2009 03:00
Poweredge 6300 bootup problems
I recently obtained a second hand Poweredge 6300/300 (512Mb, 2 x Pentium II Xeon). First day of use had no problems (battery was dead so replaced this), reentered settings and managed to get it to boot into Windows 2003 server ok. Spent most of the day configuing new software.
Switched on the following day and after the post messages related to firmware are displayed (backplane, hot plug and play etc.), the system hangs after the first Adaptec AIC 7890 message is displayed. The keyboard is not locked up as can still reboot using CTRL+ALT+DEL.
Can't get into setup using F2 to check the settings as it doesn't complete the POST!
No warning beeps on bootup. Have tried removing all HDD out of backplane, swapping memory modules around, removed all PCI cards and all SCSI drives, reset BIOS settings via jumper, removed battery and checked all connections but still the problem persists.
Is it safe to say that the system board is dead?
Dennis Smith
946 Posts
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February 18th, 2009 06:00
You could try clearing the system board settings:
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
RGreen1974
3 Posts
1
February 18th, 2009 07:00
Thanks for the suggestion Dennis. Unfortunately have tried this a number of times (to be sure) by putting in a jumper on the ISA clear pins and rebooting. Same thing happens. Tried this with battery in and out.
Can't get as far as running the setup (F2 on boot) to even check the BIOS settings.
I was going to set this server up as a home server but if cannot get it working soon will assume that system board is at fault, take out the components that I can make use of (HDD, fans, CD ROM etc.) and bin the rest.
cj8281
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73 Posts
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February 18th, 2009 13:00
Have you tried to post with the scsi leashes unplugged from the motherboard?? I have a 4400 that had a tape drive that died between the 2nd and 3rd time that i tried to start it. Well it was a 6300 first, then i changed out the motherboard. I could never get the 6300 to do anything so i changed out the motherboard and then the 3rd push of the power button it would lock up. What processors and how much ram do you have in the 6300??
You can reuse the case and install a 6300 or a 4400 (with the right tray). My 6300 came with 2 700mhz1mbL2 cache and 3 gb of ram. Now it has the 4400 mb and 2 1ghz xeons with 2.5gb of ram. When playing around with it trying to figure out what was wrong, i tried it with nothing hooked to the motherboard other than the bare minimum, 1 proc, 2 sticks of ram (for the 4400 requires ram installed in matching pairs like the old pentiums with 72 pin simms), and it posted. Added one thing at a time till i found the dead tape drive.
Hope this helps. :emotion-1:
RGreen1974
3 Posts
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February 19th, 2009 13:00
Thanks for your reply cj8281. My spec is a bit behind the times: Pentium II Xeon 400Mhz x2 and 512Mb RAM - it is an old box. Tried booting after disconnecting the SCSI cables from the SCSI A/B ports, removing floppy, removing 1 proc, disconnected the backplane and took out all PCI cards. Even disconnected the front panel and rebooted using the switches on the system board but still the problem persists. :emotion-6:
The only thing I haven't tried is replacing the 4 sticks of RAM but haven't got any buffered EDO RAM lying about (only unbuffered standard ones for general PCs) and don't really want to spend a lot - got the server for nothing! Looking at the docs, RAM needs to be installed in fours in a bank so can't try just removing one. Have tried swapping them around though. Have also reseated the mem card and cleaned connectors.
Noticed that a message appears on boot "sizing memory". Is this normal - shouldn't a memory count be displayed? The BIOS settings are cleared but can't get into SETUP to set them back!
Running out of options really. Did notice however that someone's selling a cheap 6300 system board on eBay! :emotion-2:
cj8281
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73 Posts
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February 22nd, 2009 19:00
Ok, if you removed one of the processors, did you replace it with a terminator card?? These slot motherboards require a terminator card for empty slots. One of my servers is an old 4200 running a pair of 333 with 1gb of buffered edo ram. It is still fun to play with especially since it has 4 181gb drives in it.
I wonder if you have a bad stick of ram in your group. Let me know if you get that other board and you still have the same problem.
I shall cross my fingers for you.