Poweredge T710 - No video display

Simon,

When you say you took to single dimm, single processor, Did you happen to take it down to just these parts in the server?

**System board

Processor with Heatsink

CPU1 (min for troubleshooting)

One stick of memory in DIMM A1

Control Panel w/cable

Power supply**

Everything else must be removed from the server.  If it shows video and posts then one by one add parts back until the issue reappears, then we know the part causing it.

Also, what is being shown on the LCD screen?

Let me know.

Hi Chris, thanks for coming back to me.

Only other thing left in there was the perc controller connected to the drives.  I went down to a single DIMM in A1 and then changed that to make sure I hadn't inadvertantly selected the dodgy stick.

Also, didn't remove either of the PSUs,  Are they likely to be causing a problem?

LCD display shows "System Booting..." then after a few seconds reverts to showing system name and no errors reported.

If I set a static IP from the LCD, I can ping that across my network.  Seems to be working just not displaying anything but I think that would be a real surprise if it were a display issue out of the box.

Cheers

Simon

Do you have any external devices, or media in the server? For example, usb flash drives, external storage, external drives. You may want to power the server down, then remove the controller. When shut down you can back the drives out far enough to break contact between them and the backplane, that way the order the drives are in isnt  lost.

Hi, no external or additional devices or storage.  In between replies, I removed the redundant power supply and the storage controller and tried again, still nothing.  It's really odd!

What about the CMOS battery - would a flat one cause issues?

Cheers

Simon

Simon,

Did the server have iDRAC6 Enterprise? If yes can you check whether iDRAC Virtual console is able to show the display? Can you also check SEL, Post Code and Boot Capture on iDRAC and check the message or boot capture video.

Can you access this server from the network? Meaning, does it clear POST and boot up, we just can't see it?

I can ping it so suggests NIC is up and running but not sure I could do anything else – it’s never had an OS on it...

Hi, it says it has iDRAC6 Express whatever that means?  Not sure what I can do with that or how I can capture the video?

Anyone got any further info before I make the dreaded call to the warranty line?

Thanks

Simon

OK, had a play with Mr Drac.  The LCD is now showing "0xFE General Failure After Video" and on playback, I'm seeing PCIe Training Error:  Integrated RAID followed by a blue "System Halted!" message.

Progress, but where do I go from there?

Thanks

Simon

The T710 (like the T610) has Matrox G200 video function integrated into the iDRAC6 (the G200 only supports 2D graphics). The iDRAC6 itself is connected to the ICH9 chipset via a 32bit PCI interface. I believe the ICH9 also provides some PCIe links in the case of the T710. The iDRAC6 functions can also be expended by adding an iDRAC6 Enterprise card which plugs into a Dell proprietary connector on the mobo. Presumably this means that the iDRAC6 Express is integrated on the mobo itself. I believe the iDRAC6 Enterprise card adds some more features like dedicated NIC, virtual console and racadam command line capabilities. Remote viewing of last boot screen should be available on all iDRAC6 versions though.

Unfortunately Dell seems not to provide any system block diagram in their documentation so we can't visualize how the various functional components are interconnected. As such it's more difficult to see where faults may originate or how they may propagate.

It could be that in your case, you have a fault on the iDRAC6 function located on the mobo itself or on some other PCIe card within the system that is causing your PCIe training errors. You could remove all cards including the RAID card and look for any video at boot time (obviously no RAID card = no HDD = no OS to boot but you should see some boot sequence on the monitor). If all looks OK, then add the RAID card and try again. If you then have problems, the likely cause is some issue with either the RAID card and/or the mobo itself. If you have another RAID card you can try that and see if the problem goes away (in which case it's the RAID card) or try the problem raid card in another non-live server (and if it works, then the mobo is likely faulty). In either case, if you suspect the RAID card or the mobo and your T710 is still warranty best to call that 'dreaded warranty line'.

If your not under warranty, don't need or use the iDRAC6 features, have a spare low power <25W PCIe x16 video card and are not afraid of simple mods and an understanding boss, then you can perform a mod on that spare PCIe video card and install it in your server thus side stepping any iDRAC6 video issues. You get 3D graphics but loose some remote management features. See here and here for some hints if your game.

And just as a disclaimer, I have never had any need for these enterprise features let alone the basic iDRAC6 features. I don't use iDRAC6 features and other than what i have read on the HOM and Tech Guides, i don't know about them so take what i say with a grain of salt. I'd rather have 3D video and this was the original reason for joining this forum but that's more a reflection of how i wanted to use my T610. My T610 and moded graphics card has been working well 24/7 for over a year now. 

Hi thanks for the info thus far.

If I remove the RAID controller, it then comes up complaining that's been removed during the boot but doesn't throw a fatal error.  I still cannot see that on the monitor, only using the iDRAC6 boot playback.

I've just found out a couple of the drives that make up a RAID 5 partition have been used for hot-swap replacements in other machines.  Would the fact I've lost two drives out of a 4 drive RAID 5 array cause the fatal error?  If so, how can I rebuilt the array when it's in the state it's in?

Are the any commands to run from the iDRAC?

Cheers

Simon

Hi Dell-Shine

I have the express version and not enterprise.  Is this still possible?  I thought the command interface was only available in enterprise?

I can get to the Diagnostic Console in the web UI, is there an equivalent set of commands?

Thanks

Simon

It should work in iDRAC Express. Can you try this and let me know the observation

Hi Shine

Response of first command as follows:

       status       : 2

       status_tag   : COMMAND PROCESSING FAILED

       error        : 252

       error_tag    : COMMAND SYNTAX ERROR

Thanks

Simon