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R520 - lifecycle controller disabled, unable to initialize iDRAC...etc etc etc...
Greetings all, a few questions regarding an R520 which after a few days of messing with I am concluding that the motherboard is faulty. Have read up on this and have come across others who have faced similar issues. Just looking for pointers so any thoughts are always appreciated.
To start with, when power cables are connected to the R520, shortly after the rear System ID button begins to flash amber (every second).
Q1, what does this indicate? Not been able to find any mention of this anywhere.
Once powered on, the system boots normally and initializes the RAM and the takes its time with initializing iDRAC, then displays the 'Alert! iDRAC not responding, Rebooting...', after reboot the fans crank up to full speed. The system will boot after a while and a warning of iDRAC initialization error (also SWC0700 - iDRAC not ready. The configuration values cannot be accessed.) and a couple F1 presses to continue.
Have tried flashing the BIOS, but it seems to fail from Windows using the .exe updaters. Was able to update the BIOS using EFI to the latest. Tried also running the linux based bootable ISOs from dell.app.box.com/.../BootableR520 but I think this only managed to update the firmware on the NIC.
I have also tried booting the R520 with minimal hardware as advised for POST, also removed and reseated every component. Disconnected everything and removed and installed the MB, etc etc...
Wish I had a second R520 to swap the MB out with and see if this is the case....
Q2, As the unit is not in warranty, anything else I should do to try to revive iDRAC or the Lifcycle Controller?
Q3, Last one I promise, I have SATA drives in slots 4, 5, 6 & 7 and connected via the Backplane connector B to the SATA port on the MB. The embedded SATA is set to AHCI and the drives work fine, only that the status LED on the hard drives flash amber quickly and constantly, what does this signify? I thought that this light does not work with SATA drives and AHCI mode.
Anyhow, my apologies for the long post but in a nutshell, very similar to this post on Reddit.
DELL-Chris H
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November 2nd, 2017 08:00
Jahanjoon,
Would you clarify what is stated directly after the "iDrac not responding" message, is there another sentence after that error? Regarding the amber light, it is indicating a fault being reported on the server. You can boot to the Lifecycle Controller (F10 at startup) and then check the Lifecycle log to see if anything is listed.
I would power down the server and then reseat the iDrac port card shown below, as well as clear the NVRam
and NVram jumper
With the NVram you shut down the server, move the jumper over, then power the server to clear the NVram. After that then power down and restore the jumper to its original setting.
After that then wait 2 minutes before turning on the server.
Let me know what you see and we can go from there.
jahanjoon
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November 3rd, 2017 08:00
Hey Chris H, thank you for your reply.
As per your advice, have reseated the iDrac port card and reset the NVram, but the situation is unchanged.
Came across this post on spiceworks which is very similar.
DELL-Chris H
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November 3rd, 2017 14:00
Thank you for confirming that.
Sorry about the miscommunication.
A couple things to try. First is to hold down the "i" button for 20+ seconds to cause a iDrac reset. As well as could you try removing the iDrac Port card itself and see if the iDrac error persists. If so then the issue is with the iDrac on the motherboard itself.
jahanjoon
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November 5th, 2017 01:00
As advised, tried the iDrac reset and also removing the iDrac Port card.
The iDrac error issue persists.
Thank you for your continued support.
jahanjoon
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November 12th, 2017 08:00
I believe all roads lead to a faulty MB... will follow-up with another post regarding which MB can be used....
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/956/t/20024346
Robert220
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November 16th, 2018 07:00
I am having the same problem. what was the end result of this?
I have attempted to update the bios but it wont work through the exe. current bios 2.0. Available bios is 2.6.0
I was going to attempt to update the idrac as well however when i enter my service tag the driver i get is the same version (1.10.10) if i search poweredge r520 there is a newer version of the driver is it still compatible? (1.66.65)
Cmaz29
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April 8th, 2019 14:00
Hi,
I have the same problem with a Dell R720.
How could I solve this problem?
Thank you, best regards Christian.
DELL-Rey G
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April 9th, 2019 07:00
If it lets you go into the BIOS (pressing F2), arrow down to idrac, then go into that setting, and see if you can enable the LC.
#Iwork4Dell
Cmaz29
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April 10th, 2019 09:00
I made the request, but it appears:
Thank you.
Best regards, Christian.
cuwik
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April 10th, 2019 23:00
Hi,
I have the same problem with R520 idrac.
I did not find any solution, except experimental connect idrac UART to Raspberry Pi.
It for R720 idrac but it's similar way for R520.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/a49b4y/r720_idrac_help/
If sameone have another solution please help us.
Cmaz29
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April 11th, 2019 08:00
Checking dell site there is a tool called "LifeCycle Controller Repair Package" (LifeCycle Controller2 v1.4.0 Repair Package - <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>.? DriverId = RMKKC), which seems to solve the problem, but the file is an .usc extension (LC2.1_Q1FY15_Repair_Package_1.4.0.128_A00.usc) and I do not know how this file is applied. Apparently the Dell OS Driver Pack is used (https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=td96j), I try to install it and it throws me the following error:
Thank you.
Best regards, Christian.
(edited)
regctx
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March 7th, 2020 14:00
Same issue today on a r720. Anyone have a fix or just replacing their MB?
Does anyone know the cause of this?
DELL-Marco B
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March 18th, 2020 02:00
Hello,
i suggest to replace motherboard if Chris suggestions don't resolve.
Thanks
Marco
Maslo Maslyanoe
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June 18th, 2020 10:00
I have got the problem on T620 while downgrading firmware. Spend already 1 weak, and no result.
1st - flee power and reset iDrac. Try replace MB if memory of iDrac controller are broken.
If hardware is OK - try this:
https://www.win-raid.com/t3828f16-Dell-R-xd-iDRAC-BIOS-recovery-6.html
bhnelson
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July 28th, 2022 16:00
If the back amber light is flashing as OP noted, that seem to indicate the iDRAC is in a firmware recovery mode. I haven't tried it myself, but following the SD card procedure linked below may be able to return it to working order:
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000120131/poweredge-idrac-recovery-procedure-with-firmimg-d7