R710 won't boot after firmware update

Question

Hi guys,

I wanted to reinstall a R710 so that we can use it again in our DC, and i saw that the firmware was a bit out of date (a lot actually).

So generated a bootable iso with the repository manager and let it ran on the server. It updated a few items (one of which was the BIOS) and they were all OK.

At the end it said that the program was going to turn the server off and that it should turn back on again after a few seconds, but it never turned off... I turned it off myself after 15 minutes and turned it back on, The fans start blowing out loud and then get quiet (as they should). The LCD display on the front first says Booting (or something like that) and then changes to the custom message that i've put in earlier.

And that's it.. The server hangs and I can't access it. No screen, no keyboard.

The Drac is working and says that everything is OK. The bios firmware version is 1.2.6. The Virtual console also says "No signal". There are no events in the drac that would suggest something is wrong.

What can I do to fix this? I need this server :(

jorisboth · Answer

Nope.. it only says 'No signal'.

DELL-Chris H · Answer

Using the remote console of the drac, do you have the ability to reach the Boot Manager (F11)?

jorisboth · Answer

Hi Chris,

It does seem like the bios is corrupt.. I don't get the Dell splash screen... The only access to the server that i have is through drac (Enterprise).

Is it possible to flash the bios through the drac?

DELL-Chris H · Answer

Jorisboth,

The issue you are running into is that the BIOS is currently about 13 updates behind, 3 of which are marked as Urgent. This is likely the reason the Update Utility had issues performing the reboot. It may be that when you rebooted manually it corrupted the BIOS. When you power up the server, do you happen to see the Dell splash screen on the screen, or is it not giving any video? Do you have video with the Drac Virtual Console?

Let me know, as we may be able to walk it up if so.

jorisboth · Answer

Chris, Is there a way to flash the bios through Drac? Or some other way to repair it? This server is out of warranty and a replacement motherboard is not cheap...

DELL-Chris H · Answer

What we can hope for is that the Update Utility updated a device that is causing the NO POST/NO VIDEO. We can test this by taking the server to the minimum hardware require to post. Which is removing everything but the following;

System board
Risers
Processor (CPU1) with Heatsink
Power Supply
One stick of memory in dual in-line memory module (DIMM) slot A1
Control Panel with cable

Remove all the hardware but those and then before powering up, clear the NVRam. You do this by moving the jumper (As seen below)

Move that jumper over as shown below and then power up. Once you see signs of power then power off and restore jumper to its original location.

After that try booting up and see if you get video. If you still don't then it is likely the motherboard will need to be replaced.

jorisboth · Answer

Chris,

The motherboards needs to be replaced.. :(. I have found a spare motherboard, but it has a different model number. The model that I have is 0PV9DG and the spare is a VWN1R. Do you have any idea what the differences are and if it will work? I need to reinstall the server whatsoever, so different hardware isn't that much of a problem.

DELL-Chris H · Answer

JorisBoth,

The 2 listed motherboards are compatible with each other. The only difference should the time and manufacturer (VWN1R is a Foxconn, the PV9DG is a Mitac) They are both C1 version motherboards. The only issue you will need to address is updating the new system board with the new BIOS update. This will limit most problems that you can experience.

Let me know how it goes.

irwinpks · Answer

Hi Chris,

I have the exact same problem. Why would Dell post a new BIOS 6.4.0... without any warnings? I have several R710 that I picked up at a closeout sale from a company that was sold. These servers were working with 6.0.4. and after the BIOS update, the server restarted into Windows Server 2016...then I powered it off to move...and never was able to get any display.

There has to be an easier solution than to replace the motherboard.

Anyway, I'm going to take it down to bare minimum components sometime this weekend...but shaking my head...that I've never had this happen before...after assembling over 5000+ computer systems. Simply blown away.

Thank you,

Irwin

pet1969 · Answer

hi ,

same with my r710. after update of bios the bios screen is not shown anymore.

Please is there a way to recover a corrupted BIOS update?

Also i agree to the people in the thread. Why is there no warning in the update if the newest version should not be used. the documentation also gives no warning from were the update is possible.

In my case i updated from 1.3.6 to 6.6.0 and now nothing is working anymore

thanks

DELL-Stefan R · Answer

Hi,

in general, you receive a warning message if the version can't be installed on the actual one. But we always recommend to update one by one and not doing a huge step up.

The installation process takes time and I'm not speaking of some minutes it may take 30 minutes or even more. You should never ever power cycle when the update is in progress, as this breaks the BIOS. I guess this happened here, like in the upper thread too.

There is no option of restoring the corrupted BIOS, I'm afraid.

Only a mainboard replacement can help in such a case.

Regards,
Stefan

PowerEdge Hardware General

R710 won't boot after firmware update

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