R900 no video on replacement motherboard

Fortillian,

To start I would take the server to its MInimum to Post configuration. That is removing everything from the server but the following;

• One Processor in CPU socket one.
• One fully buffered DIMM in Slot one of Memory Riser_A.
• IO Riser installed
• One Power Supply
• 3.5" SAS Backplane or 2.5" SAS PIB (Peripheral Interface Board) installed and connected to motherboard via 100 pin cable.
• Control panel connected to SAS backplane / PIB
• Power Distribution Board connected to the power supply, motherboard, SAS backplane / PIB 

Once it is at that configuration then try powering the server, if it starts up and shows video then I would power down and individually replace the removed parts till the issue repeats. Which will help identify the issue. 

Also, you can private message me the service tag for the server and I can verify the board that shipped with the server, or you can go hear and enter the svc tag yourself - http://dell.to/1O6ELJi

Let me know what you see.

Hello Chris, 

Thank you for your reply.

I currently have it configured for Minimum post. When powered on the fans come on, and quickly go to a low RPM state with no video output from front or rear VGA. The front LCD reads "PowerEdge R900" with no errors. When the top panel is removed it does detect an Intrusion alert. When powered off there are 2 lit LED indicators on the board (Amber - RST) and (Green - P3V3-STBY). When powered on there are 3 lit LED indicators all Green for PWRGD, P3V3-STBY and P12V. I have alternated all 4 CPU's into socket 1 for minimum post, and all 4 Memory Risers with a single Dimm in Slot 1 into Memory Riser-A. When powered off, PSU 1 has 1 green lit LED and when powered on has 2 green lit LEDs, I have also tried both PSUs individually. With Minimum Post configuration, when no memory is present, there are no beeps or front panel alerts. Also, I have reset NVRAM and drained power from the board (hold pwr button 20s while unplugged).

As I believe it was a power surge that caused the original motherboard failure, with the original board when powered on, there was only a brief moment of power and then errors for CPU VTT on the front panel.

This server originally shipped with C764H motherboard, and that is the replacement I have. When searching for an alternative or additional board I see there are multiple model motherboards that shipped with the R900 servers (C764H, X947H, RV9C7). I was just wondering if there are any notable differences between the models.

Fortillian, 

There is a discernible different between the boards. C764H is actually a newer second version release of the motherboard, so it could be that a part installed is intended for the newer board and has issues with the later boards. . Could you confirm the specific processor installed, just to confirm compatibility?

Thanks.

The original board and replacement board are both a C764H board. The CPUs are E7420 models

Ok, sorry about that, I thought you had stated that you were using X947H board. It looks like it may actually be a DOA motherboard. Do you happen to have any other R900's that we could test the minimum to post parts from to verify this?

Unfortunately I do not. Wuld there be an issue picking up an X947h board with those cpus? Because of the surge, I'm ordering a replacement PSU for testing just in case.

There doesn't appear to be. I was asking just to verify.