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Dell R900 Fan Speed control allways on MAX speed and PowerConsumption 1175Watts
Hi Guys
we have a Dell R900 PowerEdge that has the following symptom, the fan speed are always at max blow, and the powerconsumption measured is running on boot at 1100Watts then durning running period goes down to 900watts
i am wondering if this is normal, as we have a older Dell PowerEdge Version that runs on 700watts on boot then on idle mode running goes down to average 250watts to 300watts...and fan speeds lower down.
But on this Dell R900 they seem to go on full blow all the time.
the specs we have on the R900 is
4 Cpus XEON X7460 /6core
128GB RAM
5 HDD 330GB SAS 15K RPM
Perc 6
DELL-Chris H
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October 15th, 2020 12:00
PortalNet2.
The first thing I would start with is to make sure all the fans are spinning, the cover is secured, and the server is up to date, specifically on the BIOS, iDrac, Lifecycle Controller, and raid controller. After that see if the fans slow, if not then run diagnostics on the server.
Let me know what you see.
PortalNET2
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December 18th, 2020 16:00
Hi @DELL-Chris H
sorry for late reply i have been away busy on other projects, i will do further testing on the weekend again
on last testing i have done, i have removed all the memory modules to check if they were all ok on the slots..
i did noticed the following :
running server on only with 1 slot of 8 memory modules at 32GB total... the power consumption averages 420 to 470watts.. but fans are running full power steam blast..
plug another 32GB memory Slot (total 64GB ) and power consumption goes up to 550watts... plug 3rd Slot of memory modules up to 96GB.. and power consumption goes up to 6xx watts.. power up last slot of memory modules with total 128GB and power consumption goes up to average 720 to 800watts.. just on power cycle from the server... but fan speeds are allways at full blast...i have also removed the 4 frontal FANs to check for any damage or mailfunction, but they are all ok and spinning, so i have plugged them back again.
i did noticed that the 4 slots have 3 slots with memorys from samsung PC2-5300F.. total 96GB and have other 32GB of memory modules SMART manufacturer..
i have also removed the iDRAC slot has i tought it could be an issue on the idrac itself..untill at last at a certain stage.. after rebooting the machine i lost VGA monitor screen view.. and had a black screen... tested the cables and swapped monitors.. but still no VGA... and server has been shutdown since then..
when i reboot the machine.. the VMWARE loads up and i can access it via WEB.. and run all the virtual machines.. but when i plug a physical monitor to both VGA connectors (front and back) on the R900 i get no picture ..
Server has been down for at least over a month now, will power it up on the weekend and do further testing.. iDRAC is removed from the server so i will try to run CTRL+E to check for any error on the logs..and will post results after testing..
DELL-Joey C
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December 20th, 2020 21:00
Hi,
Have you tried checking the user guide of R900 on memory requirements, might get some clues that if the memory specification are not supported. If the iDRAC is removed, the fan speed does not reduce, it shouldn't be the iDRAC. Have you tried installing back the iDRAC and get back VGA display? Are you able to access BIOS?
DELL-Chris H
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April 2nd, 2021 08:00
PortalNET2,
I reread the posting and I don't see a point that you confirmed that you had updated the BIOS and iDrac. Would you confirm if you have already or not? I ask as the iDrac controls the fans so it is the best place the start. If it gets out of date it can cause the fans to max.
Let me know.
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 08:00
Hiya
i will try to make further testing today after several months with the machine powered off i will give it a try again
i can access the BIOs just fine.. is there any menu where i should look for errors?
i have vmware 6.5 running on the machine i will fire up a windows vm and will try to run some utility diagnostics tools which one shall i use on the R900 is there a specific tool for testing hardware?
Dell-DylanJ
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April 2nd, 2021 12:00
That's a pretty high load for a virtualization host just sitting there. I'd be inclined to try to validate what you're seeing with a wattmeter, if possible. You might also try a different power profile. Cooling and fan speed can also be affected by the OS, so you might consider booting to the Support Live Image during off hours to see if it does anything different there. What version of ESXi are we working with? I'd also double-check that the BMC firmware is up to date. It looks like the latest revision is 2.50.
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 12:00
Hi @DELL-Chris H and @DELL-Joey C
First things first... yes BIOS is on 1.2.0 version as it shows up when i boot up the machine...
second why do we allways expect the worst and the most difficult type of solutions right ....
so partially i have found on another topic on another forum half of the solution...
the issue with the fans spinning full blow max speed was resolved, by simply plugging the second power cable into the second power AC module on the server, as it comes to that simply silly mistake...
i was just powering the server using 1 Power cable on 1 power supply, and it seems that this generation of Servers trigger some kind of error and make the fans spin full blow at max RPM.. as if it was triggering some kind of error on the second power supply unit on the system monitor....
also the power consumption now dropped from 1294Watts running at full blow speed to 800 watts.. so now i have to try to figure out what else could be triggering this power consumption as i have VMWARE EXSI 6.5 installed on it.. but VM machine are powered off.. its just sitting on IDLE running about 800watts now..
so my specs
i have about 32 dimms of 4GB memory ram inserted.. (i have found somewhere that each dimm consumes around 5 to 10watts max , not sure if its true as i have not found yet a DELL document stating that)
i also have the 4 XEON X7460 6core cpus inserted (TDP 130w) on each at full usage so i guess 520watts out of the cpus at full steam... + 320watts out of the 32DIMM memory modules.. it averages 840watts... but still.. on idle cpu power usage should be alot lower..
have 5 SAS 3OOGB 15K RPM drives plugged in on RAID5 (need to check the HDDS power consumption)
EDIT: After pluggin 2nd power cable on the power supply , after entering BIOs again. i have seen that the Memory information / System Memory Speed has now decreased from 667mhz dual channel bank.. to 533mhz.... and Low Power Mode is enabled, which was disabled before.
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 13:00
A few more pics on system monitor..
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 13:00
@Dell-DylanJ
Thanks for your input, i will try to check the LIVE image on the PENDRIVE to bootup
is there a specific Support live image?
i did buy a digital wattimeter plugged into the power cable from the Server power supply just to confirm the readings against my UPS NHS 10K senoidal which throws us the readings of our Watts and they are both the same equal.. it sits around 700 to 800watts on idle.. both show the same readings..
i will try to check the live support image.
Edit: attached pics of the exsi version 6.5
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 14:00
BTW
installed LIVE SUPPORT IMAGE 3.0 on a USB and booted.. it boots the CENTOS version with a message..
on the desktop... Support Live Image is running on an unsupported hardware...
i am wondering what version of Live Support will support DELL R900 ...
Did check disks and PERC and seem to be OK
PERC 6/I
Package 6.3.1-0003
FW Version 1.22.32-1371
Bios Version 2.04.00
CTR LR Version 1.02-015B
Boot Block 1.00.00.01-0011
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 15:00
Just an update Support Live Image 3.0 as shown on the Drivers e downloads menu of Dell R900 is not compatible,
version 2.x is compatible with 9th and 10th Gen version servers now dowloading for further testing.. perhaps it should be updated on the Dell Drivers page.. on the R900 model
PortalNET2
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April 2nd, 2021 16:00
Ok guys
BMC os on version 2.48 looks like It needs updating, and idrac is also outdated.. bit Power consumption is 643watts
PortalNET2
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April 3rd, 2021 07:00
Hi
now i am getting an error trying to upgrade BCM 2.48 to 2.50...
i am runnign EXSI 6.5 and i have setup a vmware with windows 2012 r2 powered ON the VM and downloaded the new BCM 2.50. when it tries to install it gives an error not compatible..
PortalNET2
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April 3rd, 2021 17:00
Any ideas on how i can upgrade this now :
i have installed a vmware with windows server 2003,2008,2012,, x64 and x86 versions.. when i try to upgrade BMC from 2.48.00 to 2.50.00 version,.. it allways displays de the same error system not supported for the package.
PortalNET2
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April 4th, 2021 19:00
@Dell-DylanJ @DELL-Chris H @DELL-Joey C
Ok so all devices have been upgrade..
as described on the pics below... no error showing up on any system.. but still on idle its running a 625watts consumption as its shown on the pics below.. any hints.. could it be memory wise.. could it be the cpus TDP 130W model... not sure perhaps someone with more experience could tell me if these readings are the correct ones for this type of setup?