R440 Fans stuck at full speed

Question

I am setting up 2 new R440 Server racks, and on starting up - the internal fans go to full speed and never slow down. Combined they make it sound like airplane is landing in our computer room.

I have gone thru Bios Performance settings and iDRAC Thermal settings and nothing I try seems to slow them down for long. I can make a change, reboot and they will start slow for a minute or two while the OS starts but then it's back to full speed.

Checking the Dell Open Manage; all 10 internal fans are running at over +14,600 RPM.

Any help would be great?

Daniel My · Answer

Hello

The minimum fan speed will be affected by one of these three:

The iDRAC/BMC is not functional. Fans will run at maximum RPM.
One of the temperature sensors is faulty or the server is very hot.
There is unsupported hardware in the server or a near maximum hardware configuration. A thermal profile is created based on installed hardware. The minimum fan speed and fan response will be adjusted based on this profile.

Make sure the iDRAC/LCC and system BIOS are at the latest version. Thermal profiling and hardware detection may be changed with updates. You can also check the hardware logs for any warnings or alerts.

http://www.dell.com/support/

Thanks

mysteree16 · Answer

iDrac/BMC seem functional - I can see the reporting by them in the Dell Open Mange Web Page. All Temps are well in range or Normal. Their are no alerts in the iDrac logs pertaining to fans or temperature. These 2 Servers make more noise, then the 100 other Dell Rack Servers we have running together in our Computer Room.

I have not added any hardware - this is the way they shipped. I even reset the Bios and iDrac to Factory Defaults and still the fans power up to 100% after a few minutes.

I'll have to give Tech Support and call and see if a tech can come out and figure what's going on.

Thanks,

mysteree16 · Answer

FYI: Finally fixed the problem - it was the newest versions of the iDRAC that was causing the fan problems. Server came with 3.18.18.18 A00 and I updated to 3.21.21.21 A00 and still the fan problems of running at 100%. So, I rolled back to version: 3.15.15.15 A00 and that finally fixed the fan problems. Now they run at normal speed.

MiradorIT · Answer

We are experiencing the same issue w/a brand new R440. I believe it was fine until my on-site tech did the Dell updates. Sent him a screen shot of your last message about downgrading and we'll see how it goes.

MiradorIT · Answer

Tech just said he has not done the updates but the iDRAC shipped with 3.21.21.21. He rolled back to 3.18.18.18 and the fans backed right down to normal operating behavior.

Thank you for posting your fix. Sounds like bug Dell?

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R440 Fans stuck at full speed

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