UNSOLVED
R510 USB Boot Problem
Hi,
We have setup a R510 with iDrac6 enterprise with latest firmware to boot from a USB Stick. We have XenServer installed in the USB stick which is working great.
The problem is when the server is rebooted, the USB stick is not picked up by the system (system does not boot from USB, and the USB stick is not shown in Bios). But if the server is rebooted again then the USB is identified fine and can be used to boot the server. Reboot again and the USB is lost. Very strange, can anyone suggest a remedy to the problem?
Thanks.
DELL-Rey G
4 Apprentice
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Posted December 9th, 2011 08:00
which version of bios and idrac fw and Lifecycle controller fw's are you at?
Hi Chris,
Yeah USB is marked as the first boot and it boots off os USB just fine as long as the USB is recognised by the server. If I reboot the server from trhat state, USB is gone from BIOS ... the USB is not recognised by the server, hence does not appear in boot order at all. The internal RAID controller then appears the only (and first) one in the boot order.
Thanks.
DELL-Rey G
4 Apprentice
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1068 Posts
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Posted December 12th, 2011 09:00
i would try this, make a different bootable USB with non-Xenserver OS. Test to see how it behaves after repeated boots. if that works normally, I would surmise that the Xen server is causing the bios to "see" a modified hardware list of available boot devices. If its the case where another bootable key works normally, I would get Dell support involved to work this. You may need to send the USB key into Dell, and/or provide them steps for creating the key as you did.
Hi DELL-REY G,
I did not have a chance to try booting with different OS, but tried with different brand of USBs (both USB 3 and USB 2 too).
In order to avoid confusion with XenServer passing message to BIOS, I had the system go through cold boot (not sure if that would wipe any information XenServer may have passed to BIOS) but no luck.
Now, to add complexity to this equation, the system (even after a successful boot) after a certain interval looses the USB causing XenServer to crash. I have tried changing the power setiing from BIOS from Maximum Performance to other parameters but nothing is fixing this?
The service warranty for the server just elapsed couple of months ago. Should I assume that the USB controller in the R510 has gone bad?
Cheers.
DELL-Chris H
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Posted December 9th, 2011 08:00
Also, is the USB marked as first in the boot order in the BIOS?
DELL-Chris H
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