This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
1
5871
July 4th, 2019 12:00
OptiPlex 7010 will not soft reset
My refurbished Dell Optiplex 7010 i5-3570 will not successfully restart from a soft reset from the installed operating system (pfSense v. 2.4.4) or from a bootable USB with firmware updates. After selecting "reboot" from the system menu, the system appears to perform the OS shutdown, but the processor fan spins continuously, the USB key light shuts off (but never turns back on), the power switch LED stays on solid, and the system never shows the DELL logo splash. This happens with BIOS versions A20, A25, A26, A28, and A29. I have tried with and without USB drive / mouse / keyboard attached, with my monitor attached to onboard VGA and D-Port (with a D-Port to VGA adapter). The USB drive is important in the diagnosis only because I can tell whether or not the system is going to restart based on whether or not the USB key lights up or not. All USB devices are attached to the front USB ports.
When the failure occurs I have to force power off by holding down the power button until the LED shuts off, then use the power button again to re-start the system at which point it will boot normally.
This failure occurs (as mentioned above) even when I try to update (or downgrade) the BIOS from a bootable USB. The upgrade (downgrade) starts successfully, but the system will not reboot successfully to complete the operation. The only way I have been able to transition between BIOS versions is by using the CMOS reset to force the BIOS into an error condition (time / date not correct) in order to boot to USB and flash the BIOS, but I am not convinced that even this would work after several minutes, as the failing state sometimes will not show up until an hour after the last successful reboot.
My system configuration is as follows:
Stock OptiPlex 7010
Intel 4 port GB ethernet PCI-E adapter (EXPI9404PTLBLK) in the lower PCI-E slot (x4)
8GB DDR3 RAM as 2 Hynix HMT451U6BFR8C-PB 4GB sticks at 1600 MT/s in slots 1 and 2
SanDisk SSD 248GB hard drive
I have no GPU installed and am using the on-board video.
I have tried the following BIOS settings:
Legacy BIOS
UEFI bios with and without Legacy ROM support
With PCI device support turned on and off
With all S3 / C-State settings turned on and off
With keyboard error reporting turned on and off
All AC power restore settings (On / Off / Last State)
I have also replaced the CMOS battery and unseated / reseated all devices.
I really need to be able to complete OS updates and other functions remotely, so I need some help figuring out why this system will not restart successfully. Any thoughts will be appreciated. I've scoured the web for others with this issue, and the closest I have come is someone saying that they have abandoned Windows updates because of a similar issue.



Steve Goldner
1 Message
1
May 22nd, 2020 19:00
@jvedman
Thank you for your post! I was struggling with the same soft reset issue. What was common between your configuration and mine was the Intel 4 port NIC. I moved the NIC from the bottom/furthest slot (of the two in the system) from the CPU to the top/closest slot to the CPU and soft reset issue was resolved. It occurred to me that the issue started around the same time that I installed the 4 port NIC. Hope this helps.
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 01:00
Dell does not support pfsense
Installation of a package that depends on php72 on a version of pfSense older than 2.4.4-RELEASE breaks the pfSense install 2.5 is current.
9000 previous bugs are NOT going to be addressed here.
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/8938
https://redmine.pfsense.org/projects/pfsense/issues?query_id=123
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 01:00
Dell does not support pfsense
Installation of a package that depends on php72 on a version of pfSense older than 2.4.4-RELEASE breaks the pfSense install
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/8938
jvedman
4 Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 04:00
Thank you so much! What about BIOS upgrades / downgrades without clearing CMOS? Is that supported? Maybe you could read a little further and actually suggest a solution to what is obviously NOT an OS issue?
I provided OS info only to be complete in the information I was providing, not because I am seeking support for pfSense. And, for the record, the OS upgrades go fine, the system just fails to completely restart. The OS is able to shut down, but the hardware never completes the reset.
savvy2
3 Apprentice
•
2.5K Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 05:00
its only a Pfsense upgrade issue. (PC run perfectly otherwise even booted to Linux ubuntu, v17+ demo media.
is the bios in CSM mode, UEFI turned off, fully.>
bad USB , seems top me...
id ask Pfsense.
savvy2
3 Apprentice
•
2.5K Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 05:00
2018 the system pfense is still in development (means buggy.
talk to them first, I don't think is bare metal issue or even run it as VM why not?
turn of UEFI. ever see this? (not the exact link but there FORUM ) it is their toy so talk to them.
https://forum.netgate.com/category/5/installation-and-upgrades
see rules on package updates before OS update (don't)
jvedman
4 Posts
0
July 5th, 2019 06:00
Nevermind. If none of you are willing to read my entire post and think a little before you respond, you obviously aren't going to provide any meaningful assist. Thanks for not helping.
jvedman
4 Posts
0
May 23rd, 2020 05:00
@Steve Goldner
Thank you!! I'm so glad my post led you to try that, but I'm even more grateful that you shared your result. I did the same this morning and bing, bang, zoom, it worked! I can now restart my system remotely again!
So, just a quick recap. 4 port intel NICs in the lower PCIe X4 slot prevent the system from soft resetting correctly. I wonder what other PCIe devices cause that problem or if it is something specific to that card, maybe power draw? Not that it matters a lot, I certainly don't plan on moving it back to that slot.