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45621
November 3rd, 2014 18:00
Poweredge 2800 Continuous Beep at Power Up
I'm new here, so if this is in the wrong forum, please let me know (or move it to the right place).
I recently bought a used PowerEdge 2800 rack mounted server with dual 3.6G Xeons, 12GB of RAM, embedded raid controller, two 146G 15K SCSI drives (which are probably empty), and both DVD and Floppy drives. There is no operating system, it's been out of actual service for some time, but seems to power up properly. I can enter the bios and RAID screens.
I have ZERO experience with servers; this is the beginning of my journey to learn. The problem I'm facing is that very shortly after powering on, it emits a loud beep. I researched POST messages, but the beep I'm getting isn't among them. The system give one long beep (maybe two seconds long), followed by an equal time of silence, followed by another equal length beep. I realize that I need to correct whatever is causing the error, but it's kinda hard to work on the system with it screaming in my ears.
Can anyone tell me what the system is trying to tell me, what subsystem is generating the beep, and, most importantly, how to turn off the noise?
Thank you in advance,
Tenaya
theflash1932
11 Legend
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16.3K Posts
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November 5th, 2014 18:00
When does the beeping start? When the RAID controller loads? As soon as the system is powered on? As you discovered, there is no SYSTEM beep code like you describe - it is the RAID controller. Is this plugged into a UPS?
Try booting to CTRL-M, Configure, View/Add ... IF asked to choose between Disk View and NVRAM, choose Disk, then save on exit. Go to Objects, Adapter, Disable Alarm
theflash1932
11 Legend
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16.3K Posts
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November 3rd, 2014 18:00
It is indicating the RAID array is degraded or offline. Boot to the CTRL-M utility for the RAID controller (PERC 4e/Di), Configure, Clear Configuration.
The status light should be amber and scrolling a message(s) as well.
Tenaya43
4 Posts
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November 4th, 2014 15:00
Flash,
Thanks for the distinct diagnosis. I haven't had the chance to do it yet, but I will as soon as I can.
Thanks,
Tenaya
Tenaya43
4 Posts
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November 5th, 2014 16:00
Well, Ctrl-M setup was interesting, but ultimately unsuccessful. I was able to clear the configuration in the RAID setup, or at least the utility said it cleared it, but after the mandatory reboot the beep continues. BTW, the status screen is blue and has no message, only a single dot.
The messages don't mean a lot to me, and they scroll by, but I saw a message asking me to check connections, SCSI and drives.
I've been furiously downloading documentation and reading here and there, but until I get the alarm to stop, I can't get much further.
Any ideas?
BTW, I copied down a variety of firmware versions during the last reboot. If they would help, I'll transcribe them here.
Tenaya
Tenaya43
4 Posts
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November 6th, 2014 13:00
Flash,
Objects, Adapter, Alarms, Disable ended the beeps. You were exactly right about it being the RAID controller. The alarm didn't begin precisely on powerup, it began after the second bar of the bios boot indicator. FYI, I don't have a UPS (yet). I'm taking baby steps. In any case, I can now proceed in bringing the system up at my own pace.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Tenaya
theflash1932
11 Legend
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16.3K Posts
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November 6th, 2014 17:00
The reason I asked about the timing is that the controller will start beeping as soon as it loads, not immediately upon powering on.
The reason I asked about the UPS is that the UPS will start beeping as soon as the system is powered on, and depending on the make/model, it may sound just like the RAID controller.
Glad you got it :)