PowerEdge R720 Front Panel LCD is blank with no text

Thanks, I did both of those steps and that did not seem to change anything. I even disconnected the front panel and then reconnected the cables to make sure nothing was loose and that didn't do anything either. BIOS and firmware for the iDRAC are up to date too.

I suspect something has come loose inside of the server during shipping, but I'm not sure what parts to check. Any more ideas or suggestions?

Well, I'm not really sure. I just bought the server off of a guy, so I haven't physically owned it for more than a day. This problem arose when I first plugged the server in. I replaced the front panel and the problem still persists. I would also like to add that pressing the left and right arrow buttons on the display causes the lcd to flicker (on both the old and new replacement). I'd also like to add that the server is plugged into my home wall outlet, so I'm wondering if maybe the display isn't getting enough power? I wasn't sure if the server would scale back certain features if it had less than a certain amount of power going into it.

There's one more symptom I'd like to report before calling it quits. The system ID light on the back of the server stays lit when the iDRAC setting for the front display is set to anything other than "None". So if iDRAC shows the LCD as displaying the service tag, the system ID on the back is lit up. But if I turn off the LCD within iDRAC by setting it to display "None", the light turns off.

Does it sound like the whole mainboard needs replaced or is there another part I can replace for cheaper?

Try:

- log into your iDRAC

- on left vertical menu goto iDRAC Settings

-on this page goto Troubleshooting option across the top

-on this page check the option to the right of Identify server

-click apply

The fans will take off for some seconds, when they settle, have a look at front panel. Good luck.