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March 19th, 2019 09:00
Unable to update LifeCycle Controller on outdated R710
Hello all,
Firstly, I'd like to thank you for your time and attention as well as apologize for the lengthy post (wanted to include as much details as possible). It is greatly appreciated.
Recently, my team and I received a call informing us that one of our Dell R710 servers has stopped communicating with the network. Upon further investigation, we found that 3 out of the 5 HDDs in the server had failed. At this point, our task is to get the server back up and running so we put in a request and received the new HDD replacements (same speed and size as previous drives but from different vendors). Unfortunately, we lost all data but that wasn't a huge concern for us. We initialized all the drives (to include the 2 old and 3 new drives) and all drives appear to be healthy. After attempting to install Windows 2012R2 (and hours of scratching our heads and googling), it was discovered that we would need to update the BIOS (currently v2.2.10), LifeCycle Controller (currently v1.4.0.256), and install an updated OS Driver Pack (for Server 2012R2).
After many hours of research, we came to the conclusion that we would first need to update the LifeCycle Controller, then the BIOS, and finally the OS Driver Pack. Once all that is good to go, we should be able to install Windows Server 2012R2 on the server (please correct me if I'm wrong about this).
However, the current issue is that after downloading the LifeCycle Controller DUP (v1.7.5.4), from the Dell support site (link below) and utilizing the LifeCycle Controller Platform Update utility, we would get the "The updates you are trying to install are not Dell authorized updates" error. It looks like there are many others that have come across this issue as well but definitely due to our HDD situation, I feel like our situation might be different.
Seeing as how iDRAC was never configured (and most likely will never be configured, due to company policy), a local (CD/DVD) solution is the only option. Any assistance with this is very much appreciated.
We're currently wrapping our heads around how to update what needs updating via a CD/DVD but yet requires an update to do the thing that's administering the update because it's too old to be updated...
System Info:
Server: Dell R710
RAID config: 2 drives in RAID 1, 3 drives in RAID 5
Current BIOS version: 2.2.10
Current LifeCycle Controller version: 1.4.0.586
Current iDRAC version (although will not be using): 1.54
No OS installed
Downloaded 32bit version of the Update Package for Microsoft® Windows®
Dell-DylanJ
4 Operator
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March 19th, 2019 10:00
Hi Nick,
You mentioned a local CD/DVD option, which we do have premade. I'll link to it below. This utility does include updates to the Lifecycle Controller, the BIOS, and the iDRAC. It should flash everything in the chassis to the latest revisions. That having been said, there will be a lot of skipped packages, because it would have updates to any supported hardware that could be installed in the system. Running this package will probably take around an hour, but may potentially take longer. It really depends on how many updates get applied and how many get skipped. Repository Manager does let you build a custom .ISO, so that may also be an option for you.
Let me know if this helps out.
https://dell.app.box.com/v/bootabler710/folder/60646213395
Nick58
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March 19th, 2019 11:00
Hi Dylan,
Thank you for the very fast response!
Just to confirm, this utility can be downloaded and burned onto a disc which we can then insert into the CD/DVD drive on the server and boot from the disc? Are there any additional steps on top of that? Will give it a shot and keep you posted here.
Thank you again!
Dell-DylanJ
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March 19th, 2019 11:00
The process is a super simple one, essentially fire and forget. The system would boot to the image, and the image automatically kicks off a shell script to run updates. There's not really any human interaction needed. It's sort of one of those things where you verify that it boots and kicks off with the updates, then break for lunch. Generally, it's about done when you come back.
Nick58
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March 19th, 2019 12:00
Awesome! I'm about to run it now. After it is done, would we then be able to load Server 2012R2 or would there by any additional steps in between?
Dell-DylanJ
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March 19th, 2019 13:00
You'll still need to load drivers, since this utility only touches firmware. But, it should have the OS driver pack loaded in there. My expectation is that upon completion, you should be able to use the LCC and install the OS. Worst case scenario would be to grab your PERC driver, extract the payload, and place the contents onto a USB so that you can provide it to Windows at the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen, but my expectation is that you won't need to do that.
Dell-DylanJ
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March 20th, 2019 10:00
I'm glad to hear the updates went smoothly, but the install issues are certainly puzzling. You might consider reinstalling again, just in case the issue was just some weird one-off type problem. One thing that I try when running into issues is to not just reinstall, but to actually delete and create a new virtual disk and let it run a background initialization. That way, it's coming with as clean a slate as possible. It's best to do this after determining if you want to use BIOS or UEFI boot mode.
Nick58
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March 20th, 2019 10:00
Dylan,
The update utility worked like a charm. The BIOS and LCC were successfully installed. I had to manually install the OS Driver Pack (via LCC) but that also went through successfully.
I attempted to install Windows 2012R2 and went through the initial installation just fine:
-Initiated OS Deployment through the LCC and selected the 2012R2 drivers. Initial Windows installation screens appear and installation of files went through flawlessly but just when I thought I was in the clear, after performing the first reboot, I would get greeted with a black screen with the "Windows Boot Manager" title, stating, "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause."
If it means anything, I booted using UEFI as the boot mode. With the BIOS, LifeCycle Controller,and OS Driver Pack updated and current, I have no idea why I'm still getting errors...
Dell-DylanJ
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March 20th, 2019 11:00
For sake of testing, I'd go ahead and toggle the boot mode from UEFI to BIOS mode. If you intend on keeping the OS and data volume separate, you may very well be fine using that mode anyway.
To answer your question, no, I don't believe the PERC firmware would play into this. It could certainly stop the storage from presenting to the installer at all, but we're seeing a different behavior.
Nick58
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March 20th, 2019 11:00
Nick58
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March 20th, 2019 12:00
Nick58
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March 20th, 2019 13:00
The install was able to complete after I re-created the virtual disks like you suggested. Thank you for all the help Dylan! You da man!
Sincerely,
Nick
Dell-DylanJ
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March 20th, 2019 13:00
Very glad that did it for you, Nick!
dellymanny3
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December 6th, 2019 16:00
The link https://dell.app.box.com/v/bootabler710/folder/60646213395 no longer works. Where is a working and bootable iso file? I've heard something about making your own repository, but that sounds extremely complex for something that should be simple. If the repository route is the only option, does someone have detailed tutorial on how to do this? I really don't know where to begin. Frustrating.
cobe18
3 Posts
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February 12th, 2020 00:00
Yes same issue here and R710 no longer listed in Dell Repository Manager catalog, so not sure where to get updates from or build iso.
jdkillian
2 Posts
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February 12th, 2020 18:00
Looks like Im needing this as well. Appears to be a dead link