HP ProLiant ML150 G5 BIOS Recovery - No POST.

[kanetp]

Hello,

I have recently performed a BIOS update an ML150 G5 server that has resulted in bricking the server.

The BIOS version prior to update was 017, 01/31/2008.

The new BIOS version was 017, 10/25/2010.

BIOS updates were performed using RomPaq and a USB key.

Prior to the BIOS update I had updated BMC firmware from 3.00 to 3.20 as the BIOS notes suggest.

Both BMC firmware update and BIOS updates reported success.

After performing a power cycle after the BIOS update, the system powered up, fans running however nothing on the screen and no error beeps.

The BMC is still functioning correctly, the heartbeat LED on the motherboard is blinking, I am able to access the BMC CLI via the serial port using a terminal emulator, however there are no options to assist in debugging.

After further investigation I noticed that if I connect a terminal emulator to the serial port at 115200 there seems to be a BIOS recovery option, which allows upload of a BIOS image via XMODEM protocol upon power up.

I have attempted to upload the BIOS image from RomPaq however it gets no further than the following:

Press <SpaceBar> to update BIOS.
Confirm update BIOS? (y/n) y
Begin remote BIOS flash? (y/n)y
Starting remote flash.
Upload new BIOS file using Xmodem protocol.

New BIOS received ok.

It seems that the BIOS image being uploaded needs to support "serial flash" in order to continue and perform self flashing according to AMI BIOS documention online.

Is there a way to use this BIOS recovery method on the ML150 G5 or is there another recovery method that can be tried? I am running out of options.

I should also note that I have updated other ML150 G5 servers to the same BIOS revision with no issues at all (the previous BIOS version in this instance was 10/02/2008).

Is there a known issue updating from 01/31/2008?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Kane.

[mhunter]

Replace the CMOS battery, burn the BIOS, and then reboot.

[Lincy_Zachariah]

In case of recovery from a corrupt BIOS update, it may be needed to flash the BIOS again through the ROMPAQ utility.

Along with that it may be needed to clear the Setup configuration values (CMOS) if the configuration has been corrupted.

[kanetp]

Thank you both for your suggestions.

Unfortunately as the server will not even get to POST (that I can visually verify), there is no way for me to boot and update the BIOS, this is the stage I want to get to.

I have already attempted to reset the CMOS (holding CMOS reset button down while AC power disconnected), I have also tried removing the battery and replacing it.

The screen is never initialised, it never comes out of sleep (I have also tried other displays).

Tomorrow I will attempt to make a copy of a working EEPROM from a functioning ML150 G5 and write it to the corrupt EEPROM using an EEPROM programmer, hopefully the problem lies on that EEPROM.

Kind Regards,

Kane.

[kanetp]

Here is the latest update.

I tried to re-flash the SPI EEPROM using an external programmer to the latest BIOS version (10/25/2010) with no success, the results were unchanged, still no POST and no beeping errors to tell me what is wrong.

I then decided to flash the EEPROM with the oldest BIOS version I could get my hands on (01/09/2008). Plugged the chip back into the motherboard, and it WORKED!!

I then proceeded to update the BIOS to the next available revision (03/08/2008) using RomPaq, flashed with success rebooted and all was still OK.

However if I try to update the BIOS to the next revision (01/31/2008) or a later revision RomPaq reports success however after a power cycle I go back to having the same problem, no POST, no beeps. It seems there is an issue updating past  (03/08/2008).

I now have the system up and running with the old BIOS however I prefer to keep my systems up to date.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Kane.

[juanmapalad]

hello sir,

i have a Proliant ML150 G5 that will not load to the OS. its initial error was 510 SEL is Full. i already cleared the system event log. and unfurtunately it still cant load to the OS. i would like to try to reset is BIOS..

may i know how to reset the BIOS for Proliant ML 150 G5? is there a step by step procedure?

i am a newbie here, how can i post in the forum? thanks.

[manizpro]

hi dear. can you help me to fix my hp proliant ml150 g5. a have the same problem. here is my email address   manizpro at bk.ru

please if you still have old bios 2008 year. send me please. than you before

[DeDServer]

Hello,

I have same problem in dl360 g7

can you tell me how you did this?

[I tried to re-flash the SPI EEPROM using an external programmer to the latest BIOS version]

https://community.hpe.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/HP-ProLiant-ML150-G5-BIOS-Recovery-No-POST/m-p/5959055/highlight/true#M134477