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HP Proliant DL380 G4 - Fans and Bios

 
SpinyDelta
New Member

HP Proliant DL380 G4 - Fans and Bios

I've just recently acquired a HP Proliant DL380 G4 second hand and experiencing very loud fans. I've read through just about every thread regarding this issue and have tried everything. I've installed every driver possible, every support pack available etc. (Under Windows Server 2008 x64)

The only difference that's I've managed to achieve is after installing the support packs the fans just run at fall speed, instead of a (guess) 60-70% speed.

I haven't been able to update the bios as I obtained the server secondhand and thefore do not have entitlement rights to download the most recent bios. I've also not been able to find anything within the bios or the management software regarding enviorment or fan management which I have seen mentioned in a few threads with the same issue.

I can't believe the fans are operating at their quiest setting currently. The ambient temperature is between 10 Celsius and 15 Celsius, so it's definitely not in a hot environment.

Many thanks,

2 REPLIES 2
waaronb
Respected Contributor

Re: HP Proliant DL380 G4 - Fans and Bios

It's been a while since I've worked on a DL380 G4 but I do remember it's loud unless there's something controlling the fan speeds.

I think the G4 had the feature where it'll spin the fans at full speed for a few seconds at boot but then run slower (the "blowout" feature). I don't quite remember if HP introduced fan speed control into the POST routine in the G3 or G4 model, but I was thinking the G4 had it.

On older models the fans would run at full speed until the OS booted and the agents took over. That was annoying if you were setting up a new server at your desk...everyone looking at you wondering why you have a jet engine.

In another recent thread in this forum (you may have seen it) someone was talking about fan speeds and making sure the blowout feature is enabled in the IPMI settings. I don't know if that applies to the G4 or not but you should check. Otherwise it sounded like the fans would just run at full speed the whole time the server was running.

I wouldn't worry too much about finding a newer BIOS. The firmware updates you can find by just going to the download page for the server or even grabbing the final version of the Firmware CD would have the latest. They haven't updated the DL3x0 G4 firmwares in a long time since I think they're officially EOL.

You might need to do something like install older versions of the agents and drivers... new versions might install okay but no longer support the old hardware? I'm just guessing there... Stick with whatever the last version is from the DL380 G4 driver download page and don't try to use anything newer. See if that makes any difference.

Also, just for fun, look in the lights out page at the temp readings... ambient may be low, but maybe the CPU heatsink and/or the thermal compound isn't doing very well after several years and it's running hot, for example.
Guest_aaa
New Member

Re: HP Proliant DL380 G4 - Fans and Bios

Hi,

 

I'm facing exactly the same issue with a Windows Server 2008 x86 installation.

Did you find a solution?