topic Re: Noise problem DL360 G3 in ProLiant Servers (ML,DL,SL)

Noise problem DL360 G3

Stein Waalen — Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:15:16 GMT

My brand new DL360 G3 server makes too much noise. Compaq support suggests replacing the fans, but that is really not the case. The problem is that when starting the server the fans goes up to their highest speed, but instead of going down to a slower level after a while it stays on top speed making a crecendo.
My guess is that the temperature measure thingy is defect.
Have tried to install the lastes CPQ Support Pack with no luck.
NB! Most servers are these features controlled by software, but the DL360 i shardwarecontrolled.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Peter Maragua — Fri, 24 Jan 2003 12:12:17 GMT

You have not mentioned the room temparature or the rack temparatue, if it is to high the fun speed will not come down, the speed come's down as a way of telling you the machine is cool, you idea could also be true.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Stein Waalen — Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:01:47 GMT

The server har yet to be put into a rack, it is brand new. The room temperature is 20 - 24 C. which should be ok as the server is not critical until 35 C.
If the server gets critically hot it has a led on the motherboard that will light up red or amber. This has not happened.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Stein Waalen — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:47:16 GMT

Follow up:
Compaq/HP support claims the noise problem is by design as the fans are harwarecontrolled (not softwarecontrolled as they used to be) and can not be slowed down neither via software nor hardware. Anyone else have this problem ?

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Bart_7 — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 10:17:55 GMT

Hello stein,

We have exact the same problem, we purchased two brand new servers to deliver to customers. after setting only one up it's impossible to stay in the server room due to the howling of 1 server. Imagine what it would give with their advertised 40 servers in one rack.
I installed smartstart , win 2000 and then again the support packs, to see if it could be the management driver.
i logged a call with hp and after a while got the same answer, that it's controlled by hardware and not by drivers. i told they were crazy to say it would be by design. in a full rack you would need threedouble sound isolation around your serverroom.
Our supplier is looking into it from their side.

My customer says if it's gonna make noise like that i can take it back and bring him another server.

just wondering , didn't nobody notice this in testing ????

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Siegmar Jeroma — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 12:27:00 GMT

Hy, we have the same problem her in germany with 20 DL360G3.
The noise problem is that this server is new designed and have components inside there need more cooling.
This server ship with standart 7 fans.The DL360G1 and G2 ships with 1 fan.
Comapq says that most servers are these features controlled by software, but the DL360G3 is hardware controlled.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Bart_7 — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 13:22:25 GMT

or ceo decided to send the servers back to hp and buy other servers.

We will formally make a complaint to their complaints department regarding the exessive noise produced.

We suggest that everybody does the same in their country.

Maybe they can find a fix for it rapidly that way.

In the meantime we will purchase our servers from other brands.

bart

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Stein Waalen — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 15:24:49 GMT

Hi all
We have also decided to return the DL360 G3 server, even thought Compaq Support have replied to me that "we have got many complaints about the noise problem, and it is being discussed internally". My customer; a radio-station has 8 racks with various computer, networking and sound systems, and refuses to put the DL360 G3 server in there as it completely "outsounds" the other equipment, leaving the place impossible to work in.
My sales-manager is currently looking for a similar Compaq server to replace the DL360 G3.
<>
I bet that in a months time or so the DL360 G3 will be reissued with different hardware, or softwarecontrolled fans.
Thank you all for your replies, and good luck with your systems.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Bart_7 — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 07:40:12 GMT

Can anyone from hp on this forum comment on their progress and strategy.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Bart_7 — Mon, 03 Feb 2003 13:18:41 GMT

bump

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Robert Cashman — Tue, 04 Feb 2003 09:05:42 GMT

Hi there,
I'm the product manager in EMEA for the ProLiant DL360 G3 and we are very much aware of the fan noise concerns. We are addressing this issue and will provide the following fix to address these concerns:

A ROM update will be available in ~2 weeks that will enable fan speed control on the DL360 G3. An ambient room temperature of 25 degrees C or lower will result in the slowest fan speed. The ROM will allow the health driver to adjust the fan speed of the power supply and processor fans accordingly up to the maximum supported ambient room temperature of 35 degrees C.

I hope this will now be a satisfactory solution for our customers, please feel free to respond with any additional comments.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Darren Webb — Wed, 05 Feb 2003 15:13:16 GMT

Could anybody tell me if this is a problem on any other servers, because I just turned on a new ML370 G2 and it seems to be very noisey indeed. Almost as if.... the fans were stuck on!

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Tom Mucha_1 — Wed, 05 Feb 2003 18:55:28 GMT

Darren- depending what firmware your G2 is at, the default fan speed (can be changed in RBU - F9 at boot) is set to high. If the OS you are using has the CPQ health drivers installed, it will throttle down the fan untill the temperature changes. If your OS does not support the health driver, you can set it to LOW during boot in the advanced menu I believe.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Michael Golod — Sun, 09 Feb 2003 16:01:34 GMT

When I turn the DL 360 server on for the first time, people came to my room to ask why I am using vacuum cleaner on the morning :-)Compaq managed to put such a power to this machine's fans, so if you connect a pair of wings to it's case - I think it will fly away.
What about our ears??? Am I need to purchase some headphones or, you guys in Compaq, really plan to do something about this problem?
Mr. Robert Cashman, thank you for your response, but for some reason local suppliers (at least here in Israel) still say that this behavior of DL 360 is "normal".

Best regards.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Nicolas Florange — Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:28:46 GMT

We experienced also the same noise problem even if the QuickSpecs specifies 59dBA of acoustic noise in normal operating mode (we supposed that 80dBa would be a better approximation of the noise). Our customer wishes to replace DL360G3 servers with other servers! We asked him to wait for a fixe, but we really hope that HP will provide a free hardware or software fixe as soon as possible!

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Marco da Silva_1 — Fri, 21 Feb 2003 21:16:33 GMT

The solution to this problem can be find at this link :

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/17306.html

After the application of this patch, we can sleep quoted a DL360 G3...

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Stein Waalen — Fri, 21 Feb 2003 21:35:05 GMT

Thanx to Compqaq for providing the patch. Updated the SystemROM yesterday and the imediate result was almost deafening :-)..........a sigh of relief went through a bunch of co-workers! Thanx to everybody who supported this issue, and this forum entry.....keep up the good work everyone !

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Theo Hill_1 — Fri, 21 Feb 2003 23:14:57 GMT

One thing to be aware of is the risk of overheating. Hopefully people don't think it is ok to just throw these under a desk now in normal tempetures.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Brian_166 — Wed, 26 Feb 2003 21:41:39 GMT

I have installed the latest DL360 G3 ROM (P31 from 2003/02/07, released 2003/02/20), and I have the health driver loaded. The fans are still running at full speed and full volume. cpqimlview doesn't give any informational messages about fan speed being adjusted.

Re: Noise problem DL360 G3

Doug Ortman — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 13:14:45 GMT

I installed the patch and after a reboot, the fans immediately throttled down to a slower speed, even before I applied the health agent.
This is an educated guess, but there's probably a temperature sensor in there somewhere. If your fans are still running on high speed, maybe your environment is still too hot. Do you have good air flow around the server?