Going deaf with rx2620 fan noise

[Jim Turner]

I purchased a pair of dual-cpu rx2620's and MCOE with the primary intent of using them to qualify MCSG patches before I twiddled any production bits. So far, so good.

I ordered them with deskside skins ("Pedestal Rack Kit"), DVD burners, keyboards, mice, and mgmt cards (VGA) because my secondary use for them were as two HP-UX workstations. I did so based on the fact that the rx2600 I already had experience with ran quietly and was suitable for an office environment. So far, not good.

These rx2620's roar with fan noise like a 747 on takeoff. They don't drop their fan speeds like the 2600 which raises them only in response to elevated internal temps or a failed fan. So now my question -- yes, I really do have a question:

What is it that is telling the rx2600 that it's okay for it to lower its fan speeds? Whatever it is, it's apparently missing or not properly configured on the rx2620's.

All help is greatly appreciated as I'd like to get this J-Class and its Jamaica out from under my desk and replace it with the rx2620 sitting at my feet.

[BrianC]

Juat to Compare the RX2600 and RX2620 fan specs. The RX2600 fans are running at 80CFM, The RX2620 fans are running at 100CFM.

I would recommend checking the system serial console logs for any fan events.

Here is an example of
SEL(System Event Log).

cli>se
# Sev Generator/Sensor Description Event ID Data, Timestamp
---- - ---------------- ------------ ----------- --------------------------
0010 - Fan 3F (Disk) Perf lags EE-04:06:01 2003-04-18 10:27:43
0020 - Fan 3B (Disk) Perf lags EF-04:06:01 2003-04-18 10:27:43
0030 - Cooling 3 (Disk) Fail (crit) 13-0A:07:02 2003-04-18 10:27:43
0040 - Pwr Spply 1 Ctrl Disabled 44-08:09:00 2003-04-18 10:27:45
0050 - Pwr Spply 2 Ctrl Disabled 45-08:09:00 2003-04-18 10:27:45

2) You can get the SEL from the CLI prompt. Here is he help how to get CLI from
the system serial port console.
1. To enter the CLI from the system console, type: Esc (That's [Escape], then
[Shift]-9). then press [Enter], the BMC will respond with the CLI prompt:
cli> .
2. To return to the system console, type: Esc Q(That's [Escape], then
[Shift]-Q.)

Brian

[Jim Turner]

Can the same info be had from the Management Processor? I'm logged-in to the MP even though the server is powered-off (standby).

[BrianC]

Yes from the MP console
MP>CM
MP/CM> SL
Event Logs.
T.

[Jim Turner]

Thanks. The word I have from an HP SE that I trust indicates the following:

The rx2620 is, not surprisingly, an updated rx2600. The update involves making it capable of running the dual-core Itanium2 processors. Part of the update is increasing the minimum airflow from 80cfm to 100cfm. While the rx2620 is capable of reporting internal temps, it cannot be told to lower the fan speeds like the rx2600 and rx1600.

Since I'm not at all interested in dual-core CPU capability on these two particular machines, I'm sending the rx2620's back and getting a pair of rx2600's. I know for a fact they're quieter.

To anybody who is considering an rx2620 (pedestal mount) for office use -- DON'T! They are too loud and not suitable for an office environment. Look instead at the rx2600 and rx1600. Although they have some fan noise, they are no louder than legacy HP-UX workstations like C's and J's. In fact, the rx2600 is quieter than my J210 and Jamaica that I have now.

[Jim Turner]

My thanks to Bryan for the answers he posted and to BJ Woodard for his research at HP.

[BrianC]

There must have been many complaints of the loud RX2620 fans. A new Office Friendly version of the RX2620 has been introduced.
The kit to retrofit existing systems is also available . Part # AD244A.

A google search lists a passing reference to this is the latest RX2620 quickspec. The link to the quickspec is listed below.

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12141_div/12141_div.HTML

Brian