DL370 G6 Intermittent Loud Fan Spin-up issue + ASR problem

[Julius Verne]

Dear Forums,

I have two DL370 G6's--they are both in the same rack and one works great with no issues. The other DL370 will about 3-4 times a day spin it's fans to the highest speed for 3-10 seconds and then calm down. If you look in IML which is at the bottom of this message you can see that the server thinks fans are failing. The fans are fine. I have reseated all of the fans to be sure. HP tech support sent an engineer out to replace the system board but the problem continues.

I have BIOS version P63 06/01/2009. HP referenced this article to me: Advisory: ProLiant DL380 G6/ ProLiant DL370 G6/ ProLiant ML370 G6 Servers- Erroneous Hard Drive or System Board Temperature Values May Be Displayed.

The article states that the solution is: For the HP ProLiant DL370 G6 server: Update to a System ROM version dated later than 03/04/2009 , however I already have a newer firmware then that so I don't believe this is the issue.

I've run the full system diags off of SmartStart CD and they came back clean. The tech at HP said there is another board that may need to be replaced behind the hard drive cage but I have no idea what this is or if it is relevant.

Can someone advise me what I should do next or if they have heard of this problem before?

Here is the log from IML which just repeats itself over and over. Thanks a lot!



Repaired

OS

09/02/2009 15:15

09/02/2009 15:15

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Initiated Due to Fan Failure
Repaired

Environment

09/02/2009 15:15

09/02/2009 15:15

1

Fan Failure (Fan 5, Location System)
Informational

OS

09/02/2009 15:15

09/02/2009 15:15

2

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Aborted
Repaired

OS

09/02/2009 15:15

09/02/2009 15:15

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Initiated Due to Fan Failure
Repaired

Environment

09/02/2009 15:15

09/02/2009 15:15

1

Fan Failure (Fan 4, Location System)
Informational

OS

09/02/2009 05:37

09/02/2009 05:37

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Aborted
Repaired

OS

09/02/2009 05:37

09/02/2009 05:37

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Initiated Due to Fan Failure
Repaired

Environment

09/02/2009 05:37

09/02/2009 05:37

1

Fan Failure (Fan 2, Location System)
Informational

OS

09/02/2009 03:03

09/02/2009 03:03

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Aborted
Repaired

OS

09/02/2009 03:03

09/02/2009 03:03

1

Automatic Operating System Shutdown Initiated Due to Fan Failure
Repaired

Environment

09/02/2009 03:03

09/02/2009 03:03

1

Fan Failure (Fan 4, Location System)

[JMK-HP]

Since your BIOS is newer than the one in the advisory, that should not be an issue.

Possible general root causes are:
1. Fan issue
2. Cable issue
3. Power Backplane issue
4. Motherboad issue

You should have ruled out #4 by swapping out the motherboard.

You show a fan failure #5 which does not use a cable that connects to the power backplane so that should rule out #2 and #3.

One experiment would be to swap the fans between the two DL370's and see if the problem follows the fans (bad fans) or if it stays with the unit. Although it seems unlikely that you have multiple bad fans, this is a direct experiment that can prove this.

I will be checking replies...

Thanks,
JMK

[Julius Verne]

Thanks for your reply. I was actually advised by HP to update ILO and to DOWNGRADE my firmware--which will actually match the version on the server which works fine.

I will be updating the firmware and let you know how it goes. If it doesn't work I will be swapping fans.

Stay tuned.

Thanks.

[Julius Verne]

I upgraded to the latest BIOS release 7-24-09 I believe which solved my issue.

[JMK-HP]

This is great news. If the problem resurfaces, post some info as I am still checking this thread.