DL385 Processor upgrade issue

[Darrick Goins]

We are currently running a DL385 with 2 single-core Opteron 252's. We purchased two dual-core Opteron 285's to replace the current processors in the server as I had read that they were supported by our hardware. Every time we tried to upgrade, the BIOS said that the processors were not supported. We checked to make sure that we had the latest firmware and called up HP tech support to verify that the parts would work. The tech had us reflash the BIOS and a few other trivial things to get it to work, but to no avail. Is there anyone out there who has experienced this issue or someone who could at least point me in the right direction? It would be very greatly appreciated.

[Ryan Goff]

From what I've dug up, DL385's are dual core ready, they just need the A05, 6/14/2005 bios update to support them.

What are the model numbers on the actual processors? The AMD model numbers?

If you have the latest bios this might be something you need to escalate on HP's side.

[TarunJain]

Hi Darrick,
Check both the processors one by one,
to check the status on single 285 processor ?
If still it is showing the same error then the parts should be swapped.

[Darrick Goins]

The model number on both processors is OSA285FAA6CB. We are using the latest A05 firmware as well. I will try booting up with just one processor after hours sometime this week to see what happens.

[Ryan Goff]

I don't think putting in a single one at a time will help you. This server only supports max of 2.4 ghz dual core, not the 2.6ghz model which you describe (OSA285FAA6CB)

It's quite possible that the bios on these servers is limited to the 2.4ghz model only. I'm not seeing a valid option over 2.4 ghz for dual core, only 2.6ghz for single core.

[Ryan Goff]

Or maybe not, I just checked quickspecs and did some more digging and it looks like 2.6 dual core was recently added as supported. Perhaps since support for them was recently added this is why you are having problems? Perhaps trying one at a time may help, just make sure to only have one bank of memory installed at a time, as each bank of memory installed requires a processor.

[Darrick Goins]

Ok, we just tried to boot to one processor with just one of the memory bays populated with ram but it still said unsupported processor. This server even came with the latest firmware on it, so trying to flash it to default leaves us with the current driver release from March 2006. I am at a loss of what to do and so is tech support at HP it seems.

[Attila Szabó]

Dear Darrick,

plese, can you tell us the exact part number of the processor what you ordered? (like: HP OPTRN 2.6/1000-1M DC DL385R02 ALL
407433-B21)
Thanks,
Attila

[Ryan Goff]

He's allready provided the cpu model, and there is only one made by AMD:

OSA285FAA6CB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Opteron_microprocessors

There is only one type of 285 for 2.6ghz.

The only thing I can think of is for some reason the motherboard he has is an older revision that doesn't have support for the 2.6 ghz, considering when this server was released, 2.4ghz was the max supported dual core.

There is no way he has two bad processors, so I'd ask HP for a replacement systemboard.

[Darrick Goins]

Ryan is right, the processors are both OSA285FAA6CB. The theory about the board being old could be right, but not likely. We got this server around the end of 2006 with the latest firmware already on the board. When I reset it to default, it has the same firmware version as the upgrade I apply.