HP ML110 G5 gets no client connection after BIOS battery change

[Chaironea]

Hi everybody,

quite a silly question, but still putting it (though I know that there may be an oodleplex of possibilities):

I had to change the BIOS battery on an ML110 G5. To do so, I disconnected it from the power (which may not have been too clever in hindsight).

It now powers up and runs its RAID 1 of 2 HDDs perfectly. Windows Server 2008 starts, all programs seem to work perfectly, too. All network resources are present and still have their correct share options selected. Internet is working, updates are coming in and I can open a browser and surf.

Now the problem: I do not get any connection to the other about 15 clients hanging on the same switch which all need shared resources from the server. Neither do the client connect (all shared resources are unavailable) nor does the server get messages through to the clients (they usually can all be locked, shut down or restarted with a protection card disabled to enable client-side updates which otherwise are blocked).

Now the (silly) question: Does anybody have an idea whether a simple BIOS (machine name or other) setting may be missing after changing the battery or whether there is a way to load the previous BIOS configuration? I have not found anything helpful in the Maintenance and Service Manual.

[Chaironea]

So here comes the somewhat embarrassing solution, just for anybody who thinks he might have the same problem - you probably don't and may look for another thread.

It was nothing to do with the BIOS battery being changed. It was a DHCP capable device with DHCP still turned on though it shouldn't.

Story:

Some fool had thought it a good idea to insert a W-LAN switch into the network in one seminar room in order to make it easier for presenters to attach their Laptops to the network. While that worked very well for some time, a blackout in the building where the main switch and the server sit caused the DHCP server of the W-LAN switch to kick in and hand out leases to machines still on the network, which were all except the server itself.

I saw that shortly after posting here when I noticed that a machine that was not recognized by the server had the wrong IP for the DHCP server assigning IP addresses. As I see that IP virtually every day it was immediately apparent that it had to do with some DHCP server mismatch, i.e. another DHCP server being present in the network.

This malconfiguration went unnoticed as the delay between installation and problem was several weeks. The BIOS battery problem probably just became apparent at the same time by coincidence when the UPS kicked in and the server recognized that the BIOS battery was low through the intermittent voltage drop. Storks and babies - coincidence is not causality.

Well, despite that relieving solution which put all of the network back online: that fool with the W-LAN switch was myself. Just good that my neck is too short, or I would now have some bite marks on my bottom.