Noisy Fan in DL80 Gen9

[hshukla]

I am using a DL80 Gen 9 in AHCI mode with legacy boot . The fan is very noisy and it does not reduce fan speed after some time . Any solution......

[Suman_1978]

Hi,

See if this solution helps you.

https://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/kb/docDisplay/?docId=mmr_kc-0126189

Thank You!
I am a HP employee.

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[Consul_ee]

upgrade motherboard BIOS with latest binaries, I got it fixed only after that firmware upgrade

[radec]

I have updated the firmware with spp 2015.10. The fans still spin at 58%. It is so loud i can't hear anybody on the phone when standing next to the server. The noise is above 50db. If no resolve I will have to return the servers.

[Jimmy Vance]

Put it in UEFI mode and use the B140i controller

[AdrienC]

Indeed, this is the issue. Fan speed is altered by the use of the B140i controller.

Is there any rational and technical reason for that? I have an OS that is unable to manage this fakeraid controller. Since only RedHat and SuSE can, it is a paradox : we are not buying a reduced cost server to buy some licence from a GNU/Linux distributor.

Since I don't see why managing RAID in software can result in unmanaged fan speed, I'm thinking this is a real bug in the server firmware.

[PatrickE-B]

I had the same problem with a Proliant ML30, after putting in a PCI-e P440 Smart Array controller instead of the onboard B140i. Monitoring the fan speed from the ILO System Information page, fan speeds FAN1/FAN2 were at 40-50%/20-25%. Terribly noisy, unacceptable.
Temperature sensors for "HD max", "PS/1" and "PCI 4" were at +/- 40, 50, 80°C. I presumed that the 80°C made the BIOS turn up the fan speed, in an attempt to cool the PCI 4 slot where my P440 controller is mounted.

Solution

1. enable onboard controller even if you don't plan on using it, put in "Enable Dynamic Smart Array" mode instead of AHCI mode. This will produce a F1/F2 "Configuration required" warning every restart but this is safe to ignore.
Why ? Due to the Proliant Gen9 design, the onboard controller is needed to enable the HP BIOS to correctly read out various sensors, see Gen9 master explanation at https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/924011-hp-proliant-dl180-gen9-high-fan-speed-using-sata-ahci.

2. if available: buy an optional HP fan kit from HP for your server model. [For the ML30, when using PCI-e cards, this is even a required option according to the quickspecs , but it is a bit hidden in the text : partnbr. 820290-B21]

3. mount the optional fan kit so that it blows directly onto the PCI-e card.
In the housing of my ML30, this fan kit normally snaps into place in front of a metal grid, but this grid clearly obstructed air flow somewhat. So in my case I force-fixed the fan assembly behind the grid with some fasteners, so that air from the fan could blow directly onto the PCI 4 card. Also routed any cables in the air flow out of the way. This brought down the temperature sensor of the PCIe card from 80-85°C to 60-65°C. After this, the system FAN1 + FAN2 + power supply fan stayed at 15-20%, which is just an acceptable noise level.

4. additionally mount a direct blow-on PCI-e card fan, like the Gelid Solutions PCI Slot Fan Holder with two slim 120mm UV Blue Fans (these are gamer's parts, see e.g. www.frozencpu.com for more cooling options)

Conclusion

Cooling the PCI slot where the PCI-e controller is mounted is crucial, but HP fan kits do not provide sufficient cooling/air flow to keep the temperatures down enough to prevent the fan speed going up.
So extra cooling must be provided, possibly even using non-HP cooling products.
All in all it's disappoining that HP design does not take better into account the noise levels, especially for lower-budget SOHO servers that will function in a small/open office, shop, family environment, so that you have to resort to 50USD aftermarket cooling solutions to appropriately cool a 5000 USD server. In my 20 yrs+ of installing HP servers, I never had this kind of issue with any Proliant.

[EarlWer]

None of these links work. Thanks, HP

[Jimmy Vance]

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@EarlWerwrote:

None of these links work. Thanks, HP

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You are looking at a thread that is a couple of years old. Unfortunately links can change for various reasons.  I found these two advisories that may apply.

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-a00008294en_us

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04683594

Are you running in Legacy mode? what disk controller are you working with?  If you probvide details on what you're seeing others may be able to offer suggestions

[EarlWer]

Subject changed. It's actually a new DL20 Gen9 server

The server needs to run Ubuntu. I am running the server version 16.04 LTS.

Yes, it's in Legacy mode. I was not able to install Ubuntu any other way.

I am not using the built-in RAID controller, since Ubuntu will not recognize it. There are 2 drives using Ubuntu Software RAID1. The B140i controller is in AHCI mode.

The fans are always showing:

Fan Location Status Speed
Fan 1 System OK 6%
Fan 2 System OK 6%
Fan 3 System OK 40%

I am assuming most of the noise is from Fan 3. It never deviates from 6% 6% 40%. There are no additional cards installed.

It's frustrating because each boot takes up to 5 minutes, as it does whatever...

The server is not even installed yet, but I am tempted to make a service call and let the tech figure it out. I suspect there is no solution and I will be checking the fans frequently until it fails...

I will look at your suggestions first and let you know. Thanks.