Proliant 1600 would not boot up..PLLLease help!

[apache_1]

Hi guys,

I was given a PL1600 with two 9.1 GB ultra3 scsi. The problem was that it crashed and when rebooted went into a cycle of rebooting over and over again.

I am not a systems guy (ours is a very small company) but here is what I did.

I booted with a smartstart cd and ran System erase utility. After that I rebooted from the cd and was in the process of doing an assisted installation when the system froze up on me. After that the server does not boot from cd or floppy or anything. I power it on and it just stays like that. THe light flashes once on the hard drive - a red error light and thats it.. I tried shuffling the dimms and booting without the hard disc drives in place, still no luck.. Also, there is no "beep" at startup -- if that helps..

Can you please help??..Thanks a ton in advance.

[JohnWRuffo · Accepted solution]

First thing to try is clearing the NVRAM:

Remove the top cover so you can see the I/O board. Take a look at this picture:
http://partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/spi/showphoto?partnumber=146057-001

On the switches indicated in the photo, set S6 to ON and make sure S4 is OFF.
Now power on the system. This should clear the configuration settings and bring the server back to default.
Also, setting S3 to OFF makes sure the diskette can be boot from.

Pull both hard drives out.

Power on the server and you should see Error 162 date and time not set
Once the CMOS is cleared, set S6 back to OFF.

Replace the drives and power the system back on and run through the system configuration utility and save the configuration (Press 10 at the end).

Here is a Maint. Guide to help you:
http://h200005.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/UCR/SupportManual/TPM_179480-001_rev3_us/TPM_179480-001_rev3_us.pdf

Let us know if you still have troubles.

You may have a Bad Drive if the Red LED stays on.

[JohnWRuffo]

Whoops...

I said: "Also, setting S3 to OFF makes sure the diskette can be boot from."

I mean S4
Make sure you leave S4 OFF... not S3

Sorry about that.

[apache_1]

Thanks john, I am going to try it right now and let you know how it goes.. and thanks a lot for your prompt reply.

Will post back in 15 minutes..

[JohnWRuffo]

Not a problem... see ya in 15!

[apache_1]

sorry for the delay still struggling with the top cover thing. mine is not a tower one, it is rack mounted one.. and my boss just keep interrupting.. i am almost done now..

Thanks a lot once again, you are a savior

[JohnWRuffo]

If this is in a rack, you need to remove the right side cover (would be the top in a tower configuration). So, slide it out of the rack and look sideways at it. Ahhh.... the neck break position.

Now that I know it is in a rack, make sure you set S3 to ON. This switch sets the server fan speeds for a rack configuration.

Let me know?

-john

[apache_1]

John, this cover on the side just wont come off, i wish I could use a big sledge hammer on it :-(

It has to have a latch or something somewhere.. will write back in 10

[apache_1]

i did it, now i will do the settings as you advised..

[JohnWRuffo]

The "side" cover has a thumb screw at the front next to the hand/finger holds.