Proliant ML370 G3 freezing on daily basis

[diesel_1]

Hi all,

I have a proliant ML370 G3 server running windows server 2003. 2GB ram, 3 x 72.8GB SCSI drives.

The server can freeze on a daily basis. It tends to freeze when it is working harder than usual. I do not get a blue screen or a reboot. the system simply freezes and the display sticks at what was there before the freeze. I have tried leaving for a few hours to see if it will come back but it does not. a hard reboot is the only way to get it working again.

I have tried replacing memory, increasing memory, unplugging cd, floppy, tape drives. Have cleaned out PSU. Have tried removing one of the hard disks and letting it run on two (have tried this will all combinations of the 3 drives). Nothing seems to cure it.

I am not an expert on servers but have had this running for over 2 years now. Although from day one it used to freeze once a week it is now happening more and more frequently and is beginning to cause us great problems.

I tried to do a disk cleanup and on compressing old files the server always hangs.

I would appreciate any pointers if anyone has any ideas as to find out what is actually causing the problem.

Thanks very much in advance,

Steve

[david d_2]

Steve,

When it freezes can you ping it? It sounds like you may be having an issue with the processor.

-Dave

[diesel_1]

hi dave,

thanks for the reply,

Server has just crashed this minute so it gave me an opertunity to try a ping and no I do not get any replies from the server while it is in that frozen state.

Does this mean I have to replace the processor?

There ar elots of LED's on the motherboard will these tell you anything?

thanks again
steve

[Proliantstud]

Hi,

Do an offline firmware upgrade and boot to OS. Run the latest PSP. This will fix the issue b 90%. If not we will do further research.

Firmware:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=316541&swItem=MTX-2daedac9c17648c7905b64f8c3&prodNameId=3279715&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=4&idx=1

Unzip the file and burn to a CD. Boot the server using the cd and upgrade the firmware.

Run the psp after upgrading the firmware:

ProLiant Support Pack for Microsoft Windows Server 2003
psp-8.11.w2k3.i386.exe (124 MB)
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=316541&prodNameId=3279715&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-c9bcb7244b704812ab33633850

The server will be stable after these upgrade. Best of luck.

Cheers,
Anand

[diesel_1]

Hi Anand,

Thanks for your input. I downloaded the firmware ISO and run this on the server. This updated the firmware on 4 devices.

I rebooted and downloaded the PSP file and tried to run HPSUM.exe as per install instructions. I get so far and then all i get is X Discovery Failed.

Also my LAN card didnt work on first boot and only seems to work 50% of the time.

Any other ideas?

Thanks again, I value everyones input and look forward to some other pointers.

Kind Regards

Steve

[david d_2]

Steve,

I would suggest dealing with the Lan card first. Any device could be causing the system to hang. Once you get the Lan card to 100% you might find the system no longer hangs. Let us know how you make out.

-Dave