Recovery from a system rompaq upgrade

[Richard O'Callaghan]

Hi,
Does anyone know how to recover from a mal-applied rompaq.
I was attempting to upgrade to 4.06A downloaded from Smartstart 5.50 CD, when I lost the display.
Heeding the warning not to restart I left the server powered up for over 4 hours but now there is no response at all. No Compaq spalsh screen is displayed and there is no response from the keyboard.
Compaq advise a new system board would cost over ??400.00, so if anyone knows any tricks with rompaq's I would be very grateful.

[Robert Ghabel]

First off, what model Compaq is it?
If you have two of these there is something you can try. The bios rom is ONLY used during initial bootup/post. When the hard drive is accessed and the os loads, whether it's win98 nt4 linux whatever, the bios chip is not used again untill reboot.
This fix requires two identical mainboards. If the bios rom chip is in a socket on the mainboard and you can remove it. Insert a rom chip from another server that is working correctly into this one. Boot your server using your rompaq diskette and prepare for the update. Remove your working bios chip and insert the bad one. Proceed with the update and presto. One perfectly working server.
The only reason this would not work is if the "bad" bios chip is physically damaged.
I have never done this with a Compaq, but I have many times with other brand workstations and have %100 success rate. But to do all of this it requires that you are able to remove the bios chip and have access to an identical one as well.
On a final note, I would recommend being very gentle with the pins on the bios. They do bend very easily. And a always be static cautious.
Good luck.
Rob

[Martin Breidenbach]

There is an official procedure to fix this. It requires that the system dip switch is set to a special position that enables ROM recovery mode. In that mode the system can boot from a ROMPaq floppy disk and flash the system ROM.

Unfortunately I don't remember the correct switch settings. I know I have that info in a Compaq course manual but I'll not be in the office for a week

Call HP support; they should know the correct procedure.

[Dave_180]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=PRI_1_0_6447331_2784349

[Leon Rosier]

The dipswitch settings also depend on the type of system. What kind of system is it?

Leon

[Sameer_Nirmal]

Hi ,
This is Sam . I need a help from you... Did u get the DIP siwtch seetings from anynone here or from HP for ROMPaq recovery???

I have similar problem with my Compaq Proliant 400 server. I upgraded to the ROOMpaq 4.06A ( 04/19/2000) . But now system giving error 1611: CPU fan not detected!! and getting halted ..

I don't have CPU fan available with the server and want to get rid of this error.

Martin ,
Can u give me the switch settings???

Kindly reply ASAP ..
Waiting for your reply

Thanks & Regards
Sam

[JohnWRuffo]

Richard:
Have you already tried to update the bios again ( http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/7555.html ) Yes... again but with a "new" diskette.

If you have tried again and the diskette install still does not apply, then do the following:

Power off the server and open the server up.

1. Set configuration switches 1, 4, 5, and 6 on the system maintenance switch block to ON to enable disaster mode.
2. Insert the new bios diskette in the floppy.
3. Power on the server. The keyboard, mouse and monitor are all inactive. The IMD will be active if your server has one.
4. The server will make 2 long beeps, to indicate that it is in Disaster Recovery Mode, and should insert the ROMPaq diskette. The IMD, if your server has one, will display "Please insert ROMPaq diskette."
5. The server reads the diskette for the latest ROM image.
Note: If the diskette is not in place, the system continues to beep until a valid ROMPaq diskette is inserted.
6. The ROMPaq diskette will flash the system ROM.
During this process, the IMD displays: "ROMPaq flashing system ROM."
7. At the successful completion of this process, the IMD will display: "ROMPaq flash successful - Cycle Power."
Or;
If the flash is not successful, the IMD will display: "ROMPaq flash failed."

If the flash is sucessful, then the server will issue a series of beeps in an assending order.

8. After successful completion of this process;
a. Power down the server
b. Reset configuration switches 1, 4, 5 and 6
c. Power up the server as usual.

Hope this gets you back to running! Let us know if you don't get the bios re-flashed?
-john