Replacing Memory DL380 G3

[Rami Gabriel]

BAD WEEK !!! Weird stuff happening... after the mess i've been through with random BSOD(s) and sudden restarts I took the decision of purchasing 2x2 Gb Kingston Memory Dimms for my DL380 G3, replacing the old 2x512 MB HP Branded Memory already installed...

This is what happens...

Replaced old Dimms with the Kingstons = Long Beeps and system doesnt start (tried reseating them many times to no avail)

ADDED the Kingstons to bank B keeping the HP branded memory = worked like a charm and the system sees the new memory total as 5 GB

I still need the server to accept the Kingstons by themselves on Bank A to use the HP branded Memory in another DL380 I have...


Any Clues ?? Anyone ??

[KarloChacon]

hi

cool what you discovered I mean you need you need the old ones to get the server up and running

well try updating System ROM
select if it is W2000 or W2003 update it online and try again

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/family/model/4706.html?submit.y=9&submit.x=8〈=en&cc=us

also you can try cleaning NVRAM (you know the procedure)

regards

[Rami Gabriel]

Hi,

Thx for replying, System ROM is already up to date, clearing NVRAM seems logical but need to know if this will mess up my array ? is there a safe procedure written anywhere ?

Another thing,

The system sees a total of 5 GB memory at system startup, but windows server 2003 only sees 3.5 GB ! I dont understand this as i have 2 sticks of HP 512MB and 2 sticks of Kingston 2GB, wonder how windows adds them up to 3.5 ???

Regards,
Rami

[James ~ Happy Dude]

Hello Rami,
Im not quite sure Y the server wont see ONLY the Kingston sticks... what i do know is... windows has limitation...
Refer:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283037

Regards.

[Rami Gabriel]

Ok I've read the articles on PAE and another on 'windows server 2003' Standard Edition's 4GB limit, and dont want to go into other problems anytime soon, i'll live happilly with 3.5 GB and wont complain so long as the server is stable and running fine!!

The main problem is removing the HP branded 2x512MB sticks and replacing them with the new Kingstons without the server beeping and complaining, any ideas on NVRAM clearing safe procedure ??

Or any other experiences on replacing RAM by other users ??

Thx

[KarloChacon]

hi

yes like Happy Dude you need to enable /PAE doing this windows is going to detect 5GB

now talking about NVRAM, dont worry about RAID is not going to touch it, just after that check the boot controller order and boot order, because NVRAM only modify some settings on BIOS not more

procedure:
1. Power down the server.
2. Remove the server cover.
3. Locate the System Maintenance Switch, position S6, and move the switch to the "On" position.
4. Power the server back on until Power-On Self-Test begins.
5. After POST has started, power-cycle the server off.
6. Move the System Maintenance Switch back to the "Off" position.
7. Replace the server cover and power on the system. The server will boot normally.

Regards

[Rami Gabriel]

Thanks Karlo,

Will do this in a couple of hours from now, question though, in which of these steps you mentioned should I replace the HP memory with the Kingstons ??

[KarloChacon · Accepted solution]

try Clear NVRAM with

- both kind of memory modules
- and with the new memory only

Regards

[Rami Gabriel]

Karlo my HERO !!!

Your steps worked, went into maintenance mode, POST(ed), powered off, reseated the kingstons (without the HP memory), switched off maintenance mode, and booted with 4 GB of memory !!!

Wonder how HP has no reference to this, could'nt find any articles or references in the installation guides...

Another note...

Windows used to see 3.5 GB total memory when I had 5 GB installed... now with only 4 GB installed windows sees a total of 3.71 GB !!!

Weird but cool :-)

[KarloChacon]

hi

that's very very goood jeje

it is a trick not docuemented jeje


and yes PAE is weird and windows also.

and thanks for the points ;.)
Regards