Proliant N40l Server Issue: hard drives inserted in the bay slots not seen

[parinnotts]

Hi,

I have a couple of Proliant N40l micro servers.

The one I bought in the last few weeks has developed a problem whereby a red critical LED is seen and nothing happens when the server is turned on - no boot or BIOS activity. It has been alright for a month but now has an issue.

I decided, which I regret now, to confirm that the issue was due to the motherboard of the new server. As a consequence I removed the RAM and motherboard from my working Proliant N40l (i.e. older server) to use it with the chassis of the new server. When the motherboard from my working N40l server (i.e. older server) is used with the chassis of the new N40l server a blue LED and BIOS activity is seen. Furthermore, if I connect the motherboard from the new N40l to the old chassis a red LED is seen and there is no BIOS activity.

I am convinced the issue with the new server is due to the motherboard of the new N40l server and will be contacting HP next week.

Unfortunately, I now have an issue with the original N40l server which is what this post relates to. When I insert the working motherboard (i.e. from my original N40l server) into either N40l chassis's no hard drives are recognised as being inserted in the bay slots:

• No hard disks are recognised as being inserted in the hard drive bay slots - when I enter BIOS no drives are listed.
• If I connect a hard disk to the internal SATA connector it is recognised and the server boots happily into Windows 7 or WHS 2011. When in the operating system none of the hard drives inserted in the hard disk drive bays are seen.
• The mini SAS connector is inserted tightly.
•  I have tried many different types of drives.
• If I insert a drive into the first bay I can feel that it is spinning.
• The BIOS is the latest version.

Given this issue is evident when the motherboard is used with either chassis I am starting to get a "sinking feeling" that when I was trying to confirm the critical issue with my new N40l server motherboard I have somehow damaged the motherboard of my original N40l server.

On the Internet I have seen people reporting similar issues but without there being a solution to why the drives in the bay slots are not seen.

Any thoughts/help gratefully received.

Paul.

[parinnotts]

I thought it might benefit other people if I provide an update on what I have learned.

As reported in my original post my N40L server does not recognise that hard disks are plugged in the chassis.

I have tried many different versions of BIOS - older versions and modified version. Unfortunately, the issue is still evident. I have also tried many different BIOS settings - still to no avail.

I have now received a new motherboard for the N40L that had the critical problem. I have tried this motherboard in the chassis of both N40L servers and it recognises that hard disks are inserted in the chassis's.

As a consequence it is clear that the issue relates to my other motherboard rather than to any other part of the N40L server.

The older server motherboard is now out of warranty by two months so I suspect I may now have an additional chassis for spares as the replacement motherboards seem to be £300.

I am trying to find an alternative motherboard to use in the N40L but as yet have not identified a suitable replacement.