Netserver LH3r won't POST

[Simon_199]

Hi there,

I have a problem with an old Netserver LH3r someone gave to me.
I am trying to boot it, but it won't even POST. I hear one beep when I power it up, and after some wainting the amber light on the front panel lights up. After that, the red light on the front panel lights up. There are no HD's or other SCSI divices attached (I got a StorageRack/8 with the server, but no internal drives)
Because I don't get any feedback from the server, I really don't know where to start debugging. Any suggestions?

[Sean T. Craig]

Hi Simon,

There lots of things you can do to troubleshoot this issue. The first thing that strikes me about your description is that there is a single beep (i.e. no error code). Next, the amber status LED lights and then goes to the red LED. It will only do this after the Management Controller initializes.

This tells me that the CPU and RAM appear to be okay but, for troubleshooting purposes, strip the thing down to the abosolute bare minimum configuration required for boot. Make sure there are 2 power supplies installed, 1 CPU, 1 stick of RAM, keyboard & Monitor. We want no hard drives, floppy, CD-ROM or PCI cards installed.

Next, check what the amber and red LED's are for by checking the Hardware Event Log through the front LCD Panel. Press the key (That's the clockwise turning arrow button) to access the menus.

Try clearing the CMOS: locate DIP Switch #5 on the system processor board (Right side from the front) and move it to the "On" position. Power the server up and wait 2 minutes or until you see a message instructing you to power down and move the switch back. Hopefully, this will reset the Video BIOS if that is what's causing the issue.

I am assuming you have already verified the monitor? That can cause the same symptoms as well.

If all this fails, it could be a problem with your video controller. You may need to replace the system board.

Let us know how that works out for you,

Sean T. Craig Sr. C.E.T., M.C.P.

[e4services]

I agree, clean the configuration of the system board and then the RAID controller (if you get that far). Remove and re-seat all the memory boards, CPU's, connectors and expension cards (if any).

First. If you heard the beep a few seconds after power was applied to the LH3;

Status LEDs; Indicates various types of system status:
Green = Normal operation
Yellow = Abnormal operation
Red = Problem detected

Second, Power-On Tests.
The NetServer runs a set of diagnostic tests when it is first connected to a power source. If the NetServer passes the tests, you will see:
HP NetServer
LH 3
If the NetServer does not pass the tests, you will see:

Display now?
Press Enter to view the error message. Write the error message down

If you heard the one beep a 60-100 seconds after you pressed the power button, then the internal self-check was complete and the unit had POST but you did not see anything on the screen.