Clearing the NVRAM on a DL380.

[Bill Fewell]

I have a nonvolatile memory issue with a Proliant DL380 with duel PIII 733MHz processors and need to reset the NVRAM. The documentation I find uses the SCU in advanced mode - system configuration ---> Configure Hardware --> Review or Modify Hardware Settings --> View or Edit Details. Then they say to scroll down to the Advanced features. There are no Advanced Features listed anywhere other than F7 and that's not it. I'm using SCU version 2.58A which I downloaded from HP support for DL380s. Can anyone help me with this issue?

[Brian_Murdoch · Accepted solution]

Hi Bill,

The advanced setup is entered by pressing CTRL-A at the first SCU screen. Then follow the System Config-Configure Hardware-View and edit details. When you scroll down this time, you will see the advanced setup entries.

Regards,

Brian

[Bill Fewell]

Thanks Brian, I was actually using the ctl-A one scrren to early and was only entering the SCU, boy do I feel stupid. Unfortunately when I attempted the procedure and I confirmed the final erase it said: The system configuration has been erased and non-volatile ram has been invalidated. Reboot! When I reboot I still get my error messages:
172-System Configuration Nonvolatile Memory Invalid
Initialization Aborted
104-ASR Timer Failure

However the system still boots fine but looses time back to the BIOS date 12-18-2002 on the reboot. Any suggestions? I'm afraid it may be my system board, battery is also good, but it really has only been used but about 6 months in it's life of 3-4 years.

[Dave_180]

Re-Run the System Config and it should clear those POST messages. It will prompt you about using a backup .SCI file - choose no.

[Bill Fewell]

When I went throught he steps and erased the NVRAM and when I ran the SCU the second time and didn't use the backup SCI files and saved my configuration to close the SCU, a screen popped up: Non-volatile memory is full. Automatic Server Recovery cannot be enabled until more memory is available. When it reboots the post messages are still there. Any other sugestions?

[Brian_Murdoch]

Bill,

If you try clearing NVRAM with switch 6 on the system configuration switchpack (See top cover for location) does this make any difference?

I can understand that the BIOS may be corrupt but there is a way to do an emergency flash of the BIOS using a floppy disk and switchpack combination, although this may be a last resort if nothing else works.

Also, do you still get the errors if all the PCI modules are removed and the backplane left empty when powered on?

Regards,

Brian

[Bill Fewell]

No that didn't seem to work either. I've tried the #6 switch and also removed smart array 3200 controller and NIC so my back-plane is empty. All error messages are still there, it just won't retain any changes made after a reboot.

[Brian_Murdoch]

Bill,

You mentioned earlier that the battery was OK. Are you sure that the contact posts on the motherboard are springy enough to make good contact with the battery + and - sides. These can be bent slightly if needed to create a little more pressure but be careful not to damage them.

The battery is a 3V, 540maH, Lithium type. The correct Compaq part number is 179322-001 if required.

I know it may be frustrating but the only alternative may be to perform a Emergency Boot Procedure to forcibly flash the BIOS. Engineers often use this procedure when the motherboard is swapped but the BIOS is too old to support the customers existing CPU's. The message received at POST is "Unsupported CPU" . It's a safe enough procedure when carried out properly.

You could also try "downgrading" the BIOS to
the previous release (07/04/2002). This is softpaq SP21675.EXE. You have to modify the CONFIG.SYS file to enable downgrade but I won't give the details of this in case you decide against it.

Regards,

Brian

[Bill Fewell]

I know it is making contact with the battery because when I bent the prongs up and restarted the SCU it immediately brought up the time and date screen but would not allow me to change anything. It says hit enter to change and when I hit enter it toggles down from the date to the time instead of letting me change it. I went back through the NVRAM erase process with the same results. I've been using the SCU from a floppy but did try from the system partition until I removed it. There is no data on the system as I am trying to reconfigure it for service, so I'm not worried about loosing anything.
I've thought about downgrading the rom to see what that might do. Does the process with the switches involve: 1-on 2-off 3-always on 4-on 5-on and 6-on while booting the ROMPaq from a floppy for five minutes and then resetting switches 1,4,5 and 6. There is no OS to reconfigure the config sys file.

[Bill Fewell]

I found the information about the modifying config.sys file on the diskette to make it interactive and attended mode. Delete config.sys and copy file A:\config.usr to A:\config.sys. Is this the same modification you were talking about? If so, what switches do I need turned on to perform the operation, only 3 and maybe 6? It would seem I would need switch 1-off for video to answer the confirm downgrade.

[Bill Fewell]

I successfully downgraded my ROM back to 7-4-2002 but still receive the 172 and 104 error meesages on boot up. I went back through SCU to try to erase NVRAM with same same messages and same results. There has to be a way to set that memory back to zero.

[Dave_180]

It might be a little late...


What about running the system erase with the hard drives pulled?

Did you ever get a resolution to this?

[Bill Fewell]

No, I actually ended up buying a new system board for $400. I still have the old board so I may try that if I ever find a need for it, thanks anyway.