couple of issues with a DL380 Gen10. any help?

[TheEldestGeek]

I picked up an DL380  Gen10 server, and have been somewhat perplexed.

What cpus are supported? I had some Gold 6268CL cpus and it did not like them at all either 1 or 2 cpu.
I can find no DEFINITIVE list of supported cpus?   got some 6148 golds and those seem to work fine. just a few steps down.

also I managed to update the bios to 2.9 (finally) but I cant run the built-in diagnostics it says 'failed to initialize'.

I'm also getting a warning during boot 3010 Server Platform Services Authentication failure.  says update SPS firmware image. But I see a number of folks getting WHACKED doing that?  I dont want to update and have a non-functional system.  any word if the current SPS image is ' safe'?

also the fans are running high ALL THE TIME.  not a huge issue, but I'm curious.  I am getting one DIMM socket failure (proc 2 dimm 10) but replacing the dimm has not changed the situation (unbalanced memory).  says try a bios update.  already did that!
Any help would be appreciated!  

[TheEldestGeek]

another oddity - when I try and use ILO 5 to update my firmware (IE and SPS) it uploads what I believe are the correct packages with the fwpkg extensions, and then says: 

Invalid signature.

and wont do anything.  am i missing something obvious?

thanks again

new at HP servers.  but been doing this for 30 years LOL.

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. HPE SimpliVity DL380 Gen10 Servers - Recommended BIOS settings

2. DL380 Gen10 - ILO browsing Issue when ILO Amplifier is Active

Please click on "Thumbs Up/Kudo" icon to give a "Kudo".

Thank you for being a HPE valuable community member.

[Suman_1978]

Hi,

Please refer to the QuickSpecs for compatible hardware info.  Page# 06 onwards for Processor info.  I dont see your processor model as compatible.
For "Embedded Diagnostics", you can refer to this document and if it still fails, you can try updating the Intelligent Provisioning.
If you have a contract and can download SPP, please update.
For Fan Speed, there could be several issues.

Thank You!
I work with HPE but opinions expressed here are mine.
HPE Tech Tips videos on How To and Troubleshooting topics

[Cali]

And regarding unbalanced memory, see the QuickSpecs provided above on Page #80.
I assume the Memory Modules do not follow the Rules.

Cali

[TheEldestGeek]

I'm curious what the EFFECT of unbalanced memory is.  problem is cpu2 dimm slot 10 appears nonfunctional.  putting a dimm in it leads to not being able to train it (but realizing its there).  swapping the 2 dimm10 modules (cpu1 to cpu2) behaviour is due to the slot. a further dimm swap for the yuck yucks same result always.

So I removed both dimm10 modules so that at least the same slots would be filled on both cpus.  so now its unbalanced, and by definition will be (unless I swap the motherboard).  so I'm curious what the resulting impact is.  5% slowdown? nothing? loss of some functionality? inquiring minds and all that.

[TheEldestGeek]

I appreciate that list. but frequently I run into such lists and a cpu (or dimm) is not listed because it was either newer than the list, or that dimm size was not available at the time of the list (even though it is in fact supported).  I got a great deal on the gold cpus, and eagerly tried them.  first effort it says 'unsupported cpu, update bios' and I updated bios to 2.9.  then we went through the initial post screen without error, but the instantly got a register dump (in red) on the screen!.

and I had seen several folks (including hp folks) saying '6100/6200 cpus supported' leading me to think I had a chance with the gold ones I purchased.

What would be REALLY usefull?  a full list of 1st/2nd gen xeon cpus - with a big red NO by the ones that are infact NOT supported.  would remove all ambiguity and possibility of error!  maybe a suggestion to pass up the tree? and I would be curious - in fact - why my gold one is not supported? what made it unsupportable?

thanks for the reply!

[TheEldestGeek]

I've tried several firmware updates from Il05 - but every time I get a red box 'failed signature verification' or something like that.  anything I can do?

Needless to say I was rather disappointed to find out that unlike Dell (and I've put up hundreds of dell servers) - we have to pay for firmware updates? who determines that? and is it at all reasonable?  is there a software ONLY contract?  (heck I can solder and replace chips, and can pick up a spare motherboard, so I'm not needing hardware support). 

ILO5 says my versions are:

Firmware Name Firmware Version Location
iLO 1.10 Jun 07 2017 System Board
System ROM U30 v2.90 (07/20/2023) System Board
Intelligent Platform Abstraction Data 16.5.0 Build 53 System Board
System Programmable Logic Device 0x2A System Board
Power Management Controller Firmware 1.0.2 System Board
Power Supply Firmware 1.00 Bay 1
Innovation Engine (IE) Firmware 0.1.0.28 System Board
Server Platform Services (SPS) Firmware 4.0.3.211 System Board
Redundant System ROM U30 v1.02 (06/14/2017) System Board
Intelligent Provisioning 3.00.382 System Board
Power Management Controller FW Bootloader 1.1 System Board
HPE Smart Storage Energy Pack 1 Firmware 2.1 System Board
HPE Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331i Adapter - NIC Embedded LOM 1
HPE Smart Array P408i-a SR Gen10 1.04 Embedded RAID 1

are any of these critically out of date?  I tried updaying IE, ILO and SPS, but again got red boxes with:

Firmware Update
The file signature is invalid. Make sure you are using a valid, signed flash file and try again.

sad experience I'm having? the fwpkg files were downloaded as exactly right for my unit. odd that they would ALL fail signature verification.
any help is appreciated!

[Cali]

Unbalance is a bit slower than balance.

I have several Servers with unbalanced memory running for a long time and did not notice anything other than the Message on booting.