So I've got this old DL360 G7 running ESXi. It was not in use for a while, but recently I wanted to boot it up again to retrieve some data off some of the VMs before I fully decomission it and get rid of it. But it would not boot and the status panel on the front inticated that one of the fans were broken. I thought it was wierd that the whole server would refuse to boot just because of one fan but I bought a new fan and replaced it anyway.
But it still doesn't boot. There are no other warning lights on the front panel and the health LED is always green. When I turn it on, the fans are at a low speed and stay like that. After a while, a flashing cursor shows up on the screen for about 10-20 seconds before going to the "Thermal calibration in progress" screen for another 10-20 seconds. The progress bar is only ever about 10% full on that screen. After that, the server just idles for a while before repeating the whole proccess again.
Here is a list of the things I have tried:
Performing an NVRAM reset by setting switch 6 to ON in the bank of system maintaincence DIP switches.
Setting swtiches 1, 5, and 6 and turning on the server (resulted in a beep tone).
Pulling out both power supplies and swapping the bays they are in.
Removing the CMOS battery and changing it
Removing all preipherals and turning on the server (PCI cards, network, keyboard, displays, etc)
Reseating the RAM
Reseating the CPUs
Reseating the fans
Reseating the PCI riser
Reseating the SAS cache
Re-applying thermal paste to CPUs and chipset
Checking iLO (no errors or unusual looking logs, all appears healthy except for the server resets)
Updating iLO
Booting from a USB (I tried ubuntu but as expected, it didn't boot into it since it's not POSTing)
Attempting to update BIOS (I couldn't, because the server doesn't post. I tried anyway).
Stripping the server to it's minimal configuration, no preihperals, RAM channels populated at a minimum (only white slots).
I know this server is quite old, but I aim only to get the data off the hard drives before I get rid of it. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Artichoke
Check with minimum config, remove all components. only connect one PSU, one PROC, one memory, one raiser card with out RAID card. if not booting, log into iLO, and change redundent BIOS as active. power cycle the server and boot it.
I could provide you with clear and helpful instructions. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, don't hesitate to ask. I'm here to help! Have a great day!
Greetings!
As you have already performed most of the troubleshooting steps to identify the issue.
- Check the overall health status from iLO
- Check the Integrated Mangement logs from iLO
ILO user guide :https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/c02774507 Page 110
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