HP DL 165 G6 very noisy - fan speed

[ian_204]

they closed it. I called early this morning to have it re-opened as the problem wasn't solved. They said that 'once a new part is shipped to a client (to solve an issue) they close the issue'.
Despite my protest they wouldn't re-open - said the system wouldn't allow it (true?).
New issue opened instead - and a promise not to close it without my say-so....hmmm.

[Romulus6cbc]

@ian
Are you using the P212 in RAID 1 or 5 configuration? If you are using RAID 1, then you can use the embedded HP Smart Array B110i SATA Raid controller which should resolve your issue. If however, you need RAID 5, then you are stuck with the P212 controller.

[ian_204]

RAID 5 at the moment. We've 2 other DL180 with 2 drives each on RAID 1. No problem with fans in those machines.

We're looking to see if we can get a solution to this in the next few days. We know the server will work quietly if we take out the P212 and, if needs be, we can live with that.

HP Support has asked today for a lot of Insight Diagnostics. We're running the tests as I write and will ship them tonight.

[Romulus6cbc]

@ian
Are you using the embedded SATA RAID controllers on the other 2 DL180s? Do have any PCIe expansion cards installed on those servers? And if it is not too much trouble, what are the fans rpms on those servers?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I worked with HP support for a month, before they closed the case without any resolution, sighting the fan noise was by design, and in accordance with ISO 9296, the international noise emission declaration standard for information technology equipment.

Thanks for your help.

[ian_204]

Yes, we are using embedded SATA RAID controllers on the other 2 DL180s. We do not have anything in the PCIe expansion slots of those machines. I will check the fan speeds of those servers for you in the morning. If it helps I've put the speeds of the fans on the problem server both with and without the P212 in the PCIe expansion slot on this issue (accidentally opened in new thread: http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1444078).

You're not bearing any bad news that we hadn't already expected - see my thread above. We're not holding our breadth.

Happy to help...catch u tomorrow...

[shamanius]

Heat summer is over and room Temp now 25 C.
Fans rotating at 8k rpm. Your advice: do I must to change front panel like HP tech tell me? Serv. center is in another town... and it may be not very helpfull.

[ian_204]

Fan speeds for 2 'quiet' dl180g6 servers (nothing in PCIe slot).
Server 1: F1:2694 F2:2794 F3:2635 F4:2606
Server 2: F1:2756 F2:2635 F3:2725 F4:2854

[shamanius]

Same speeds in my case without any PCI-e. All under 3000 rpm.

[Romulus6cbc]

Hello everyone.....I was finally able to test the fans with active Northbridge cooling. No difference. The results are attached. My latest tests are highlighted in yellow. At this point the only options I believe I am left with are, 1) downgrade to RAID 1 and use the embedded SATA controllers; or 2) install manual fan controllers. I am opting for the latter, but I still need to convert the HP 6-pin fan connection to a standard 3/4 pin fan connection.

@ianâ ¦..Thanks for posting your server fan speeds. Thatâ s pretty much what I got from my test.

[ian_204]

Following their review of our fan speed and other system data I've had confirmation today from HP that the server 'functions as designed'. We will use the server without the P212 card.

[Romulus6cbc]

Hello everyone. I've decided to purchase a noise reduction server rack. At the moment I am looking at the XRackPro products. Does anyone have any suggestions with a brand they've had success with for a small office environment. Thanks for your help.

[shamanius]

Zalman PWM Mate - it not works. Speed is not changing. But was a little hope...

[shamanius]

Oh, sorry. Now that works. Just wrong wires connections. Now I have 3500 rpm instead 14000 rpm. Let see how long it will work.

[Romulus6cbc]

@shamanius
How did you make the connection? HP has a 6-pin fan connector and the Zalman PWM Mate is a 4-pin connector? Did you get any errors from the BIOS during boot up?

[Romulus6cbc]

@shamanius
Just a cautionary note. Last week our servers fans were going crazy, even louder than usual, spinning at about 14000 rpm, due to the heat wave we were experiencing. The ambient temp in the room was about 91 deg F (33 deg C), but the server fans spinning at a higher rpm, kept the servers cool, with the CPU core temp of around 40 deg C. Auto system fan control is overridden by the Zalman PWM Mate, making the server vulnerable to CPU or system board damage during thermal temp increases. Although the server will shutdown if it reaches critical thermal thresholds. So if you start experiencing frequent reboots or shutdowns with the server, it means the server is running too hot. Just want to make sure you understand the risks, since I recommended this option. I would also make sure that your service contract with HP is up-to-date. Glad this worked for you, I might try it myself, if I can figure out how to connect the hardware without hacking it.

[shamanius]

HP has 6-pin connector, but two pins are not usable. Only 4 wires. Just some moves with scissors. So, that works.
I hope, if temp in the room will be not over 30 deg C, so server will not shutdown.
And still waiting for new firmware.

[Romulus6cbc]

@shamanius
Thanks for your reply. Yeah that's also how I figured is the only way to make the Zalman PWM Mate work with the DL180, but I believe it will void the warranty. I suppose you can always have replacement fans on hand, and replace them before calling HP. Did you only install it on Fan 3 or all four fans? Percentage wise, how much did it bring down the fan noise level?

I myself am going ahead with XRackPro noise reduction server rack solution. It will cost around $2,500US, but I've been told it will bring down the noise level to about 40 decibels. By comparison, normal conversational speech is about 60 decibels. So I will be very happy if this actually is true. Plus I have two servers to silence and keep cool, which the XRackPro also does with three rear door fans.

[peterjlloyd]

+1 on the people with a ridiculously noisy 180 G6 due to a factory fitted P410 card

If this behaviour is by design then I hope there's a designer looking for a job.

Did anyone get sent a patch yet?

[irens]

It's by design ... disappointment by HP staff.

[stanley.chiu]

I'm also irked by the incredibly loud DL180 G6s.

I'm seriously starting to believe that HP purposefully looked for ways to cripple or add annoyances to the DL100 series so that there are clear reasons to force people to spend more on the DL300 series.

While the DL180 G6 screams like a banshee even when sitting idle, a DL380 G6 is barely audible. Why?

[Romulus6cbc]

After two months of going back and forth with HP "Support" (and I use the term lightly), and after exhausting my patience, I was told the fan noise was by design. There really are only two choices here; either uninstall the PCIe Smart Array Controller, and use the on-board SATA RAID controllers, which only offers RAID 1 support, or enclose the server in a noise reduction cabinet. I am doing the latter. The XRackPro at a cost of $2,100US will arrive early next week. Will post how effective the rack is, and if it is worth spending the money. There is a third option, which HP "Support" endorses, just learn to live with the noise! Don't think HP will ever fix this problem until they are sued for hearing damage.

@stanley.chiu
I believe the DL300 series has integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) management processor which allows for control of health monitoring and recovery, and power and thermal control, via the software. Giving you much better control over fan speeds. The DL180 utilizes Lights-Out 100i.

[stanley.chiu]

Of course I'm aware that the DL380 G6 has iLO2 while the DL180 G6 has LO100, but that still doesn't explain why "by design" they need the DL180 G6 to have the fans screaming at ~5000RPM with the RAID controller, and at ~7500RPM with an additional PCI-e card installed. Surely it shouldn't take an enterprise level server to be able to automatically adjust the fan speeds based on temperature.

[Romulus6cbc]

@stanley.chiu
I wasn't trying to justify HP Support's "by design" explanation. I was merely explaining why the fans spin at such a high RPM. I have spent countless hours and money since May when we purchased the server trying to resolve this. Apparently when there are PCIe cards installed, the server detects them as additional load and automatically increases the fan speeds. Obviously there is flaw with either the system BIOS or the system management firmware, which HP refuses to correct. Attached is my data analysis, hope this helps you more than it did me. Good luck.

[gkerswill]

Thought I would add my 2c.
We had the same issue (fans running at 100%) and was going to report this before I managed to get the fans to slow down somewhat to more acceptable levels.
We are running the Redundant Fan kit with 8 fans total. Due to the lack of 6 pin headers (Total of 6) I split the 2 headers by the CPU's to 4 FANS total using the provided splitters.
These were the values of the fans when running.
Fan 1 ~7500RPM
Fan 2 ~7500RPM
Fan 3 ~14500RPM
Fan 4 ~14500RPM
BMC Firmware Version 04.21(Apr/23/2010)
SDR 2.17.1.57(so called "PCI Plugged").

Upon reading some of the posts here I decided to replicate the issue by removing the Riser cage with attached P212 controller. I left the controller attached to the riser card.
Upon booting the server it upgraded the
SDR from to 2.17.1.58. Once done the fans ran near silent.
I then reinserted the riser cage and the SDR then downgraded back to 2.17.1.57. However this time the fans are far less noisy than before but still running faster than without the Riser Cage and P212 inserted.
Fan 1 ~7500RPM
Fan 2 ~8000RPM
Fan 3 ~8000RPM
Fan 4 ~9200RPM
These are probably still too high but the noise is now far more acceptable.

[gkerswill]

Realized I did not list my server model. It's a HP DL180 G6