HP Proliant DL380 gen7 No POST and No Errors

[JustArtiom]

Hello, I am seeking for help as my server wont turn on anymore even tho no errors are shown or problems reported.

I have a home server, hp proliant dl380 g7 which runs my daily stuff. One day I realised the server was off so I decided to turn it on however it never booted in the OS as I had waited for quite some time to access proxmox. I logged in into my iLO and used the remote control to realise the server had no Video and its stuck into a loop of reboots and it doesn't even POST so I started diagnosticating the server. 

I tried to restart the server but it starts as normal with fans taking off and then going back to the normal speed but after I hear a clicking sound and the server crashes or "reboots" (I think). I have tried minimising the specs leaving only 1 stick of ram for each processor and even replacing the PSU.. There is no error on the front panel neither no error reported on the iLO. The only report I can see is that on the motherboard at PORT 84 there are 8 LEDs and when the server is off but with power the LED 7 is blinking but when I start the server the LEDs 5, 4, 3 are ON for some time then I hear the clicking sound at the same time when they go off and the LEDs 2, 1, 0 try to turn on then they go off like within some milliseconds and then LEDs 5, 4, 3 go on again and it repeats it infinitely.. 

I have tried clearing the NVramv (the trick with turning on the #6 switch on the maintenance panel, leave it idle for some time when turn the switch off and see if it works) but that didn't help me as I met the same problem with the clicking sound loop. p.s. I have the switch #8 turned on by default, I don't know why, when I bought the server it was like that, but switching it off 

I have tried different sticks of ram and a different power supply and different power supply positions. I even changed to a new the power supply connector board as it was bent a little but it still didn't help.

If anyone can help, id be so grateful. Any help and detail is welcome.
Thank you!

[rabindra11sharm]

Dear JustArtiom

AS per your given sceenario, it seems to be a issue with system board. there is AUX voltage of 5volt might be getting faulty, that is why it trying to self power on but unable to do. Please arrange to replace it to isolate the issue.

Hope 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!

[JustArtiom]

Hello @rabindra11sharm ,

My new battery have just arrived and I let the server idle to charge the battery. The battery itself doesn't have any leds but the controller board has one.

~~The same thing happends as with the old battery. When I start the server the cache controller board (led3) blinks once a second (on the documentation says that there is a open circuit somewhere) and after a few minutes (and more restarts) it goes in a full steady green light (meaning there is a short circuit).. since I bought a new battery does that mean that the board might be faulty? Can I have some extra steps to identify the actual issue?~~

Thank you

Edit:
Aparently I read the wrong documentation and I misunderstood it, led3 and led4 were meant to be for the battery lights, I don't have any lights on my battery, however I read the documentation for a controller board (p411 I think it is) and flashing 1hz light means the battery is charging and full glowing light means battery pack is charged. So I don't think the battery pack was the issue in this case as I just replaced it and the server still is stuck on never posting and making a clicking sound once in like 20-30 seconds.

Any other options that could cause this issue?

[rabindra11sharm]

Dear   JustArtiom

Can you please help us to share the IML log. 

Log into iLO web console, , navigate to the Information→Integrated Management Log. Click the View CSV button. The IML is displayed in a format that you can copy and paste into a text editor. Copy the text displayed in the CSV Output window, and save it in a text editor as a *.csv file. share with us for checking the actual issue time stamp.

[JustArtiom]

Hello again @rabindra11sharm 

I have attached down below a screenshot of the latest IML logs even tho there are no recent error logs since the last successful reboot.
I do know i have a failing SSD and i have tried running the server without the drives in it with still no success. (im going to replace that soon hopefully)

this is the most dubious part as the IML doesnt provide with any errors nor the front panel leds, nor the LED lights on the motherboard but the server still doesnt post. Is there any other method for identifying the root problem for this?

Thank you, Artiom.

[JustArtiom · Accepted solution]

After some time i have decided and bought a new server but in the end it was the time when I have decided to take the gen7 that I toughy was broken, and take it apart and sell the working pieces like ram and raid controller.

However I decided to do a full deep clean and decided to try and swap the CPUs. Once swapped I tried to turn it on and it finally showed me that I have a problem with CPU1 so I decided to take it out and move the working CPU to the first socket and the server actually turned on.

Turns out the CPU that was on socket 2 broke but it didn't show me anything on the IML or front panel but once removed the server started perfectly and normal.

CPU: Intel Xeon X5670 2.93GHZ 12mb

Thank you for everyone that tried to help or red this post

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hello @JustArtiom,

Great! 

We are glad to know you were able to find the solution and we appreciate you for keeping us updated.