ML350 Gen9 - Fan at 100% after boot

[CurtisAG]

Hello,

we have an older ML350 Gen9. The server was previously our main server, now we have replaced it and wanted to make it a data-only server.
- Redundant processors
- Redundant Memory
- Redundant Supply
- 8x 2TB HDD in RAID (Seagate)

Since the server is a bit older, we don't have a support contract anymore.

Now to the problem:
When the server is started, the fans slowly ramp up to 100% and stay there. Restarting the server does not bring any improvement the fans stay at 100%. When the iLO is restarted, the fans start again at 0% and go up to 100%.

We have updated all firmware as far as we could without support contract. (We were really far behind). But this has not brought any improvement.

We think that iLO4 is reading the wrong HDD temperature. And based on that, the fans are ramping up.
Because iLO does not read the current temperature but the temperature MAX.

We have measured the temperature of the disks differently. Smart Array Controller says 28°C current temperature and 52°C max. (Whatever the MAX should mean.)
But iLO just says the disks are 52°C and triggers the fans to run full.

We looked at the whole thing on the new DL380 Gen10. It has iLO5 on it and it measures the current HDD temperature correctly.

Unfortunately, we can't adjust anything in iLO4 to fix the fan issue.

I don't want to imply anything here, but it looks like HPE iLO4 is intentionally reading the wrong temperature because we are not using original HPE disks. Because Smart Array Controller can read the temperature correctly. But what if not, then we invest a lot of money in new disks and have no improvement?

Thanks a lot for your support.

[SanjeevGoyal]

Hello,

Make sure server should be updated with the latest bios and firmware with the hard disk firmware.
As well as remove none-HPE components server from the server ( remove none-HPE hard disk if installed in the server)
If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below and accept the solution.
Regards,

[CurtisAG]

Hello SanjeevGoyal,

Unfortunately, such posts do not help anyone.

To everyone else, HPE has opened a support ticket. I will keep you guys updated here.
I am still grateful for any helpful tips.

[NTE]

Hello CurtisAG,

Did you get a reply and/or solution for this problem? I'm stuck in kind of the same problem, fans ramping up with differences between temperatures in iLO and Smart Storage Administrator.
I have also tried different power settings in the BIOS, but nothing really helped.

[Mayrink]

Have you checked the fan configuration in BIOS and on the iLO? You might be able to set it to a more quieter fan curve/speed by changing the profile.

I had recently acquired some DL360p Gen9 and they were set for max performance, which means the fan was going to be at full speed.

Let us know the outcome from the ticket.

[NTE]

I managed to fix it with a custom iLO firmware. Somehow after installing a P840 and SAS-expander, the HDD temperatures were not read correctly and set to a max temperature, instead of the current one.
After adjusting all sensor temperatures to a much lower temperature, the sensors reset to the correct values and now everything is working as before. 
I found it rather odd that installing some additional hardware withouth changing anything in either my BIOS or iLO caused this problem in the first place, but I'm glad I now know how to fix it.

[Mayrink]

Nice one. Glad that you got it fixed. 

Hope everything works good for you, keep an eye on that iLO logs for any possible issues with the custom firmware.