ProLiant DL20 Gen9 Loud Fan 3

[net_tech]

ProLiant DL20 Gen9 server was originally purchased without any drives (4SSF model) and fan 3 would never go below 47% while fan 1 and 2 would slow down to 6% after post. 

Original Bios version: 1.50
Original iLO version: 2.30

Surprisingly the fan problem got resolved after we added SAS drives to the server and configured the raid array, however write speeds of the H240 were bad so we upgraded to P440/4GB.

Noisy fan problem came back and would not go away even after we set up new raid array on the new P440 controller. (P440 came with firmware 1.34)

After doing a quick search we could see others having similar problem with their DL servers and firmware update fixed it for some, but not for us.

http://community.hpe.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/Noisy-Fan-in-DL80-Gen9/td-p/6739543

Updated Bios to 1.6
Updated iLO to 2.40
Updated P440 to 3.56
B140 has the original 2.5.2 firmware and complains at the post about not being configured.

Server is configured with UEFI mode

Does anyone have a solution to slow down fan 3?

Edit: looking at this post it sounds like the problem is related to add-on cards.
When raid controller was replaced, an Intel Quad port NIC was added. (will take it out if it's causing the problem)

http://community.hpe.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/DL180-G9-Fan-Noise-with-inserted-PCIe-Card/m-p/6760367/highlight/true#M149141

 Thank you

[net_tech]

with the Intel NIC removed Fan 3 is steady at 15% after system boots in to the OS

Would fan 3 remain at the same speed if any of the HP nics is installed?

HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331T Adapter 647594-B21
HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 366T Adapter 811546-B21
HP Ethernet 1Gb 2-port 361T Adapter 652497-B21
HP Ethernet 1Gb 2-port 332T Adapter 615732-B21

[tmsimmons]

All firmware updated, System runs fan 3 at 100% all the time. Temp sensors are all good.

Sound is driving me nuts. ANy help resolving this would be appreciated.

[tmsimmons]

If I reset iLO4 then the fan speed will go down to 47% for awhile, but then seems to always end up back at 100%, usually after a reboot.

[HPSDMike]

Did you see this article, which is specific to the DL20?

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=1008556819&docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-a00003578en_us

[tmsimmons]

Yes, I have seen that posting.

• The driver or firmware may be outdated or may be uninstalled - All driver are updated
• The Hard Drive is running in AHCI or Legacy mode - No idea how to check mode
• Certain third-party PCI cards are installed - None installed
• No storage drive is installed - All 4 hard drive bays are populated

[kthusid]

The fan noise is HPEs way to punish users that don't buy HPE hardware. They have been doing this for many years, and their supporters just act stupid and send you an a wild goose chase updating drivers, updating software and so on to tire you out and give up. The reality is that they do this knowlingly on purpose to annoy you.

They even try to be funny in their Customer Advisory e.g.

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-a00060996en_us

where they write " louder sound can safely be ignored" and they forget to write "if you are a totally deaf person"

The problem with the fan noise will also arise even if you use genuine HPE hardware. I once had a problem with a DL180 gen9 with HPE 10gbe NICand the noise was just unbearable. Of course. the HPE support asked me to upgrade drivers and so on, and even sent a new motherboard, nothing helped. The solution was to swap with another NIC, probably because HPE forgot to add the other one to their genuine list. Furtermore, after a firmware upgrade, the fan noise started again, and I had to go back again to an older firmware version. Probably because the HPE fan noise team had added some other device to the black list.

It is of course wise to use tested and genuine hardware for a production server, but sometimes you make a home lab or a testing setup with some cheap or surplus hardware. You could also be working on some project, that requirers some special hardware or PCIe card, but the HPE fan noise team is working day and night to stop you from doing anything creative.

There are thousands of support request on this subject and not one solution other than safely ignore the extremely annoying noise. You could almost say that HPE designs their fans to be able to make maximum noise, so the neighbour next door is able to hear that you are using a generic NVMe.

This does not make sense, and a serious company like HPE should not have a fan noise team with the sole purpose of annoying their customers, that have actually bought a HPE server.