ProLiant ML350 G6 Server doesn't boot, No any LED lights

[savedlema]

Hi all!

We have been using this HP ProLiant ML350 G6 for several years (long before I moved into this company) it has always been working just nicely.

But yesterday, I attempted to power it on (nowadays we are used into switching it off since we're migrating from the software that runs on it) but to my suprise, it didn't come up. No any responses from it:

1. When I connect the power cable, NO ANY LED light gets on (neither in the rear or front lights)
2. Pressing the power button does NOT bring any LED lights on.
3. When I plug the power cable to the power supply (at the back) I can hear some "tikting" sound inside it.
4. I took the power supply out (you know you can plug it out and insert it back), plugged in the power cable and I hear some "tikting.."  sound from inside the power supply. I will hear the same if I leave the power cord plugged in and switched  power off and then ON in the power/electricity wall outlet.
5. I tried to use other power cords (to figure out whether the current one is damaged) but no success.
6. (The server uses KVM switch to connect to a monitor/display unit), so I decided to connect it to the monitor directly, no success --thought I think there was no point in trying this since there is no even a single LED light ON.
7. Server has always been running on APC UPS power, I tried connecting it to different other power outlets, no succes.

So this is my problem, I get NO ANY LED light ON.

What could be the problem and how can I solve this please?

Thanks in advance for any inputs,

Frank.

[RbBsmn]

Hi Frank,

is this server powered by one power supply only?
In that case there is a fair chance it's just the power supply that is busted.
This would also be the simplest/cheapest to replace and start troubleshooting with.

[savedlema]

Thank you RbBsmn....

I can't see another power supply in my server. (I assume I would see it by an additional power plug in port?), but even after opening the inside, I can't see another power supply. The only one I see is the one you can pull out of the server from the rear/back.

Another problem is I can't find another working power supply of the same to try. Could this be another problem?

Please, how much are they sold?

Thank you!

---

@RbBsmn wrote:
Hi Frank,

is this server powered by one power supply only?
In that case there is a fair chance it's just the power supply that is busted.
This would also be the simplest/cheapest to replace and start troubleshooting with.

---

[Torsten.]

The problem could be the power supply backplane, it is under the system board.

[savedlema]

Hi Torsten,
Thanks for your input.
What could be the problem with the panel? What can be done?

[Torsten.]

AFAIR this board converts voltage from 12V from power supply to all others (5V, 3.3V, ...). If the board is dead, no power at all.

[savedlema]

Thanks again Torsten,

Now I can't be sure whether its the Power Supply or the back plane. Anyway to find out/isolate the problem?

Thanks again.

---

@Torsten. wrote:

AFAIR this board converts voltage from 12V from power supply to all others (5V, 3.3V, ...). If the board is dead, no power at all.

---

[Sajjadmcs]

Hi Frank.

have you fixed the issue, i have exactly the same problem.

kindly guide me how to fix it.

Thanks 

Sajjad

[Ukkonen · Accepted solution]

Hi!

If this happens to somebody, this is how I got an ML350 G6 server to boot.
Server seemed totally dead, no lights anywhere. Only psu fans started to spin when power was plugged in, but psu leds did not light up, no leds on motherboard or front panel either. Tried with one psu, two psu and switching psu slots, no help.
Then I took both PSU:s off and plugged power cord to one psu while it was off from the machine. Then plugged the psu to it's slot, and hey presto, it works! Copying customer's data to safe palce as I write this. Hope this helps.

[saulocb]

Hello Ukkonen,

you sir are a genius!

Same exact problem and to my disbelief your solution worked flawlessly. Unfortunately I found your post after the server was already replaced and the backups restored.

Thank you so much for your solution!

All the best

[alexPTYMX]

Wow!!! that's simply works flawlessly, but when I unplugged my PSU from the electricity again, the problems comes back. Do you recommend to replace the PSU or the backplane board for a permanent solution?

[sukaharijanto]

the same thing with me, I've changed psu,

there is still no influence, the server remains totally dead

any suggestion

[Geoff19]

I have the same issue. Except for the twin power supplies (known to work in another chassis, in this one the fans are turning) server is totally dead. No LEDs lit internally or externally. I have replaced the power distribution board, motherboard (loaded with previous CPU), and on/off switch assembly. So now it appears either:

• One of the replacement compnents is also dead.
• A bad CPU is preventing the server from powering up (can this be true?).

I tried the mentioned fix of plugging in a hot power supply. That didn't work.

If anyone has another suggestion I'd like to hear it. I have a working ML 350 G6 out on loan. When I get it back I can swap parts back and forth until I find out what's going on. In the meantime I'd love to have some voltage test point information, but I can't find any.

[Timgren]

I tried this, but no success.  I purchased two more power supplies from Amazon, but these didn't do anything either.  My question to you, is the green LED on the back of the PSU supposed to light when plugged in to AC power?  I have four PSU units on my desk (the two from our server and the two new ones I just bought) and none of them light the green LED when I plug in to outlet.  I have tried several different power cords and different outlets - but no LED.  I can hear a click and the fan spins for a couple seconds when I plug in the PSU, but no LED and nothing on the server.  Are all these PSU's bad or is something else going on?

[afif1]

I find the solution

[HOLLiiWOOD]

The PSU does a power on self test before the green led lights, I am not sure that it can do the self-test if it isn't inserted into the machine.

BUT

Have we found a solution, or a direction to go in searching for one?
I have been having power cycling my ML350 G6 pretty much constantly for a week, trying to get it to boot ANY install media.

Now I get no lights anywhere, tried pulling the CMOS battery and leaving it over night, nothing.

- removed the PSU from the chassis and plugged it into the wall [no PSU green light]
- tried the other psu postion in the chassis (I use single PSU) [no lights no PSU green light]
- tried removing PSU from chassis, plugging into wall, and then inserting the plugged in PSU into the chassis [no lights no PSU green]
- tried all of the above after unplugging the p410i and all other hard drives [no lights anywhere]

I have other testing I want to do, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, for saving me the time of buying new PSU.


My PSU does not tick, the fan runs at low, constant RPM, no ramping. [pulling a maximum 5.2 watts from the wall]


I am not at work again until the weekend, but I will try removing RAMs and one of the CPU and can try anything else if needed.

I am just hoping this thread is still active enough that I don't have to start a new one

[Rubiconnn]

I'm having the same issue with an X1600 NAS.  It happened exactly when PG&E shut off our power due to the red flag conditions, but I don't know if that was a coincidence. When plugged in, niether power supply lights up its green LED. I've tried the trick to plug it in and then slide in the PSU with no success. I've ordered a new backplane on ebay and we'll see how it goes.

[TealRiver]

Did the power supply backplane fix the problem?

I replaced both power supplies and the motherboard. I am debating whether I should replace the backplane next or give up on this server.

[Pawel-x]

Hi.

In my case the hot-plug PSU fix didn't work.

I bought random DL380 G7 server with P410i SAS controller and moved drives from ML350 G6 (since data recovery was the only thing I needed).

I put drives in order as they were in ML350 (probably not required). New server properly read RAID config (1+0&spare). At first it didn't boot (logical volume found, boot not set). In SmartArray config utility (F8 during startup) I had to sign boot option for my volume.

It worked.

Best part is - I bought online entire used DL380 G7 for amount of 40$ (no drives included), and it is current regular price in my location for that model. The cheapest power backplane for ML350 G6 I found was around 200$ (used).

[llan]

Hot-plug PSU fix didn't work for me either

I turned off with previusly maintenancemode on EXSI 

Can the power suply stay in maintenancemode ¿?¿?

still investigating

[MarcV65]

Exact same issue after UPS power drained and then power was restored.  Other identical server was fine after power up.  Your solution fixed my 2nd server that I thought was toast.

[GuyMarkT]

This is a very very long shot, but I'm not sure it is a coincidence that this seems to happen with servers powering down from a UPS.

Did you have some software running that tells the server to shut down ready - just before the UPS shuts off the power - because if you did, then I think there are options that the UPS software can adjust in the server as to "Reboot when power returns, DO NOT reboot when power returns" and perhaps "reboot after power has returned for X minutes".

I just wonder if there is a tiny chance that there is a bug / glitch / issue where the "DO NOT auto reboot" could possibly have set a flag saying "do not power up" until the flag has been changed (ILO)

I just wonder if it is worth seeing if the ILO might be powered on - and allow you to see what's happening?

Remember the ILO can be on when the rest of the server is powered down.