iSteve Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 Hello, We have a Dell PowerEdge T640 server which is just out of warranty. The server will start to POST when connected to power, the drive lights flash up as normal, and the Dell splash screen appears on screen for about 1 second, then the whole thing cuts out dead. It will not power up when the power button is pressed. If you disconnect the mains and re-plug the power supply, it will do this brief power up again, then cut out. We've done the usual things of holding down the power button with PSUs disconnected, trying both dual PSUs, as well as separately, but the thing still cuts out? Any common issues / tricks with these that might get it going? Stephen
PotNoodleTech Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 Does sound like either power supply or motherboard issue.
Norphy Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 How far is it out of warranty? It might be worth a call to Dell regardless.
Norphy Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 Do you have an account manager at Dell that you have a relationship with? If so, I'd contact them and throw in phrases like "Goodwill" and "Future business". Got to be worth a shot. Otherwise, try a company like PDQ Computers, a third party who sell support contracts for servers. They might be able to do a one off but obviously that'd cost.
Aprice Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 Could always try popping the CMOS battery out and back in again, that sorted a Dell server that I had that refused to POST.
robintech Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 IDRAC might still work if it has a working PSU https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-uk/000130077/poweredge-how-to-use-the-idrac-direct-feature
iSteve Posted May 9, 2023 Author Posted May 9, 2023 iDRAC is alive. All items have green ticks apart from CPU and Memory which it doesn't seem to be able to see. Attempts to power up via iDRAC result in a timeout error.
robintech Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 (edited) The iDRAC logs might show something more in the order it took place or if you know when it went offline , would try reseating the memory and replacing CMOS battery as @Aprice said Have had issues with memory detection during deliberate power cycles that reseating resolved for unknown reasons Could also try a longer power disconnect which is 3 minutes? to force iDRAC to redetect or you can Reset it (not to defaults) from the web interface although this won't change anything for not POSTing Edited May 9, 2023 by ittech2342323
iSteve Posted July 19, 2023 Author Posted July 19, 2023 This was resolved with a new motherboard. Dell said it was a random failure. 2
Dos_Box Posted July 19, 2023 Posted July 19, 2023 This was resolved with a new motherboard. Dell said it was a random failure. Did they charge you or did you get some goodwill from them?
iSteve Posted July 19, 2023 Author Posted July 19, 2023 We had to pay to extend the warranty. Still cheaper than the full board cost. 1
Dos_Box Posted July 19, 2023 Posted July 19, 2023 We had to pay to extend the warranty. Still cheaper than the full board cost. That's not too bad, and you have a server under warranty again
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