Adam Strickfaden

Category: Dell

  • No memory found – Dell PowerEdge Server and Intel Xeon 2nd Gen CPU

    No memory found – Dell PowerEdge Server and Intel Xeon 2nd Gen CPU

    If you upgrade your 14 gen DELL server to an Intel Xeon Scalable 2nd Gen CPU, you may receive this error.

    Common second gen CPUs:

    • Xeon Gold 5218 (16 cores)
    • Xeon Gold 5220 (18 cores)
    • Xeon Gold 6240 (18 cores)
    • Xeon Gold 6252 (24 cores)
    • Xeon Platinum 8253 (16 cores)
    • Xeon Platinum 8276 (28 cores)

    Chances are your BIOS is outdated and doesn’t support second gen processors. DELL did not introduce support for these processors until BIOS version 2.2.10. If you have a version below that you will receive this error without a doubt.

    What you’ll have to do is install a first GEN CPU, update the BIOS, and then reinstall the second GEN processors.

    Examples of first gen processors you can use:

    • Xeon Bronze 3104
    • Xeon Bronze 3106
    • Xeon Silver 4108
    • Xeon Gold 6126
    • Xeon Gold 6148 (20 cores)
    • Xeon Platinum 8176 (28 cores)

    Quick way to identify the generation

    • 31xx, 41xx, 51xx, 61xx, 81xx → 1st Generation (Skylake)
    • 32xx, 42xx, 52xx, 62xx, 82xx → 2nd Generation (Cascade Lake)

    Just update the BIOS and you’ll be good to go.

  • Updating DELL Servers Tutorial

    Updating DELL Servers Tutorial

    This post will describe the process of updating DELL servers. The documentation will be split into 2 parts. Part 1 will describe the update process for 13 gen servers, or more specifically, any server that ships with the iDRAC 8 management system. Newer generations of servers starting with 14 gen ship with iDRAC 9 which is a slightly different process.

    Updating 13 gen servers (iDRAC 8)

    DELL use to have an easy online updater but since 2025 this service has been down. Now you must update using the local method. Local means the updates are first downloaded to your machine directly from DELL, and then uploaded to the server.

    To upload an update you must first obtain the IP address of the server. For communication to take place both your local machine and the server need to be on the same network. Often times you will receive a server that has a static address set by the previous owner. This must be changed so the server gets all of its networking information from the local DHCP server.

    First enter into the BIOS by hitting the F2 key during boot time:

    Then arrow down to iDRAC settings and hit enter:

    Resetting iDRAC

    It is not mandatory but highly recommended that you reset iDRAC prior to updating the server or updating the network configuration. Resetting iDRAC can resolve many hidden issues you may not see until it’s time to update. Resetting also clears out any custom passwords set by the previous owner of the server.

    Once in the iDRAC settings scroll all the way down:

    Highlight Reset iDRAC configurations to defaults and hit enter and then confirm. Wait until the system tells you that the process completed successfully.

    Configuring the network

    Now it’s time to properly configure the network. Return to the main screen in iDRAC Settings and arrow down to Network:

    From here scroll down to the section labeled IPV4 Settings. Make sure your settings match the following screenshot:

    Once properly configured hit ESC until you are asked to save the changes. Save the changes and continue hitting escape until the server resumes the boot process. Hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE. You must reboot the server to refresh the IP address displayed at boot time.

    Here you can see the new IP address is displayed during boot time:

    Make note of the IP address as the server boots and plug this IP into your web browser.

    If a proper network connection has been established you will be greeted with a login prompt. If you’ve never logged into the server before your computer will warn you of an unsecure connection. Go ahead and continue through the warning to reach the login page.

    Login to the server with the following credentials:

    Username: root

    Password: calvin

    If the default credentials do not work you need to reset iDRAC as described previously.

     

    Expand iDRAC Settings and select Update and Rollback:

    Here is where you will upload the individual updates. There’s a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, each server will have its own BIOS file. Some servers will share the same BIOS. Other servers require its own unique BIOS file.

    Refer to the following table to see which servers share the same BIOS and which ones differ:

    BIOS-sharing groups in 13G

    BIOS Family Servers
    R630 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R630, PowerEdge R730, PowerEdge R730xd
    R430 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R430, PowerEdge R530
    R330 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R330, PowerEdge T330
    R230 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R230, PowerEdge T130
    R930 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R930 only
    R830 Platform BIOS PowerEdge R830 only
    FC630 Platform BIOS PowerEdge FC630 only
    M630 Platform BIOS PowerEdge M630 only
    T630 Platform BIOS PowerEdge T630 only

    The 2 most important updates you must apply are the BIOS and iDRAC updates. These can be located on the DELL website under drivers.

    Once you have the update simply click on choose file. Browse to the update file and then click upload. Here we will update the iDRAC firmware. iDRAC firmware is the same across all platforms that use the iDRAC 8 interface.

    After your file is uploaded the server will give you the option to install. Put a checkmark next to the update and then click install.

    Depending on the type of update the server may reboot. BIOS updates always require a reboot. This is done automatically. Other updates like iDRAC do not require a reboot.

    You can monitor the update in the Job Queue. You will be asked if you want to go to the queue once you click install.

    A successful update looks like the following:

    After updating the iDRAC you will be logged out. Simply log back into the server and repeat the previous steps for the other updates.

    Updating iDRAC 9 Servers

    DELL 14/15/16 use iDRAC version 9 so the following documentation can be used to update these generations of servers.

    Follow the previous steps to reset iDRAC back to default settings and configure the network. These steps have not changed.

    Once logged in to the iDRAC 9 interface click Maintenance and then System Update:

    In the dropdown menu labeled Location Type, select HTTPS. For HTTPS Address type in downloads.dell.com.

    At the bottom click Check For Updates.

    The server will then reach out to DELL to see what updates are available for your system.

    Put a checkmark next to all the updates it finds and then click install and reboot.

    The server may reboot multiple times. Allow the server to finish the process and do not unplug power until the update process has completed.

    You can view the progress of the updates by monitoring the Job Queue.

    Troubleshooting

    It is possible that you don’t have the option to download updates because you have a very old version of iDRAC or have an EXPRESS license. In some cases an Enterprise license is required to download updates from the internet.

    You might also find that iDRAC did not update during the process but everything else did. In such a case it’s necessary to stair step the iDRAC update.

    As an example, you cannot jump from version 3.20 all the way to the latest version. You must first update to 3.30 before attempting to update to the latest version.

     

     

     

  • DELL R640 freezes loading BIOS drivers

    DELL R640 freezes loading BIOS drivers

    I’ve probably had hundreds of servers freeze at this particular screen over my time dealing with servers. It gets to the loading bios drivers screen. You count the dots one by one and watch closely. One dot. two dots. 5 dots. And then nothing. The dots stop coming.

    In almost every case I’ve found bad memory to be the culprit. In fact, I am documenting this while dealing with the exact problem. An R640 with 16 sticks of memory. It’s freezing. I know there’s a bad stick somewhere.

    The only question is what’s the fastest way to locate the bad stick so you can move on with your life?

    With a lot of memory I like to remove all the DIMMs from the black slots first. It’s up to you. The whole idea is to keep removing DIMMs until the darn thing boots up. If you remove sticks and it still freezes, that means the sticks you pulled out were good. In a 2 CPU configuration remove them evenly from both sides to prevent unbalanced memory errors.

    Now, if you remove a bunch of sticks and it boots up, that means the bad stick is in the group of DIMMs you just pulled out. To find the bad one you now put them back in the server one by one. Once it freezes up you have found the bad DIMM. Replace it.

    Sometimes you’ll do this process only to find the DIMMs just needed to be reseated. That’s fine, in the end it’s just about fixing the problem.

  • Mini Controller means sacrificing a x16 PCIe slot on the R740xd

    Mini Controller means sacrificing a x16 PCIe slot on the R740xd

    On the DELL R740xd there are 3 variations of riser 1.

    2 of these variations are incompatible with a mini controller because of their length, and the fact that they use up the slot on the motherboard required by the mini controller. To install the mini controller, an interposer must be installed first.

    The interposer is essentially an interface between the controller and the motherboard.

    There is only 1 riser compatible with the mini controller and unfortunately it only has 3 x8 PCIe slots. No x16.

    The variations that do have x16 slots are too long and slot in to the same slot required by the interposer, as shown below:

    This riser has 2 x16 slots but incompatible with a mini controller.

    So if you need a lot of x16 slots consider that you’ll need to use a PCIe RAID controller and not the mini.

  • A fatal error was detected on a component at bus 25 device 0 function 0.

    A fatal error was detected on a component at bus 25 device 0 function 0.

    One of my R640s presented a PCIe error with the following iDRAC log.

    A fatal error was detected on a component at bus 25 device 0 function 0.

    At boot time I received a generic PCIe error message prompting me to dig deeper into the logs. Going into the BIOS and looking at the devices it was immediately apparent what the problem was.

    The server was not seeing my NDC.

    Replacing the NDC resolved the issue. However, if you’re unable to determine the problematic device you can also do the following.

    In iDRAC, navigate to system—>Inventory—>hardware inventory.

    Here you will see hardware info related to devices and their associated bus numbers. Finding the bus number referenced in the error will tell you which device is causing the problem.

    Here you can see bus number 25 is associated with the NDC:

    Sometimes it’s not this easy though. If you can’t locate the bus number the best troubleshooting step is simply removing PCIe devices one by one until the error goes away. Reseat the component and replace it if the problem remains.