Xeon Owners Club

:D:D · Sep 13, 2023

Did you manage to get the serial debug working? A cool feature maybe and don't rule out rootkits. Error seems to be from the same routine.

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

:D:D said:
Did you manage to get the serial debug working? A cool feature maybe and don't rule out rootkits. Error seems to be from the same routine.

NO and now I cant get it to boot again, its stuck at initializing firmware interfaces

1freedude · Sep 14, 2023

crazydrve` said:
It still gives the error, the one thing I am not sure of is how to get into the actual error message using the serial cable, like it suggests.

......

crazydrve` said:
View attachment 313219

Get putty [serial ssh tftp] tool if you don't have it. Super duper useful tool. Find a PC with serial port or find a DB9 to USB adapter and a serial cable. The cable needed might be a null cable, or it might need a gender bender straight cable. The port settings are in parentheses above the red lettering. The settings will be configured in Device Manager under Ports.

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

1freedude said:
Get putty [serial ssh tftp] tool if you don't have it. Super duper useful tool. Find a PC with serial port or find a DB9 to USB adapter and a serial cable. The cable needed might be a null cable, or it might need a gender bender straight cable. The port settings are in parentheses above the red lettering. The settings will be configured in Device Manager under Ports.

I found a cable so I will try it. I connect it to the dell obviously, right?

Then connect the USB end to another computer?

1freedude said:
Get putty [serial ssh tftp] tool if you don't have it. Super duper useful tool. Find a PC with serial port or find a DB9 to USB adapter and a serial cable. The cable needed might be a null cable, or it might need a gender bender straight cable. The port settings are in parentheses above the red lettering. The settings will be configured in Device Manager under Ports.

Is there're any way to access that info by just ssh into idrac? I don't have the right serial cable but I can ssh in

1freedude · Sep 14, 2023

No clue, sorry. If you are brave, and desperate, you can cut and re-wire the serial cable

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

1freedude said:
No clue, sorry. If you are brave, and desperate, you can cut and re-wire the serial cable

Lol nope not that brave

Does anyone know if the usb ports can just die and go bad? I'm starting to wonder if it's the usb ports?

Edwired · Sep 14, 2023

Uab port can go bad if it wired the wrong way like 5v into the data +/- line running the risk damaging something on the board. Pretty sure it can be done using USB to serial adaptor or parallel adaptor not sure if either of these can be found online. Just to remember that the usb port 2.0 can only provide 5v at 500 milliamps or 0.5 amp you can daisy chain two usb port to get 1000 milliamps or 1 amp to provide power to some external devices that needs it as far as I know
Additional info

Dell PowerEdge T620 Systems Owner's Manual | Dell US

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

Edwired said:
Uab port can go bad if it wired the wrong way like 5v into the data +/- line running the risk damaging something on the board. Pretty sure it can be done using USB to serial adaptor or parallel adaptor not sure if either of these can be found online

I'm again clearing nvram and trying again, had it booted up a little bit ago

Edwired said:
Uab port can go bad if it wired the wrong way like 5v into the data +/- line running the risk damaging something on the board. Pretty sure it can be done using USB to serial adaptor or parallel adaptor not sure if either of these can be found online. Just to remember that the usb port 2.0 can only provide 5v at 500 milliamps or 0.5 amp you can daisy chain two usb port to get 1000 milliamps or 1 amp to provide power to some external devices that needs it as far as I know
Additional info

Dell PowerEdge T620 Systems Owner's Manual | Dell US

Right now I am only using a basic usb mouse and Kb.

Edwired · Sep 14, 2023

There's rs232 to usb cables available online it one with the 9 pin vga type connector but not too sure it this would work on the Dell t620 have to do abit of looking into to see if it compatible
Looking at the manual it does support serial 9-pin, DTE, 16550-compatible. So it available to buy somewhere online that requires a driver cd and setting the com port and a capable PC or laptop depending on the operating system requirements for the driver to work.

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

Edwired said:
There's rs232 to usb cables available online it one with the 9 pin vga type connector but not too sure it this would work on the Dell t620 have to do abit of looking into to see if it compatible
Looking at the manual it does support serial 9-pin, DTE, 16550-compatible. So it available to buy somewhere online that requires a driver cd and setting the com port and a capable PC or laptop depending on the operating system requirements for the driver to work.

Yea I will probably need to do that... thanks, and it does have a standard serial port.

Edwired · Sep 14, 2023

From what I can see is the USB keyboard and mouse working on the Dell t620 or is it not functioning like not accessing the bios when pressing the function button?

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

Edwired said:
From what I can see is the USB keyboard and mouse working on the Dell t620 or is it not functioning like not accessing the bios when pressing the function button?

It works, but I'm wondering of the usb ports are causing some weird issue. I currently have it sitting now and letting it sit with nothing connected.

I'm still getting the uefi error even though I'm using bios mode

Edwired · Sep 14, 2023

Have you tried other USB ports like the ones in the front panel. What error codes is presented with uefi unless it not set to uefi mode something along like csm or secure boot is either enabled or disabled in the bios
Error codes is something like abc0000 this is viewable in System Event Log (SEL) in the bios menu

Found this relatable to your issue as it appears as some sort of mismatch on firmware on the Dell t620

Dell T620 General Protection Fault | DELL Technologies

Hello, I cant seem to get rid of the General protection fault error. I have unplugged to drain the power, I even waited over night. I reset nvram, bios, idrac. I still get the following error. ...

www.dell.com

Additional Information:

This issue occurs due to a mismatch between the software (LCC) and the hardware versions (iDRAC).

To prevent this issue updates should be performed in the following order:

iDRAC
LCC
BIOS

crazydrve` · Sep 14, 2023

Edwired said:
Have you tried other USB ports like the ones in the front panel. What error codes is presented with uefi unless it not set to uefi mode something along like csm or secure boot is either enabled or disabled in the bios
Error codes is something like abc0000 this is viewable in System Event Log (SEL) in the bios menu

Found this relatable to your issue as it appears as some sort of mismatch on firmware on the Dell t620

Dell T620 General Protection Fault | DELL Technologies

Hello, I cant seem to get rid of the General protection fault error. I have unplugged to drain the power, I even waited over night. I reset nvram, bios, idrac. I still get the following error. ...

www.dell.com

Additional Information:

This issue occurs due to a mismatch between the software (LCC) and the hardware versions (iDRAC).

To prevent this issue updates should be performed in the following order:

iDRAC

LCC

BIOS

Yep, I've done that when I could, and that is my post. Lol with the error I get.

Edwired · Sep 14, 2023

Ah right I say try again in reflashing or replace the motherboard that how I would do it is exhausted all possible solutions then lastly resort to replace the motherboard regardless.

crazydrve` · Sep 15, 2023

Edwired said:
Ah right I say try again in reflashing or replace the motherboard that how I would do it is exhausted all possible solutions then lastly resort to replace the motherboard regardless.

Thats why Im hoping to fix this without replacing board, I dont have $600

Edwired · Sep 15, 2023

crazydrve` said:
Thats why Im hoping to fix this without replacing board, I dont have $600

How much did you pay for the Dell T620? Is it a desktop or rack?

crazydrve` · Sep 15, 2023

Edwired said:
How much did you pay for the Dell T620? Is it a desktop or rack?

Its a desktop tower, at the time it was close to $3000 fully loaded, with raid card and video card. Ive already had to buy two boards and bought one last Februray.

I could find it cheaper off ebay, but have had issues with that. the cheapest from a reliable place and refurbished board is 600

Edwired · Sep 15, 2023

Seems like the life controller or/and idrac got bricked during a bios update process. As it appears you need some sort of ISO with the firmware to be able to boot into pre operating system something like Linux to repair the problems the board is experiencing you may have to go to Dell to get it or could be one available online somewhere but it specific per model if both method does not work that would explain the board gone faulty.

crazydrve` · Sep 15, 2023

Edwired said:
Seems like the life controller or/and idrac got bricked during a bios update process. As it appears you need some sort of ISO with the firmware to be able to boot into pre operating system something like Linux to repair the problems the board is experiencing you may have to go to Dell to get it or could be one available online somewhere but it specific per model if both method does not work that would explain the board gone faulty.

Ok, thanks, was actually thinking of that as the next step, if I can get that far.

Edwired · Sep 15, 2023

crazydrve` said:
Ok, thanks, was actually thinking of that as the next step, if I can get that far.

Look at my post with updated photos you may have to look around the bios to see if the idrac number to see if that is lower than the one Dell said it urgent to flash the firmware due to the fact it prevented the server from launching with life controller

Platform Specific Bootable ISO, PET620, 20.07.00 | Driver Details | Dell Costa Rica

crazydrve` · Sep 15, 2023

Edwired said:
Look at my post with updated photos you may have to look around the bios to see if the idrac number to see if that is lower than the one Dell said it urgent to flash the firmware due to the fact it prevented the server from launching with life controller

Platform Specific Bootable ISO, PET620, 20.07.00 | Driver Details | Dell Costa Rica

Yea I had the latesta lareday installed and working about 2 weeks ago, then for some reason its deciding to be a PITA.

Edwired · Sep 15, 2023

The more I see it it pretty leaning toward the board that is the curplit. Unless you willing to spend the extra time starting from scratch using official tested operating system and try again with the reflashing to work out the bugs. As something is not adding up with the current configuration of the Dell T620. Are you sure there's no mosiure, funny looking residues on any of the boards and cables. Have the CPU been removed and installed any other possible changes with hardware before, during and after?

crazydrve` · Sep 15, 2023

Edwired said:
The more I see it it pretty leaning toward the board that is the curplit. Unless you willing to spend the extra time starting from scratch using official tested operating system and try again with the reflashing to work out the bugs. As something is not adding up with the current configuration of the Dell T620. Are you sure there's no mosiure, funny looking residues on any of the boards and cables. Have the CPU been removed and installed any other possible changes with hardware before, during and after?

Nope, I've visually inspected entire board, and I didn't make any changes except my raid died on me. So maybe the raid card.

Right now I'm able to boot to this DVD so I can do some testing.

Dell Support Live Image Version 3.0 | Driver Details | Dell US

I also can boot to the Platform Specific Bootable ISO

Platform Specific Bootable ISO, PET620, 20.07.00 | Driver Details | Dell US

So for now I can do some careful tests. And yes it will be a fresh install OS.

Thanks for all your help

Edwired · Sep 15, 2023

crazydrve` said:
Nope, I've visually inspected entire board, and I didn't make any changes except my raid died on me. So maybe the raid card.

Right now I'm able to boot to this DVD so I can do some testing.

Dell Support Live Image Version 3.0 | Driver Details | Dell US

I also can boot to the Platform Specific Bootable ISO

Platform Specific Bootable ISO, PET620, 20.07.00 | Driver Details | Dell US

So for now I can do some careful tests. And yes it will be a fresh install OS.

Thanks for all your help

At least it bootable from dvd keep chipping away with the T620 and hopefully you find the solution as soon as possible

System Name	Dell T620
Processor	2x E5-2697 v2
Motherboard	Dell v6 G1CNH
Cooling	Stock
Memory	256GB
Video Card(s)	Onboard currently
Storage	N/A
Display(s)	1 x 27" 4K
Case	Default OEM
Power Supply	2x 1100watt

Processor	Xeon x5650
Motherboard	SABERTOOTH X58
Cooling	Fans
Memory	24 GB Kingston HyperX 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060 3GB
Storage	small ssd
Display(s)	Dell 2001F, BenQ short throw
Case	Lian Li
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	X750
Software	Mint 19.3, Win 10
Benchmark Scores	not so fast...

System Name	Dell T620
Processor	2x E5-2697 v2
Motherboard	Dell v6 G1CNH
Cooling	Stock
Memory	256GB
Video Card(s)	Onboard currently
Storage	N/A
Display(s)	1 x 27" 4K
Case	Default OEM
Power Supply	2x 1100watt

Processor	Xeon x5650
Motherboard	SABERTOOTH X58
Cooling	Fans
Memory	24 GB Kingston HyperX 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060 3GB
Storage	small ssd
Display(s)	Dell 2001F, BenQ short throw
Case	Lian Li
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	X750
Software	Mint 19.3, Win 10
Benchmark Scores	not so fast...

System Name	Dell T620
Processor	2x E5-2697 v2
Motherboard	Dell v6 G1CNH
Cooling	Stock
Memory	256GB
Video Card(s)	Onboard currently
Storage	N/A
Display(s)	1 x 27" 4K
Case	Default OEM
Power Supply	2x 1100watt

System Name	The Blind Grim Reaper
Processor	Xeon X5675 Westmere-EP B1 SLBYL 4.20ghz @ 1.256v
Motherboard	Asus P6X58D-E
Cooling	Noctua CP12 SE14, Redux Noctua 1500rpm fan Arctic F14 x3 for intake and exhaust
Memory	Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 x6
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SC Single Fan Model
Storage	Crucial mx300 750gb main system + 1TB mx500 for games and music
Display(s)	22 inch samsung curved
Case	NZXT Phantom 530 black
Audio Device(s)	Nvidia HDMI through HDMI adaptor for output sound for turtlebeach x12 headset
Power Supply	Antec HCG 850 watt
Mouse	no brand
Keyboard	normal usb keyboard
Software	Windows 10 22H2 v1 (main is) and Windows 11 22H2 v2 on WD 250gb 7200rpm (testing purposes os)
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R20 = 2046cb

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