hphp-proliantmemory
I am currently doing a RAM upgrade on an HP proliant DL360 G7 server. After installing the new RAM (18x 8GB KTH-PL316E/8G) the LED indicator lights for every single DIMM turned amber and the health check light turned red. I tried putting some older RAM back into the server to see if the new RAM was the problem, but the server still had every single DIMM amber, even though every DIMM was not populated. Does anyone know why this would happen?
Thanks in advance.
Well, you're trying to troubleshoot a circa 2006-2008 server that's fallen outside of its normal hardware warranty...
Internal health LED means just that. Internal health. Could be RAM, system board, CPU/CPU socket. You're also at the age where the system board battery could use a refresh. Nowhere in your post here did I see any indication of opening the server and reseating the components. Normally, that's the first step.
Now, outside of that, I recommended that you download the bootable HP Firmware DVD and run it on the system in your previous question. Did you do this?
If all else fails, you can call HP and talk to a tech. I don't know if you're in the US, so I won't post a direct number... but you can usually get fairly far in phone troubleshooting... but still, they'll ask you to update your firmware. So please do that first.
Edit:
You said that you received several of these old servers at the same time. Try swapping components or booting with a minimal set of components. One CPU, 1 or 2 DIMMs to start. And work up from there. At a certain point, though, how much is your time worth? This is a server that can be found for < $200US on the used market. If there's a problem with it, get a different one.
So, after bringing a third system into the mix, and experiencing the same issue, we began to question the environment. I dug up a copy of the HP ProLiant Servers Troubleshooting Guide and found the POST problems flowchart shown below.
Carefully running through the steps in the chart, we realized that the one constant across all of the servers was a KVM switch attached to the data center crash cart. This was a consumer-class USB-enabled KVM. As per the highlighted node in the flowchart, Do you have known good KVM?, I could not answer conclusively.
So, we unplugged the servers from the KVM switch and ran an automated boot, sleep 300; reboot sequence in rc.local. The servers had no issues with this, regardless of the normal DIMM, low-voltage DIMMs, PSU wattage, etc.
This was all the result of a poor interaction with a USB KVM switch. By virtue that this was the console, it ensured we'd see the failure if we were looking for it. Self-fulfilling...
Best Answer
Hmm, that's Kingston RAM. Are you absolutely sure it is compatible? (I advocate using HP RAM in HP servers)
What was the old RAM configuration?
I'd suggest going back to the old configuration...
To start, please remove power (and power cables) from the system for a few minutes. Plug them back in and try again. Also, is your ILO3 configured? You can use that to review the server's IML log and see why your RAM is giving you an error or any other relevant POST messages.
For the new RAM, please ensure it is seated properly. The DL360 G7 has 18 DIMM slots, so you're filling it up. Weird things happen when you approach the limits of a platform like this. So the best case is to start small and popular one DIMM per CPU and build up from there.
EDIT:
You're using unbuffered RAM. That server will only support 96GB of unbuffered memory... so 12 modules.
Please use the right RAM for the server (500662-B21) if you intend to max the server out.