Server won't boot

[brshoemak]

I have a Dell SC440 that I pulled out of it's home to connect an eSATA drive. After plugging in the eSATA cable I tried to boot it and nothing happens - nothing at all. Damn.

Let's skip all the minor troubleshooting configurations and start with this baseline:

- All cards/adapters removed
- Good power cable
- Good power outlet

Pulled the 24-pin ATX from the current PSU and shorted pins 4&6 on it - it powers on fine and and the drives that are still attached all spin up, so at least I know the PSU not totally dead.

I get a new spare power supply out and connect the 24-pin ATX connector to the board. Hit the power button and the whole system powers on. HOWEVER, the system does not POST, no beep codes, and the power button is solid amber. The Dell documentation states that a solid amber light means the PSU is 'probably' good - but the fact that things changes so much using a new PSU leads me to consider the PSU. So it could be the PSU or it could be the MB/processor.

I don't see how a faulty motherboard would react differently towards one PSU rather than the other. The power connectors between the current and new PSU's are pin-compatible and there are no Dell specific gotchas on those power supplies (some servers will freak out if there is a difference in fan RPM speed or a variety of other factors with non-OEM parts).

The only other piece of information I can give is that while I was trying to plug in the eSATA cable into the server, our TV picture experienced static. The power cable was unplugged at the time, however, there was an HDMI cable attach to our TV from the server. I can't see how this could cause a power event, but it's the only possibility I can think of.

What do you think?

 

[Bubbaleone]

Not sure how it could affect your mobo but according to this article on HDMI from HowStuffWorks; "Other channels carry encryption data and electricity to power communication between devices." HDMI Connections
(it's +5 volts)

 

[Atheus]

Okay that's pretty weird...

Are you in a datacenter? Sounds a bit like it. Is everything else good? I wouldn't think it was some weird power thing unless there was more than one machine affected. The TV static has to be coincidence surely...

 

[Motorheader]

I believe on the back of the computer by the USB ports there are 4 lights that will be green/amber depending on how far into the post the sytem gets - even if you get no video. The color sequence of those lights it will give you an indication what could be the problem.

I'm wondering if the board was shorted somehow that either corrupted the bios or caused a mainboard related problem Are you getting any beeps?

 

[brshoemak]

Okay that's pretty weird...

Are you in a datacenter? Sounds a bit like it. Is everything else good? I wouldn't think it was some weird power thing unless there was more than one machine affected. The TV static has to be coincidence surely...

Yeah I know, it's really weird. No, this is not in a datacenter. It's just my home media server that happens to be an actual Dell server. If it was a datacenter I would have called upon the powers known as: 24x7x4 Support. Besides, I'm sure the SC440 is EOL and even out of extended support.

I believe on the back of the computer by the USB ports there are 4 lights that will be green/amber depending on how far into the post the sytem gets - even if you get no video. The color sequence of those lights it will give you an indication what could be the problem.

I'm wondering if the board was shorted somehow that either corrupted the bios or caused a mainboard related problem Are you getting any beeps?

I know what you're talking about but the SC440 doesn't have those on the back but instead the numbers are on the front panel, but they do not light up at any point. Documentation says that no lights are an indication of a lack of power or possible pre-BIOS failure. What comes before the BIOS test - the basic POST? I wish they would at least flash once when they received power so you would know that the diagnostics are working and it's not just OFF. Oh and there are no beeps at all to help with the diagnosis.

I have a friend with a Dell Precision workstation that has the same chassis as the SC440 so I'll know more tomorrow after I try his known-working PSU in my system.

 

[brshoemak]

SOLVED

This one goes under the 'dumb oversight' category.

The new PSU made the server turn on but their was no POST and no diagnostic LED's lit up. I took my server into work just to have another set of eyes and my co-worker says "don't forget to plug in the 4-pin connector" :facepalm Never did it before. That was the issue on the new PSU. The same day this happened I received a basic PSU tester I had ordered and it showed that one of 12V rails was dead. After some slight modification to the new PSU (sawing off some plastic around the plug) it fit just fine and works great.

I spend so much of my time dealing with virtualized environments, clustered servers, babysitting Exchange/Sharepoint/etc. that I have apparently forgotten basic troubleshooting skills. Maybe I need to dust off my A+ cert