Old server, no boot no bios no post

[3Volution]

Hi all,

I got given an old server from a friend, it's a Supermicro 5035G-T. It runs a pentium 4 cpu, 8gb ram. 4 SATA drive bays.
It had no sata hdd, so I fitted one in from my old tower pc.

I tried booting, all fans working (cpu, gpu, case, psu).
I have a power light on motherboard.
Monitor looks like it's getting a signal but 8 seconds later it goes back to standby while tower still on.
CDROM drive connected but won't open, as though not connected.
No beeps.

What I have tried so far:
Removed Ram = Same.
1 stick Ram = Same.
Changed GPU = Same
Removed hdd = Same.
Checked all jumpers.
Changed speaker jumper to internal speaker = no beeps.
Changed speaker jumper to external and plugged in headphones = still no beeps.
Replaced BIOS battery = Same.

To summarize, some output signal of black screen for 7 seconds, then no signal. All fans working. USB ports are getting power (as mouse led lights up).
POST LED's on board stay off indicating all ok (as per manual)
Motherboard power LED is on.


What else can I try?

 

[3Volution]

Just to add, the system was as manufacturer spec apart from the upgraded GPU, which I have changed again to a less powerfull one.
And the HDD. Nothing else has changed from original spec all those years ago.

 

[bambiboom]

3Volution,

The only thing I know for certain about servers is that free servers are the most expensive.

The Supermicro 5035G-T is very high quality and as far as I know still made:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/tower/5035/SYS-5035G-T.cfm

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/437034/Supermicro-SuperWorkstation-5035G-T-Barebone-System/

> As there are so many LGA775 CPU's still around.

b]1.[/b] One possibility is that the system chassis intrusion switch is set such that the system won't start if the side cover is off. Have you tried starting with the cover on?

2 Check all the connections on the drives, especially as they are hot swap- they may have become unseated in the trays.You might take out the drives and try them in another system to test for a drive failure, but I think there would be an error message if there was a drive fault.

3. Check that all system cables have their connectors completely seated on both ends.

4. If the system has a peripheral (PCIe) RAID controller, it's possible there is a fault in the independent controller BIOS. The controller has to boot so the system drives are initiated. However, normally, you'd see a stream of DOS processes ont he display and am error message.

45.The only other suggestion I have is to try to start with an MS Server or even a Windows installation disk in the optical drive.

Let us know what you find out.

Cheers,

BambiBoom


1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

With Quadro K2200:
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D= 3463 / Mem= 2668 / Disk= 4764

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card 875W PSU > Logitech z313> Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

Network: Netgear GS108-400NAS Gigabit Ethernet

3 >10>

11. Dell Poweredge 2600 (2009) (Server) Xeon X3230, 16GB DDR2-667 ECC, PERC 6/i, 2X 73GB 15K SAS, 3X 146GB 15K SAS

 

[3Volution]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.
The answers to your suggestions:

1. Have not tried with cover on, but there is a little switch that gets pushed/closed when the cover is on, i manually pushed that and turned it on. This made no difference.

2 and 3. I have checked all cables. Spent 1 hour yesterday just reconnecting all of them many times over.

4. There wasn't a raid controller or anything installed, the only additional card plugged in was the graphics card. There maybe some motherboard setting for raid but i cant get into the bios to check this.

5. I cant get into the optical drive, the CD Rom drive wont open, even after 10 mins of the server being on i pushed the open tray button and nothing happens. Either the drive is dead or its not getting power even with the power and IDE cables plugged in.

 

[bambiboom]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.
The answers to your suggestions:

1. Have not tried with cover on, but there is a little switch that gets pushed/closed when the cover is on, i manually pushed that and turned it on. This made no difference.

2 and 3. I have checked all cables. Spent 1 hour yesterday just reconnecting all of them many times over.

4. There wasn't a raid controller or anything installed, the only additional card plugged in was the graphics card. There maybe some motherboard setting for raid but i cant get into the bios to check this.

5. I cant get into the optical drive, the CD Rom drive wont open, even after 10 mins of the server being on i pushed the open tray button and nothing happens. Either the drive is dead or its not getting power even with the power and IDE cables plugged in.

3Volution,

It is auto-enigmatically cyclical or possibly just bloody-minded.

I had a quick scan through the handy 108-page user manual:

http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/superserver/mid-tower/MNL-0796.pdf

> but nothing in particular caught my eye. There is a front panel "system reset button" that simply reboots, but I don't hold out too much hope, though that may be more meaningful to a server. There is also something in the "Features" list called "BIOS rescue" and I like the sound of that one. The manual is perhaps an earlier version as it lists the GPU slot as AGP, which is interesting. There is a PCI-X slot too and if you ever get it going you can buy a $400 LSI PCI-X RAID controller for $9 to fit it.

It's very odd because even a system without a HD will go to BIOS. You might try the conventional setup configuration switch for servers, and as soon as it starts, press CNTR-R which would take you to BIOS. In that magical event, see if you can enable the CD-ROM and change the boot order in case it trying to boot from the RAID BIOS.

Also, Section C-1 of the manual, " Configuring BIOS settings for SATA RAID Functions (Native Mode)
1. Press the <Del> key during system bootup to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.


Can you get information from the person that gave it to you, especially the conditions the last time it was run?

There may be a fault in the motherboard, but that would be a surprise for a Supermicro which is very robust.

Did this system ever work for you and if so can you duplicate those conditions exactly?

My only other wild guess revolves around the idea of the new HD trying to run as RAID disk- it's looking for a RAID configured HD.

I've never heard of a free server that didn't have a curse on it.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[3Volution]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.
The answers to your suggestions:

1. Have not tried with cover on, but there is a little switch that gets pushed/closed when the cover is on, i manually pushed that and turned it on. This made no difference.

2 and 3. I have checked all cables. Spent 1 hour yesterday just reconnecting all of them many times over.

4. There wasn't a raid controller or anything installed, the only additional card plugged in was the graphics card. There maybe some motherboard setting for raid but i cant get into the bios to check this.

5. I cant get into the optical drive, the CD Rom drive wont open, even after 10 mins of the server being on i pushed the open tray button and nothing happens. Either the drive is dead or its not getting power even with the power and IDE cables plugged in.

3Volution,

It is auto-enigmatically cyclical or possibly just bloody-minded.

I had a quick scan through the handy 108-page user manual:

http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/superserver/mid-tower/MNL-0796.pdf

> but nothing in particular caught my eye. There is a front panel "system reset button" that simply reboots, but I don't hold out too much hope, though that may be more meaningful to a server. There is also something in the "Features" list called "BIOS rescue" and I like the sound of that one. The manual is perhaps an earlier version as it lists the GPU slot as AGP, which is interesting. There is a PCI-X slot too and if you ever get it going you can buy a $400 LSI PCI-X RAID controller for $9 to fit it.

It's very odd because even a system without a HD will go to BIOS. You might try the conventional setup configuration switch for servers, and as soon as it starts, press CNTR-R which would take you to BIOS. In that magical event, see if you can enable the CD-ROM and change the boot order in case it trying to boot from the RAID BIOS.

Also, Section C-1 of the manual, " Configuring BIOS settings for SATA RAID Functions (Native Mode)
1. Press the <Del> key during system bootup to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.


Can you get information from the person that gave it to you, especially the conditions the last time it was run?

There may be a fault in the motherboard, but that would be a surprise for a Supermicro which is very robust.

Did this system ever work for you and if so can you duplicate those conditions exactly?

My only other wild guess revolves around the idea of the new HD trying to run as RAID disk- it's looking for a RAID configured HD.

I've never heard of a free server that didn't have a curse on it.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hey, thanks again for spending the time to read the manual and offer your help.

Well i took it down to a friends place and we swapped out parts and did a little troubleshooting.
We came to the conclusion that the PSU is not working as it should, it doesn't power the CD Rom drive either.
Now without buying new parts I cant troubleshoot further.

As me and my friend were discussing the options, he offered me the server he has just replaced, it is the following machine:

HP XW6600 Workstation
2 x 2.83Ghz Quad Core E5440 (8 Core)
750GB HDD
32GB RAM
Win 7
Nvidia Quadro NVS 290 Graphics Card.
For £200.


1) Should i spend £50 or so and buy a PSU for the Supermicro, with no guarantee that a new PSU will fix it?
or
2) Should i spend £200 and buy the working server?

Your thoughts?
I am leaning toward the working server.

 

[bambiboom]

3Volution,

The PSU defect is a reasonable explanation for the problems with the HP.

As for the replacement: the HP XW6600 Workstation Workstation is a probably a good system and still quite useful. I like very much the idea of using high quality older systems However, there is an important dividing line in the technology when some aspect of high performance is important. In the example of the HP, that factor is the DDR2-667 RAM, in that it runs extremely hot and is 667Mhz. The Xeon E5440 2.83GHz 4-core CPU is not bad, on Passmark, a pair in an HP XW6600 have a CPU score up to 7739, but are not hyperthreading or have a turbo boost frequency. One generation newer can have much higher performance and have a longer future as they have much higher upgrade potential.

My suggestion is to have a look at Dell Precision T5500 and T3500. These use the excellent, next generation Xeon LGA1366 and those systems can support up to a pair of X5690's- that's 12-cores 24 threads (2X 6-core) at 3.47 /3.73GHz. On Passmark, a T7500 with a pair of X5690s have a CPU score up to 15972. These systems can use 96 (T5500) or 192GB (T7500) of much cooler and sometimes less expensive DDR3-1333. With a PERC H310 RAID controller, the disk systems can be very fast.

These are not expensive systems:

Dell Precision T5500, X2 Xeon X5560 Quad @ 2.80Ghz, 10GB Ram, 250GB + 80GB HDD > sold for
£179.99

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T5500-X2-Xeon-X5560-Quad-2-80Ghz-10GB-Ram-250GB-80GB-HDD-/301700386571?hash=item463ebe8f0b%3Ag%3ATToAAOSwyQtVuiyS&nma=true&si=RF%252B5Hn%252BhHIwhBWhLVLC8cHI5lx0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

On Passmark, a T5500 with dual X5560 (4-core @ 2.8 / 3.2GHz) ,system has a CPU score of 9899.

The highest rated XW6600 with a pair of E5440 has a system rating of 2309, CPU =7454, Memory = 756, Disk= 1915
The highest rated T5500 with a pair of X5560 has a system rating of 3389, CPU =9815, Memory = 1830, Disk= 2554

The good feature of the T5500 and T7500 is that you can buy one with a single, faster CPU and add a second CPU later is necessary. I bought a T5500 with a single 4-core at 2.4GHz and upgraded to an X5680 6-core @ 3.33 /3.6GHz and now feel I don't really need the second CPU.

The T7500 is possibility, costing more, but those have 4 drive bays and 1100W PSU's:

Depending on your use, a T3500- single CPU might serve (very small pun) very well.

Dell Precision T3500 6 Core 3.47GHz Xeon, 250GB HDD, 12GB RAM, Quadro 2000 & OS > sold for £180.00

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-6-Core-3-47GHz-Xeon-250GB-HDD-12GB-RAM-Quadro-2000-OS-/121734590464?hash=item1c57f27000%3Ag%3AhMUAAOSwT6pV0yzS&nma=true&si=RF%252B5Hn%252BhHIwhBWhLVLC8cHI5lx0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

That one has the W3690 6-core @ 3.47/3.73GHz. On Passmark, a T3500 / W3690 system:

CPU =9517, Memory = 1844, Disk= 2687 (Samsung 850 Pro)

With a GTX 750 ti, the 2D = 619 and 3D = 2819

A T3500 with a GTX 970: 2D =600 and 3D = 7949 while the highest graphics score for the XW6600: GTX Titan > 2D = 496 3D = 6743 . As the highest rating for a GTX 970 is 2D=818 3D =10692 and the highest rating for a GTX Titan is 2D=947, 3D =14780, we can see that the T3500 is much more capable (74% of maximum) than the HP (45% of maximum) in producing a higher percentage of the potential performance of current high performance GPU's.

These are better value- higher rated CPU for the price- as they are one CPU and have less drive space, 24GB RAM maximum.

So, a couple of alternatives.

Cheers,

BambiBoom