IBM System x3650 M2 Restoration: Part 2

Round two with an IBM System x3650 M2 enterprise server from 2010. Maybe we'll turn it into an art piece.
Part 1: • IBM System x3650 M2 Re...
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- and -
Cello Suite - Bach • Cello Suite - Bach [CO... - pmmusic.pro/do...

[@EdPenwell]

It's an odd bit of haunting catharsis to watch enterprise server taxidermy set to Bach's Cello Suite #1.

[@clabretro]

then I have succeeded

[@David_Phantom]

Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem might've been a good choice as well.

[@AllanGyllingOlsen]

Yes but it is funny… to see Old stuf running..

[@ramble-uk]

I was an HP field engineer for several years, although we supported all makes and models. This is 100% a power supply issue - it is no longer able to supply enough current to power up the machine. When the current draw rises suddenly at power on the voltage collapses and the whole thing resets. The IMM only draws a few mA so it doesn't trigger the fault by itself and appears to work correctly. A replacement power supply should solve the issue, although there is a small chance the IBM design places the fault in the power distribution on the main board rather than in the power supply module. Like I said I am more familiar with HP hardware but I have seen exactly this fault several times. This type of server should always *always* have two power supplies if you're going to use them for anything important.

[@clabretro]

it very well could be! I was thinking I'd grab another psu along with the board on the way. it's always frustrating when I get these machines with only one psu, especially as they get older it becomes so much more likely one can go bad. thanks for the comment, think I'll snag another one.

[@ramble-uk]

@@clabretro Looking forward to part 3 then! Also if you do intend to run it open on the wall like that for more than a few minutes at a time make sure you replace the lid with something clear to preserve the air flow. Many of these servers can sense air flow and will throttle severely if they don't see what they're expecting. Some may shut down entirely.

[@clabretro]

oh yeah totally. I try not to run em long without the lid. clear plastic would be kinda cool actually

[@michelcouillard6622]

Yeah probably the psu. I remember having a similar issue on an old Dell server.

[@chaseohara4781]

You could replace the switch in your home made power bar with one that has a light in it, that way you'll always know whether it was on or off.

[@clabretro]

The funny thing is that's actually a light up switch in there (I had the same thought), but it's on when the switch is *off* so you can find it in the dark haha. Even more confusing. But it doesn't really matter, it's too bright in there to use it consistently for that anyway. I was thinking of adding some type of light on there to make it really obvious. Maybe a three gang box with a light of some sort.

[@chaseohara4781]

@@clabretro oh yea, meant for bathrooms in the dark... What you want is a pilot light switch... It does the opposite since it's meant for furnaces, etc.

[@clabretro]

ah interesting, I'll snag one of those next time I'm at the hardware store@@chaseohara4781

[@Koutsie]

I cannot believe you have only 16k subs 😮 Been watching for a while and I hope these early 2000's server vids continues.

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@__delucks__]

Thanks for posting a video where you didn't finish something! This is inspiring to all of us struggling against machines that are stubbornly refusing to be repaired.

[@xav500011]

It is very IBM for the management computer to take longer to boot than the average Windows server.

[@binaryguru]

I've fixed pins on a socket like that before, it worked for me too and I was quite surprised that I got away with it.

[@reinekewf7987]

the cpu is not realy a problem you may lose some ram channels or pcie lanes. but your gpu is you problem in this case the gpu is simulated through the aspeed controler as a usb gpu. so may the controller is falty but the ipmi lifes also. so it could be the controller. also the restart thing makes me wonder if it is a short then it must be internal or the usb lane to the northbridge from your cpu sockets

[@Joemama555]

a LOT of pins are just ground or power, so there's a pretty good chance that not every single pin is needed.

[@pdarrell]

The IMM should not reset when pressing the power button or turning on through IMM.

[@clabretro]

That's what I'm thinking. Very strange.

[@alexscarbro796]

I’m going to guess that the power rail(s) that run the IMM are dragged down when the rest of the machine is powered on (ie the power system is browning out when placed under higher load). This could indicate a short. If you have a thermal camera, this might be useful to indicate a failed short or low resistance component. Note at 27:37 that the part near C1150 looks discoloured.

[@yjk_ch]

If that's the case, I think the fast blink when he pressed the power button could mean that IMM was rebooting as well.

[@heatedpoolandbar]

New clabretro on a Wednesday? Blessed are we. Keep up the good work.

[@clabretro]

🫡

[@deathbyharakira]

I was really hoping you'd get this thing running, but you're right. That's just the way it goes sometimes. Thanks for scrubbing it in the sink, btw. So much better. I was yelling at the screen the whole time in part 1!

[@clabretro]

Oh I know, should've just done that to begin with. made a world of difference, smells way better.

[@jamesp1389]

Dude I love all this old enterprise gear. Especially the various networking devices you have gone through. I never got to see this stuff running as I'm an 00 baby so it's cool to see what they were used for and getting them running.

[@JakeCovey]

F to pay respects to the M2

[@clabretro]

F

[@rmcdudmk212]

F

[@matti157]

F

[@markpriceful]

a valiant effort! nice wall art

[@justherefortalking]

Oh man, when you were starting off checking out what it was fussing about, I was basically screaming at my screen "why aren't you using the IMM to diagnose it." Also seeing that vintage of IMM gave me the shock of both "hey I know how to use that" and vietnam-in-the-background-gif. I worked on HUNDREDS of X3200 M3 towers. Had many fights with IBM techs over the power button shorting out on the x3100 M4. Used IMM logs constantly for proving the M4's power button had shorted out.

[@clabretro]

ha I know, I probably should've started with the IMM

[@TopsieT]

I bet the PSU has a 12v Standby rail that provides power to the remote management and the relay clicking is the PSU attempting to switch the main 12v rail and shorting. Pinouts for the PSU's are normally easy to find to confirm, server PSU's dont normally energise the main 12v rail until needed.

[@clabretro]

Could definitely be the case. I'll probably pick up another PSU.

[@HalianTheProtogen]

1:20 That's actually the intended orientation of the NEMA 5-15 receptacle! Most of the ones in the field are upside-down.

[@hgbugalou]

Putting a baseboard management on the internet to with default creds. Aweseome. 😂

[@erikgiggey4783]

after your first video i told some coworkers about it thy joked, ohh an upgrade. we do have newer systems but we still have close to 30 x3550m1s alive and running i have 3 heere in my house, 1 is a parts machine.

[@clabretro]

haha that's awesome. what are you all running on the m1s?

[@erikgiggey4783]

everything from oracle to old server2003 domain controllers for our legacy prod software which needs it. they are all under service contracts. my personal ones dont have anything right now, i use my slightly newer hp dl380g8s

[@adamm.1367]

Ahh yes, that humbling moment of defeat...followed by passive aggressive revenge by drilling your opponent to a wall. Also loving the Linksys tower-of-power in the background (great previous video btw! :D)

[@clabretro]

A classic. Thanks for watching!

[@AfkingEnvo]

I still repair these pretty frequently with work. Very cool to see this!

[@Fractal_32]

I love the IBM and especially the SUN Microsystems content on the channel.

[@John-McAfee]

Very cool, glad to see the channel growing consistently! Hope you get to 100,000 soon, buddy.

[@uiopuiop3472]

yeah no need for netetwork adress transltion (nat) in all times at all - thought adc

[@kevdel]

the LEDs on the maintenance panel displays the checkpoint code. I found this reference for explaining their use "A checkpoint code is either a byte or a word value produced by server firmware and sent to the I/O port indicating the point at which the system stopped during the boot block and power-on self test (POST). It does not provide error codes or suggest replacement components. These codes can be used by IBM service and support for more in-depth troubleshooting"

[@clabretro]

yeah, unfortunately couldn't find any info about the checkpoints themselves. top secret IBM apparently 😂

[@kevdel]

@@clabretro I found these but no E7 :) ps-2.kev009.com/eprmhtml/epr3c/h9797.htm

[@BigJohn4516]

First, there is no standard for the orientation of duplex outlets, but ground up is the convention. My employer has a ton of those damn things in our e-waste storage. We like to call it a server room, but it’s mostly occupied by racks of dead IBM machines. There is a buck converter on the edge of the board near the power supply that goes bad and then the boot errors out. It’s a tiny, shiny surface mount part.

[@clabretro]

Yeah I've got a replacement PSU on the way to see!

[@datashed]

This whole line is kind of my jam! Have been working on System X hardware since 2010, and mainly the x3650 (M1 through M5) and the successor Lenovo SR650's, but also the x3550 of all generations and x3850 M1s. Before that, was doing Sun Fire, SGI Origin, Cray J90, and IBM pSeries stuff for Lockheed. Have stacks upon stacks of System X gear in the collection, with a couple of x3650s still in production.

[@lancehide3853]

I used to, until less then a year ago do Tech support for these machines. And ho boy these things are crazy reliable.

[@clabretro]

It seems really well built, I can't fault this one for having issues given the environment it was in.

[@lancehide3853]

​@@clabretro I worked with all of these machines. They are a marvel of quality. If you ask me this machine has simply a dead board, replacing it would still net you a working machine. They are to this day used in Some of the biggest data centres in Europe and Still supported by IBM.

[@JMassengill]

Great video. Working mostly on help desk or networking/firewall I didn’t work with servers much so even a fail is interesting to me. Great video

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@jpancrazio]

I have seen MANY of those servers and other old IBM's from Chrysler and Dodge at old dealerships -- Use to work for a competitor and we would replace that old stuff all day .. They condition of EVERYONE i have run across is really a statement of how that old iron just runs!

[@clabretro]

ah cool! yeah these things are tanks, I can't really blame this one for having issues.

[@jakegardner8667]

I never know when to call it toast. Good on you, reasonable to move on at this point

[@clabretro]

Yeaaaah it's a shame. I suspect it's something quite small. The trick is finding it.

[@UCs6ktlulE5BEeb3vBBOu6DQ]

I've been cleaning these with brake cleaner that is safe for ABS (ONLY this one) and then quickly rinse with IPA for more than 15 years and the boards look like factory new. Never got a problem doing this even if it was scary as hell the first few times. I was a ethereum miner and I washed hundred of gpus like this and they all lived to tell the tale.

[@AdrianuX1985]

3:32 I associate this flashing pattern with the 1980s TV show "Knight Rider". ;-)

[@clabretro]

Ha same

[@nilsree]

Thank you so much for this video! 😀 I have an x3650 M3, which I was considering setting up again a few days ago, maybe with unraid. You have just given me lots of troubleshooting steps in case I encounter any problems 👍😊

[@clabretro]

nice!

[@liamtheloser]

the line moving in a figure 8 pattern on the diagnostic screen is normal before you turn it on, my x3550 m3 does the same thing

[@IM_A_BEAR_LOL]

Something to consider about using an air compressor. Compressed air may push moisture deeper into small spaces, but that shouldn't be a huge problem if you do wait a long enough time for things to dry. The second and more important consideration is that air compressors usually spray a considerable amount of moisture and oil due to way the moisture in the atmosphere condenses when pressurized. It's a similar reason to why you need to pressurize tanks for scuba with special equipment and those cheap short term breathing tanks on Amazon are dangerous.

[@clabretro]

Yeah fair. In this case I waited a long enough for it to dry. I drain the tank fully and make sure there isn't any moisture in there occasionally, and luckily I'm in Colorado where it's quite dry.

[@MikeMcGrath]

You might want to watch some of Morton's videos he loves the X3650's I think he has a 1/2 dozn of the M2 on "My Playhouse". It might help with what the lights should be doing. Question though we didn't see you try the other CPU socket did you do that?

[@clabretro]

Oh yeah his videos are great. Good idea though, I should re-watch to get some x3650 hints. I actually didn't try the second socket, the manual says the minimum config is one DIMM filled and the first processor socket with a CPU in it... but I suppose I shouldn't have trusted that. I'll try that next time I'm experimenting with this thing.

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

My playhouse is a super cool channel!

[@MadITGeek]

I have tried that with other servers in past my success rate is zero lol @@clabretro

[@MadITGeek]

This inspired me to check his videos.. I learned that my hunch was correct...IBM servers on the light path POST code read out do that "spinning cursor" thing right after you plug it in. That is normal behavior....I also laughed when Mortens X3650 M2 threw the "BRD" light for a dead CMOS battery LOL that is peak IBM right there. @@clabretro​

[@todayonthebench]

2:20 those domes aren't for making the lid ride smoother. They are there to provide an electrical connection between the case and the lid. This is to reduce the amount of EMI that escapes out from the case. (From an RF point of view a lengthy gap is an open door to escape through, and some wave guide antennas use this principal of operation, ensuring that one has a point of contact every inch or so is easier done with springs than sheet metal against sheet metal.) The reason they are domed shaped is to ensure that they don't get snagged when the lid is put in place or removed. There is other "EMI fingers" that don't provide such freedom of movement. There is also EMI strips/gaskets typical for other areas where one mostly only have to deal with compression. There is also EMI tape (or copper/eluminium tape with a conductive adhesive) but that is used when one isn't going to take the thing apart.) But in the end, these are there to ensure it passes EMC regulations.

[@Aruneh]

I have two of the same model that I've been trying to sell for months. After finding this channel I wish I could just give them to you but shipping from Europe would be spicy. :D

[@HarryWho102]

I 100% agree with you that a thorough is a good way to go given the dirt.

[@adamsavard535]

Liking for the video's content, commenting because CAT.

[@laceflower_]

I've got a 3650 M3! I dont have it running currently because of the power and noise but the previous owner treated it REALLY well, I was really impressed. Came with an M5015 with the battery attachment, but its missing drive bays and I dont have any spare drives to put in it. I'm thinking of maybe putting in an ioDrive2 1.2tb and an old gpu if i can find a power cable (iirc the pinout of the on board power output is weird?). Also gotta tame the sound somehow, id really rather just put in new 40x40x25 pwms than having to use the boot script.

[@clabretro]

Nice!

[@herdware]

Seeing that busted CPU socket reminded me of the time I bought an Alpha DS10 and when it arrived the CPU had come loose and dinged around in the machine from France to Sweden. After hours of straightening pins on the CPU I actually got it in the socket and it even POSTed. Sadly it did not fully work and I could never get it to run an OS. Luckily I got hold of a new mainboard with CPU a while later.

[@clabretro]

it's always so brutal to straighten pins!

[@Hopgop1]

Proper troubleshooting, love it.

[@SimonVideo]

That's so sad 😭 At least it's on the wall and looks awesome

[@clabretro]

haha yeah I kinda like it up there

[@lpseem3770]

My condolences, good sir. I had an idea of reusing old Del r710 as kitchen drawers. Sadly, rails are sometime more expensive that a whole servers, even without CPU's. Maybe Your wife would appreciate that.

[@clabretro]

Haha. No kidding about the rail prices, they're usually out of control.

[@HALFLIFETRUTHER]

Most definitely an issue with bent pins, that is such a bummer

[@clabretro]

Eh I might've made it worse, but it was the exact same failure mode before that happened.

[@miked4377]

great channel ...I have always wanted to learn about these servers ect...

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@damirkvajo]

Really sad it didn't turn on after all the effort. Imagine if it did while mounted on the wall :) I would probably leave it there. Thanks for the content, as always.

[@_vilepenguin]

Before you mentioned the replacement board was coming was going to suggest putting a newer supermicro or similar board inside and restomoding the case. Maybe as a series or video idea find a cool parts/repair retro server and put something cool inside. The mid 2000s had some neat form factors.

[@clabretro]

oh yeah, reusing the case could be a cool idea

[@_vilepenguin]

@@clabretro crypto miners have made ATX break out boards for hp server power supplies. They are very handy for such projects as they can fit in the case and are cheap and available.

[@POVwithRC]

Blame the cat for the bent pins. She clearly just got very excited about the hardware

[@clabretro]

Good idea. I should've made her fix them.

[@alexdhall]

​​​@@clabretro*Visualizes kitteh fixing CPU pins without thumbs!*....😹🤣😼

[@speedbirdpdx]

I'd suggest holding the IMM in reset and enabling manual host power control (via the switch block near the firmware ROM is my recollection). The checkpoint display will indicate post checkpoints (port 80) if the power sequencer is able to get the machine to the reset vector. Good Luck! Great Videos! -Nathan

[@clabretro]

oh interesting, thank you!

[@dominikschutz6300]

At least, you would have a board to compare to, if the other one works :)

[@clabretro]

Yeah kinda what I was thinking!

[@gilbert1975nf]

12:54 - security manager, congratulations!

[@novafurry]

the temprement of this server's reminds me of my Optiplex which just decides sometimes it won't boots and needs to its PSU to be replugged, ah the joys of old computers

[@GarnetSwan]

My x3650 also does that figure right pattern when first plugged in

[@bill7448]

If your going to scrub a board.... I have no problem with it. BUT once your done you should use Isopropyl alcohol to wash it. The alcohol will displace any water under things, then be gentle with the air, I have ripped off/broken parts. With out the alcohol I have used the air just to clean of accumulated dust 48+ hours (Fri. night to Mon. morning) later and had a dribble of water come out from under a flat pack IC

[@clabretro]

yeah probably a good idea to wash with ipa afterwards. I've done that in the past

[@andresbravo2003]

At least 2010 is much needed.

[@MrMoon1ight]

пора тебе завести ультразвуковую ванну с спиртом для очистки таких плат 👍☺

[@movax20h]

The fact IMM stops responding suggests to me that it is probably some power issue, probably power supply. When it trying to start the fans and CPU, etc it draws more power. BMC might still work (and show various LED indicators), because it is running from some other power relay, that is probably super low current, and not sensitive to voltage sags). Honestly I would hook-up multimeter or osciloscope to these voltage test points, and check out what is going on.

[@clabretro]

Yeah some other folks mentioned PSU as well and I think I'm convinced. I have another one on the way!

[@ale6242]

Can't win em all! nice efforts though!

[@olepigeon]

While there are no official guidelines for ground-up versus ground-down, it is common practice to use ground-up for plugs that are on switches, and ground-down for everything else. So you've inadvertently done it the "right" way.

[@jada1173]

You need to wrap the tape on the air connectors the other way. The tape will unroll back on itself on the threads and you get a leak. Probably what you experienced on the second attempt there. Have done this many times my self.. 😄 Frustrating when things are leaking..

[@clabretro]

Oh yeah I always wrap it the wrong way the first time, every time. haha.

[@JBothell_KF0IVQ]

d-limonene works really well for grunge on boards... supper sad it didn't make it

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

More IBM content 😂. Awesome video dude!

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

"How I got away with CPU Pin Bending" haha

[@clabretro]

haha thanks!

[@LeeZhiWei8219]

Your wall is strong to hold the M2 haha.

[@bdpSCUBA]

Guessing that dip switch power setting was referring to using system power switch on/off not dip switch on/off? Like making it more a "hard-er" power switch than typical "soft" power switches?

[@clabretro]

Yeah could be

[@lpmaster1841]

Im pretty sure u have a failed power supply and the clicking sound is the psu rapidly cycling on and off which also causes ur imm to reset because it loses power for a second every time the psu resets causing this infinite startup loop

[@clabretro]

Yeah you might be right, some other folks mentioned that too. I let those status LEDs on the back of the PSU lead me astray.

[@pedroveloso9707]

23:38...clean evrething include cpu socket.... hot water, them compress air to remove the best you cam.. now the tricky part... dry up in a owen .. 80ª or similiar at least 12h.

[@clabretro]

I've been meaning to try out the oven drying trick

[@DzintarsDev]

Ouhh... I think I have 5 or 7 of these still in my storage. :)

[@MadITGeek]

I think the "spinning cursor" on the light path is IMM still booting/not powered on so it does not have a POST code to give you-That's just going off memory. I heard the relay click and again when you had the emergency "technician only" switch turned on. I've never had a form of IPMI fully restart itself after a failed power on...sometimes the webpage will go un-responsive for a bit or it will auto-refresh (that's is what my R720 does) . Pretty sure a functioning server will not finish POST without its PCIE risers I think when I did a mobo swap on my R720 I accidentally missed one of the risers it turned on but it was very angry with me and shut off with error code on the front LCD pertaining to that. One last thought-I find it very surprising that the IMM seemingly had no clue it was very broken-That tells me how far gone the mobo is :(

[@clabretro]

Yeah I think you're right about the PCI risers (though I tried it with them on a ton as well, same outcome). And it probably would've at least tried to post. Yeah it's in bad shape :(

[@nick9323]

Nice heat pump for a garage !

[@clabretro]

😂

[@VSteam81]

yes! i forgot about this tho

[@calex007]

Girls do sports. MEN play with computers 💪😎💪

[@BillChurchFl]

That IP address is just assigned to ADP. It doesn’t mean it necessarily would have been accessible or routable from the outside world. I’m guessing they had a VPN/fw device at the site, leased line, something. DoD has a few class As and the bulk aren’t accessible from the internet either.

[@clabretro]

Yeah very likely some sorta VPN setup. It's just amazing the large IP blocks that belong to ADP.

[@charlesdecker7379]

Keys didn't work on the KVM because the numlock was on. We have the same unit in our computer room and constantly have to shut the numlock OFF.

[@ryanw1906]

Can't say I've ever seen someone soap and water wash a motherboard before. I would have thought another rinse with IPA to aid drying and wash away trace minerals in the water would have been prudent, no? I guess with another mainboard on the way it doesn't matter....

[@clabretro]

yeah I've done the ipa bath afterwards in the past. I let this one sit a full 24 hours so figured it'd be okay

[@P0LAR07]

At the first frame of 6:31 you see the status display blink to 2 dots and you hear the fans start spinning then cut and the whole thing resets, leading me to believe its a faulty power supply

[@clabretro]

Yeah I think it could be the PSU

[@bentyler]

Love the video series, when I started working in computers I started with IBM Netfinity servers (5000 series). Not much love for olde blue these days. Anyway, one thing that is bugging me is the power supply. The click would have came from that and not on the board. I’m thinking these power supplies are two supplies in the same PSU case for efficiency reasons (dell does this). One supply for the IMM and a higher amp power supply for the computer board which is what I believe is faulty. The IMM should not reboot when you power it one leading me to some kind of internal short within the PSU causing it to power off briefly resetting the IMM. If you try a new board and it still does not work, that will be your issue for sure.

[@clabretro]

thanks! some other folks have commented about the PSU as well and I'm inclined to agree. that IMM reset is super suspicious. I think I'll pick up another PSU

[@bentyler]

I feel with 50K hours or almost 6 years of constant run time those things become unstable.

[@DavidScheiber]

I wonder If its a power supply issue, I have had power supplies that work when first plugged in and then stop working altogether after that. Maybe the 12v rail is missing and the 5v is still alive and running everything else? or maybe there is excessive ripple on the 12v side. It could be that the ripple is acceptable when only the imm is running but as soon as the server tries to power up the ripple is too much and everything including the imm crashes. I have seen such behavior before on various pieces of equipment, with the high hour count and symptoms I would try another power supply. Perhaps the caps in that one are cooked and dry inside.

[@clabretro]

it very well could be, thinking I'll grab another psu along with the board on the way

[@MadITGeek]

I compared part 1 of your vid vs a working X3650 M2 booting video. you never got "BMC Started" on your screen-it never made it that far. BMC is pretty darn vital for servers nowadays and that is probably why it shut off in the first place-if it "didn't hear a response from BMC" or it didn't start servers freak out. Its looking like if it wasn't full of filth/grime, it may not of worked anyways :( that might be why the IMM reboots itself due to the BMC being dead; I think that is the chip that actually sends the power on signal.

[@clabretro]

very interesting! one of the flashing board LEDs is labeled BMC heartbeat. must not be healthy... I'll have to do some more investigation

[@ulincsys]

Did you ever get around to trying the CPU in slot 1? LGA pins are incredibly difficult to repair properly, and I would not be surprised if they're not contacting correctly in slot 0 after the repair

[@clabretro]

I didn't actually, though the light path CPU warnings going away was promising. The manual says it requires a slot 0 CPU to boot, but I probably shouldn't blindly trust that.

[@francistheodorecatte]

that 'click' is likely the core of a transformer or inductor rattling as the magnetic field collapses. I'm curious to know, what does the 'power OK' LED on the back of the power supply do when you hit the power button? there's a good chance given the power on hours and general era of manufacture that there's probably dried out low-ESR electrolytic caps in the power supply, and that 'click' has been a common symptom I've found on bad power supplies (most recently on an ADIC Fastor 2 tape library) with bad caps.

[@clabretro]

I should've checked the lights as I powered it, great idea. I think I'm actually gonna grab another PSU too, could very well be the problem

[@alexdhall]

9:27: Floofy kitteh friend! 😻 11:12: Kitteh Friend! 😻😹

[@RoyHess666]

RIP x3650

[@tz496]

I've found this field service manual which appears to be sligthly different, but it mentions low-level state codes which can be observed in the MMI and what they indicate *including* "DSA Preboot messages". I hope that info might help you in tracking down the problem further! the process to interact with DSA is described from page 86 and further. in my case i'd been able to find out it didn't pass the cpu precheck, pointing me in the direction of a dead processor.

[@clabretro]

Thanks! Do you have a link to it somewhere?

[@tz496]

@@clabretro Ah sorry, had forgotten to paste it. Here is the link; www.istoragenetworks.com/servermanuals/x3650m2_maintenance.pdf

[@tolkienleung]

IMM is functional obviously, but the mainboard can still be bad and cause initialization issues of all types. We had a couple gens of those and went through a handful of boards. You can try to upload/update the FW through the IMM, never know if it's just a unsync'd firmware set, but I doubt it.

[@clabretro]

oh that could be interesting to try, especially after I get the second board

[@OBSESSED1954]

Yeah!!!

[@waterup380]

Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas

[@clabretro]

Same to you!

[@BeingAGamerguy]

I too have a dual socket server with a working remote manager that I cannot get working. It's an AMD board, sometimes it will try to power on for about a quarter of a second and then become completely unresponsive. Nothing of value in the logs on the remote manager, previous owner said he had played with the BIOS but it was working when he last touched it of course. Don't know if I will ever put more work into getting it going again or if I'll scrap it and grab a blade off Ebay for the same job.

[@clabretro]

sounds like maybe a PSU issue. I actually have a other PSU on the way to try for this one

[@AK-vx4dy]

Nice peace of tech...old tech😢

[@datashed]

Definitely should not kick you out of the IMM when you power it on through there. Nor with their other ones, like the older RSA-II or newer IMM 2 or Lenovo xClarity controllers.

[@seedney]

what is that IBM machine that mimics the laptop? I want one!

[@clabretro]

that's actually a rack-mounted monitor that you'd usually have in a server rack for local server access!

[@waterflame321]

So it might sound odd but did you remove the hba? I've issues where the HBA will prevent the host powering on at all. But I've also had a "healthy" psu be the issue. Harder to test on these boards that don't have 24 pin and sort. I have very little Lenovo/IBM server experience. Did you try the second CPU socket even though they say you need to use the first socket

[@clabretro]

Yeah I removed the HBA, it was on that "rise board" I kept referencing which also connected the tape drive, I can't remember if I specifically showed taking the HBA off though. I should've tried the second socket, I didn't! I probably shouldn't trust the manual that much haha

[@waterflame321]

@@clabretro at least you got a nice art piece :p! If you run it in the make sure the screws holding it to the wall don't short the board

[@ianide2480]

Teflon tape was on backwards =P

[@clabretro]

oh yeah. I do that the first time, every time

[@xani666]

Hey, we have some of those still! Pieces of junk. IPMI is unreliable and hangs itself from time to time, we also had a bug when setting time on IPMI occasionally made watchdog trigger...

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

I have had at least 3 mainboards start to work by just washing them.

[@clabretro]

It can definitely work out well. This one smells way better at least

[@BladeworksStudio]

have you tried using ecc memory standard ram worn work or boot and it needs more then one pair so four sticks

[@clabretro]

Yeah this is ECC, I did try four sticks off camera before filming this video I think and no luck.

[@HelloKittyFanMan]

"...Two thousand ten." Try "TWENTY-ten;" it's shorter and thus easier, just like years from previous centuries! Just like this year is TWENTY-twenty-four.

[@ShainAndrews]

25:29 *Sealant And the factory applied sealant is sufficient. 25:31 You applied the tape incorrectly. It should start on the bottom and you twist the threads in a clockwise direction. Ever get frustrated that your tape wants to come off or bunch up. You application causes that.

[@clabretro]

Yeah I forgot to mention the tape direction. I get it wrong the first time approximately 100% of the time :)

[@CollynPlayz]

i havent watched the video fully yet so im prob wrong but maybe it needs 2 cpus to start??

[@CollynPlayz]

NVM lol

[@clabretro]

Yeah theoretically just needs one in the first socket.

[@CollynPlayz]

@@clabretro the reason I thought that is because with many dell poweredges that have 2 cpu sockets if they don’t have 2 CPUs they won’t boot or turn on

[@djtomoy]

Cute cat deployed

[@dragonlard4595]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKGpaGmKl6epoqs That area needs resoldering.

[@clabretro]

Yeah, needs rework. It was a lot better after cleaning again but there is definite corrosion. Needs to be fixed but I think that general area is responsible controlling that fan.

[@tiborsipos7966]

maybe yes, but if the bios check this area and something not working correctly and some voltage not good on the board, the motherboard cannot start/power on@@clabretro

[@clabretro]

yeah very good point