Dell C6100 XS23-TY3 2U 4-Node (8 CPU) Cloud Server
- Thread starter Patrick
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If somebody has C6100 that isn't running 24/7, could you measure the purple power wire?
Ought to test one node is it working and need to know what voltage the purple wire has, it's either 5Vsb or 12Vsb.
Ought to test one node is it working and need to know what voltage the purple wire has, it's either 5Vsb or 12Vsb.
Well, in that case, sounds like the seller swapped DCS nodes into a Service Tagged Chassis. Yikes! I actually requested that for Mine but 2 of them were still DCS nodes, and i just sent them back to the seller today, for a swap out with service tagged nodes...
I am not sure who to believe when i hear a seller tell me that is how they got them from Dell.
See if the seller can take pictures of the Bios screen and send them to you, BEFORE you buy it.
If you dont have the service tag on your Bios, its most likely a DCS Model
However when you buy next time, ask the seller if the seller can at least pull up the remote management console via the web, and screenshot the FRU list under system information, which should show a service tag and a asset tag...
Then call dell and have them verify whether its a DCS model or not.
Also, just as in MY case, if your bios on the first screen that loads up shows 1.47 or basically anything below 1.60 its most likely a DCS node.
I want to mention also that you mentioned in a previous reply that you had the service tags for your nodes. If those dont show up as valid on the dell support site, they are most likely DCS nodes, and you can sure as heck confirm them by calling Dell, who will tell you exactly what they are if you would like =)
hope that helps
--
Jared
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Dell PowerEdge 2U Server 8x QC 2 4GHz 96GB RAM 16x Caddies XS23 TY3 C6100 | eBay
Really suited me as it came with the Redundant PSU's and 2.5" drive bays. Didnt notice the Mez cards that was an added bonus. But i knew form experience getting another PSU to Australia is costly. Like close to $300 from the only guys who would ship to AU. So i was willing to pay more for the server.
I offered $1,100 and it was accepted almost instantly.
I think we might be able to share a possible advancement here shortly with our DCS nodes. I've found the debug UART for the BMC, and it appears that there's a serial console running as root on there with full shell access according the decompiled firmware images.
As far as I understand, the BMC has the ability to flash new BIOS images, even if the host does not boot (the BMC boots as soon as power is applied, no BIOS brickage will change that).
This would mean that if we accidentally brick via flashing BIOS' we can unbrick via the BMC.
The header I'm referring to is the four pin header in the bottom left corner of this image of my node: http://phota.me/Hh2Q.jpg
You can see my node is indeed a custom one, as it's missing the last SATA ports in the image, sadly.
I do not have the pinout for the serial port yet, however, I'd guess it's some incarnation of GND TX RX +5V, or permutation thereof.
Also, to add, my DCS node has a service tag in the BIOS, and on the node itself. The BMC lists the proper FRUs and is running the latest BIOS as well. Not sure if this is typical of all DCS nodes, or what, but it's good to have a larger sample size.
I'll be bringing my 3.3V UART to USB cable tomorrow and checking voltages on the pins before I mess with them. Once I have UART and a console of some sort going on this device, it'll make working on these DCS nodes muuuch easier. In theory I can also come up with an alternate BMC firmware to enable iKVM as well, however I don't want to mess with it blindly just yet.
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Nevermind, I went ahead and did it and it went fine:
Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS 1068E(B3):
Num Ctlr FW Ver NVDATA x86-BIOS EFI-BSD PCI Addr
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1068E(B3) 01.33.00.00 2d.03 06.36.00.00 No Image 00:02:00:00
Now to figure out why its only seeing 5 of 6 disks in both systems where I have the mezz card.
Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS 1068E(B3):
Num Ctlr FW Ver NVDATA x86-BIOS EFI-BSD PCI Addr
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1068E(B3) 01.33.00.00 2d.03 06.36.00.00 No Image 00:02:00:00
Now to figure out why its only seeing 5 of 6 disks in both systems where I have the mezz card.
Purple Wire is 12V Standby. Probably almost fried my board when I initially assumed it was 5V and wired up my Standard PSU to Node adapter. Then I considered the same thing, and actually measured. It's 12V.
It's just so strange that if I remove the .1, .2, .3 from the service tag - The service tag works.
On those of you out there that have the node's with .1, .2 , .3 as part of the service tag - Do those .1, .2 ,.3 work on the service tag lookup - or do only the main service tag show up (removing the .x after it?)
Worst case, I guess I just can't upgrade the BIOS or BMC, but should be able to still install/run vSphere 5.1/5.5.
Thx, I had a hunch that that might be the case as PSU only got 12V and 12Vsb outputs.Purple Wire is 12V Standby. Probably almost fried my board when I initially assumed it was 5V and wired up my Standard PSU to Node adapter. Then I considered the same thing, and actually measured. It's 12V.
Now some DOA node testing with style, mwhahaha
My all mighty 1kW test psu does not have any molex connectors... And yes that noctua cooler is actually mounted properly.
Test monitor, 15.4" 1680x1050 panel ^^
Had to solder one missing 0805 capacitor and one knocked off inductor back. Original part from my c6100 setup which was replaced by new node but the seller didn't ask me to return the dead one
Looks almost like my setup (right down to the Noctua). Except I took all 8 live 12V pins from a 2-1 splice of a single EPS12V connector and the 12V standby from the motherboard connector. This way I can eventually just move that pin to the 5V SB and use a step up on the 5V to convert to 12V. And I put a switch on the PSON pins to be able to boot it.Thx, I had a hunch that that might be the case as PSU only got 12V and 12Vsb outputs.
Now some DOA node testing with style, mwhahaha
My all mighty 1kW test psu does not have any molex connectors... And yes that noctua cooler is actually mounted properly.
Test monitor, 15.4" 1680x1050 panel ^^
Had to solder one missing 0805 capacitor and one knocked off inductor back. Original part from my c6100 setup which was replaced by new node but the seller didn't ask me to return the dead one
Though I guess my objective and yours are different (I want to make a workstation out a single node).
Next step is finding a consumer case I can mount this in (custom case looks to cost too much). Current candidate is the Thermaltake Armor A30.
Brilliant, I wonder if it would know where to put it?
I did try to update the BIOS from the BMC however it didn't recognize the version check or ROM id, so I figured it wouldn't know where to put it...
I wasnt sure if selecting the "FORCE" option would force it to load BIOS firmware onto the BMC itself because its not sure where it would go...
I was to chicken to try, HAHA
However I do wonder if that would work though, using the force method through the BMC interface...not sure?
Hi Doofoo
Yes that is normal to remove the .1 .2 .3 .4 from the service tag, as supposedly from factory it is all supposed to be the same unit.
Chassis matching the nodes ..etc..
However a lot of these unites were mixed and matched to fit specific needs of certain clients of dells, through the Data Center Solutions team from Dell for a specific customization and need.
If you are able to obtain the nodes service tags specifically from anyway (not the chassis) ...and Dell sees them, and they show up as valid on the dell support site. Then they are most likely not DCS. To truly verify though, calling dell might be best option, as they are able to tell you whether or not it is a DCS.
As some of the guys here mentioned earlier, some of the units are DCS and also show service tags on the Bios and chassis.
I imagine they confirmed it with Dell.
Keep in mind also, that not all DCS are the same, they are all customized in one way or another, which is why some DCS can handle BIOS and BMC firmware updates....and some turn into bricks.
It all depends on how the firmware/motherboard was programmed for the previous owners it came from.
At least from my research and interaction with Dell and this forum, this is what I have gathered.
--
jared
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Holy Smokes Trigger...you went down the rabbit hole there, haha
Way over my head and time for that one.
Nice work though, about as customized as it can get running these things solo!
What are pins for power button at the front?
These nodes got their own power buttons at the back too
I didn't use pins on the motherboard. I used the pins on the ATX connector from the Power Supply. Flip switch on PSU, Flip my added switch, and the board turns on since the nodes always turn on when they get power. Effectively allows me to move the switch from the back to elsewhere on the (eventual) case.What are pins for power button at the front?
These nodes got their own power buttons at the back too
My only concern is if anything can happen as a result of all 9 pins having power and not just the Standby pin when the node is "off" and all that's running is the IPMI. So far I had it running for about 10 mins like that without issue.
So, quick update for anyone interested...
I've successfully gotten a nice serial console on my BMC chip, however I'm not much closer to getting iKVM working correctly.
The BMC Debug header's pinout is as follows (when looking at the node in such a manner that the backside ports are to your left, and the intermediary card is to your right):
RX TX GND +V (from the device point of view, i.e. RX is data from your serial cable TO the BMC)
http://phota.me/gFKM.jpg - I wasn't sure which pin was GND, and didn't want to risk shorting +5v on the board to GND on my USB to UART adapter, so I taped it to the chassis (yep, just like that). Also, don't worry about the wire colors, I hacked together the cable during my lunch hour at work and didn't care enough to do it properly.
Now, with a shell I'm not much closer, just more questions.
Firstly, I was faced with the issue that it wouldn't accept my root password I had set, however since I had the firmware already dumped, I looked at the /etc/shadow file, and it appeared that the user "anonymous" exists with a password of "anonymous" (how nice). After a nice facepalm, I discovered that the root password is actually "superuser" -- but only on a serial console, since the standard linux filesystem is being used for authentication rather than the IPMI libraries.
I was then presented with a lovely root shell on my BMC: http://phota.me/V28e.jpg
I've edited /etc/passwd to change the root shell from the SMASH CLP to /bin/sh, so now I get a shell over SSH as well
It would appear that 'adviserd' is indeed telling the 'usbe' (USB Endpoint Driver) driver to initialize properly, however it looks like this isn't happening for some unknown reason.
The cdserver and fdserver applications both seem to complain on the console that there isn't any USB endpoint set up, so they do nothing. I'm curious to see if there's a possibility that the USB endpoint function is nerfed in the hardware rather than software... this just seems rather strange.
At this point, if anyone has any advice or that mythical 1.11 firmware, please let me know as that would be amazingly helpful. Also, please feel free to tell me to go away and make my own thread here instead of hijacking this one
Thanks!
I've successfully gotten a nice serial console on my BMC chip, however I'm not much closer to getting iKVM working correctly.
The BMC Debug header's pinout is as follows (when looking at the node in such a manner that the backside ports are to your left, and the intermediary card is to your right):
RX TX GND +V (from the device point of view, i.e. RX is data from your serial cable TO the BMC)
http://phota.me/gFKM.jpg - I wasn't sure which pin was GND, and didn't want to risk shorting +5v on the board to GND on my USB to UART adapter, so I taped it to the chassis (yep, just like that). Also, don't worry about the wire colors, I hacked together the cable during my lunch hour at work and didn't care enough to do it properly.
Now, with a shell I'm not much closer, just more questions.
Firstly, I was faced with the issue that it wouldn't accept my root password I had set, however since I had the firmware already dumped, I looked at the /etc/shadow file, and it appeared that the user "anonymous" exists with a password of "anonymous" (how nice). After a nice facepalm, I discovered that the root password is actually "superuser" -- but only on a serial console, since the standard linux filesystem is being used for authentication rather than the IPMI libraries.
I was then presented with a lovely root shell on my BMC: http://phota.me/V28e.jpg
I've edited /etc/passwd to change the root shell from the SMASH CLP to /bin/sh, so now I get a shell over SSH as well
It would appear that 'adviserd' is indeed telling the 'usbe' (USB Endpoint Driver) driver to initialize properly, however it looks like this isn't happening for some unknown reason.
The cdserver and fdserver applications both seem to complain on the console that there isn't any USB endpoint set up, so they do nothing. I'm curious to see if there's a possibility that the USB endpoint function is nerfed in the hardware rather than software... this just seems rather strange.
At this point, if anyone has any advice or that mythical 1.11 firmware, please let me know as that would be amazingly helpful. Also, please feel free to tell me to go away and make my own thread here instead of hijacking this one
Thanks!
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At this point, if anyone has any advice or that mythical 1.11 firmware, please let me know as that would be amazingly helpful. Also, please feel free to tell me to go away and make my own thread here instead of hijacking this one
Thanks!
Hi thecubed,
I wish i could help you, i dont have that firmware on any of my BMCs.
However, I think I may know a way, its a pain but quite possibly a solution for you.
It basically involves calling a seller who has C6100s in stock with that particular BMC version on some of their systems, it will probably be on a DCS node.
You might have to walk them through pulling that version off one of their nodes and sending it to you. You might even have to "purchase" that version from them for the hassle, hehe =)
The only reseller I have ever used is DeepDiscountServers I wouldn't know about any others.....but and I believe DDS still have some nodes with 1.11 on the BMC.
I know its a pain, but thats the only way I can think of, unless someone here still has it on their systems =/
Hope that helps
--
jared
Great work guys!
Do you mind posting instruction how to connect regular PSU to this motherboard?
I did a lot of search and even called Dell to get the specs for the MB (I only got one node and no server). The only thing I was able to get is the manufacturer (Inventec) and the MB model (D61XP/ or 0D61XP or K20HR (D61XP - Motherboard, Inventec, MLK (7N10W) For Dell CloudEdge C6100/ PowerEdge C6100)). From your description I see it is not a generic JATXPWR2 connector (mini PSU needed 300W or above - GameGrin Gaming Forums) but Dell custom.
I'm trying to make a Hackintosh.