Getting Started with Dell C6300/C6320 Node Server

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CA_Tallguy

Member
May 19, 2020
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Hey guys, great forums you have here. I am learning a lot and I noticed some of you have experience with the PowerEdge C platform.

I got a cheap C6300 chassis and one C6320 blade, with two others on the way. Running into some strange things, right off the bat, that are making me feel like an idiot....

(1) ONLY LEFT SIDE FANS RUNNING -- the 2 left side slots are blowing at max speed, it seems. The 2 right side slots seem like they are moving but barely.... not enough to cool anything really. At first, since I have only 1 sled, I just assumed it was smart enough to only blow when a sled was installed in a particular side. But nope. Could someone have disabled the right side in some settings somewhere? AFAIK there isn't a Chassis Management Controller in this thing, is there? Or do I somehow need to access that using some Dell tool or IPMI?

Under fan settings under iDRAC I get an error: "rac0709. Message: Unknown server inserted into chassis."

WTF does that mean and is there a place where I can tell this chassis that this server/sled is authorized? I have poured through what options I can access in Lifecycle Manager and iDRAC and can't see where such a thing might be managed.

(2) Access LSI2008 -- what's the trick to get into the full LSI megaraid uitlity? Ctrl-C during boot says it will open up after initialization is complete or something like that but after a few seconds I seem to always end up in the Lifecycle Controller, iDRAC or attempting to boot (I don't have an OS installed yet). Trying to create an array via Dell's GUI's results in "operation failed" message which is rather useless in specificity. But I can't seem to get into the full LSI tool using keyboard shortcuts during boot.

(3) LOM's DON'T ACTIVATE WITH SFP's -- first I tried some random Base-T SFP's, then I got one that was supposedly Dell compatible off Amazon and finally today an official Dell SFP came that was listed on Dell website as compatible with C6320. They are all dead, don't light up and my router port doesn't light up when they are connected. I can't find many options to tweak the LOM ports in BIOS, iDRAC or Lifecycle Controller. Is there anywhere else to get these things to work, or do they only kick on once you have installed an OS? With all the iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller network options it seems like they should light up without an OS installed to be available to these systems. Once my other sleds come next week I'll be able to give those a shot to see if they behave the same way, but in the meantime, anyone have ideas?

Thanks in advance for any advice and information!