SM Motherboard - Boot Beep & Missing IPMI

[Cipher]

I've building a new server using the Supermicro X9DR3-LN4F+ motherboard. Whenever I boot the server it emits a loud continuous beep noise. However, I can get into the BIOS, and it reports information on my 2 x E5-2670 CPUs and 32GB of RAM.

I was thinking of using IPMI to see if that could provide any additional information, but there is no IPMI tab in my BIOS even though it's shown in the manual.

Any ideas on the best way to troubleshoot that endless boot beep and to get IPMI up and running? This is my first Supermicro server based build so I may be missing something obvious here.

 

[Cipher]

Took another look today and I was able to figure out the source of that loud boot beep. When I placed my ear closer to the chassis I noticed that the sound was actually coming from my backplane and not from the motherboard. When I looked at the front control panel on the chassis I noticed there was a red light next to one of the icons which when I looked in the manual said the following:

Power Failure: When this LED flashes, it indicates a failure in the redundant power supply.

I was trying to run with one power supply to keep noise down, but I didn't realize I had to remove the unused power supply or else that loud sound would sound every time the system started. Just disconnecting the power cord was not enough.

Ok, now I have to see what's happening with the IPMI info missing from the BIOS.

 

[Cipher]

Ok, after doing some more research on the IPMI issue, I've found the following:

1) My motherboard is currently running Bios version 1.1a which looks like it's from 2012.
2) The latest available BIOS for this motherboard is version 3.2 which looks like it's from 2015.
3) The latest available IPMI firmware for this motherboard is version 3.48 which looks like it's from 2016.

In the readme for the version 3.2 BIOS, it says the following: You must update the IPMI firmware to version 2.0 or above first, before upgrading this BIOS.

Since I don't see any reference to IPMI in my current BIOS, and therefore have no idea which version I have, do I need to somehow activate it before I upgrade to the latest 3.48 version?

 

[ttabbal]

To be safe, I would try updating the IPMI firmware first, since it says it needs to be newer for the new BIOS. I wonder if someone updated the BIOS but not the IPMI, causing the BIOS to "lose" the IPMI? Not sure what would happen in that sort of case. I know my Intel board had similar warnings about the IPMI updates.

 

[Cipher]

Thanks, ttabbal. The strange thing is the current firmware is 4 years old, and is actually older than the one shown in the manuals for this motherboard. The version shown in the manual is Bios version 3.

Is it possible that this 1.1a BIOS never displayed the IPMI info, and that this info came in a later BIOS release?

 

[Fritz]

On a related note, how does one go about getting the key that allows one to update the BIOS? Seems like SM now makes you jump through hoops just to update it.

 

[pricklypunter]

Check the jumper on the mainboard is not set to disabled

 

[Cipher]

On a related note, how does one go about getting the key that allows one to update the BIOS? Seems like SM now makes you jump through hoops just to update it.

Hah! Downloading the BIOS file from their site isn't enough, I also need a key? I didn't see that in the manual for this board, is that all SM motherboards or just some of them?

Check the jumper on the mainboard is not set to disabled

Classic! So, I had started a reply to this post by copying all the jumper settings since I had previously reviewed them and didn't see anything related to IPMI. This time, I get to the 4th jumper which says "BMC Enabled" and then I realized the error of my ways! Thanks for pointing this out, PP. Time to see if I can get this up and running now.

 

[pricklypunter]

Hehe, we've all been there, trust me, it's worse when you do that in front of a client

 

[Cipher]

PP, I work on the software side of the industry, but I know exactly what you mean!

Fritz, I think I now know what you were referring to. In the IPMIView application, the ability to update the motherboard BIOS requires a key, whereas doing this via the DOS environment does not. For many reasons this seems ridiculous to me, although I came across a blog post that offers some alternatives, especially for system admins, who can't get access or have multiple machines to update and prefer to use a remote application like IPMIView:

Taking steps backwards – update BIOS on SuperMicro servers with DOS bootable

The good news is that my IPMI firmware and motherboard BIOS are now updated and running the latest versions.

 

[Fritz]

Thanks. I did notice after posting that the BIOS was available for download and thus could be updated via DOS.

 

[ttabbal]

I did a SM BIOS last night. I forgot what a pain DOS based updates can be. I'm used to updating from BIOS or EFI. Took me a while to get a DOS boot going, it wouldn't work from USB, I don't have floppy stuff anymore, and I had to scrounge around for a CD. I didn't think of using the media emulator until I had it working. Lol.