Stupid question. How to power on Dell R715?

[tim.yoshi]

I just don't have power button. Yep, stupid just as it sounds I had big hopes that iDRAC 6 (enterprise) would be able to do it remotely as I basically do not need to power it manually, but no luck here - it even don't want to receive IP over DHCP from router from neither ports when power supply is connected and in standby mode. I tired to reset to default bu pulling out battery and playing with clear CMOS jumper but yet no luck.

Is there any options to just fire it up?

 

[Aestr]

Are you saying the power button doesn't work, or that you don't have one? It should be in the top left of the front panel. There is a CMOS setting to disable it, but from what I see it only disables powering off the system which shouldn't impact you.

 

[tim.yoshi]

Are you saying the power button doesn't work, or that you don't have one? It should be in the top left of the front panel. There is a CMOS setting to disable it, but from what I see it only disables powering off the system which shouldn't impact you.

Sorry, I must have been clearer from the start - it is physically absent. I bought for cheap separately motherboard, CPU's and heatsinks, PDB, power supply and all the risers. The "basic pack" they said I thought that power button is on board (looking at pictures) but it was just a PID button so I was left with server without way to power it up. Then I found iDRAC 6 enterprise and ordered it too, but as I mentioned - no luck. Separate button and whole front assembly is quite costly in the scale of all other components. So I thought that there is still any way to power it up anyhow, without button
Anyhow I'd set it up to be running all the time it got power and thru the iDRAC i'd be able to remotely power it on/off if necessary, but the main trick here is to fire it up first time to set it all up properly. That's the Ultimate Question of ̶o̶f̶ ̶L̶i̶f̶e̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶U̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶E̶v̶e̶r̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶...

 

[Aestr]

Ahhh so it's not that your R715 doesn't have a power button, it's that you don't have an actual R715

Ultimately the front panel still connects to the system board, so if you can figure out the pinouts of the connector you could short the appropriate pins just like a standard MB. The connector looks non standard and this likely isn't a common request, so it might take a while to find, or require you to experiment a bit.

 

[tim.yoshi]

Ahhh so it's not that your R715 doesn't have a power button, it's that you don't have an actual R715

Well, it's a matter of perspective Yes, I don't have stylish shiny metal a̶s̶s̶ case with DELL logo and R715 painted on it, but all the guts are here. Sooooo... Let's say we have skeleton of the human in, say, museum, that human don't stops to be considered human, don't he?

Ultimately the front panel still connects to the system board, so if you can figure out the pinouts of the connector you could short the appropriate pins just like a standard MB. The connector looks non standard and this likely isn't a common request, so it might take a while to find, or require you to experiment a bit.

Yep, I understand it. I tried to short some individual pins but no luck I guess this could be little more complicated that just two pins. Maybe they are using some like three or more pins?

Ok, any other thoughts on ways how to force that piece of s̶c̶r̶a̶p̶ state-of-art-electronics to turn on? Maybe some special voodoo, black magic or even waving a dead chicken?

 

[tim.yoshi]

I found these control boards on eBay and must say they come in variety of part numbers. But they all looks absolutely identical. Does anybody know are they interchangeable? For example here is a bunch of numbers:

J800M - R710

G310N - R810/815

F921M, FNRH3 - R615 (and possibly R710)

 

[pricklypunter]

You mentioned the iDRAC6 Enterprise, but didn't say if the Express Module was already on the board or not. You will need at least the Express Module fitted for remote access

 

[tim.yoshi]

You mentioned the iDRAC6 Enterprise, but didn't say if the Express Module was already on the board or not. You will need at least the Express Module fitted for remote access

My board came without any card on it. There is only one place where you can insert it. And as I understand it, it could be either Express or Enterprise - only one of them. Or I'm not getting something?

 

[pricklypunter]

The iDRAC 6 comes in 2 parts, one is the Express Module, the other is the Enterprise Module. You need the Express Module for remote access, adding the Enterprise Module allows you to have remote access on its own dedicated port, as opposed to sharing one of the NIC's when just the Express Module is fitted

Post a photo of your rear board

 

[tim.yoshi]

The iDRAC 6 comes in 2 parts, one is the Express Module, the other is the Enterprise Module. You need the Express Module for remote access, adding the Enterprise Module allows you to have remote access on its own dedicated port, as opposed to sharing one of the NIC's when just the Express Module is fitted

Post a photo of your rear board

Here it is.

 

[pricklypunter]

Ok, if you look just to the left of the blue bracket, you will see a little socket along the board edge with a wire loop opposite it. That is the location where the Express Module should be. It is normally held in place with a wire Z spring

Here's your pic showing where on the board the Module should be:

 

[tim.yoshi]

Ok, if you look just to the left of the blue bracket, you will see a little socket along the board edge with a wire loop opposite it. That is the location where the Express Module should be. It is normally held in place with a wire Z spring

D'oh! How I can be so dumbass and inattentive? Yes, now I checked in the internet how it *SHOULD* look like and I'm amazed

Ok, nevertheless, I'm willing to order it too, but will it help? If reset to default, will it receive IP over DHCP (at least from any of available NIC's) and allow me to log in and power-on (*ta-daaaaa*) the thing?

 

[pricklypunter]

If it's a brand new Express Module, or one that has been reset to factory settings, it should pull an IP using DHCP by default irc. Depending on how the BIOS/ BMC is currently set on the mainboard, it will use either a shared NIC or the dedicated one on the Enterprise Module. There's no way to tell without actually booting the server and going into the BIOS to check and change settings etc. Assuming it's all at factory default, you should be able to logon to the iDRAC and boot the server, perform OS installs etc etc

Also, be patient, the iDRAC can take a good few minutes to get up and running once you power it up

 

[tim.yoshi]

If it's a brand new Express Module, or one that has been reset to factory settings, it should pull an IP using DHCP by default irc. Depending on how the BIOS/ BMC is currently set on the mainboard, it will use either a shared NIC or the dedicated one on the Enterprise Module. There's no way to tell without actually booting the server and going into the BIOS to check and change settings etc. Assuming it's all at factory default, you should be able to logon to the iDRAC and boot the server, perform OS installs etc etc

Thanks, but is there a guaranteed way to reset it all to factory defaults in my case? On the mainboard there is battery and clear CMOS jumpers - that's clear. But how about iDRAC? There is no battery nor jumbers
So the only way is to hope that it was reset to default by seller/last time user?

 

[pricklypunter]

There are various methods to gain or re-gain access to the iDRAC should it come to that. I only mentioned it because the BMC/ BIOS settings are a question mark until you can actually boot and access them. Go find the iDRAC 6 User Guide on Dell's site and read up on it, also look for posts on their support forums about recovery of the iDRAC etc

If you can't find it on their site, there is a copy here

 

[tim.yoshi]

There are various methods to gain or re-gain access to the iDRAC should it come to that. I only mentioned it because the BMC/ BIOS settings are a question mark until you can actually boot and access them. Go find the iDRAC 6 User Guide on Dell's site and read up on it, also look for posts on their support forums about recovery of the iDRAC etc

If you can't find it on their site, there is a copy here

Thank you very much for help and attention.

Holy Jesus - 372 pages! 0_o But I hope this is good sign - that there all the things will be clear and detailed as possible