Virtual console not working after iDRAC update to 2.70.70.70

Luciusthe,

I would first make sure that the system is up to date on the BIOS as well, then I would rerun the 2.70.70.70 update on the iDrac. 

Let me know if that clears it up.

Chris,
I keep systems up to date regularly. System was updated via LC, using DELL FTP repo.
Same process I did many times before. I update BIOS and everything else there is to update. With LC, I think BIOS update always happens before iDRAC update.

Anyway, BIOS is on version 2.11.0. Every time I have to use virtual console, I need to reboot iDRAC first.

Hi luciusthe,

is there any specific error message showing up? What exactly is happening when you try to use the virtual console and which way do you use it  Java, ActiveX or HTML5? And have you tried a different way already?

Would be also interesting to take a look in the Lifecycle Log (https://dell.to/3accGgh) this may show errors that we can use to troubleshoot furthermore.

Thanks
Stefan

Hi Stefan,
Sorry I didn't see your message sooner.

Before answering your questions, let me explain my setup. I might have a bit different situation than others, since my servers are are turned off most the time. At the moment these servers are used like in a lab setup. But the are still connected to power outlets, so iDRAC is running. With this in mind, the steps to reproduce are:
1. servers are off (they are normally off during off work hours, sometimes it's days, sometimes even weeks)
2. as soon as I login to iDRAC, on the main screen, the Virtual Console Preview shows "No Signal". That's ok since they are off.
3. I power any of the two servers on. Doesn't matter how. Let's say I do it using a Quick Launch task. It could be via Virtual console menu, or a power button, it doesn't matter.
4. servers are starting now. The Virtual Console Preview still shows "No Signal" and will continue to show "No Signal".

I can start Virtual console at any time. It doesn't matter If i use Java or HTML5. And it doesn't matter if I start the console before powering the servers on or after - both consoles will start without errors and it seems like it's connected. But the VC just shows "No Signal". Even though the server is booting. If I connect the VGA cable to the monitor I can see it booting.

This started to happen after iDRAC update - it didn't happen before.

Lifecycle log is very long, going back to 2016 when we bought the servers. So I focus on entries since the last iDRAC reboot. I see nothing significant here. No warnings or errors, no unusual entries. The server has finally booted to ESXi 6.5 and the last two iDRAC messages are this:
- The complete Lifecycle Log was successfully created for an export operation.
- The iDRAC Service Module has successfully started communication with iDRAC.

If I want to use virtual console, I have to restart iDRAC. Then it works for... unknown amount of time. When I power the server off and go home, the day after iDRAC virtual console will not connect again, until I reboot.

You should be able reproduce this. I have 2 servers, they are the same. This never happened before the update, now happens on both servers after the iDRAC update (well, iDRAC + BIOS update, I don't know if there was anything else in the update, I think there was the OS collector update too).

Regards,
David

Mind you, I never received any further communication from Dell - and I still have this problem.

Hello,

i will check about this issue and see if there is some internal article.

In the meantime can you please send me the service tag of the two server in private message?
Thanks

Marco

Hi there. My suggestion on this would be to update the idrac to 2.75.100.75. I didnt see anything describing this issue in the release notes, but fixes for other items can affect various things in my experience. Secondly, after updating the idrac, I would power off the system, move the nvram_clr jumper so that it clears the nvram contents. Then power on the system and power it off when the system complains that the jumper has been enabled. Then move the jumper back to its original position, and you "should" be ok. I work for Dell and we have a lab of about 80 R730's, and we have yet to see this issue you're describing. 
Please check the Jumpers and connectors section of this page:
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/poweredge-r730/r730_ompublication/dell-poweredge-r730-system-overview?guid=guid-4e82e765-cb70-458f-87a7-eadd87c62ed2&lang=en-us

Hello, thanks for answering. I've sent you the service tags in private message.

Hello,
My thoughts as well on updating iDRAC. Done that already (several times as several version came out, this is an old topic). But the problem persists.

I don't feel keen on NVRAM reset though, I've configured so many things in BIOS and iDRAC. I'd have to go writing everything down, to configure it back the way it was - there's a ton of settings. A long shot, not sure if it would help and it's a lot of work to try it.

I'll give Marco B a shot at finding another way perhaps - if all else fails I could perhaps try with NVRAM reset.

Actually, I'm on version 2.75.75.75, not 2.75.100.75.
I'll update that first then report back (will take a day or two to know if there's a change, because virtual console doesn't stop working immediately, it takes a while, as described).

Sounds good, thanks!

I can assign a static IP. Could you provide some more info as to why this could make a difference ?

Ok, I could try that too. Note that nothing changed in my lab setup, except after some iDRAC update I started having this problem. I had no changes around networking.

That being said, I do have one cheap D-Link switch in place that provides connectivity to iDRAC, so maybe... although it would be a strange, that switch provides network for some other less important equipment, that doesn't show any issues.

I've put iDRAC on static IP for now.
After that I could find some other switch and replace that as well, just to make sure.

Thank you so far. I will post back in a day.

ok eventually can you assign a static ip address, if it doesn't work?

Thanks

After clicking on "Reset iDRAC" link under "Quick Launch Tasks" in the main screen I can get virtual console to work again. That will probably work until tomorrow when I'd have to reset it again to have virtual console working. Same thing on both servers, no change from before.

Also I notice it takes forever to login to iDRAC, like 2-3 minutes to get past the login page (I don't use AD or any authentication integration, just plain iDRAC with a local root user). Not just after iDRAC reset, but also before I did the reset. It didn't take quite that long before. Well, iDRAC web UI was never anything snappy, but it seems to work even slower now. This might my subjective, but I don't recall waiting this long on the login screen before. Not sure if this information helps you or not, but here it is.