PowerEdge: Troubleshooting a Server that Does Not Start-No Power, POST, Boot, or Video
Summary:This article provides PowerEdge server troubleshooting for No Power, No POST, No Boot and No Video issues. This includes blade, rack, and tower servers.
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No Power Once the power button is pressed, no diagnostics LEDs are illuminated. The power button LED is also not illuminated. The system has no signs of power. The fan remains silent as it is not spinning. The iDRAC should not respond to pings. This is defined as no power. Follow the No Power troubleshooting steps below.
No Power On Self-Test (POST) Your system appears to have power, but does not complete POST once the power button is pressed. During POST, the system goes through a series of internal checks. If any of these checks fail, the system shows an error on the LCD if present, or have LEDs illuminated to help indicate the potential problem. This is defined as no POST. Follow the No POST troubleshooting steps below.
No Boot Once the system loads the Dell splash screen and finishes the POST checks, the Dell splash screen disappears and the system operation hands over to the operating system. If the operating system does not start for any reason, this is called a No Boot issue. A common symptom is also that there are not any boot device available, and the following error is displayed: "No boot device found." This also occurs if the virtual disks are not online due to a hard drive or PERC issue. Follow the No Boot troubleshooting steps below.
No Video Once the power button is pressed, the system powers on and displays the POST checks where you may see the diagnostic LEDs illuminate briefly. The power button LED and the keyboard LEDs illuminate, but there are no signs of video on the display. If the iDRAC is working, and video output is seen in the virtual console (Virtual Console available for Enterprise licenses), you have a No Video situation. Follow the No Video troubleshooting steps below.
What events preceded the failure? After which steps does the problem occur?
What has been changed since the time that the server was working?
Did you recently add or remove hardware or software? If so, did you remember to change the appropriate settings in the server setup utility, if necessary?
How long has the server experienced problem symptoms?
If the problem occurs randomly, what is the duration or frequency?
Once you have obtained the following information, you should then check the iDRAC logs for additional information that can help with troubleshooting. (This is not possible for no power issues.) Log in to the iDRAC to view the logs. Also, view the LifeCycle logs as they may also aid troubleshooting.
iDRAC9: Go to Maintenance > LifeCycle Logs + System Event Logs.
iDRAC8: Go to Logs + LifeCycle Logs. How to export the iDRAC logs for Dell Tech Support and view the overall health of your system:
Connect power cables to power supplies bypassing any UPS temporarily if being used. The LED should illuminate on the power supply unit (PSU). Press the PSU built-in self-test (BIST) button if required.
If no PSU BIST LEDs illuminate, check using known working power cables and wall outlets.
Note: When removing or replacing parts, always remove the AC power cables and allow 10 seconds for the flea power to dissipate. After reinserting the AC power cable, allow two minutes before powering the server on. This allows time for the iDRAC to power on. Otherwise, error messages are not reported correctly.
See the appropriate Owner's Manual for detailed instructions on how to remove components.
Remove all external devices except the monitor (including mouse and keyboard).
After removing the devices, attempt to POST the server.
If the server now completes POST, plug the external devices back in one at a time until the defective device is found. Replace the defective device once it has been isolated.
If the server still does not complete POST, go to the next step.
Remove all third-party components and parts.
After removing the parts, attempt to POST the server.
If the server now completes POST, plug the parts back in one at a time until the defective part is found. Replace the defective part once it has been isolated.
If the server still does not complete POST, go to the next step.
Disconnect the hard drives from the server.
After removing the parts, attempt to POST the server.
If the server now completes POST, plug the parts back in one at a time until the defective part is found. Replace the defective part once it has been isolated.
If the server still does not complete POST, go to the next step.
Disconnect the optical drive and any internal tape drive.
After removing the parts, attempt to POST the server.
If the server now completes POST, plug the parts back in one at a time until the defective part is found. Replace the defective part once it has been isolated.
If the server still does not complete POST, go to the next step.
Remove PCI cards including integrated NDC/PERC if applicable.
After removing the parts, attempt to POST the server.
If the server now completes POST, plug the parts back in one at a time until the defective part is found. Replace the defective part once it has been isolated.
If the server still does not complete POST, go to the next step.
Reseat the control panel connector.
Certain platforms have a right and left control panel, review the configuration details for the system that you are working on for further details.
When working on 14G, 15G, 16G systems, and newer systems, considerations should be made to disconnect the control panels and attempt to power the server on from the rear system ID button as an alternative means of powering on the server. The chassis cover should be removed when attempting this troubleshooting step.
Test with minimum to post. This is usually the power supply unit (PSU), motherboard, CPU 1, one stick of RAM, and the backplane. Full details for the minimum to post can be found in your Owner's Manual under Minimum to POST.
If the server now completes POST, plug the parts back in one at a time until the defective part is found. Replace the defective part once it has been isolated.
Note: For Multi-Processor, Multi-DIMM, or Multi-PSU configurations, if the server is not posting in a minimum to post configuration the CPU (typically CPU1), single DIMM (typically A1), and PSU should be swapped out with parts that were previously removed from the server to verify that they are not the cause of the no post. For example, testing CPU2 in the CPU1 socket with the original CPU1 removed from the server or swapping out DIMM A1 with a different DIMM that was previously removed from the server.
If the server still does not complete POST, the remaining parts have to be considered (for example, the motherboard, backplane, control panel, and PDU).
Collect troubleshooting information as per Before starting troubleshooting a Dell PowerEdge Server. No boot means that the server powers on and the Dell screen appears, but when the operating system should be loaded, the error "No Boot Device Available" is displayed and nothing happens.
After the server completes the power-on self-test (POST) phase, it tries to boot a bootable device. A bootable device is any piece of hardware that can either read the files or contains the files that are required for a system to start. A default bootable media can be selected in the BIOS. By default, the raid controller card (PERC) is selected first. Files available in a bootable device (RAID, USB drive, DVD, ISO file) contain instructions to start the operating system. When these files cannot be found, the No Boot Device Available error is displayed.
A few actions can be performed to check what is not working properly.
Resolution: Manually select the boot device.
The first thing to check is which device is selected as the primary boot. To do a quick check, use F11 to launch the manual boot selection.
Restart the system.
Press F11 during POST to enter the Boot Manager.
Select the correct Hard Disk drive (Virtual Drive), where the operating system is installed.
Boot from this device.
If the system now boots into the operating system, the hardware is fine, and there is a boot order conflict in the BIOS settings. The most likely cause is that the system is set to boot from CD, DVD, or USB before the drives, which is a logical setting. To resolve this, ensure you do not have a USB or CD or DVD inserted when powering on the system.
Note: Wrong settings in the boot mode can also cause this error. An operating system that is installed in UEFI mode cannot boot in BIOS mode and the opposite way.
You can change the boot order setting permanently in the System Setup to boot from the drive first. To change this:
Restart the system.
Press F2 during system start to enter the System Settings.
Change the Boot Sequence in the Boot Settings.
Leave the menu using Exit in the upper right corner of the screen.
Note: After this, you must press F11 if you want to boot from a CD, DVD, or USB later.
Collect troubleshooting information as per Before starting troubleshooting a Dell PowerEdge Server. If the server has completed post and booted to the operating system, but the system has no video on a directly connected monitor.
Check that monitor input selection is set to the correct input.
If using a KVM, ensure that the correct system is selected.
Remove the monitor cable to perform the monitor self-test to ensure that the monitor is operational.
Swap the monitor cable with a knowing working cable.
Bypass any KVM and test directly on the front and the rear output of the server.
If the monitor fails on only the front panel connection, try to reseat the front panel cable connection if applicable. If reseating the cable does not help, replace the front control panel.
Confirm that the monitor cable is connected to the correct video output on the server. If an add-on video card has been installed, be sure that the monitor cable is connected to it rather than the integrated video source.