dell server

[andymushu]

i have a server just sitting on my floor that i recently tried to make work. it is a poweredge 2300/600 (thats what it says when it boots, im not sure if it is 2300 or 2600). i thought it needed an os, but i tried to boot it with ubuntu in the cd drive and nothing happened. it says there is no bios installed. how would i go about procuring this bios? i did a couple searches on google, but im not known for being very efficient in my searches. any help would be appreciated.

[Spawn-Inc]

does the server look like this the 2300
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9002/2300ff8.th.png (http://img294.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2300ff8.png)
or this the 2600?
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/6647/2600hp4.th.png (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2600hp4.png)


if its the first picture then its the 2300 in which case here is a link (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=PWE_PNT_PII_2300&os=WNET&osl=en&catid=&impid=) to all the downloads from dell.
otherwise here (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=PWE_FOS_XEO_2600&os=WNET&osl=en&catid=&impid=) is the same thing but for the 2600.


note that i don't have any exp with dell's or servers or updateing or changing bios, i know how to use it just not update as i've never had to. i am good at looking up things though for the most part so i hope that helps.

[andymushu]

ok that did help confirm that i do have a poweredge 2300. it still leaves the issue of the bios though.

thanks for the help spawn

[Spawn-Inc]

if you look at the link for the 2300 i gave you it has a updated bios to download. but like i said i wouldn't know how to install it. i'm sure it says though.

here is the link (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=PWE_PNT_PII_2300&os=WNET&osl=en&catid=&impid=) again

[andymushu]

thanks again. i hope this works...

[Luke122]

It says the bios is not installed? Can you get the exact error message for us?

[andymushu]

Can you get the exact error message for us?

well, there are a couple. first it says that no logical drives are found. then it says BIOS not installed. then it says the SCSI bios is not found, then it says its not installed. then it gives me the option to reboot or go to setup utility, which i messed with extensively.

[Spawn-Inc]

well i think i logical drives has to do with the harddrives but other than that its outta my league. i did a quick google serch and found this site http://www.ntfs.com/logdrives.htm i'm not sure if you know about them or not but like i said i don't. did that bios update do any good?

[andymushu]

i haven't tried to update the bios yet, im trying to hunt down a floppy as well as trying to get ubuntu to work on my desktop. i will let you guys know what becomes of this server. thanks for all the help.

[Luke122]

If the bios itself was missing, you wouldnt get any sort of action from the PC... just a series of beeps.

SCSI bios not installed is a different error.. that's the BIOS on the scsi controller, which is seperate from the mobo bios. On the motherboard itself, there's usually a "reset bios" jumper near the battery.. try to reset it, and see if you are still getting the error.

[andymushu]

there's usually a "reset bios" jumper near the battery.. try to reset it, and see if you are still getting the error.

i have no clue what this looks like or how to reset it. a little more information would be much appreciated.

[Luke122]

No problem!

Give me a few mins to get some pics together for you.. brb. :)

[Luke122]

What is the service tag on the back of the case? Should be a series of letters and numbers, usually about 6 digits long.

If you can get that to me, I can get exact hardware specs for that server, which will let me get photos of the mobo for ya.
:)

[andymushu]

i didn't see a service tag, but i got a serial number: 6CQEV

[Luke122]

OK, yes thats the service tag.

I've got all the documentation open now, and I'm not seeing anything about "Bios not found", but I am seeing "Boot drive not found".

Can you power the server up, and write down the error messages word for word please?

Also, does it beep at startup? If so, how many times? Beep codes can help troubleshoot errors also.

[Airbozo]

The "bios not found" is more than likely coming from one of the cards installed in the system. That message can come from the NIC or SCSI card built into the mobo. If the mobo bios was not found the system would not even post or try to post.

Tell me the lines that get spit out _before_ the bios not found message. I suspect it will be something to do with the scsi controller or ethernet interface.

[andymushu]

There are a lot of messages that go by fast, but i think i got them all. they go in this order:
"Firmware is out of date, please update"
"diskette drive 0 seek failure"
"array controller started (next line says "BIOS is disabled")
it skipped a couple lines then said "BIOS not installed!"
skipped a couple more lines, then said "no SCSI boot device found"
"SCSI BIOS not installed"-it repeated this message three times, then beeped 3 times, then said press f1 to retry boot or f2 to go to setup.

i hope this is enough information.

[Airbozo]

There are a lot of messages that go by fast, but i think i got them all. they go in this order:
"Firmware is out of date, please update"
"diskette drive 0 seek failure"
"array controller started (next line says "BIOS is disabled")
it skipped a couple lines then said "BIOS not installed!"
skipped a couple more lines, then said "no SCSI boot device found"
"SCSI BIOS not installed"-it repeated this message three times, then beeped 3 times, then said press f1 to retry boot or f2 to go to setup.

i hope this is enough information.

OK, just as I suspected. There is no problem with your bios, the system _may_ be set to boot from the network or scsi controller. Go into setup and do a factory reset, then make the CDROM the first boot device, throw in a windows or linux cd and you should be fine. If you are trying to boot from a IDE disk, make sure that is set to boot in the buios setup screens.

[Luke122]

Yup, that's exactly what I was thinking also.. there's no way that a missing bios would give anything other than a beeping error code... unless it was on a controller card. :D

[andymushu]

alright, thanks for the awesome advice guys. i will get back to you as soon as i have a chance to test it out.

edit: i looked in the setup, and either there is no factory reset button, or I am too blind to see it. is there another way to reset it to factory settings?

[XcOM]

in the options with dell, its sometimes labeled as
"Load Defaults"
"Load Turbo Settings"
"Reset BIOS"

[andymushu]

"Load Defaults"
"Load Turbo Settings"
"Reset BIOS"
im pretty sure none of these are in there. could i just take out the CMOS battery and put it back in? would that reset it?

[Luke122]

You can try taking out the battery for 5-10 minutes, and unplug the power also. This can sometimes take longer, and I've seen it not work also.

Also, be careful when removing/replacing the battery.. breaking the retainer really sucks.

Resetting the system/bios defaults may not be necessary... look for a "boot order" option, or "first boot device". Alternately, you can try pressing f12 on startup.. just keep hitting it over and over during startup, and on most computers/servers, it will bring up a boot menu which will let you choose the boot device.

[andymushu]

i can get to the boot order easy enough. i guess i will try booting with ubuntu in the drive (the only os i have on hand right now).

[Airbozo]

alright, thanks for the awesome advice guys. i will get back to you as soon as i have a chance to test it out.

edit: i looked in the setup, and either there is no factory reset button, or I am too blind to see it. is there another way to reset it to factory settings?

On Dell's it should be the page that lets you save and exit or not save and exit. It should be an option on that page.

[andymushu]

there is no save and exist page. at the bottom it says alt b to reboot, esc to exit, and a couple other things i can't remember. i will look again though.

[XcOM]

one way to be sure it will reset the bios, Dissconnect from the power source, then remove your batt for CMOS, short out the batt connectors on the motherboard with tweasers for example, then attempt to turn your system on (With no power connected)
Now leave for 5min, the put it all back together, Shorting it and attempting to turn on, draws all power left in the system killing the CMOS untill you next boot.

[andymushu]

thanks for the suggestion, but it was unneeded. i have successfully installed ubuntu 7.04 feisty on the server and i have it set up as storage using samba on my network. thanks for all your suggestions guys.