SOLVED Is my board dead? After 6 years it does not boot X10SLL-F

[asimov-solensan]

Hello. I fear I need help with this. I got this X10SLL-Fworking since 2017, working 24x7 without issue.

Lately I got a beep warning because temperature when running heavier tasks than usual.

I shut down the server and with the vacuum cleaned the CPU heatsink and checked that fan was spinning freely. It may have been that accumulated dust prevented proper airflow.

Anyhow when I wanted to turn it on, it does nothing. No fans on, no warning beeps, just dead.

I get only the red led proving that board has power.

I tested shorting the green and ground cables in the PSU. It powers on as usual.

I also tested another CPU in the board. A G3250 that I replaced with the actual xeon E3. Doesn't boot with neither.

I disconnected the ram to check if I get any warning beep. No beep and no boot .

I found this thread mentioning that this board won't boot if the CPU fan is not in port FAN-A. Although some users say it is not necessary.

SOLVED - X10SLL Won't Turn On

I agree with you. But let me just tell you, there have been AT LEAST TWO people in the past year with X10 boards that would not start, and the issue was nothing was attached to the FAN A header. It seems clear, however, that unlike what I thought, this does not necessarily apply to all the...

www.truenas.com

I checked that mine is on FAN-A and also tested with another 4 pin fan. But the board is still dead.

I don't know what else to test. Any suggestion is welcome.

 

[Jailer]

Is IPMI still responding?

 

[Davvo]

The static from the vacuum cleaner might have killed it.

 

[Apollo]

While ESD (Electro Static Discharge) are bad in general, I doubt it would have killed the board, unless you really built charges.
My guess is more toward a dead cell coin battery causing the BIOS to be reset. As per Jailer, you should check if IPMI is responding. If BIOS settings are lost due to depleted battery, you could try aCMOS reset and see if you can access the IPMI on the default LAN port as they can be remapped.

 

[asimov-solensan]

Thanks for your answer. Yes IPMI is alse dead. I had it configured and always with an UTP ready to connect and check if there was something wrong.

Right now it does not even detect link.

Even if it was a depleted battery it would enable still be able to boot, just with default settings. I guess.

The static from the vacuum cleaner might have killed it.

I also thought that but, I still cannot believe it it can happen that easily.

 

[Apollo]

Thanks for your answer. Yes IPMI is alse dead. I had it configured and always with an UTP ready to connect and check if there was something wrong.

Right now it does not even detect link.

Even if it was a depleted battery it would enable still be able to boot, just with default settings. I guess.


I also thought that but, I still cannot believe it it can happen that easily.

What do you do to power the board. Are you using IPMI View?
Just in doubt, make sure you have all the 3 LAN port connected to your network and use "IPMIView" to scan for "IPMI Devices".
If this doesn't work, maybe ESD caused some internal circuit to lock. So you could disconnect the board entirely and let it seat for a few minutes.
You can also check for physical damage such as blown capacitors and such (this should be rare occurences).
It is also possible some of the contacts on the RAM aren't that good, so you could try to remove and reinstall the RAM modules.

 

[asimov-solensan]

Sorry I thought that I answered this message but maybe I forgot to click post.

IPMI View did find nothing, but that was expected. I do not have link in any of the interfaces. I should get link even when servers is off and I'm very familiar with IPMI, I have a dedicated UTP cable for this task always connected.

I already tested everything else that @Apollo suggested, without success.

Last news is that I got a new board from ebay and when I tried to turn it on I get the same behavior. Red light in the board, no link from any interface and 0 life signals.

I can enable the PSU by shorting the green and black ports but today I will get a new PSU and check again.

 

[asimov-solensan]

Ok so to give closure to the thread:

It was the PSU.

I remark that older PSU booted when shorting green and black terminals as usual. I guess that something complex got broken.

I hope this helps someone in the future. In order to detect this problem remember:

When the board boots you must see a red light and a green light blinking from time to time (I think that's the IPMI status). And the IPMI interface must always have link when powered.

If you only see the red light you may be in my situation.