RX600 R6 only boots with 2 of 4 CPUs

PRIMERGY, SPARC Enterprise Server, PRIMEFLEX, PRIMEPower, BS2000

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ABBrown79
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Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 21:20
Product(s): Pimergy RX600 S6

RX600 R6 only boots with 2 of 4 CPUs

Postby ABBrown79 » Wed May 26, 2021 12:59

I'm trying to fix a server that won't boot with all four of its CPUs installed. It is a Primergy RX600 R6. It will boot fine with CPU 1 and 3 in their sockets, but if I plug in sockets 2 and/or 4, the machine refuses to boot. Gives the error "PSU Pctrl Fail 31.12.2018 15:59:25" and switches itself back off.

I've actually got three machines that all do this same problem. No matter what I try, nothing will make it boot with the four CPUs in. Have swapped parts to the point everything has been replaced. New PSUs, New mobo, new CPUs and new memory risers. I thought maybe some of the DIMMs are bad, but after testing each module in the known working 2 CPU configuration, I'm less inclined to think there's anything wrong with them. All the RAM will work to make the two CPU setup boot, but with the four CPUs, it gives that same PS Pctrl error every time, even with the minimum of RAM installed.

To walk you through what happened, there was a power event on one of our RX600 R6 units. The board got fried by a failing PSU. We replaced the entire unit, swapped over the DIMMs and CPUs from the dead one, and that's where the problem of not booting all four CPUs started. We thought maybe the CPUs were damaged, so we put all new ones in. Still the same error. Systematically replaced every part that had formerly been in that damaged unit, to the point the new machine had all new risers and CPUs. Still the same error. So we tried using another machine. Still the same error.

At this point, I was of the opinion that one of the DIMMs was bad, probably damaged in the electrical event. With the machine booting in its working two CPU configuration, I tested each DIMM module, but it booted with no problem. So now I'm at a loss. There doesn't seem to be any option in BIOS to enable those extra CPUs, and I can't even load BIOS with all of them in place. I know it's a longshot, but does anyone have any idea what I might have missed? Seems odd for an issue to be this persistent, and happen on so many different machines. The only commonality are the memory modules, which are from the machine that had the initial problem. Given that they all test as working, I'm not sure what else could be preventing the server from getting past POST.

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Ask Fujitsu
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Re: RX600 R6 only boots with 2 of 4 CPUs

Postby Ask Fujitsu » Mon May 31, 2021 16:53

Dear ABBrown79,

We received information that a plan of action was sent to you. The team is waiting for the logs and more info from your side.

Thank you in advance :)

Kind regards
Asf Fujitsu - Forum team

ABBrown79
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 21:20
Product(s): Pimergy RX600 S6

Re: RX600 R6 only boots with 2 of 4 CPUs

Postby ABBrown79 » Mon May 31, 2021 19:09

Thank you for your response. The issue has been resolved, though not to my liking. The company sent another server and I transferred all the previous unit's RAM into its memory bays. This new unit worked fine with all CPUs, and since it works, the company didn't want to explore the actual reason the original units failed. As an independent contractor brought in to fix the errors of two previous techs, I have little say over the problem's resolution. All I'm left with is the observation that multiple machines had this same error. My theory is that these machines, which had been tested as working with 2 CPUs, had some kind of flaw on the motherboard or power control board that stopped them from using all four CPUs. Unfortunately, it will have to remain a theory. Thanks again for allowing me to post about the issue here.


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