During my experimenting with my new (to me) EX470, I managed to make it so that NO lights are active at all (other than the NIC and Power LED's).

What could I have done to achieve this result, and how could I reverse it? I know the cable between the port multiplier and the front LED's is connected, and I know the cable that connects to the power/network/health LED's and USB port works because the power light and USB port work.

[confused]


---edit
It would also appear that the system can't detect the fan speeds for the upper fan. I've installed MSS Fan Control, and nothing I do seems to affect the fan speeds at all (the lower stays in the 1400RPM range, the upper shows 0 even though it is actually spinning...)

[more confused]

First thing I have to ask you is if your server is running?

Second Question is did you ever dissassemble your server say to upgrade RAM?

Third Question is are your health indicators working?

If you had your server apart in the past then open the top again and check the FAN Connectors to make sure they are properly installed with no exposed pins. If one pin is exposed then the connectors will need to be corrected.

Last thing and others will ask you if you have performed any recent modifications, have you recently installed any add-ins. Some will request a brief history of your server. These things help others better determine whats wrong with your server.

Yes, the server is running (I've copied a ton of data to it, so far).

Yes, I've upgraded both the RAM and the CPU (currently semi-successfully running a Lima based LE-1640). I've also replaced the "system" HDD with a 1TB Seagate, then run a full "factory reset" (or whatever the option was called)

No, the *only* indicator that is working is the power LED. All other indicators/LED's/Lights are dead.

The fans are both connected. It turns out one of them was bad, so I've replaced it. The status page now shows both fans spinning, though now it's complaining that they're spinning "a little out of spec" (the new one is spinning in the 2000 RPM range, which I don't think HP likes).

The only add in I've installed is the MSS fan control, which doesn't actually work (the fan speeds remain the same no matter what I set it to). The server has very little history. The lights briefly worked (I'd say for about 10 minutes), but sometime after I replaced the system HDD, they quit. Putting the 500GB drive back into the "SYS" place did not restore their functionality. The LED's don't even work during a server restore.

I'm not entirely sure why I am suggesting this given that everything else seems to be working fine, but I am going to anyway...

Di you have a spare disk lying around? (Any SATA over 40GB should be fine.)

If you do, let's determine whether the problem is hardware or software. Shut down the MSS. Pull out all the drives (label the system drive so it gets back into the bottom slot). Partition and format the new drive as a single partition and place it into the bottom slot. Remove HP and MS software form one client and use that client to do a FACTORY RESET on the MSS.

If it comes up with the lights working, get all the MS and HP updates installed (keep restarting and trying again until you do not get any more updates), install MSS Fan Control and see if that works OK. If that works there is a software problem -- either troubleshoot it or replace the original disks and do a Server RESTORE (NOT a Factory Reset this time). Note that Fan Control may act up a bit if there is something unique with that fan -- but that may actually be a symptom rather than a problem.

If it fails there is a hardware problem to troubleshoot. In this case DO NOT reinstall your other disks until you have it working again. (I'm a bit paranoid and would not want to risk my data on a machine with problems!)

I agree with JohnBick about protecting your data and with trying to rule out if its hardware or software related.

The hard part in determining what is exactly causing your problem is when did it first occur? Was it with the RAM upgrade, the processor upgrade or when you changed your hard drives. If you keep notes about what your doing then it helps to review them especially if you are detail orientated. Earlier I asked about the FAN Connections because I have a hunch that if you connect them imporperly or off by 1 pin it may cause hardware damage. This is something I did and when I restarted my server I noticed the fans not running so I shut it down and then opened the case only to find I plugged them in improperly. After the server booted I had no Hard Drive Lights the only time they come on is after the power is removed from the server then reapplied then they turn on red then turn off and stay off. The front LEDs all work but my health light stays purple all the time and the Health Monitors from the server console are all negative numbers. The FANS are running full speed too and the MSS FAN CONTROL add-in has not impact on the fan speed.

Its those little details we often overlook that sometime become the major ones. When I made the improper fan connections there were other things going on with my server that I was working on. To rule out hardware issues I unmodded my server and put everything back original. Now I do not know to this day what actually caused my problem and without schematics of the EX470 its hard for me to determine what cause and effect the fan header connections may play into it. I suspect my connecting the fans improperly, a very simple and stupid error on my part but BIG BIRD says everyone makes mistakes, still for me it was a major mistake and one caused by rushing and I know better thats the shame of it all because I have been working with this stuff over 25 years.

Good luck and take your time doing anything with your server, check, double check and check again, after all there are not to many things there to check. Also troubleshoot in small steps and make notes of what you do so you can track your progress.

I had a very similar problem after a RAM Upgrade. I tried everything including checking the fans, motherboard, power supply, etc over and over again. I thought it was the backplabe so I even bought a broken (blown LAN port) HP EX470 off eBay and foumd it wasn't the backplane. I then switched out every component one by one and eventually determined that it was the Motherboard that was bad. Everything works just fine though, its just the LEDs (NIC, Health snd hard drives) and the fans that aren't right. Both fans would show 500-600 rpm and the MSS would get too hot. SpeedFan and MSSFan wouldn't work. So, I disconnected the control wire to each fan so they would run at 2500rpm and all was good again, albeit noisy. I wish I could get the fans to run at 1500 or so rpms to be quieter. Plus, I've learned to live without the LEDs.

As you can see from my post above I had some similar problems and can collaborate with you and share some of my findings as a result of comparing the functionality of one broken MB (blown LAN port but no problems with fans or LEDs) and another that lost control of fans and LEDs. I found some dscrepancies with a couple of coltages on the main power connector and the one next to it on the MB.

Me either I turn on the lights, after changing the CPU and mount it all started to smell a little burnt (everything was properly connected).

It is not software problem, I checked with two different installations of WHS.
Also look at the BIOS. And still not working.

I think the controller is broken lights. :-/

My lights burned out randomly without me noticing. After poking around with multimeter and oscilloscope, I managed to burn out a small mosftet on the motherboard -- WHICH TURNED THE LEDs BACK ON. I then desoldered it and the lights went dead again. If any of you can take a picture of yours, I'd much appreciate it -- and it might help you diagnose your problem too.

The difference on my machine is that it's reporting fan speeds as 0. But it might be a 2nd problem, in addition to this one.
Update: reading another post, I realize that I connected my fans off by 1 pin at some point. They must've stopped reporting their speeds then.

The mosfet in question is between the vga/serial header and an electrolytic capacitor toward the back of the board.







The problem with mine is that it was burned out already -- I need to see if the three little circles around the 0 are there on purpose or it's some artefact of burning.

The mosfet is pretty small to human eye, just about the size of a grain of rice.. but I used a pretty common level camera -- mine is Canon SD850 -- you just need to set it to closeup mode.

I made photos.
But mine is also burnt, very burnt

We need a photo without the burnt component, right?

photos:

Ouch! That's even more burnt than mine Yes, we need to see it while it's not burnt out.
Ideal help would be if someone who has the LEDs working and has an oscilloscope could help us figure out what the component does.. but that's too much to hope for. Or maybe someone who can let me borrow their box for a while (even less likely). Or if someone donates a motherboard with a different problem (I keep checking ebay but don't see any so far)

The next best thing is figuring it out from the markings (I really hope those little circles are not just an artefact from burning out).


P.S. any idea what exactly you did that burned it out? For me, I suspect it happened when I unplugged/replugged the LED board while the system was running (and blinking the LEDs).

I did nothing.
Just change the CPU (LE-1640) and this happened :-/

That might be relevant, because I originally noticed the lights were out after swapping to 3800 EE SFF. But then, I asked others on this forum and they said they swapped theirs without losing LEDs.
One thing I thought might be problematic is that I made my own VGA cable without resistors/caps (see download/file.php?id=2931&mode=view) ... this component is right there next to the VGA header, the monitor might've pushed something bad through :\

Sometime between now and the 14th I will have an EX470 apart at which time I will examine the IC labeled Q1 and try to take a picture of it. I did look on another EX470 Motherboard and that sucker is small but I could not read what was printed on it. Interestingly enough when that motherboard was in use there were no Hard Drive lights accept when power was completely removed then applied and it restarted then the Hard Drives would all light up RED then turn off and stay off. Also the Health Light when it turned on would stay purple and the fans would run at full speed. Other then that, the motherboard worked extremely well.

When I have a working unit apart I which will be soon I will write back. How you solder something like that without a microscope is beyond my ability.

A 5+ megapixel camera in closeup mode works really well, as you can see in the pics above.

Getting the old part off is not terribly hard if you have a steady hand, and especially if you don't care about the part being in one piece as you get it off. I kinda destroyed mine while getting it off - though to be fair, it was already cracked and burned.
The best way to do this, though, is a hot air rework station. It's basically a hair dryer on steroids, melts solder in 5 seconds flat. Then you just pick up the part with precision tweezers.

Well, let's identify the component first. If we can't, then no hair dryer in the world will help us