dell poweredge sc400 previous shutdown due to thermal event

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

FYI and a question at the end.

After installing a new dvd drive into my dell poweredge sc400, the pc failed
to boot. It was dead apart from the power switch which was flashing amber.
No fans or HDDs spun, the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the back were dead too and
there was no warning beeps. It was dead.

All indications pointed to a faulty power supply or motherboard - yikes! I
swaped in a new power supply I had lying around but the same fault
persisted.

I might point out that whilst I was rebooting, I was measuring 5VDC from one
of the motherboard/power supply connector pins. Even with the power cable
disconnected that 5VDC stayed there for some time and only went away after
pressing the start button on the front. In the back of my mind I was
thinking that if I managed to remove all voltage I might kick the m/b back
to life somehow. During this time I also reset the CMOS memory.

To cut a long story about cable swapping short, it wasn't until I removed my
sound and video cards that the computer sprang to life! Yippee! After this,
it booted every time.

AND NOW MY QUESTION....
During the 3rd reboot the computer powered down by itself (ungracefully I
might add). When I rebooted I got the message:

"the previous shutdown was due to a thermal event, press f1 to continue
or f2 to setup"

My fans are running and I suspect this might be a glitch? Is there a way to
quick measure the temperature of the offending component?

Cheers,

Peter

++

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Peter Wilson" <peter@removetoreply.sourcecode.net.au> wrote in message
news:43381218$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> FYI and a question at the end.
>


The "thermal event" pre-POST message points almost exclusively to either CPU
or CPU socket/mb failure.

In most instances I've seen, it was simply due to CPU overheating due to a
failed chassis fan, etc.


Stew

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

sc400 or 400sc? i only know of a sc420, sc430 and sc1420 so i assume you are
talking about a 400sc. if so read on...
the poweredge 400sc has a garnered a reputation for random reboots and blue
screen of death due to leaky capacitors near the processor socket. look on
your motherboard to see if any of the capacitors are leaking or bulging at
the top and then talk to dell about getting it replaced. here is a thread
from dell's forums about it... search google for many more...
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_other&message.id=13312

"Peter Wilson" <peter@removetoreply.sourcecode.net.au> wrote in message
news:43381218$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> FYI and a question at the end.
>
> After installing a new dvd drive into my dell poweredge sc400, the pc
> failed
> to boot. It was dead apart from the power switch which was flashing amber.
> No fans or HDDs spun, the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the back were dead too and
> there was no warning beeps. It was dead.
>
> All indications pointed to a faulty power supply or motherboard - yikes! I
> swaped in a new power supply I had lying around but the same fault
> persisted.
>
> I might point out that whilst I was rebooting, I was measuring 5VDC from
> one
> of the motherboard/power supply connector pins. Even with the power cable
> disconnected that 5VDC stayed there for some time and only went away after
> pressing the start button on the front. In the back of my mind I was
> thinking that if I managed to remove all voltage I might kick the m/b back
> to life somehow. During this time I also reset the CMOS memory.
>
> To cut a long story about cable swapping short, it wasn't until I removed
> my
> sound and video cards that the computer sprang to life! Yippee! After
> this,
> it booted every time.
>
> AND NOW MY QUESTION....
> During the 3rd reboot the computer powered down by itself (ungracefully I
> might add). When I rebooted I got the message:
>
> "the previous shutdown was due to a thermal event, press f1 to continue
> or f2 to setup"
>
> My fans are running and I suspect this might be a glitch? Is there a way
> to
> quick measure the temperature of the offending component?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Peter
>
> ++
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Christopher Muto" <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Urb_e.2025$j_3.1290@trndny07...
> sc400 or 400sc? i only know of a sc420, sc430 and sc1420 so i assume you
> are talking about a 400sc. if so read on...
> the poweredge 400sc has a garnered a reputation for random reboots and
> blue screen of death due to leaky capacitors near the processor socket.
> look on your motherboard to see if any of the capacitors are leaking or
> bulging at the top and then talk to dell about getting it replaced. here
> is a thread from dell's forums about it... search google for many more...
> http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_other&message.id=13312
>


Chris -

Isn't the 400SC the PE version of the Dimension 8300? (Intel 875 with
different plastics and a couple other minor mods)?

I'd not known those to have cap problems on the board, but perhaps as a
'server' that might be different....


Stew

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

that is right. perhaps they just happened to use some inferior capacitors
on a batch of the pe motherboards. it doesn't seem to have happened to all
of them, but too many of them for dell to ignore. there have been reports
of out of warranty replacements offered by dell to customers with failed
boards. here is another forum site that has a relevant thread on the
subject... great resource for other poweredge related questions/answers...
http://www.poweredgeforums.com/showthread.php?t=2236

"S.Lewis" <stew1960@mail.com> wrote in message
news:vtb_e.6972$yl.3153@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
>
> "Christopher Muto" <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
> news:Urb_e.2025$j_3.1290@trndny07...
>> sc400 or 400sc? i only know of a sc420, sc430 and sc1420 so i assume you
>> are talking about a 400sc. if so read on...
>> the poweredge 400sc has a garnered a reputation for random reboots and
>> blue screen of death due to leaky capacitors near the processor socket.
>> look on your motherboard to see if any of the capacitors are leaking or
>> bulging at the top and then talk to dell about getting it replaced. here
>> is a thread from dell's forums about it... search google for many more...
>> http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_other&message.id=13312
>>
>
>
> Chris -
>
> Isn't the 400SC the PE version of the Dimension 8300? (Intel 875 with
> different plastics and a couple other minor mods)?
>
> I'd not known those to have cap problems on the board, but perhaps as a
> 'server' that might be different....
>
>
> Stew
>
>