HP ProLiant DL380e Gen8 has high fan speed after installing second CPU

hp hp-proliant physical-environment fan

22,228

Solution 1

After upgrading all the software, the fans kept blowing 99%. However I suddenly noted a warning during boot time that fan 1 was missing - I switched fan 6 to slot 1 and the issue is now resolved.

Solution 2

Things to check in the absence of better information:

Update the firmware on the server. The current revision is available via the embedded Intelligent Provisioning BIOS, the HP Service Pack for ProLiant or as a download from here.
Please evaluate and list any potential add-in cards installed in the server. HP ProLiant servers can demonstrate different thermal and cooling characteristics depending of what PCIe cards are installed. Your server should have several BIOS options for fan and cooling levels.
Ideally, you installed using the HP-specific ESXi distribution. If not, you will want to install the Offline Bundle .vib files from HP to provide full platform support for your hardware.
See which version and build number of ESXi you have installed and compare it to what's currently available via VMware's patch site. I'm seeing an increasing number of people who don't update their ESXi installations at all. If you're using an old build (current is 1612806), that could be a contributing factor to your fan woes.

Edit:

Your version of ESXi 5.1 is build 799733 and predates the hardware you're using. Update your ESXi, install the HP drivers if not there and make sure your system BIOS is current.

22,228

Maarten Ureel

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Maarten Ureel over 1 year

Today I installed a second CPU in our HP ProLiant DL380e Gen8, and after booting the fans all went to 99.96%. This causes the server to make an enormous amount of noise.

Could it damage the server? What could I do to fix this? I already removed all the fans and put them back in, rebooted the entire server,...

I'm running HP_ESXi-5.1.0, CPU is twice Intel Xeon E5-2420 0 @ 1.90 GHz.

This is the current memory configuration:

(before - after). Temperatures:
- Philip about 10 years
  
  Sorry if this is a dumb question, but you installed the additional fans that come with the kit, correct?
- ewwhite about 10 years
  
  Do you have any PCIe cards installed?
- Chopper3 about 10 years
  
  Did you change your memory configuration to match the added CPU?
- Maarten Ureel about 10 years
  
  I placed the extra fan (there was one with the CPU). This is what ESX is showing now: Imgur I also changed the memory configuration: Imgur
- ewwhite about 10 years
  
  @MaartenUreel Do you have any PCIe cards installed?
- Maarten Ureel about 10 years
  
  I saw your response but I don't have physical access to the server now. Can I retrieve a list somewhere using console?
- ewwhite about 10 years
  
  @MaartenUreel Log onto the host via SSH and type: lspci
- Maarten Ureel about 10 years
  
  Find the list here: pastebin.com/xDjrur95 (I took the second CPU back out by the way)
- ewwhite about 10 years
  
  @MaartenUreel Only an extra RAID controller. That shouldn't cause issues. You're probably looking at a VMware build issue or HP firmware issue. What is the build number of your ESXi installation?
- Maarten Ureel about 10 years
  
  @ewwhite ESXi 5.1.0 build 799733
- ewwhite about 10 years
  
  @MaartenUreel Please see the answer below. You need to update your host and probably the HP drivers... and likely the host firmware.
Maarten Ureel about 10 years

Should I update from ESXi 5.1 to 5.5 right away?
ewwhite about 10 years

@MaartenUreel You can go from 5.1 to a later version of 5.1. The current build number of 5.1 is 1612806. Moving to 5.5 may not be a good idea unless you're prepared for that migration.
ewwhite about 10 years

@MaartenUreel See this post about cumulative patches. I'd recommend the ESXi 5.1 Update 2 package, build #1483097. You can download that from VMware. Don't forget your server firmware updates.
Maarten Ureel about 10 years

Thank you, I learned a lot from your help. I patched ESX to 1612806, I will perform the firmware updates next monday and put the second CPU back. I'll mark your answer as solution if the fans behave normally.
ewwhite about 10 years

@MaartenUreel Did you complete this?
Maarten Ureel about 10 years

I'm stuck at upgrading the firmware - the Intelligent Provisioning isn't working well, I opened up a seperate topic for this.
Maarten Ureel about 10 years

I didn't notice the error message that appeared for half a second, my bad. I expect the ESX software to show that error to me, or at least that the message doesn't just "flash by".
ewwhite about 10 years

There are lights on the server that show system health. The message wouldn't just "flash by", and the server would sit at an F1 prompt for 20 seconds before starting the boot process if there were an internal hardware problem like a missing fan. So what's wrong? The fan? The fan slot? The motherboard? What if you moved it all back to the original slots? Waste of time.
Maarten Ureel about 10 years

You seem to be agitated :) When the fans went 100% the first time, I removed the CPU again and posted this topic. You advised me update firmware, software,.. which I then did, but the message could not appear or the status light could not flash because the second CPU wasn't in place. It was only two days ago, after I updated everything, I installed the CPU again and saw the message. So it's not like it has been flashing for over 2 weeks. I appreciate your help, but don't get pissed off because my problem was not caused by an outdated firmware.