IBM X3200 M2 Fan running at full speed? Noisy

Question

One of the FANs (the one cooling the hard drives I think) in our IBM X3200 M2 started running at full speed and make a loud noise.

Anyone encountered this problem and know how to fix this?

Solution

Does the server have the RSA2 card? Log into it if so, or use the IBM tools from the operating system to see if you've got something going on with a component running hot. You should be able to get a read out of most major components and all the fans.

That being said, sometimes all you need to do is turn it off and on again.

Comments

[John Gardeniers]

Start by carefully feeling around the area of that fan for heat. There just might be a reason for it to be going full speed.

[Atlas]

I tried feeling the HDDs, didn't seem hot to me. Still investigating...

[Paul Gear]

Usually when I talk to IBM about these sort of issues they recommend a firmware upgrade. Check out their Bootable Media Creator (BMC), make a CD/USB image for your particular model, and see if the upgrade helps. Beware, though - I've had failed firmware upgrades break systems completely in the past (but not on your particular model).

[Atlas]

Doesn't have RSA2 in it, will try to use the software tools to find the problem.