Dell PowerEdge XK946 User manual

Dell™ PowerEdge™ R900 Systems
Hardware Owner’s Manual

Notes, Notices, and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data
and tells you how to avoid the problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury,
or death.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2007 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly
forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell and the DELL logo are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel and Xeon are
registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks and
Windows Server is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Novell and NetWare are registered
trademarks of Novell, Inc.; Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc.; SUSE is a registered
trademark of SUSE LINUX Products GmbH.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
September 2007 P/N XK946 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
1 About Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Other Information You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Accessing System Features During Startup . . . . . . 12
Front Panel Features and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . 13
Hard Drive Indicator Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Connecting External Devices . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Back Panel Features and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . 19
Connecting External Devices . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Power Indicator Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
NIC Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
LCD Status Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Solving Problems Described by LCD Status Messages 33
Removing LCD Status Messages . . . . . . . . . 33
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Diagnostics Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Alert Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2 Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . 41
Entering the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . 41

4Contents
Responding to Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . 42
System Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Main Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Memory Information Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CPU Information Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Integrated Devices Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
PCI IRQ Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Serial Communication Screen . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Embedded Server Management Screen . . . . . . 48
System Security Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Security Screen . 49
Exit Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
System and Setup Password Features . . . . . . . . . 49
Using the System Password . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Using the Setup Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Disabling a Forgotten Password . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Baseboard Management Controller Configuration . . . 54
Entering the BMC Setup Module . . . . . . . . . . 55
BMC Setup Module Options . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3 Installing System Components . . . . . . . . 57
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Inside the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Removing and Installing the Top Cover . . . . . . . . . 59
Removing the Top Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Installing the Top Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Contents 5
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Removing a Drive Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Installing a Drive Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Removing a Hot-Plug Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . 64
Installing a Hot-Plug Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . 65
Replacing a Hard Drive Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Removing a Hard Drive From a Hard Drive Carrier 66
Installing a SAS Hard Drive Into a SATAu Drive Carrier 66
Installing a SATA Hard Drive Into a SATAu Hard Drive Carrier 67
Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Removing a Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Installing a Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
System Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Removing a Front System Fan . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Hot-plugging a Front System Fan . . . . . . . . . 71
Removing a Back System Fan . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Installing a Back System Fan . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Hot-plugging a Back System Fan . . . . . . . . . 73
Removing a Back System Fan Housing . . . . . . 74
Installing a Back System Fan Housing . . . . . . . 75
Cooling Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Removing the Cooling Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Installing the Cooling Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . 77
SAS Controller Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Removing a SAS Controller Card . . . . . . . . . 80
Installing an SAS Controller Card . . . . . . . . . 80
SAS and SAS RAID Controller Card Cabling Guidelines 80
RAID Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Installing a RAID Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

6Contents
Removing a RAID Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Configuring the Boot Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
PCI Express Add-in Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Installing a PCI Express Card . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Removing a PCI Express Card . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Installing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Replacing an Optical Drive Mounting Tray . . . . . . . 90
Removing an Optical Drive From an Optical Drive Mounting Tray
90
Installing an Optical Drive Into an Optical Drive Mounting Tray
92
System Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
General Memory Module Installation Guidelines . 92
Non-Optimal Memory Configurations . . . . . . . 93
Memory Sparing Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Memory Mirroring Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Removing a Memory Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Installing a Memory Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Memory Population Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Removing the Memory Riser Cover . . . . . . . . 99
Installing Memory Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Removing Memory Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Removing a Processor Heat Sink . . . . . . . . . 101
Installing a Processor Heat Sink . . . . . . . . . . 104
Removing a Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Installing a Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Contents 7
System Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Replacing the System Battery . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Activating the NIC TOE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
I/O Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Removing the I/O Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Installing the I/O Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Installing a DRAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
SAS Backplane (Service-only Procedure) . . . . . . . 114
Removing the SAS Backplane (3.5" Hard Drives) . 114
Installing the SAS Backplane (3.5-inch Hard Drives) 116
Removing the SAS Backplane (2.5-inch Hard Drives) 116
Installing the SAS Backplane (2.5" Hard Drives) . . 119
Power Interposer Board (Service-only Procedure) . . 119
Removing the Power Interposer Board . . . . . . 119
Installing the Power Interposer Board . . . . . . . 121
System Board (Service-only Procedure) . . . . . . . . 122
Removing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Installing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4 Troubleshooting Your System . . . . . . . . 127
Safety First—For You and Your System . . . . . . . . . 127
Start-Up Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Checking the Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Troubleshooting IRQ Assignment Conflicts . . . . 128
Troubleshooting External Connections . . . . . . 129
Troubleshooting the Video Subsystem . . . . . . . 129
Troubleshooting the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . 130

8Contents
Troubleshooting the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Troubleshooting Basic I/O Functions . . . . . . . . . . 131
Troubleshooting a Serial I/O Device . . . . . . . . 132
Troubleshooting a USB Device . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Troubleshooting a NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Troubleshooting a Wet System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Troubleshooting a Damaged System . . . . . . . . . . 135
Troubleshooting the System Battery . . . . . . . . . . 136
Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Troubleshooting System Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Troubleshooting a Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Troubleshooting System Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Troubleshooting an Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Troubleshooting a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Troubleshooting a SAS or SAS RAID Controller Card . 144
Troubleshooting Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Troubleshooting Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5 Running the System Diagnostics . . . . . . 149
Using PowerEdge Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
System Diagnostics Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
When to Use the System Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . 150
Executing System Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Contents 9
System Diagnostics Testing Options . . . . . . . . . . 150
Using the Custom Test Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Selecting Devices for Testing . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Selecting Diagnostics Options . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Viewing Information and Results . . . . . . . . . 152
6 Jumpers and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . 153
System Board Jumpers and Connectors . . . . . . . . 153
System Board Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
SAS Backplane Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Power Interposer Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Disabling a Forgotten Password . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
7 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 167
Support Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Dell Enterprise Training and Certification . . . . . . . 167
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 167
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

10 Contents
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

About Your System 11
1
About Your System
This section describes the physical, firmware, and software interface features
that provide and ensure the essential functioning of your system. The
physical connectors on your system’s front and back panels provide
convenient connectivity and system expansion capability. The system
firmware, applications, and operating systems monitor the system and
component status and alert you when a problem arises. System conditions
can be reported by any of the following:
• Front or back panel indicators
• System messages
• Warning messages
• Diagnostics messages
•Alertmessages
This section describes each type of message, lists the possible causes, and
provides steps to resolve any problems indicated by a message. The system
indicators and features are illustrated in this section.
Other Information You May Need
CAUTION: The Product Information Guide provides important safety and
regulatory information. Warranty information may be included within this
document or as a separate document.
•The Rack Installation Guide or Rack Installation Instructions included
with your rack solution describes how to install your system into a rack.
•The
Getting Started Guide provides an overview of system features,
setting up your system, and technical specifications.
• CDs included with your system provide documentation and tools for
configuring and managing your system.

12 About Your System
• Systems management software documentation describes the features,
requirements, installation, and basic operation of the software.
• Operating system documentation describes how to install (if necessary),
configure, and use the operating system software.
• Documentation for any components you purchased separately provides
information to configure and install these options.
• Updates are sometimes included with the system to describe changes to
the system, software, and/or documentation.
NOTE: Always check for updates on support.dell.com and read the updates first
because they often supersede information in other documents.
• Release notes or readme files may be included to provide last-minute
updates to the system or documentation or advanced technical reference
material intended for experienced users or technicians.
Accessing System Features During Startup
Table 1-1 describes keystrokes that may be entered during startup to access
system features. If your operating system begins to load before you enter the
keystroke, allow the system to finish booting, and then restart your system
and try again.
Table 1-1. Keystrokes for Accessing System Functions
Keystroke Description
<F2> Enters the System Setup program. See "Using the System Setup
Program" on page 41.
<F10> Opens the utility partition, allowing you to run the system
diagnostics. See "Running the System Diagnostics " on page 149 .
<F11> Enters the boot menu.
<F12> Enters the PXE boot.
<Ctrl><c> Enters the SAS Configuration Utility. See your
SAS adapter User’s
Guide
for more information.
<Ctrl><e> Enters the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) Management
Utility, which allows access to the system event log (SEL). See the
BMC User’s Guide for more information on setup and use of BMC.

About Your System 13
Front Panel Features and Indicators
Figure 1-1 shows the controls, indicators, connectors, and drives on the
system's front panel.
Figure 1-1. Front Panel Features and Indicators
<Ctrl><r> Enters the RAID configuration utility, which allows you to configure
an optional RAID card. For more information, see the documentation
for your RAID card.
<Ctrl><s> Option is displayed only if you have PXE support enabled through the
System Setup Program (see "Using the System Setup Program" on
page 41). This keystroke allows you to configure NIC settings for PXE
boot. For more information, see the documentation for your
integrated NIC.
<Ctrl><d> If you have the optional Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC), this
keystroke allows access to selected DRAC configuration settings. See
the
DRAC User’s Guide for more information on setup and use of
DRAC.
Table 1-1. Keystrokes for Accessing System Functions
Keystroke Description
123 45 6 87

14 About Your System
1Power button/indicator. The power-on indicator lights when the
system power is on.
The power button controls the DC
power supply output to the system.
NOTE: If you turn off the system using the
power button and the system is running an
ACPI-compliant operating system, the
system performs a graceful shutdown
before the power is turned off. If the
system is not running an ACPI-compliant
operating system, the power is turned off
immediately after the power button is
pressed.
2NMI button. Used to troubleshoot software and
device driver errors when using certain
operating systems. This button can be
pressed using the end of a paper clip.
Use this button only if directed to do so
by qualified support personnel or by the
operating system's documentation.
3System identification button. The identification buttons on the front
and back panels can be used to locate a
particular system within a rack. When
one of these buttons is pushed, the LCD
panel on the front and the blue system
status indicator on the back blink until
one of the buttons is pushed again.

About Your System 15
Hard Drive Indicator Codes
The hard drive carriers have two indicators—the drive-activity indicator and
the drive-status indicator.
4LCD panel. Provides system ID, status information,
and system error messages.
The LCD lights during normal system
operation. Both the systems
management software and the
identification buttons located on the
front and back of the system can cause
the LCD to flash blue to identify a
particular system.
The LCD lights amber when the system
needs attention, and the LCD panel
displays an error code followed by
descriptive text.
If the system is connected to AC power
and an error has been detected, the LCD
lights amber regardless of whether the
system has been powered on.
5USB connectors (2). Connects USB 2.0-compliant devices to
the system.
6Video connector. Connects a monitor to the system.
7Hard drives. Eight 2.5-inch hot-plug or five 3.5-inch
hot-plug.
8Optical drive. One slimline optical drive.

16 About Your System
Figure 1-2. Hard Drive Indicators
The Activity LED indicates command activity between the hard disk drives
and storage controller.
The Status LED is a bi-color (Green/Amber) LED that indicates the state of a
drive in a slot. The color and blink rate of the LED indicates the state of the
drive as shown in Table 1-2.
1green and amber drive-status
indicator
2green drive-activity indicator
1
2

About Your System 17
Table 1-2. Hard Drive Indicators
Pattern Green element Amber eLement Drive/slot state
Slot empty Off Off The slot is empty, an
unsupported drive is
present, the drive has
been spun down for
removal (Ready for
Removal), or a new
drive has been inserted,
and the state has not
been updated by the
RAID controller.
Drive online On Off The drive is either
online, ready, a hotspare
or a foreign drive.
Drive identify
(prep for removal)
On ~250mS
Off ~250mS
Off The slot is being
identified because of a
user request (either a
drive identify or a
preparing for removal
was requested).
Drive rebuilding On ~400mS
Off ~100mS
Off The drive is being
written to, to make a
virtual disk redundant.
Drive failed Off On ~150mS
Off ~150mS
The RAID controller
can no longer access or
control (read/write to)
the drive because it has
detected an
unrecoverable fault
(after it has completed
its error handling) on
the drive.
Predicted Failure
(SMART)
On ~500mS
Off ~500mS
Off ~1000S
Off ~500mS
On ~500mS
Predictive failure event
has been reported by
the drive.

18 About Your System
In RAID configurations, the drive-status indicator lights to indicate the status
of the drive.
NOTE: For non-RAID configurations, only the drive-activity indicator is active. The
drive-status indicator is off.
Table 1-2 lists the drive indicator patterns for RAID hard drives. Different
patterns are displayed as drive events occur in the system. For example, if a
hard drive fails, the "drive failed" pattern appears. After the drive is selected
for removal, the "drive being prepared for removal" pattern appears, followed
by the "drive ready for insertion or removal" pattern. After the replacement
drive is installed, the "drive being prepared for operation" pattern appears,
followed by the "drive online" pattern.
Connecting External Devices
When connecting external devices to your system, follow these guidelines:
• Most devices must be connected to a specific connector and device drives
must be installed before the device operates properly. (Device drivers are
normally included with your operating system software or with the device
itself.) See the documentation that accompanied the device for specific
installation and configuration instructions.
• Always attach external devices while your system and the device are turned
off. Next, turn on any external devices before turning on the system
(unless the documentation for the device specifies otherwise).
Rebuild Abort On ~3000mS
Off ~9000mS
Off ~6000mS
On ~3000mS
Off ~3000mS
The drive has been
spun down by a user
request (Prepare to
Remove operation), or
had a rebuild operation
on it aborted by a user
action or due to any
reason other than a
drive failure.
Table 1-2. Hard Drive Indicators
Pattern Green element Amber eLement Drive/slot state

About Your System 19
For information about individual connectors, see "Jumpers and Connectors"
on page 153. For information about enabling, disabling, and configuring I/O
ports and connectors, see "Using the System Setup Program" on page 41.
Back Panel Features and Indicators
Figure 1-3 shows the controls, indicators, and connectors located on the
system's back panel.
Figure 1-3. Back Panel Features and Indicators
1USB connectors (2) 2Video connector
3Serial connector 4Expansion card filler bracket
5DRAC network connector 6Network connectors (4)
7System identification button 8Intrusion LED
9Power supply 10 Power connector
11 Power supply lever 12 Power supply latch
1234 78
12 11 10 9
56

20 About Your System
Connecting External Devices
When connecting external devices to your system, follow these guidelines:
• Most devices must be connected to a specific connector and device drivers
must be installed before the device operates properly. (Device drivers are
normally included with your operating system software or with the device
itself.) See the documentation that accompanied the device for specific
installation and configuration instructions.
• Always attach external devices while your system and the device are turned
off. Next, turn on any external devices before turning on the system
(unless the documentation for the device specifies otherwise).
For information about individual connectors, see "Jumpers and Connectors"
on page 153. For information about enabling, disabling, and configuring I/O
ports and connectors, see "Using the System Setup Program" on page 41.
Power Indicator Codes
The power button on the front panel controls the power input to the system's
power supplies. The power indicator lights green when the system is on.
The indicators on the redundant power supplies show whether power is
present or whether a power fault has occurred (see Figure 1-4). Table 1-3 lists
the power supply indicator codes.