How long did your ASROCK c2550d4i or c2750d4i last

[Zou]

I purchased my ASROCK c2550d4i in August 2014.

It run 24/7 and It freezes one or two times in the past 3 or 4 months.

Now it totally won't boot (black screen with VGA cable or "Video Socket Error:Abnormal Termination" in IPMI remote video).

I disconnected all drive, check the RAM (which is in compatibility list), reset cmos/battery removed, upgrade the IPMI DMC, ... but still black screen.

So I google about Asrock c2550 issues and I found this topic, it seems I'm not the only one.

My Asrock c2550d4i worked 25 months :(

 

[Johannez]

If everyone would also mention if they had/have Watchdog enabled or disabled it could give more insight if this really is the cause of the problems.

Maybe the topic starter could add this in his post.

I don't have Watchdog enabled.

 

[Naamarauta]

Well my server with C2550D4I just died. Lasted 13 months, still investigating if its power supply or the motherboard.

Emailed AsRock technical support today and also created a thread to this forum, lets see. Would be very interested about your power voltage readings.

I could check my watchdog settings if its possible through IPMI, I dont seem to be able to find it. I do know that its in default setting as I have not changed it.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/asrock-c2550d4l-stopped-posting.46273/

 

[shiphtfour]

Purchased my C2550D4I in November 2015, died last night with the exact same symptoms that many other owners are reporting (Fan starts spinning for ~4 secs and then cuts out, won't post and no VGA). Sounds like there was a bad batch made about a year ago...

 

[theirman]

Purchased and installed the C2750D4I in march 2014.
Died on me last sunday 2016-10-16.

 

[nickt]

Anyone watching this thread who has one of these boards still in operation: you may be able to prevent certain death by disabling the watchdog in BIOS and in FreeNAS. I've written a short guide on how to do this.

@shiphtfour, @theirman - given that your boards have only recently died (and you may not have sent them back yet), it would be really interesting to see whether you've suffered the same fate. In my case, the BMC was still running and I was able to temporarily resurrect my board by logging into IPMI, making a couple of trivial configuration changes (it doesn't matter what - logging config would be a good example), saving changes, removing power from the wall and then successfully booting up. Might take a couple of goes.

If you can get your system going again, boot into FreeNAS (I'd recommend disconnecting your precious disks before doing this), TelNet or SSH into your IPMI IP address, then run the command:

Code:

inotifywait -mr -e close_write /conf/

In a bad system, you'll see the following file written to every second:

Code:

conf/BMC1/ CLOSE_WRITE,CLOSE IPMIConfig.dat

It won't bring your board back, but at least you'll know you're in the club!!

Nick

 

[nickt]

If everyone would also mention if they had/have Watchdog enabled or disabled it could give more insight if this really is the cause of the problems.

Maybe the topic starter could add this in his post.

I don't have Watchdog enabled.

Note that to avoid this issue, you must disable the watchdog both in BIOS *and* in FreeNAS. Reproduced from the current and relevant open bug report #16190, here are the four possible outcomes:

Would be interesting to know about both settings.

 

[Ericloewe]

It should be noted that the next update, 9.10.1-U3, should include a workaround for this issue, too.

 

[Arwen]

Looking around, I was not able to find what flash chip is used, though it's location on the board seems to be well documented. It
even appears to be in a socket.

Does anyone know if it's possible to buy a replacement BMC flash chip, and make it work the the ASRock Rack C2x59D4i boards?

 

[Ericloewe]

Looking around, I was not able to find what flash chip is used, though it's location on the board seems to be well documented. It
even appears to be in a socket.

Does anyone know if it's possible to buy a replacement BMC flash chip, and make it work the the ASRock Rack C2x59D4i boards?

It's a Winbond W25X40CLSIG 512KB SPI flash device.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-and-poor-customer-service.45762/#post-310894
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...oor-customer-service.45762/page-2#post-311245

Note that configuration is separate from the actual BMC firmware ROM, which is on the socketed chip.

 

[Arwen]

It's a Winbond W25X40CLSIG 512KB SPI flash device.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-and-poor-customer-service.45762/#post-310894
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...oor-customer-service.45762/page-2#post-311245

Note that configuration is separate from the actual BMC firmware ROM, which is on the socketed chip.

Rats, I was hoping it was socketed.

 

[nickt]

A brief update to say that William from ASRock tells me that their BMC team in global HQ are working on a firmware fix for this. No ETA for firmware update.

 

[theirman]

Is there a possibility to get the board replaced for "free" or with a discount if this proves to be a bug on their side?
Or are you just out of luck because the warranty has passed by now?

 

[Ericloewe]

Is there a possibility to get the board replaced for "free" or with a discount if this proves to be a bug on their side?
Or are you just out of luck because the warranty has passed by now?

YMMV. Point it out to them and see what they have to say.

If you've got good soldering skills, the EEPROM isn't too fine a pitch to replace - it should be easy to find, sub-0.50 buck part even in small quantities. The greatest difficulty is the DIMM slot right next to it.

Afterwards, I assume that the BMC firmware knows how to deal with an empty config EEPROM. I can't imagine it taking more than an emergency BMC flash to get working.

 

[nickt]

Is there a possibility to get the board replaced for "free" or with a discount if this proves to be a bug on their side?
Or are you just out of luck because the warranty has passed by now?

The boards have a 3 year warranty - so most likely you are covered. If you're in the US, I understand that ASRock Rack's RMA process will serve you well. Get started here:

http://event.asrock.com/usrma/

If, like me, you're elsewhere in the world.... good luck.

Nick

 

[theirman]

Unfortunately I am in Europe :( But I'll give it a shot...

 

[nickt]

Unfortunately I am in Europe :( But I'll give it a shot...

For Europe, you should use the global RMA request form:

http://event.asrockrack.com/tsd.asp

Then wait.

You may find that it is better to approach your retailer for warranty support. Certainly, in Australia, consumer protections are stronger when seeking recourse through the retailer than the manufacturer.

 

[cods69]

Geez, glad I came across this thread. Had a C2750D4I since Dec 2015 here, no related dramas as yet.
I'll be making these changes tonight though, that's for sure.

Has anyone heard which firmware versions this applies to, or is it all?

 

[Stux]

Geez, glad I came across this thread. Had a C2750D4I since Dec 2015 here, no related dramas as yet.
I'll be making these changes tonight though, that's for sure.

Has anyone heard which firmware versions this applies to, or is it all?

Believe its all. They haven't released a firmware to fix it yet, but the scuttlebutt is that they're working on one.

 

[cods69]

Believe its all. They haven't released a firmware to fix it yet, but the scuttlebutt is that they're working on one.

OK cool thanks.
Found it was already disabled in the BIOS (can't remember if I set it from a guide or was default, that was a whole year ago!)
Thrown that tunable in too so hopefully I'm safe from that one. Man, that's a pretty serious screw up, along with some excellent detective work by somebody!