Ode to the Dell C2100/FS12-TY

Pascal666

Dabbler
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
11
How long did you let it run after changing firmware? All versions will start out on high and versions 1.7 and older will then gradually slow the fans down. I don't power cycle mine often, but I'm thinking it was 5 to 10 minutes or something. It would be nice if you could measure it and let us know.
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
Ok I ran it for 30 minutes with very little change. Here is the rpm reading every 5 minutes.
Startup: Fan1=7800, Fan2=7800, PCI Fan=3600
5 Min: Fan1=7600, Fan2=7600, PCI Fan=3600
10 Min: Fan1=7700, Fan2=7600, PCI Fan=3600
15 Min: Fan1=7800, Fan2=7600, PCI Fan=3700
20 Min: Fan1=7600, Fan2=7700, PCI Fan=3600
25 Min: Fan1=7600, Fan2=7500, PCI Fan=3600
30 Min: Fan1=7700, Fan2=7600, PCI Fan=3600
 

Redcoat

MVP
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Messages
2,924
After reboot, my fans run up to a very noisy level for maybe a minute, perhaps less, then "within a couple of minutes" run down to their "normal levels" - at present 3100, 3000, 3000, respectively. This is with BMC 1.66, BIOS B16.
 

Pascal666

Dabbler
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
11
What OS are you running? Perhaps it won't slow down until it actually starts booting an OS? I use CentOS.

Do you have the case closed and the baffle in place? If air is not being routed correctly it may run the fans faster to compensate.
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
I have it booting straight to Freenas. The baffle is in place and the case it closed. Ill try booting whatever linux distro I have saved and seeing if that make a difference.
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
I installed centOS 7 on drive and it made no difference. 1 thing i did notice is the amber warning light on the front pannel is blinking but i do not have any events being shown in ipmi. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the fans running so fast.
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
I installed centOS 7 on drive and it made no difference. 1 thing i did notice is the amber warning light on the front pannel is blinking but i do not have any events being shown in ipmi. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the fans running so fast.
 

Mirfster

Doesn't know what he's talking about
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Messages
3,215
Just received my C2100 and first thing I noticed was how loud the fans were. IN IPMI the fans were spinning anywhere from 7500-8000rpms. I flashed BMC version 1.70 and bios B16. This had no change. I tried BMC 1.66, still no change. Does anyone has any ideas for me to try to get these fan speeds down?

When the system is first started (from cold start) it will be loud, but within a minute it should quiet down. Is this not the case for you?
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
When the system is first started (from cold start) it will be loud, but within a minute it should quiet down. Is this not the case for you?
No, from cold start to 30 minutes and beyond. I have BMC version 1.70 and bios version B16. The fan baffle is installed, the case is closed, and drive bays with no disk in them I have drive blanks installed. I have no event logs shown in ipmi. The main fans 1&2 spin around 7600rpm and the pci fan spins around 3600rpm. And they don't really change much.
 

Mirfster

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No, from cold start to 30 minutes and beyond. I have BMC version 1.70 and bios version B16. The fan baffle is installed, the case is closed, and drive bays with no disk in them I have drive blanks installed. I have no event logs shown in ipmi. The main fans 1&2 spin around 7600rpm and the pci fan spins around 3600rpm. And they don't really change much.
Hmm, something is off then. Can you post some screenshots of the system info (from IPMI)?

For reference, here is one of mine:
upload_2018-3-27_8-17-43.png


upload_2018-3-27_8-17-59.png


upload_2018-3-27_8-18-11.png
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
Ok here are some screenshots from ipmi, note that the fan speeds are roughly 10-15 minutes after booting into OS.
EnUiFU8.png


Z45RxnA.png


dBa4HtZ.png
 

Mirfster

Doesn't know what he's talking about
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Oct 2, 2015
Messages
3,215
Apologies, I am not on the forums as much as I used to be.

Your system appears to be pretty much the same and I would assume should work like the rest. Let me double check a few of my other systems to compare. In the meantime, I would suggest you double check the connections, heat sinks and maybe even re-flash.

While rare, I have seen in the past where a re-flash was needed to acquire the desired results.
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
Apologies, I am not on the forums as much as I used to be.

Your system appears to be pretty much the same and I would assume should work like the rest. Let me double check a few of my other systems to compare. In the meantime, I would suggest you double check the connections, heat sinks and maybe even re-flash.

While rare, I have seen in the past where a re-flash was needed to acquire the desired results.

It's not a problem, I have flashed different versions of the BMC and bios. I will check the connections after work. I have also considered removing 1 proc and the ram for that proc as well as the lsi 9211 card. I'm curious if it will continue the rapid speed with minimal hardware. I appreciate the response.
 

Mirfster

Doesn't know what he's talking about
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Oct 2, 2015
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3,215
It's not a problem, I have flashed different versions of the BMC and bios. I will check the connections after work. I have also considered removing 1 proc and the ram for that proc as well as the lsi 9211 card. I'm curious if it will continue the rapid speed with minimal hardware. I appreciate the response.

FWIW, my main ESXi system that houses FreeNAS is pretty much decked out with:
  • 2x Xeon X5650 CPUs
  • 98 GB RAM (12x8GB Sticks)
  • H200 (Mezzanine Slot / Cross Flashed) Dell P/N: 85M9R
  • Intel 10 GB Fiber Channel Dual Port Host Bus Adapter (Dedicated Slot On MB) Dell P/N: JPYNN
  • 1x LSI 4 Port External HBA (I think a SAS9201-16E) in the Bottom PCI Slot
  • 1x LSI 2 Port External HBA (I think a SAS9200-8e) in the Top PCI Slot
  • 12x 2TB Hitachi HDs
  • 2 or 3 SSDs Internally (Can't recall, I have modded some of the fan cowls to mount additional SSDs)
  • Dual Power Supplies
Of course:
  • I use Copper Based Heatsinks for better heat dissipation, like these: Example URL
  • Lower Voltage Memory might be these IIRC: Example URL

A thought just popped in my head about the connections, in the past I was testing a system with a Raid Card in the top PCI Slot. Anyways, that card was running very hot and my fans were going whacko. It dawned on me that I had the far left fan (while facing the front of the system) incorrectly connected to the center port on the backplane (instead of the leftmost one)... So while the system properly knew to try and cool the left side, it was inadvertently increasing the RPMs on the Center and Right fans (which did little to nothing at cooling the PCI Slots). When I corrected the connections, things went back to operating as desired.

Since your screenshot shows both System1 and System2 having high RPMs, I would assume that the heat issue maybe isolated to the CPUs/RAM (if fan connections are correct).
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
Well I'm dumbfounded. I have re-seated all the connections & hardware. Re-flashed the BMC and the bios several times. Booted several OS's and still get a constant ~7700rpm fan speed. Was really expecting a semi-quite system, but I think this system is destined for the garage. No way could I sleep with it in the next room.
 

Mirfster

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Oct 2, 2015
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3,215
Well I'm dumbfounded. I have re-seated all the connections & hardware. Re-flashed the BMC and the bios several times. Booted several OS's and still get a constant ~7700rpm fan speed. Was really expecting a semi-quite system, but I think this system is destined for the garage. No way could I sleep with it in the next room.

If you are willing, I would be interested in trading you one of my motherboards for yours. Hit me up if interested.
 

droeders

Contributor
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
179
1 thing i did notice is the amber warning light on the front pannel is blinking but i do not have any events being shown in ipmi. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the fans running so fast.

I don't have one of these machines, but that blinking LED would concern me. If it's the fault LED, here's the description:

Blinks amber in the event of a noncritical failure, such as fan, voltage or temperature state.

The manual says to check the SEL, as you have done. Can you force an event into the SEL to make sure it's working? Something like the CMOS cleared by jumper that they describe on page 32 (PDF page 36) of this manual:

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/a...ucts/poweredge-c2100_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

Also, can you dump all the sensor readings from ipmitool within Linux or BSD? Run something like:
Code:
ipmitool sensor list
 

cheath94

Dabbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
11
I don't have one of these machines, but that blinking LED would concern me. If it's the fault LED, here's the description:

Blinks amber in the event of a noncritical failure, such as fan, voltage or temperature state.

The manual says to check the SEL, as you have done. Can you force an event into the SEL to make sure it's working? Something like the CMOS cleared by jumper that they describe on page 32 (PDF page 36) of this manual:

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_cloud_products/poweredge-c2100_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

Also, can you dump all the sensor readings from ipmitool within Linux or BSD? Run something like:
Code:
ipmitool sensor list
Thanks for the reply, I figured out what the non critical warning light was on for. One of the wall sockets I was using for power apparently is wore out, so in turn one of the psu's was not powered up throwing a non critical event. Used a different plug and now it's good to go.
 

BetYourBottom

Contributor
Joined
Nov 26, 2016
Messages
141
Could someone with the mezzanine HBA post some pictures and measurements of the plastic standoffs it connects to the main board with? Mine didn't come with any and I want to see if I can get a friend of mine to 3d model some for me so that I can order some 3d printed copies.

Unless you guys know of a place I can buy the standoff directly but I would've thought that they would be uncommon or specific to the board.
 
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