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Update: I swapped my power supplies in the back and everything started powering up, fans RPM was monentarily higher than idle, with a blue light on front. Then the amber came back for a moment, then back to blue. However my USB devices are not getting any power.

Disk 1 has a solid green light on. Any further ideas as to why external devices are not getting any power? No amber light on the power supplies or HDDs.

I have a Dell PowerEdge 1850 which I received recently for personal experiments. The warehouse assured me that the machine boots to the BIOS screen, but has no OS.

However, I tried plugging a VGA cable into the back, and then the front, and get no signal. I noticed the amber light is on for about 3 seconds after powering on the machine, and then stays off.

I know amber means there is a general problem, but I didn't know if a one 3 second blink on start up meant a more specific error.

What I have tried:

  • Reseat the RAM
  • Reseat the processors
  • Reseat the HDDs
  • Reboot alot
  • Ensure both power cables are plugged in.
  • Boot without any HDDs

What is wrong:

  • Amber light once for three seconds on boot up, then never again
  • No VGA from front or back
  • Disks blink once, for a second, then off
  • No beeps

Can anyone give me any insight into this issue?

Oliver Spryn
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  • Why are you so convinced that there is not a hardware problem with this machine other than the power supply? Like maybe something got fried (like the motherboard)? – mdpc Aug 12 '14 at 23:08
  • @mdpc I'm not, I'm just trying things before I throw in the towel. – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:09

2 Answers2

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Maybe the Video-Adapter was disabled in BIOS? Sometimes people disable the onboard video after setting up ssh and/or use COM instead because you don't want to carry a monitor+keyboard to your server room when you got a laptop (only few servers allow disabling of the primary video if there is no secondary present, though).

Try the following to reset BIOS to default values:

Directly after starting the server up hit F2 for BIOS

Activate the keys (lights on): CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, SCROLL LOCK

Then:

CTRL+E erase

CTRL+F factory defaults

CTRL+B reboot

If it doesn't work try it with ALT instead of CTRL.

As a last resort you can try to unplug the server and carefully remove the CMOS batterie(s) for about 1 minute. This should also reset the BIOS (unless it's flash, I don't know for that particular model).

If you still get no output you should probably send it back unless you didn't check your monitor and your monitor cable :D

Broco
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  • Ok, update... I swapped my power supplies in the back and everything started powering up, with a blue light. Then the amber came back for a moment, then back to blue. However my USB devices are not getting any power. – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:01
  • Disk 1 has a solid green light on. Any further ideas as to why external devices are not getting any power? No amber light on the power supplies – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:02
  • Uhm... maybe. I guess the server got a COM port, hasn't it? If it is not a hardware malfunction (and I start to think it is by now) MAYBE really everything except COM and LAN connection was disabled in the BIOS (including USB and/or PS2) to prevent any kind of access to the server. You can try to connect yourself to the serial port (COM), default Baud-rate is 11520. Notice that both ports can be addressed separately so try both. Or, as I said take the battery out to reset the BIOS. You could also try to remove all but 1 RAM (just for testing EVERYTHING). – Broco Aug 12 '14 at 23:10
  • I'll try a BIOS reset first, then I guess its toast. – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:11
  • Ok try it and keep me posted, I'm curious if it works. P.S.: Who gave this question a downvote? – Broco Aug 12 '14 at 23:19
  • I tried pulling the battery, powered off, and back on with no avail. Thanks for looking into this, but I guess I have to consider this a DOA device. :( +1 for trying. – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:21
  • No problem. But did you unplug the machine first without battery? As long as the board gets juice the CMOS keeps the settings even without battery. – Broco Aug 12 '14 at 23:26
  • Yes, unfortunately, I unplug from the wall each time I open this. – Oliver Spryn Aug 12 '14 at 23:28
  • Well that's the most healthiest approach, both for you and the hardware. :D Well ok, I guess it's garbage then. – Broco Aug 12 '14 at 23:30
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Looking at the Installation and troubleshooting manual, flashing amber lights tend to indicate hardware failure. PSU/Mobo/Disk - http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/poweredge-1850/manuals

Since you've tried a separate power supply, I'd check the blinking patters against that manual it may have insight.

It may sound stupid too, but try reseating the RAM again. i've had weird stuff like that happen on a 1950 I've managed.

Steve Butler
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