Intel Server Motherboards interfacing with Redundant Power Supplies from Third Party Vendors

[BHugh1]

I have Rack Mounted Server assembly that we utilize a Chenbro Chassis with a redundant power supply unit. My basic requirement is to monitor the status of the redundant power supplies via the Intel SNMP Agent. I have been unable to find the specific requirements of the power supply that are needed to provide the Intel Server motherboard with so the BMC will monitor the status of the redundant power supplies. The chassis manufacturer does not seem very open to discussing this and if they understand the requirements and provide what is necessary on the power supply end.

My current power supply is a AcBel Model PS-R2IS7871A-G

My current Intel motherboard is a S1400FP2

Reviewing the technical specifications of the motherboard, it definitely supports monitoring redundant power supplies as there are multiple entries discussion this topic, but no specific mention of requirements.

I have noticed on the S1200RPM motherboard test for redundancy of power unit during a bios/bmc update , but it doesn't appear the S1400FP2 does.

I will attempt to take my power supply and hook it to the S1200RPM motherboard and see if it will monitor the redundant power supply units, but that doesn't solve my problem as my project requires an E5 processor.

I also understand I can solve this problem with using a Intel Server System, but the server system that meet my other requirements will cost $1000 more per unit, which is wasteful on a project that needs 20 units.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brady

[Edward_Z_Intel]

Yes the board does support monitoring PSU status, but you'll need to connect the 5-pin PS AUX cable from PSU to the board (J9A1), which provides I2C monitoring of the power supply. Does your PSU come with that cable?

For more details please refer to the http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb-s1400fp/sb/CS-033650.htm Technical product specification.

[BHugh1]

The power supply does have a 5 pin PS AUX cable. Is Intel calling the PS AUX what others are referring to as the PMBus? If so, I should be able to make the connection between the PMBus specification and the BMI Sensor Tables in the Intel TPS to what information from the PMBus is being used by the BMI to determine the Power Unit Redundancy Status.

The Intel TPS does refer to PMBus being required but only for determine power consumption and use in Intel Node Manager. The current consumption entries in Intel Active System console show " no sensor found" . Based on that information, it appears that the PS Aux cable from the power supply isn't compatible with the motherboard or I am missing a setup step to make the motherboard monitor the PMBus. If it isn't compatible, it appears I currently have no way to determine where the issue is or who is at fault if the PMBus v1.2 specification is what determined the communication over the PS Aux cable.

Does anyone know of a certain procedure that is required for the BMI to use the PS Aux connection?

I am only aware of a re-flash of the firmware to make it re-scan sensors.

Is anyone aware of any utilities to view what is coming in the PS Aux interface from the EFI Shell or Windows (Other than through Intel Active System Console)?

Thanks,

Brady

[Edward_Z_Intel]

Did you run FRUSDR update AFTER plugging that AUX power cable?

[DSilv11]

a couple common reasons 3rd party PSU have issues are:

• I2C address of the PSU and PDB is incorrect.BMC expects :
  • PSU1 at B0 device \ A0 FRU
  • PSU2 B2 device \ A2 FRU
• PEC (Packet Error Checking) not enabled in the PSU

IPMITOOL & IPMIUTIL (both on sourceforge.com) can be used to check communications between the base board and the power supply.

Here are a few IPMItool commands to check PSU communications

Since these are "raw" commands, they bypass the BMC logic and read the directly.

Power supply capabilities

ipmitool raw 0x06 0x52 0x0f 0xb0 0x01 0x19

Checks PS1 PMBus revision

ipmitool raw 0x06 0x52 0x0f 0xb0 0x01 0x98

Read PS1 FRU data

ipmitool raw 0x06 0x52 0x0f 0xA0 0x0f 0x00

Checking PS2 PMBUS revision

ipmitool raw 0x06 0x52 0x0f 0xB2 0x01 0x98

Checking PS2 FRU

ipmitool raw 0x06 0x52 0x0F 0xA2 0x0f 0x00

If the response back is "Unable to send RAW command (channel=0x0 netfn=0x6 lun=0x0 cmd=0x52 rsp=0x83): Unknown (0x83)" then your PSU is not present at the correct I2C address (or the wires are not hooked up)

[BHugh1]

I did not find a way to use IPMItool on windows, appears it will need to be recompiled.

I tried the ipmiutil but so far have not uncovered all the information I needed to do the commands you spelled out for the ipmitool. all attempts have failed. It appears the raw command structure is different.

I did use the ipmiutil on windows and found the following information:

1. ipmiutil sensor

a. from S1400FP2 Motherboard with ACbel PS

0048 SDR FRU 11 0e dev: 20 02 80 00 07 01 PS1

0049 SDR FRU 11 0e dev: 20 03 80 00 07 02 PS2

b. From Intel R1304RP Server System

004a SDR FRU 11 0e dev: 20 02 80 00 07 35 PS1

Based on the limited research I have done so far, it appears these are the addresses of the power supplies.

2. ipmiutil fru

a. from S1400FP2 Motherboard with ACbel PS

C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\ipmiutil-2.9.2-win64>ipmiutil fru

ipmiutil ver 2.92ifru: version 2.92-- BMC version 1.19, IPMI version 2.0--- Scanning SDR Repository for 121 SDRs ---SDR[0047] FRU 20 00 07 00 Baseboard[Baseboard,20,00] Baseboard FRU Size : 8192[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Type : Rack-Mount Chassis[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Part Number : ..................[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Serial Num : 01[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis OEM Field : ...............................[Baseboard,20,00] Board Mfg DateTime : Sat May 18 11:09:00 2013[Baseboard,20,00] Board Manufacturer : Intel Corporation[Baseboard,20,00] Board Product Name : S1400FP[Baseboard,20,00] Board Serial Number : AZFP32000297[Baseboard,20,00] Board Part Number : G51107-203[Baseboard,20,00] Board FRU File ID : FRU Ver 0.01[Baseboard,20,00] Product Manufacturer: Intel Corporation[Baseboard,20,00] Product Name : S1400FP[Baseboard,20,00] Product Part Number : ..........[Baseboard,20,00] Product Version : ....................[Baseboard,20,00] Product Serial Num : ............[Baseboard,20,00] Product Asset Tag : ....................[Baseboard,20,00] Product FRU File ID :[Baseboard,20,00] System GUID : 17f87a60-bfcc-11e2-bbfa-001e6784ce10SDR[0048] FRU 20 02 07 01 PS1 FRU(20,2) device busySDR[0049] FRU 20 03 07 02 PS2 FRU(20,3) device busySDR[004a] FRU 20 04 07 03 FP FRU(20,4) device busySDR[004b] FRU 20 05 07 03 HSBP1 FRU(20,5) device busySDR[004c] FRU 20 06 07 03 HSBP2 FRU(20,6) device busySDR[004d] FRU 20 07 07 03 HSBP3 FRU(20,7) device busySDR[004e] IPMB 20 00 07 2e Basbrd Mgmt CtlrSDR[004f] IPMB 2c 06 2e 05 ME

[SysInfo ,20,00] BIOS Version : SE5C600.86B.02.01.0002.082220131453

[SysInfo ,20,00] System Name : RMManager[SysInfo ,20,00] Pri Operating System: SUSE Server 1.0[SysInfo ,20,00] Sec Operating System:ipmiutil fru, completed successfully

b. From Intel R1304RP Server System

C:\Users\administrator.BLACKCREEK\Desktop\ipmiutil-2.9.2-win64>ipmiutil fru

ipmiutil ver 2.92ifru: version 2.92-- BMC version 1.08, IPMI version 2.0--- Scanning SDR Repository for 113 SDRs ---SDR[0047] FRU 20 00 07 01 Baseboard[Baseboard,20,00] Baseboard FRU Size : 8192[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Type : Main Server Chassis[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Part Number : ..................[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis Serial Num : ..................[Baseboard,20,00] Chassis OEM Field : ..............................[Baseboard,20,00] Board Mfg DateTime : Tue Oct 29 14:09:00 2013[Baseboard,20,00] Board Manufacturer : Intel Corporation[Baseboard,20,00] Board Product Name : S1200RP[Baseboard,20,00] Board Serial Number : BQRP32200279[Baseboard,20,00] Board Part Number : G62253-305[Baseboard,20,00] Board FRU File ID : FRU Ver 1.00[Baseboard,20,00] Product Manufacturer: Intel Corporation[Baseboard,20,00] Product Name : S1200RP[Baseboard,20,00] Product Part Number : ..........[Baseboard,20,00] Product Version : ....................[Baseboard,20,00] Product Serial Num : ............[Baseboard,20,00] Product Asset Tag : ....................[Baseboard,20,00] Product FRU File ID :[Baseboard,20,00] System GUID : 94d4745e-ccd1-11e2-804e-0013206ecd20SDR[0048] FRU 20 04 0c 01 front panel[Board ,20,04] Board FRU Size : 256[Board ,20,04] Board Mfg DateTime : Wed May 08 10:13:00 2013[Board ,20,04] Board Manufacturer : Intel Corporation[Board ,20,04] Board Product Name : FFPANEL[Board ,20,04] Board Serial Number : QSBT31809522[Board ,20,04] Board Part Number : G10279-402[Board ,20,04] Board FRU File ID : FRU Ver 0.01SDR[0049] FRU 20 05 07 37 HSBP1[Board ,20,05] Board FRU Size : 256[Board ,20,05] Board Mfg DateTime : Tue May 14 20:52:00 2013[Board ,20,05] Board Manufacturer : Intel Corporation[Board ,20,05] Board Product Name : FXX1304HSBP[Board ,20,05] Board Serial Number : QSBT32000546[Board ,20,05] Board Part Number : G10396-302[Board ,20,05] Board FRU File ID : FRU Ver 0.03[Board ,20,05] Board OEM Field :SDR[004a] FRU 20 02 07 35 PS1[Board ,20,02] Board FRU Size : 256[Board ,20,02] Product Manufacturer: DELTA[Board ,20,02] Product Name : DPS-350AB-12 A[Board ,20,02] Product Part Number : E86365-006

XXXWHIT...

[DSilv11]

Good idea checking against the R1304RP. They should be similar.

Below are the commands to check for the PS device and fru using IPMIutil in script form for windows.

Some PSU don't have a fru eeprom (it is optional and just tells you what type PSU you have)

The script reads are in raw format so they don't rely on pre-loaded SDR information. (i.e. the SDR command reads the systems SDR. The system SDRs are loaded by user and only load if the SDR BMC can talk to the device and if you could talk to the device, you would not be here.)

The 00 20 18 in the command sets up the addressing via the BMC.

0f is the I2C bus on the board and can change sometime. (the last generation of Intel board used 09)

B0 = PS1 B2 = PS2 A0 = PS1 FRU A2 = PS2 FRU

01 = read 1 byte 08 = first 8 bytes (in hex)

98 = PMBUS command: Read PMBus version (should return 10 or 11 as i recall)

Script BAT file.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

rem Using Master Write Read command to read the power supply PMBus commands

rem bus = 00

rem rsSa = 20 (BMC)

rem NetFn = App = 06 [NetFn/LUN = 0x18]

rem Cmd = Master Write-Read = 52

rem Data 1 = Bus ID[3:1] = bus 7, Bus ID[0] = private = 1

rem Data 2 = Slave Address = b0/b2

rem Data 3 = Read count

rem Data 4:N = Data to Write = Register to read

echo Checking for PS1

echo *** Checking for PS1 ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f b0 01 98 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo Checking for PS1 FRU header

echo *** Checking for PS1 FRU header ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f a0 08 00 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo Checking for PS2

echo *** Checking for PS2 ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f b2 01 98 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo Checking for PS2 FRU header

echo *** Checking for PS2 FRU header ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f a2 08 00 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo Checking for PDB

echo *** Checking for PDB ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f 4a 01 98 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo Checking for PDB FRU header

echo *** Checking for PDB FRU header ***>> report.txt

ipmiutil cmd 00 20 18 52 0f ac 08 00 >> report.txt

echo. >> report.txt

echo ............END REPORT...................... >> report.txt

type report.txt

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