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s5520hc corrupt bmc

JVaug4
Beginner
3,066 Views

Hi there,

I have an intel s5520hc server board that's appears to operate correctly, however I am unable to communicate with the bmc. Attempts to upgrade the bmc gives me an error 'unable to communicate with bmc'. This error appears to have begun occurring after I performed a bios upgrade. I have attempted to perform a bmc update with latest firmware with the bmc force update jumper applied, however this did not fix the problem, giving me the same error.

I understand this board is discontinued and out of support, but I was wondering if there was anything else I could try to fix this before throwing the board away.

Many thanks.

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12 Replies
idata
Employee
1,288 Views

I had the same issue with a S2600CP, there was no way a BMC update was going to happen and when attempting a FRU update I received this package was not for this board. Intel phone support said I had a defective BMC chip. The other tell-tale sign for support was the flashing blue LED. If you are in the states, I have two S5520SC boards w/processors and ram you can have. If not, I will be throwing these out. Way too much headache to put on the "auction" site.

Hope this helps....

Ray

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JVaug4
Beginner
1,288 Views

Thanks Ray, that was my suspicion. Thats a shame, as it made a perfect lab machine for my own personal development.

Unfortunately I am in New Zealand, however would be more than happy to pay you via paypal for shipping and your time. Otherwise, I guess I will have to fork the costs of building a new machine.

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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Good afternoon Jacob, well it's afternoon for me!

I will be more than glad to send you those boards, free of charge. Actually I have 3, I know that 2 boards have 12GB of RAM and 1 has 24GB of RAM. The one that has 24GB has a E5649 processor. I do not remember what processor the other 2 boards have. I also believe I have a E5650 or E5660 processor I can send you. All boards will have the I/O shield. If you can use them great! I've since changed chassis and boards. Now using the Intel P4000 series chassis and S2600CP2/4 boards. If you'd like to get me off line from this forum, I'm at mailto:compcar59@outlook.com compcar59@outlook.com

Ray

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JVaug4
Beginner
1,288 Views

Hi Ray,

I am really thankful for your generosity, I will email you!

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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Hello Jacob,

 

 

Since the issue happened after a firmware update, you can try to perform BIOS recovery, you can find the previous versions https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/36599/Intel-Server-Board-S5520HC here.

 

 

Instructions on how to perform a BIOS recovery can be found https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000024411/server-products/server-boards.html here.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Sergio S.
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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Hello,

 

 

We are following up your post and we would like to know if have any more questions.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Sergio S.
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JVaug4
Beginner
1,288 Views

Hi Sergio,

I attempted a BIOS recovery and that failed to work. When putting the bios recover jumper to enable, the system will physically power up but nothing will come up on the screen. When I move the jumper back to disable, the system will boot up but display the bmc error in the bios screen.

Would you agree that my BMC chip has failed? wanting to explore every option before throwing this board away incase there is something else I may have missed. I understand in the firmware upgrade documentation for this board, there is a comment about upgrading the bmc before the bios to prevent corruption. Are you able to shed any light on why this is the case as I am wondering if maybe this is what I did wrong.

Also, I understand this board is out of support and that you are not obligated to assist me here, so I do appreciate your time in responding.

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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Hello,

 

 

As an additional recommendation, you can try to clear the CMOS of your server board:

 

  1. Remove all peripheral devices connected to the server board.
  2. Disconnect the power cord from the AC power source.
  3. Remove the computer cover.
  4. Find the battery on the board and remove it.
  5. Remove the battery:
  6. Wait 30 minutes, then reconnect the battery.
  7. Put the computer cover back on.
  8. Plug the computer and all devices back in.
You can also check the https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/motherboards/server/s5520hc/sb/e39527008_s5520hc_s5500hcv_service_guide.pdf technical product specification of your board with information on how to reset the BIOS on your board. Page 5

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Sergio S.
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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Hello Jacob,

 

 

We are following your question and we would like to know if you need further assistance.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Sergio S.
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JVaug4
Beginner
1,288 Views

Hi there,

Cmos reset as instructed did not rectify my issue unfortunately.

I consider this to be a hardware problem and will dispose of the board.

Thanks very much for your impressive customer support.

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NAlex3
Beginner
1,253 Views

 

Hello Jacob. I see you have some S5500 boards. I also have S5520HC on which i suspect a corrupt BIOS image. However Intel does not provide full BIOS image, only update. So , i am kindly askin, if you still have those boards, if you can send me a dump of the BIOS from a board that posts.

Thank you.

Alex.

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idata
Employee
1,288 Views

Hello Jacob,

 

 

You are more than welcome.

 

 

Please feel free to contact us back in case you need more help.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Sergio S.
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