SPARC T4-1: Excessive fan noise

Asset ID:	1-72-1585471.1
Update Date:	2018-03-20
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 1585471.1 : SPARC T4-1: Excessive fan noise

Applies to:

SPARC T4-1 - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

Customer reports excessive noise coming from the server.

Server logs the following abnormalities on core temperatures and fan speeds despite the fact customer states the environment is cool and stable under 20C.

257 | 08/20/2013 | 16:58:04 | Temperature MB/C0/T_TCORE | Upper Non-critical going high | Reading 90 > Threshold 90 degrees C
258 | 08/20/2013 | 16:58:09 | Temperature MB/C0/T_TCORE | Upper Non-critical going low | Reading 84 < Threshold 90 degrees C
259 | 08/20/2013 | 17:13:59 | Temperature MB/C0/T_TCORE | Upper Non-critical going high | Reading 90 > Threshold 90 degrees C
25a | 08/20/2013 | 17:14:04 | Temperature MB/C0/T_TCORE | Upper Non-critical going low | Reading 84 < Threshold 90 degrees C

FB/FM0/F0/TACH | 76h | ok | 29.10 | 5300 RPM
FB/FM0/F1/TACH | 77h | ok | 29.11 | 4900 RPM
FB/FM1/F0/TACH | 78h | ok | 29.12 | 10700 RPM
FB/FM1/F1/TACH | 79h | ok | 29.13 | 9800 RPM
FB/FM2/F0/TACH | 7Ah | ok | 29.14 | 7000 RPM
FB/FM2/F1/TACH | 7Bh | ok | 29.15 | 6300 RPM
FB/FM3/F0/TACH | 7Fh | ok | 29.16 | 7000 RPM
FB/FM3/F1/TACH | 80h | ok | 29.17 | 6400 RPM
FB/FM4/F0/TACH | 81h | ok | 29.18 | 5400 RPM
FB/FM4/F1/TACH | 82h | ok | 29.19 | 4800 RPM
FB/FM5/F0/TACH | 83h | ok | 29.20 | 5300 RPM
FB/FM5/F1/TACH | 84h | ok | 29.21 | 4900 RPM

Cause

Potential causes are:

1 - Air flow intake blocked externally.
2 - Solid material sucked into the server such as dust flakes affecting cpu heatsink performance, triggering higher fan speeds of one or more fans.
3 - Failure of onboard sensors - Onboard sensors reveal overheating (seen under "Symptoms"section above) occurring inside the server but intake air temperature (external) is correct.

Solution

1. Inspect and clean the server internally of any dust flakes and verify there is no blockage to the external air (intake) in the front of the system.
2. If airflow is found 100% clear (and fans continue to run high), please open a service request with Oracle Support and upload an ILOM snapshot.

Note to TSC: There is likely an issue with the onboard temperature sensors and the motherboard will need to be replaced if the fans are still running high after the obstruction is cleared.

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