Exalytics - After Installing and Configuring Flash and Applying Firmware and BIOS Updates, Server Fails to Boot and Gets Stuck "Checking NVRAM"

Asset ID:	1-72-2215695.1
Update Date:	2016-12-21
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 2215695.1 : Exalytics - After Installing and Configuring Flash and Applying Firmware and BIOS Updates, Server Fails to Boot and Gets Stuck "Checking NVRAM"

Applies to:

Exalytics In-Memory Machine X2-4 - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Oracle Exalytics Software - Version 2.0.0.0.0 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

Installed and configured flash on Exalytics X2-4 server, then applied ILOM Firmware and BIOS updates and rebooted server. During the boot sequence, the operating system gets stuck at 'Checking NVRAM... ' message and no further progress is made.

The specific software updates that were installed were: ILOM 3.2.7.20.a r112614 Firmware and BIOS vers. 16.04.05.00.

During the installation, the updates were applied with "preserve existing configuration" option as shown below:

-> load -source scp://root:xxxxxx@10.60.xxx.xxx/tmp/ILOM-3.2.7.20.a_r112614-Sun_Fire_X4470M2.pkg

NOTE: An upgrade takes several minutes to complete. ILOM
will enter a special mode to load new firmware. No
other tasks can be performed in ILOM until the
firmware upgrade is complete and ILOM is reset.

You can choose to postpone the server BIOS upgrade until the
next server poweroff. If you do not do that, you should
perform a clean shutdown of the server before continuing.

Are you sure you want to load the specified file (y/n)? y
Preserve existing configuration (y/n)? y
Delay BIOS upgrade until next server poweroff (y/n)? n
............................................................................

Firmware update is complete.
ILOM will now be restarted with the new firmware.

-> /sbin/reboot

Even though ILOM and BIOS updates were done with "preserve existing configuration" set to "yes," the server seems to boot off one of the flash devices and then gets stuck.

Cause

This problem occurred due to incorrect BIOS boot sequence. The sequence was inadvertently changed by the customer during the flash configuration. When configured correctly, the flash cards are not first in the list and do not interfere with the default boot device (the mirrored raid volume on the SAS controller). This was confirmed by rebooting the server, selecting F2 option to get to the BIOS menu and then using appropriate menu options to ensure that internal RAID controller was at the top of the boot sequence list. When this was done, the server booted up successfully.

Solution

Follow the steps below to fix the BIOS settings and boot order:

- Schedule a reboot of the server
- When the system resets and the initial BIOS screen is shown with the option to enter the BIOS setup menu --> Use the F2 key on the keyboard to go into BIOS setup
- Navigate the menu screens to disable the PCIe Slot 2 Option ROM:

• use the arrow keys to navigate to the PCIPnP tab,
• then navigate down to the “PCI-E Slot 2 Option ROM:” line,
• hit Enter and select “Disabled” using the arrow keys then hit Enter again.

All PCI-E Slots except for Slot 4 should now show as Disabled (other options can be left as they are).
Navigate to the “Exit” tab and select “Save Changes and Exit” -> hit enter key and select OK when asked to confirm that you want to Save Configuration changes. Exit setup.

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