One too many restarts for this server.
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Last week I was moving some things in the server room around after hours. Turned off a Dell SC430(last physical server here) circa 2004-5, moved the things, turned it back on. Just 1 and 2 lit up on the front and blinking. Bad powersupply. Replaced it. Things boots up, blue screens as Windows loads. Keeps doing that. Troubleshooting leads me to think mobo got damaged when powersupply died. I don't really care about fixing it. Luckily I had backups of the share it was still serving. and had transferred other roles to other servers the first 6 months i worked here. Just moved the share to new server and took care of some other things and all was good.
Thing lasted about 12 years in service as Windows Server 2003(not even R2) AD DNS DHCP File/print/http server for 11.5 of those years.Cant decide if it deserves a place in Server HoF for years of good service or the Server PoS for dying days before retirement.
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I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
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@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
HoF - agreed
that thing is a trooper
Electrolytic capacitors in the PSU contain liquid that evaporates over time. I'd be willing to bet you $10 the surge from power up let out the magic smoke from one or more of them.
Example of over heated capacitors:
Exploded capacitor:
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@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years. -
@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.Which totally paid off for them
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@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
The glass was just too fragile. If he'd left it alone, or moved it while it was running [if possible], it would have been fine, lol.
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Maybe the glass had the wrong stuff in it.
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@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.If you replace the PSU's proactively every 6-8 years servers should go for a very .... very... long time. Especially with older stuff where electron migration is really a non-issue. Can even replace the caps on the mobo with a soldering iron, testicular fortitude and $5 worth of parts.
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@MattSpeller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.If you replace the PSU's proactively every 6-8 years servers should go for a very .... very... long time. Especially with older stuff where electron migration is really a non-issue. Can even replace the caps on the mobo with a soldering iron, testicular fortitude and $5 worth of parts.
Problem is, that not every bad capacitor looks like one. Could also be a cold soldering point, for example.
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@thwr said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@MattSpeller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.If you replace the PSU's proactively every 6-8 years servers should go for a very .... very... long time. Especially with older stuff where electron migration is really a non-issue. Can even replace the caps on the mobo with a soldering iron, testicular fortitude and $5 worth of parts.
Problem is, that not every bad capacitor looks like one. Could also be a cold soldering point, for example.
And be extra cautious when handling large capacitators found in in PSUs or HiFi devices: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/captest.htm#ctsaf, http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/safety.htm
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@thwr said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@thwr said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@MattSpeller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.If you replace the PSU's proactively every 6-8 years servers should go for a very .... very... long time. Especially with older stuff where electron migration is really a non-issue. Can even replace the caps on the mobo with a soldering iron, testicular fortitude and $5 worth of parts.
Problem is, that not every bad capacitor looks like one. Could also be a cold soldering point, for example.
And be extra cautious when handling large capacitators found in in PSUs or HiFi devices: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/captest.htm#ctsaf, http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/safety.htm
At least it's not the old CRT tubes! We didn't learn to fix the things in school, but we learned all about needing to ground the things out as soon as the outside case comes off.
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@travisdh1 said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@thwr said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@thwr said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@MattSpeller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@momurda said in One too many restarts for this server.:
@scottalanmiller said in One too many restarts for this server.:
I think the blame sits with using it a few days too long.
The glass isn't half empty or half full, the glass was too big.
Yes I suppose that's correct. I should have retired it sooner, but it was for me a bit like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a new car for a test drive and wants to see how long he can go with the tank on E.
Also, someone(s) who worked here from 2010-2015 should have done that way before I started. But they(all of them) didn't do anything, for nearly ten years.If you replace the PSU's proactively every 6-8 years servers should go for a very .... very... long time. Especially with older stuff where electron migration is really a non-issue. Can even replace the caps on the mobo with a soldering iron, testicular fortitude and $5 worth of parts.
Problem is, that not every bad capacitor looks like one. Could also be a cold soldering point, for example.
And be extra cautious when handling large capacitators found in in PSUs or HiFi devices: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/captest.htm#ctsaf, http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/safety.htm
At least it's not the old CRT tubes! We didn't learn to fix the things in school, but we learned all about needing to ground the things out as soon as the outside case comes off.
Pops and I quit working on the CRT ones about the times the flat screens started coming down in price. It just wasn't worth it for all the hassle for dealing with the CRTs. I had one explode on me while we were testing a repair job, ha ha.
