HP Proliant DL380 G8 : SD Card Problems (in iLO4)
HP Proliant DL380 G8 : SD Card Problems (in iLO4)
Hello everyone,
I just got a DL380e G8 and I have a small problem: iLO report something wrong with the Embeded SD Card slot.
There is no SD card in the slot inside the server and I'm wondering what is this slot used for ? and can I put any SD Card in it ? is there a size limit ? where can I buy a replacement ?
I can't seem to find the right document on HP's website.
Could you guy help me figure it out and maybe point me to the right direction!
Thank you very much!
Problem description on iLO web interface:
Embedded Flash/SD-CARD : Controller firmware revision 2.10.00 Partition Table Read Error: Could not partition embedded media device
Which is logical since there is no SD Card in there, right ?
The info in this thread is mostly incorrect - error has nothing to do with the SD card you plug in the server.
This error happens because HP had a bug in earlier versions of iLo where flash memory wear levelling was not enabled. It results in a failed flash chip unless iLo was updated early on.
The SD card is Embedded - it’s NOT the one that you plug in, but rather it’s soldered down on the motherboard. You can try formatting it (there is HP support advisory on this, requires sending special XML) but chances of bringing it back to life are slim. Out of 10+ machines with these symptoms I’ve seen only two were alright after flash format. Proper fix would be to desolder and replace the chip on the motherboard…
Part number for the chip: SDIN7DP2-4G
Here’s the link to support advisory: https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04996097
This guy HPs.
It's used as a boot device. VMware used to support booting from SD but dropped support a while back.
I think the largest I ever used was like an 8GB SD card since VMware only needed 2 or so.
Embedded flash could refer to some onboard NAND, maybe holding backup/recovery firmware for iLO or your BIOS. It could also be the storage drive for iLO to keep logs, preferences etc, but i'm not familiar with how iLO works in that regard.
Seeing as the server was released in 2015, it's likely any builtin NAND/EMMC has reached the end of its usable lifespan, particularly if it was being written to 24/7 with iLO data. These are usually not replaceable