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<E>:Octane:</E>

So I've had this Octane for a while. Mainboard was dead, bought another, and now I get powerup, but no output.

I stuck a hard disk in to see what happened, and they just start to spin up and then quit. I can't remember which LED's are lit on this new board, but I'll get you a readout soon.

Other than this board being no good also, what could cause no serial console output?

Previous issues were no power up. Changed power supply, now I get power supply fan but no heartbeat LED.

Changed board, now I get HDD fan, but no console output.

[GRudolf94]

The front diag LEDs on a minimally configured Octane must be lit up like this. I've also added a description of what each is. Tell me what's lit up and we'll go from there

<IMG src="https://i.imgur.com/zZz7B7V.png">[img]<URL url="https://i.imgur.com/zZz7B7V.png">https://i.imgur.com/zZz7B7V.png[/img]</IMG>

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<QUOTE author="GRudolf94" post_id="1287" time="1530404909" user_id="170">

Tell me what's lit up and we'll go from there

I have exactly the same LEDs. So that's a step in the right direction!

[GRudolf94]

It is! Does the lightbar do something? Are you using a null modem cable and the proper baudrate on the console host?

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<QUOTE author="GRudolf94" post_id="1315" time="1530546429" user_id="170">

It is! Does the lightbar do something? Are you using a null modem cable and the proper baudrate on the console host?

The light bar does nothing. The console is my weak point. I have tried three different serial console/null modem cables. I have multiple, and I have an IBM serial null modem to USB that I can not get to work no matter what - that I fear is a function of modern machines and serial communication, Windows 10 doesn't like USB being assigned COM ports it seems. I have a Toshiba Libretto to use as a console, but I can't seem to get a connection there either. I am sure it's my fault not configuring things right.

[GRudolf94]

Hmm, odd. The lightbar has two white lights and a red LED that the Octane uses to help signal where in the boot process it currently is. The lights usually burn out and need to be replaced by LEDs too, but you should at least see the red one light up as it begins the selftest succesfully. Fans working but no red LED, according to the Octane manual, mean that the IP30 is not well-seated into the case, or the CPU module is not seated/has failed, or that the frontplane is defective.

I would assume your frontplane works good, as it lights up the green diag LEDs, and that the IP30 is properly in place, too. So you can try reseating the CPU.

Be mindful of the compression connectors on the IP30: <B>YOU CAN NEVER TOUCH THOSE</B>. Well, you're not supposed to put your fingers there. I've done it by accident and my Octane still works, but the manual repeats it a thousand times: keep away.

As a last resource, you can try removing the frontplane, verifying that it has no bent pins on the secondary connectors for the IP30, that the pads for the compression connector are clean, and if that doesn't work we'll see from here. But it is sounding like a CPU problem (which would lead to no console output)

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<QUOTE author="GRudolf94" post_id="1323" time="1530614450" user_id="170">

I would assume your frontplane works good, as it lights up the green diag LEDs, and that the IP30 is properly in place, too. So you can try reseating the CPU.

Frontplane has also been replaced to a known working good unit. I will try to reseat everything today.

Installed lightbar, no lights. May be dead.

[GRudolf94]

Don't despair just yet, though. I have a few tricks up my sleeve

[kr239]

I had the same issue - turned out i needed to reseat the DIMM's

[bjames]

My first octane had many issues that sounded like yours. During startup the light at would either blink red or go solid red. The octane manual has trouble shooting to understand what the light bar state means.

However I did learn a few things that will prevent an octane from booting.

Ensure the removable main board and gfx modular are pushed in all the way.. even if they appear to in in, a fraction of a mm will make all the difference.

Reseat your ram as mentioned above. My octane refused to boot because 1 stick appeared to not be seated.. could not tell visually, but after removing and reseating, the issue went away.

If you pull out the main board and gfx module, there are compression fittings as per previous post, but there is also pin connectors. I had a pin missing from one of my main boards that seemed to mess things up. I replaced the main board and carrier.