Here, the SRCF DRP machines are used as an example. These machines are from SuperMicro. Many of our machines have their IMPI interface connected on the network. Point a browser at https://<node name>-ipmi.pcdsn and a page comes up on which to enter a username and password (contact pcds-it for good values). After successful login, the IPMI page comes up and shows many capabilities, including:
- a remote interface to the system console
- interacting with system power
- updating the BIOS
Remote Console
The remote console can be run with either a Java plug-in or HTML5 via selection through the 'settings' link on the System tab. If the Java method gives trouble, switch to HTML5, which is slower but provides readable screens. Click on the preview window to bring up the console screen.
Invoking the BIOS
To get to the BIOS screens, the machine must be power cycled. There are several methods with which this can be achieved, including the Reset button on the Power Control window on the System tab. After the power cycle takes effect, the console window will go blank for a while, then show some stuff, go blank again, etc., before finally showing a screen giving some options to enter. In the case of these machines, the BIOS parameters are accessible by hitting the Delete key (or fn delete on a Mac) during the short time the options are available.
Noting BIOS parameters
It may be important to note all the current BIOS parameter states before updating the firmware because some values may not be obvious or intuitive to re-configure after they are reset by the update process. Here are the screens from the v1.0 BIOS on the drp-srcf-cmpNNN machines:
Main tab
Advanced tab
Boot Feature
Trusted Computing
PSP fw ver
ACPI Settings
Super IO Ser Port 1 Cfg
Super IO SOL Cfg
Ser Port Console Redirect
CPU Cfg
CPU1 Info
NB Cfg copy
Mem Cfg
CPU1 Mem Info
AMI Graphic Output Proto
PCIe Cfg top, PCIe Cfg bottom
PCIe Network Stack Cfg
PCIe Hot-Plug Settings
USB Cfg
Overview
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