User`s guide

8 - Xserve Troubleshooting

General Information

Xserve (Slot Load and Cluster Node): Entering Firmware Boot

Commands From the Front Panel

You can use the system identiﬁer button on the Xserve (Slot Load) and Xserve (Cluster

Node) server’s front panel to initiate a limited number of ﬁrmware commands to the

system without connecting a keyboard or monitor to the server. The commands are listed

below; you enter each command with a combination of the system identiﬁer button and a

speciﬁc light on the front panel.

Follow these steps to initiate a command from the front panel.

1. With the power off, hold in the system identiﬁer button while you press the power

button.

2. Continue holding in the system identiﬁer button until the top row of blue lights blinks

sequentially.

3. Release the system identiﬁer button. The rightmost light in the bottom row turns on.

Press the button to light the next light in the bottom row, moving from right to left.

Press the button again to change lights.

The lights in the bottom row indicate (from right to left):

• Light 1 (far right): Start up from the system disc (also ejects any disc in the optical

drive)

• Light 2: Start up from a network server (NetBoot)

• Light 3: Start up from the internal drive (leftmost drive if more than one)

• Light 4: Bypass the current startup disk and start up from any other available startup

disk

• Light 5: Begin target disk mode (all drives, including the optical drive, will show up)

• Light 6: Restore the system’s default settings (reset NVRAM)

• Light 7: Enter Open Firmware (via the serial port if no monitor and keyboard are

connected)

4. When the light for the action you want is on, hold in the system identiﬁer button for at

least 2 seconds, until all lights in the top row are on.

5. Release the button.

Diagnostic Tools

Xserve includes built-in sensors that detect and report on hard drives, internal temper-

ature, blower status or failure, and power status or failure. You can monitor the server’s

operation via these sensors and four diagnostic tools: indicator lights on the front of the

server, remote monitoring software, Apple Hardware Test, or Apple Service Diagnostic.