LCD Info Screen and LED Alert Panel on PowerEdge 12th

Generation Servers
For more information, visit our PowerEdge 12th Generation Wiki

Table des matières

1. Introduction to the LCD Front Panel Display of Dell 12G PowerEdge Servers.................................................1
2. LCD Features......................................................................................................................................................2
3. Setting and Viewing Home Panel, iDRAC and System Properties via the LCD control panel..........................4
4. Configuring iDRAC properties using the LCD panel.........................................................................................6
5. Errors and Alerts via the LCD.............................................................................................................................6
6. Securing the LCD panel controls........................................................................................................................7
7. Using the LCD panel to display component status.............................................................................................7
8. Configuring the LCD panel using remote software tools....................................................................................7

1. Introduction to the LCD Front Panel Display of Dell 12G PowerEdge

Servers
Dell offers a distinctive range of LCD front panel display options on 12G PowerEdge servers. The LCD front
panel can be used to configure the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC7) without accessing a
server’s console. This permits customers to use Internet Protocol to configure the iDRAC7 remotely and easily
manage and monitor the server. Also, this LCD panel makes it easy to identify a given server in the data center.

There’s a wealth of system and health information available inside your new PowerEdge server, and depending
on which model server you own, the following display configurations are available:

2. LCD Features
The LCD front panel allows a user to view and change the
network settings of the Dell Integrated Dell Remote Access
Controller (iDRAC7). In fact, most of the iDRAC7
configuration can be done using this screen, and quite a bit of
the iDRAC7’s features can be accessed here as well, and, of
course, system-level error messages will be displayed on the
LCD. Another convenient feature offered by the LCD Front
Panel, is the ability to setup a user-defined message on the
LCD. In this document, we will discuss these features in
greater detail.

About the LCD Front Panel navigation menus

There are several navigation menus available on the display

panel offering different functions.

• The left arrow “<”moves the cursor back in one-step

increments.
• The select button “✓” selects the currently highlighted
menu item.
• The left arrow “>” moves the cursor forward in one-
step increments.
• Screen
 The LCD front panel displays user-configurable information about the system. The screen
displays system information and error messages, depending on the condition of the system.
• The LCD backlight will be blue during normal operating conditions and only turns amber if there is
an error condition.
• The LCD backlight will be off when the system is in standby mode, but it can be turned on by
pressing any of the buttons on the LCD front panel.
• However, the LCD backlight will remain off if LCD messaging is turned off; this can be done via the
web-based graphical interface, IPMITOOL, Open Manage System Administrator, or a command line
tool such as RACADM.
LEDs explained

The number of LEDs on a particular server depends on the amount of physical space available on the front of
the chassis. There are four different LED configurations: one with six icons, two others with four icons each,
and one with a single LED icon. An example of one such LED panel, from a PowerEdge R720xd is shown
below. It will display alerts for general status, hard drive, electrical, thermal, memory and PCI alerts. As with
the LCD panel, if trouble arises, an amber indicator will illuminate.
System ID:
In addition to the panels, every Dell PowerEdge 12G server has a System ID button and indicator LED to assist
in identifying a particular system.

The identification buttons on the front and back panels can be used to locate a particular system
within a rack. This is especially helpful with a densely populated rack when a single system needs to
be identified, from either the front or back. If you push one of these buttons, then both the front and
rear system status indicators will flash until one of the buttons is pressed again. As a side note, this
flashing can also be activated or deactivated remotely with various Open Manage tools.

The rear System ID button contains two LEDs; one is blue and the other is amber.
3. Setting and Viewing Home Panel, iDRAC and System Properties via
the LCD control panel
First, let’s start by setting the default message on the LCD panel. Follow these steps on the panel keys to select
the desired default display:

Home > Setup > Set home ->IDRAC | Name | Number | Power | Temperature | None
It is easy to use the LCD panel to configure network settings and check other system properties. The chart
(below) shows the different possible actions and settings available through this panel:

For example, to view network settings, start from the initial (home) display screen and then follow this path:

Home > View > iDRAC IP > IPv4 | IPv6

Then Select IPv4

From this point, most of the networking settings can be viewed:

Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv4 > IP | Subnet | Gateway | DNS
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv4 > DNS > Primary | Secondary
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv4 > Gateway > 192.168.2.1
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv4> IP >192.168.2.12

Similarly, IPv6subnet and gateways can be viewed through

Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv6 > IP | Subnet | Gateway | DNS
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv6 > DNS > Primary | Secondary
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv6 > Gateway >
Home > View > DRAC IP > IPv6> IP

And the same holds true for MAC or iSCSI addresses:

Home > View > MAC >iDRAC| iSCSI1 | iSCSI2 | iSCSIn | NET1 | NET2 …NETn
Home > View > MAC > iDRAC -> xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
4. Configuring iDRAC properties using the LCD panel
Through the LCD front panel, you can configure the iDRAC7’s network settings.

iDRAC Setup Paths:

Configuring a static IP address through the LCD

Navigate from home screen to setup screen and then to the Static IP tab.
Home > Setup ->iDRAC -> DHCP | Static IP -> IP: 192.168.2.12

After IP v4 configuration from the same screen we can configure sub network mask and gate as well.
Home > Setup > IDRAC > Static IP - >Sub: 255.255.255.0
Home > Setup > IDRAC > Static IP - >Gtw: 192.168.2.1

Other network settings such as DNS servers and DHCP settings are also available through the LCD Front
Panel:

Setting domain name server 1 and domain name server 2

Home > Setup > IDRAC > Static IP -> DNS : Yes | No
Domain Name server 1
Home > Setup > IDRAC > Static IP - >D1 :192.168.2.10
Domain Name server 2
Home > Setup > IDRAC > Static IP - >D2 : 192.168.2.1

How to configure Dynamic Host Configuration Internet Protocol (DHCP):

From the LCD Home screen navigate to setup screen and then DHCP tab.
Home > Setup ->iDRAC -> DHCP | Static IP -> Yes | No

5. Errors and Alerts via the LCD

• The front panel gives alerts by displaying system error messages. These alerts will cause the LCD
backlight color from blue to amber and depending on the nature of the alert, different indicators,
depending on the type of panel, will illuminate. Using the front panel, the way system alerts are
displayed (or not displayed) can also be changed. The types of alerts covered are as follows:
◦ Cable and board presence
◦ Temperature
◦ Voltages
◦ Fans
◦ Processors
◦ Memory
◦ Power Supplies
◦ BIOS
◦ Hard drives
In all, up to 20 different error messages can be displayed through the LCD front panel. In the event that there
are multiple error messages, the most recent error will be displayed.

6. Securing the LCD panel controls

It is important to note that the front panel buttons, by default, have the ability to both view and modify the
values that are shown. Using the iDRAC tools, it is possible to limit the panel and buttons to either a view-only
state or disable the menu completely, allowing a user to only view the system description and any existing error
messages.
7. Using the LCD panel to display component status
Virtual console status on LCD
Through iDRAC7’s software tool or another remote command line tool, a user can enable front-panel
notification that a vKVM is attached. If this is enabled and a vKVM session is active on the unit, then the text
“virtual console active” will be displayed. If an error occurs, the LCD will enter Error Mode and the “virtual
console” message can only be viewed only by navigating up the menu tree to Home Mode. There the “virtual
console active” message will display for ~45 seconds before returning to the Error Mode.

Displaying BIOS progress on LCD

The BIOS progress including recent POST messages will display after pressing and holding System ID button
for more than 5 seconds.

Status of server boot-up

During system boot, the LCD displays “System booting…” until video is available. This is to give the user
indication that the system is booting and video is unavailable at this time. Shortly after power-on or reset,
"System booting…" appears on the LCD, with periods appearing for each progress code in the pre-video
sequence as they are received from BIOS. Once full memory initialization is complete, the LCD returns to its
normal mode

Displaying iDRAC’s reset mode

If the system ID button is held down for more than 15 seconds, then the iDRAC will reset. This will cause the
LCD panel to go blank until the iDRAC is once again fully functional. At that point, the display will show the
current state of the server.

8. Configuring the LCD panel using remote software tools

One last point worth noting: the LCD panel can be configured remotely by the iDRAC’s software suite as well
as through RACADM (command-line) or IPMITOOL software packages.