Engineering Art From Science

3/24/2021 Engineering art from science: HP Common Slot
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22nd November 2016 Busbars on output

To give maximum flexibility I've soldered two copper busbars to the output connector which
matches my PSU. These each have two 5mm holes, one with an extra milled recess to fit
high current terminal posts, the other for bolting on crimped eye connectors.
[https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-
XsHXDZSCP4k/WDQoL3BgIhI/AAAAAAAAAHw/6Mdkw1yfa1o-
pYcUbTK0CWUPpOIhljCSwCLcB/s1600/term_term.jpg]
They were made from 4mmx25mm copper bar, hot dipped in solder to minimize corrosion
and ease soldering.
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/term_raw.jpg]
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https://colintd.blogspot.com/search/label/HP Common Slot 1/8
raD_g8d0HVg/WDQobNUD7SI/AAAAAAAAAH4/SuzMfR9vKy45i5EypZz2tOJUNA2SgMSagCLcB/s160
0/term_soldered.jpg]
I intend to complement with a 2.1mm power plug connector for the 12V Standby Power, and a
switch to simulate insertion/removal of PSU. For now I will simply bridge the enable pin, but in
due course I will add software control over the I2C power bus.
Posted 22nd November 2016 by colintd
Labels: 12V 100A, DL580, Hardware Hacking, HP Common Slot
5 View comments
Confirmation of connector for DL580 &

17th October 2016
HP "Common Slot" PSUs
I've just received the connectors mentioned in the previous post (FCI 10046971-001LF), and
they are a perfect fit.
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wCLcB/s1600/2016-10-17%2B11.25.59.jpg]
Engineering art from science

This should allow me to make a nice clean job of connecting up the leads,
can easily swap PSU in the event of problems.
and also means I
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Sidebar October 2016 by colintd
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14th October 2016 Datasheets relating directly to HP

"Common Slot" pinouts
Having spent a long time unsuccessfully looking for details of the HP "Common Slot" pinout,
and instead doing my own investigation (which I've just written up in the previous post), I've
just managed to find some datasheets relating to the interface.
I found them because I googled the connector part number 10046971-001LF and PMBus.
Low down the page I spotted a link to a Murata AC-DC 1600W power supply which looks like
it is directly "Common Slot" compatible.
http://power.murata.com/data/acdcsupplies/d1u86p-w-1600-12-hbxdc.pdf
[http://power.murata.com/data/acdcsupplies/d1u86p-w-1600-12-hbxdc.pdf]
This appears largely consistent with the pinout described in the previous post.
From there I have found details for a DC-DC variant, which has more on PMBus address
setting.
http://power.murata.com/data/power/d1u86-d-1600-12-hxxdc.pdf
[http://power.murata.com/data/power/d1u86-d-1600-12-hxxdc.pdf]
There are also app notes covering test boards, and detailing the PMBus serial interface.
http://power.murata.com/data/apnotes/acan-50.pdf [http://power.murata.com/data/apnotes/acan-
50.pdf]
51.pdf]
52.pdf]
53.pdf]
I am hopeful these will allow me to successfully control the DL580 1200W PSU, and also
extract digital voltage and current information - useful for my application, and also potentially
useful for others.
Posted 14th October 2016 by colintd


6 View comments
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Hacking HP Common Slot Power supplies

14th October 2016
- 12V@100A
I currently need a high power 12V power supply (to feed a Class-D amp, which in turn is
going to provide an easily tuned source of ~60Hz power, to drive a stirling cycle helium
cryocooler, to make liquid nitrogen - more on that another time).
Lots of people in the RC community have hacked server power supplies to this purpose, and I
happen to have a couple of HP 1200W DL580 PSUs to hand which should both be fairly easy
to adapt, and offer pretty high efficiency.
[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4W781SdSez8/WADekzDg5cI/AAAAAAAAAGc/gtprQwaBTpEnBRaJ68_P6k
NvWDLOkgT2ACLcB/s1600/2016-10-14%2B14.31.39.jpg]
Looking on the various blogs, the current most common way to get these supplies to operate,
is by attaching an ~1K resistor between pins 33 & 36 http://www.rchelination.com/setting-hp-
dps-1200fb-power-supply/ [http://www.rchelination.com/setting-hp-dps-1200fb-power-supply/] , but
there are very few details as to why this works.
As part of my "day job" I've worked on the design of quite a few systems using high power
PSUs, and I was keen to understand a bit more about these units before just hacking away. I
also wanted to see if there was a way to easily monitor the output voltage and current of the
supply from a Raspberry Pi (most PSU of this class have an I2C bus).
The DL580 1200W PSU is just one of a range of HP PSUs which fit into servers with the
"Common Slot" support http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03502743.pdf
[http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03502743.pdf] .
Compatible units have varying powers and efficiencies, but all share the same physical form

factors, which has power entry at the front (DC or AC)

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1600/2016-10-14%2B14.41.02.jpg]
and an edge connector at the back which feeds power to the server and provides control &
monitoring.
yR1FvTFVvR4/WADhFYukFKI/AAAAAAAAAGs/mkcjtHCIZ3889899N8-
IwL8CinG5dMMuwCLcB/s1600/2016-10-14%2B14.40.40.jpg]
That the two large areas provide the main 12V feed is both obvious and well proven, but I
couldn't easily find any details on the control signals (contacts 27-38).
Having designed with similar supplies in the past I've got a fairly clear idea of the kind of
signals which should be the interface: present, enable, PMBUS serial interface (address
setting, SCL/SDA & alarm), standby power, current share, possibly remote sense, etc) but I
wanted to have precise details.
Some quick work with the multimeter, a peek at the PCB, some prior knowledge of similar
units, and a bit of I2C bus analysis suggests the following assignments for the bottom
contacts:
27-29 = Used at start of day to set PMBus slave address for the PSU (at least I've verified
27 causes an address change, and I suspect the other two will also).

30 = Signal Gnd search
31 & 32 = PMBus SDA/SCL lines allowing monitoring and control of the PSU inline with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Management_Bus
Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot (This
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Management_Bus] Timeslide
is something I plan to explore further
in the future)
Looking at the top:
38 = PS alarm
I know that PMBus PSUs normally have an active low alarm output, and from the idle
voltages and unpowered resistance, I am fairly certain that this is pin 38
37 = 12V Standby Power
Good for 2.5A, and perfect for powering a 12V-5V converter for the Raspberry Pi I want to
use for monitoring/control.
That leaves 33,34,35 & 36.
33 & 36 are clearly involved in enabling the supply, both because that is where people are
currently connecting a resistor, and because 36 is a short "last make / first break" contact.
Having said that, I wasn't convinced that the intended mode of operation was to join the two
signals with a resistor.
I have various reasons for this belief, including that:

it is normal to have separate "enable" & "present" signals
testing shows power up with a bridging resistor only works for quite a limited range of
values, with resulting pin voltages which are quite atypical of these interfaces
the voltage on pin 36 with the resistor present is very suggestive of a diode clamp to
ground.
36 = Present
Having taken some measurement on a live server, I am fairly certain that 36 is a dual purpose
"present" signal which is pulled up by the platform from a voltage derived from the standby
power. When a PSU slot is empty (but the server has other PSUs in place), this signal will be
high on the server side showing no PSU in place. When a PSU is inserted, the server signal
is clamped to about 0.53V (a typical diode drop, or transistor base voltage) by the PSU which
allows the server to notice a new PSU. From the PSU perspective, this input being pulled up
tells the PSU that it is full inserted (making the transistor base interpretation more likely).
In my testing, a 22K resistor between pin 36 & 12V Standby power (pin 37) is enough to
make the PSU think it is inserted into a slot. With the clamp action of the input, this gives
around 500uA of current.
33 = Enable#
With the Present pin biased from 12VSB, pulling pin 33 directly to ground causes the main
12V output to enable. Looking at the current, open voltage and operation point, it looks like

the pin is pulled up to the PSU internal 3V3 bus via a 10K resistor, and
standard CMOS Schmitt trigger input gate.
is monitored via a
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I've not yet Mosaic the
tried controlling Sidebar
PSU overSnapshot Timeslide
the PMBus, but PSU of this type can typically be
enabled either via the Enable# pin, or via software control.
This splitting of 33 & 36, into a pulled up / clamped "present" signal, and a simple pull to
ground "enable#" signal (which can also be driven over I2C) is much more consistent with
other PSU I have worked with.
Given this understanding, you can see why the resistor between 33 & 36 works, because you
are using the pull up on the Enable# input to bias the Present signal, and that load is in turn
pulling Enable# low enough to operate.re is a fairly tight range of viable
However, in my own supply I will simply be going with a fixed 22K resistor from Present to
12VSB, and a separate switch between Gnd and Enable#, as that leaves the possibility of
software control over the PMBus.
That now leaves two pins, 34 & 35.
34 = Current Monitor
Based on some testing I think 34 is a current monitor output. I've only tested low currents so
far, but I think the output is around 60mV/A. I'll update this figure once I've tested to full
range. If I can't get the PMBus interface to work, this analog signal will still provide a useful
means of monitoring current draw, A 6:1 resistive divider to ground would give 10mV/A, and
you could then connect a cheap 0-1V voltmeter module, ideally with programmable decimal
place, to directly display current in A.
35 = PSU status
That leaves 35 as the last pin, and I think it is a PSU status pin, providing a similar indication
to the front panel LED. I'm guessing that it will be multi-level to allow error indications, but
don't yet have a clear mapping, except to say that this pin shows 0V09 when the PSU is
plugged in, but not enabled, and 3V2 then the PSU is enabled.
In terms of current sharing between loads, I'm fairly sure that it is simple "Active Droop", of
around 3mV/A.
I am surprised not to see remote voltage sensing (to allow compensation for connector
voltage drop), but given the above assignments there are no obviously spare pins for this
function. I have seen in the past PMBus address setting done via an analog input & resistor
value, so if it was going to be anywhere, then I'd look at pins 28 & 29. Something to explore
further next time I remove the PCB from the case.
Finally, I've done some research and believe the matching socket (vertical variant) for the
edge connector is FCI part 10046971-001LF which is available from a number of places
including Digikey and Mouser. I have a couple on order and will report back if they fit
properly. If they do, this will mean I can solder the load wires to the connector and simply plug
in the unaltered PSU.
Posted 14th October 2016 by colintd

Engineering Labels:
art from
12V 100A,science search
DL580, Hardware Hacking, HP Common Slot
20 View comments


Engineering Art From Science - HP Common Slot

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3/24/2021 Engineering art from science: HP Common Slot

Engineering art from science search

Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide

22nd November 2016 Busbars on output

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Engineering art from science search

Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide

Confirmation of connector for DL580 &

Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Posted 17thSnapshot

14th October 2016 Datasheets relating directly to HP

Posted 14th October 2016 by colintd

Labels: 12V 100A, DL580, Hardware Hacking, HP Common Slot

Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide

Hacking HP Common Slot Power supplies

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factors, which has power entry at the front (DC or AC)

Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide

Engineering art from science

Looking at the top:

37 = 12V Standby Power

That leaves 33,34,35 & 36.

I have various reasons for this belief, including that:

Engineering art from science

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That now leaves two pins, 34 & 35.

Posted 14th October 2016 by colintd

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