Troubleshooting power problems

Use this information to resolve problems with power.

All devices have an LED that indicates that power is present. If the LED indicates that power is present but the device will not boot, begin problem determination by troubleshooting the device.

There is a single power domain for the BladeCenter S chassis. All power supplies provide power to all devices at either voltage. At 220, the domain has two separate 12 volt power planes that power all devices. At 110, there is a single 12 volt plane powering all devices.

Points to consider regarding power include:
  • For safety reasons, the power supplies are turned off when the shuttle is disengaged from the BladeCenter S chassis. However 5 volts of dc current will still be present.
  • If you disengage or remove all devices from the front of the BladeCenter S chassis (media tray, blade servers, and disk storage modules), the power modules will be disabled.
  • Each BladeCenter S chassis device is powered by 12 volts. Regulators on the blade server and I/O modules convert the 12 volts down to the voltage needed by the device logic. A short in the regulators or logic will shut down the blade server, and the error (a planar fault) will be logged in the advanced management module event log. In addition, LEDs will be lit on the blade server.
  • If the ac LED is lit on a power supply, ac power is present at the power supply. If the dc LED is lit, the power supply is delivering 12-volts dc to the midplane on the BladeCenter S chassis.

IBM continually updates the support Web site with tips and techniques that you can use to resolve any problems that you may be having with the BladeCenter S system. Go to the BladeCenter support search Web site and search for the terms power, 8886, and retain to see if any service bulletins have been generated.