Cisco IMC refusing connections on C220M4

[Mohamed Amine Jaafar]

Hello everybody,

I'm working on UCS C-series for years through IP Telephony implementation (BE6M and UC on UCS etc.)

I'm facing a kind of issue with the UCS C220M4.

Our client has a BE6M deployment (the server is C220M4), when we power on the server, give the CIMC an IP address through DHCP, and then try to enter the web GUI of CIMC, the web page shows : " [Error 0x18008080 Cisco IMC refusing connections".

SSH on CIMC will give the same error "Cisco IMC refusing connections".

I have to say that the server have more strange defects.

All the status LEDs on the front panel of the server are extinct, they are not light green nor amber.
for example, the power on/off LED is extinct, whereas the server is actually running.
When VMware ESXi is up we verified the status of the server.
In the Configuration > Health Status tab, we find that the server is “Intel TO be determined” whereas in a working BE6M, the server is correctly detected as “UCS C220”.
In the same interface, the fans are showing speed of 20000 RPM whereas for another working BE6M it shows  ~ 8500 RPM.

Also the server intermittently boot on EFI Shell and to VMware ESXi (fails to boot).

The most strange thing is that we RMAed this faulty server, and the replacement server actually presents the same symptoms :(

And we are unable to troubleshoot the issue since CIMC is inaccessible.

We are RMAing - again - the server, but the Cisco RMA guy is saying that our problem may not be solved through RMA but we are proceeding with the RMA anyway because we have worked on C220M4 servers and this problem is not present on them..

With the RMA guy answer, it seems that this problem is only happening to me. (typing "Cisco IMC refusing connections" gives *nothing* on Google).

I would like to know if one you guys has seen this problem before ?

How did you solve the "Cisco IMC refusing connections" issue ? RMA ?

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

Any chance you could try burning the 2.0(10) (or one of the 2.0(8) version HUU to a CD/DVD, and try  booting to an external USB CD/DVD to update the CIMC firmware?

https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=286281345&softwareid=283850974&release=2.0(10b)&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest 

Also, if the system has let you set the IP info and password on via the F8 post screen,, can you SSH to the CIMC IP using the admin user and the password you setup?

Can you let me know the SR #s for your past TAC cases?

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Mohamed Amine Jaafar]

Hello,

Yes I updated the server CIMC with c220-m4-cimc.2.0.10b (I got a chance to enter the CIMC. It works say one time every 10 attempts). I was able to visualize the logs and notifications, but I didn't find any alert or warning worth to investigate.

Then I shutted down and unplugged the server and then rebooted it. It returned to "Cisco IMC refusing connections" again and again.

In fact it has the same phenomenon as in the 2.0.9e.

In fact, I know when to will boot correctly. Simply I have to plug the power, then wait for a couple of minutes. If the LEDs on the front panel lit up then I know it will work. If after 5 minutes they don't lit, i know that CIMC won't boot and I need to unplug then replug the power cable.

When I press the F8 in the scenario where the LEDs doesn't lit, the screen to input the CIMC IP address won't come, it goes directly to EFI Shell.

When I press the F8 in the scenario where the LEDs DOES lit, the screen comes and it works correctly. I can even change the IP address of CIMC etc.

For SSH, it has exactly the same result as HTTPS. When HTTPS says "Cisco IMC refusing connections", SSH says so. When I can enter CIMC in https, I can also enter ssh correctly.

The SR # are 638302679 and 638302679. I'm waiting for the second RMA server

I'm desperate :(

[Kirk J]

I added some notes in your case, with a request.

If you have some time, and the problem server is still at your location, let me know if you can check the 'serial' output.

Thanks,

Kirk

[Mohamed Amine Jaafar]

Hi Kirk,

Yes the server is still on my desk.

Sorry, I couldn't see the note and request that you left since I'm not the owner of the case (our RMA & post-sales team created it).

You can reach me directly on my email to further discuss.

My email is the same as my CCO ID.

[jrlyon]

I'm running into the same issue.  1 out of a batch of 8 C220 M4 servers.  Initially the server would throw a black screen after boot saying "Failure to communicate with CIMC" with a monitor plugged in.  TAC recommended popping the battery on the motherboard and reinserting it.  After that I was able to boot into CIMC, IP it, and eventually upgrade to 2.0(10b).  After the post-upgrade boot, I am now getting to the GUI, but seeing the same "refusing connections" error.  I would be curious to see how/if you are able to fix this.

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

What is your TAC SR # and I'll reach out to you through that.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[jrlyon]

Hi Kirk,

My case is #680481788.

Thanks,

John

[JimDunne1]

I had the issue about 8 months ago. After removing and reapplying power, I was finally able to log in and upgraded all firmware from from 2.09 to 2.0(13). The problem subsided for a while. However we needed to move the server this month and this time the error stuck for good - connections always refused and OS boot would fail most times. We opted for a new motherboard (comes with the server box/chassis). Data was preserved. I applied v3.03 firmware and all is well.

[otrullols]

Hello everybody,

we are facing the same issue,
did you find a solution for this problem?

#ssh

ssh -oKexAlgorithms=+diffie-hellman-group1-sha1 XXXXXXX@192.168.11.44
Received disconnect from 192.168.11.44 port 22:1: Error ( 0x18008080 ): The serial no. of the system is [ FCH2005V0ES ]

Disconnected from 192.168.11.44 port 22

I have no physical access to the server, our sysadmins unplugged/plugged it 5 times with no success. They say that from the 5 frontal leds, only the "Network" is ON, and nothing is shown on the screen.

Thanks,

oscar

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

Please open a TAC service request.  I don't believe this can be addressed via firmware or config change.

Thanks,

Kirk

[debb.endara]

Hello, 

I am having same problem. Sometimes the server boots on EFI Shell and others boots on VMware.

Anyway, I get the error of refushing connection when I try to access CIMC by gui or ssh.

When the server is booting I see a massage that says: "Fail getting Cisco IMC IP"

Also the fans are very noisy and the LEDs are off.

Does a RMA of the motherboard can resolve this issue?

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

Greetings.

Can you confirm if you are getting the specific message: Error 0x18008080 Cisco IMC refusing connections ?

If so, please open a TAC case to determine if this requires a systemboard replacement.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[孙先生]

---

Could you please tell me the final solution? I have the same problem now

[Steven Tardy]

Found one internal bug which states:

On C220 M4: Short the pins 3 and 4 of Jumper J20
On C240 M4: Short the pins 3 and 4 of Jumper J4
This will activate the backup image

Will work to get that bug externalized.