High Fan Speed Issue on Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers

RIX_IT

@LennertvdBerg I just tested the new UEFI combined with the new XCC Firmware. Also installed all pending XCP-ng updates while being at it.
XCC Firmware didn't make any difference, so this one should be updated as Lenovo addressed quite a few CVE's.

However, the new UEFI is still not the solution to our problem, just as @Riven already figured by the changelogs. Fans are still sitting at around 12-13k RPMs. Also the DIMM Temps are still not shown in XCC.

DeOccultist

@RIX_IT

I just noticed this issue today when I installed XCP-ng 8.2.1 on a ThinkSystem SR645 v3 with UEFI KAE120J-4.20.

The fans are spinning at high 16,800 to 20,224 RPM the high pitch sound is unbearably annoying.

I changed operating mode in the UEFI settings from maximum performance to maximum efficiency. It made no difference fans are still spinning as fast as before.

rfx77

Maybe someone could try XenServer-8 which might be supported by Lenovo and reopen the ticket again. https://hcl.xenserver.com/servers/?serversupport__version=21&vendor=4&form_factor=2

DeOccultist

@rfx77
That's what I thought of too and tried booting into the Xenserver 8 iso XenServer8_2024-06-03.iso.
Even booting with the ISO installer will cause the fans to spin up abnormally fast, up to 20,000RPM.

rfx77

@DeOccultist i expected this but my thought is that now you can open a ticket at lenovo because maybe xenserver (not xcp-ng) is on the list of supported os and they will help you.

DeOccultist

@rfx77
I opened a support ticket with Lenovo but still no luck since XenServer 8 is a Vendor Certified OS and not a Lenovo Supported OS.

Vendor Certified: The server has met the OS Partner Certified/Logo program requirements, however, hardware device driver updates may not be available beyond the inbox OS device drivers. As a result support is limited and customers should strongly consider this when determining which OS version to install. The OS vendor provides OS support with inbox drivers only. Lenovo only provides hardware level support, and will work with hardware partners and OS vendors in a best-effort capacity to close any compatibility issues customers may experience with their installation. Lenovo will work with the OS provider to submit hardware compatibility (HCL) test suite results so that the supported solution can be posted to the respective OS providers HCL site.

The SR645 v3 has different UEFI firmware versions to the SR635 v3, it looks like v1.25 for SR645 v3 is equivilent to v1.43 for SR635 v3

==================================================
Version 1.25, Build ID KAE106Y [Critical]
Release date: [May/ 2023]
Release Ref: Genoa Wave2 EAR602 [AMD 2S V3]
==================================================

Support Systems: 
  Lenovo ThinkSystem SR645v3 Server, Machine Types 7D9C/7D9D
  Lenovo ThinkSystem SR665v3 Server, Machine Types 7D9A/7D9B
  
This UEFI supports AMD processor:
  AMD EPYC 9004 Series processor (formerly codenamed "Genoa"), AGESA GenoaPI-SP5_1.0.0.3

1.0 Prerequisites and dependencies
  None
 
2.0 Fixes
  Fixed the issue that configuring OperatingModes.ChooseOperatingMode to "Maximum Performance" from OOB did not match the same configuration in UEFI F1 Setup page.
  Addressed AMD's recent Genoa processor errata that in rare scenarios can result in #UD, #PF, or other unexpected system behavior.
 
3.0 Enhancements
 None

4.0 Limitations 
  None


==================================================
Version 1.43, Build ID KAE110O [Critical]
Release date: [May/ 2023]
Release Ref: Genoa Wave2 EAR602 [AMD 1S V3]
==================================================

Support Systems: 
  Lenovo ThinkSystem SR635v3 Server, Machine Types 7D9G/7D9H
  Lenovo ThinkSystem SR655v3 Server, Machine Types 7D9E/7D9F

This UEFI supports AMD processor:
    AMD EPYC 9004 Series processor (formerly codenamed "Genoa"), AGESA GenoaPI-SP5_1.0.0.4
  
1.0 Prerequisites and dependencies
  None

2.0 Fixes
   Fixed the issue that configuring OperatingModes.ChooseOperatingMode to "Maximum Performance" from OOB did not match the same configuration in UEFI F1 Setup page.
   Addressed AMD's recent Genoa processor errata that in rare scenarios can result in #UD, #PF, or other unexpected system behavior.
  
3.0 Enhancements
   None
	
4.0 Limitations 
  None

What I want to know though is where to download the older version of the UEFI firmware? I can only see the latest version on the Lenovo website.

RIX_IT

@DeOccultist
That's pretty much what I was expecting from Lenovo at this point. Sad, but thanks a lot for trying!

You can find the older versions here:

Scroll all the way to the bottom to find the Button that says "Show Previous Versions":

olivierlambert

Don't forget to save them somewhere, we'd be happy to store them on our side and have a dedicated section to download it if needed.

DeOccultist

@RIX_IT Thank you for the tips.

Just for the record, I downgraded the SR645 v3 to UEFI v1.25 KAE106Y and the fans are now spinning at 9000RPM and the fan speed adjusts accordingly depending on the CPU load so I think this is the correct behaviour.

But once upgrade to version UEFI 2.10 KAE112N for the SR645 v3, the fan spins up to 20000RPM with unbearable sound. This also occurs with the latest firmware 4.20 KAE120J.

I opened a ticket with XenServer 8 Trial Edition bugs portal and they finally replied with "This issue is on our radar. We're currently developing a solution. To avoid duplicates, we'll archive this ticket for now"
Not sure when or how it will be fixed though.

RIX_IT

@DeOccultist

Thanks again for your effort!
That gives at least a little hope for it to be fixed in the future.

Perhaps @olivierlambert could give us some insides on whether the changes can or will be implemented if they're fixed from XenServer's side?

I did also find this:
XenServer 8 cannot acquire the DIMM temperature and fan speed is too fast on the AMD platform - Lenovo ThinkSystem

Looks like Lenovo finally acknowledged that there is a problem. They even provided a Workaround for this.

I'll see if I can test it. It might take some time because we already have our servers running in production, we just couldn't wait any longer for a solution.

bleader

Olivier is currently on holidays, so I'll try to answer: it will mostly depend where the fix is implemented by XenServer, they do have some closed source parts, if that fix goes in such a part, we won't be able to get it back. If it is implemented in some of the open source part, we should be able to get it and integrate the change on our side.

Let's hope the fix ends up on the right side

Riven

@ThierryEscande @bleader @olivierlambert Hope this helps if XenServer don't come to the party.
Given the new information about the I2C-DesignWare driver - I've disabled it on one of my SR635V3 systems, and I can read the DIMM temps now

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR635 V3, BIOS KAE118M-4.11

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK - I have not tested this in production, or found out what else it might effect
However given the "workaround" provided by Lenovo for XenServer - it should be OK.

The driver is built into the kernel instead of a module, so had to be blacklisted slightly differently.

Found which driver to blacklist from kernel init.
fgrep i2c /boot/System.map-4.19.0+1 | grep init

ffffffff815172f0 T drm_i2c_encoder_init
ffffffff815574c0 T __regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff81557510 T __devm_regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff815d0700 t i2c_dw_init_master
ffffffff815d14f0 t i2c_dw_init_slave
ffffffff81ea9b40 r __ksymtab_drm_i2c_encoder_init
ffffffff81eb0570 r __ksymtab___devm_regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff81eb0838 r __ksymtab___regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff81edc1a9 r __kstrtab_drm_i2c_encoder_init
ffffffff81edffcd r __kstrtab___devm_regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff81edffe4 r __kstrtab___regmap_init_i2c
ffffffff8248156d t i2c_init
ffffffff82481b65 t dw_i2c_init_driver
ffffffff8255fe48 t __initcall_i2c_init2
ffffffff8255ffa8 t __initcall_dw_i2c_init_driver4

Guessed dw_i2c_init_driver as the most likely candidate

In /etc/grub-efi.cfg I added initcall_blacklist=dw_i2c_init_driver and ran grub-mkconfig then rebooted.

menuentry 'XCP-ng' {
        search --label --set root root-ltcoyb
        multiboot2 /boot/xen.gz watchdog ucode=scan dom0_max_vcpus=1-16 crashkernel=256M,below=4G console=vga vga=mode-0x0311 dom0_mem=16384M,max:16384M
        module2 /boot/vmlinuz-4.19-xen root=LABEL=root-ltcoyb ro nolvm hpet=disable console=hvc0 console=tty0 quiet vga=785 splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles initcall_blacklist=dw_i2c_init_driver
        module2 /boot/initrd-4.19-xen.img
}

Restarted the BMC to be sure, and checked. Previously these reported 0 degrees C for populated DIMM slots.
ipmitool sdr | grep -i temp

Ambient Temp     | 18 degrees C      | ok
Exhaust Temp     | 35 degrees C      | ok
CPU 1 Temp       | 31 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 1 Temp      | no reading        | ns
DIMM 2 Temp      | 27 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 3 Temp      | no reading        | ns
DIMM 4 Temp      | 29 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 5 Temp      | 30 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 6 Temp      | 29 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 7 Temp      | 29 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 8 Temp      | 29 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 9 Temp      | 29 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 10 Temp     | no reading        | ns
DIMM 11 Temp     | 27 degrees C      | ok
DIMM 12 Temp     | no reading        | ns

Then check the fans rpm (previously 18000 front & 15000 rear)
ipmitool sdr | grep -i fan

Fan Mismatch     | 0x00              | ok
Fan 1 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 2 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 3 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 4 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 5 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 6 Front Tach | 7168 RPM          | ok
Fan 7 Front Tach | 0 RPM             | ok
Fan 1 Rear Tach  | 6048 RPM          | ok
Fan 2 Rear Tach  | 5940 RPM          | ok
Fan 3 Rear Tach  | 6048 RPM          | ok
Fan 4 Rear Tach  | 5940 RPM          | ok
Fan 5 Rear Tach  | 5940 RPM          | ok
Fan 6 Rear Tach  | 5940 RPM          | ok
Fan 7 Rear Tach  | 0 RPM             | ok
Sys Fan Pwr      | 6 Watts           | ok

olivierlambert

Hi,

Does it solve the fan speed issue? If yes, might worth digging more.

Riven

@olivierlambert said in High Fan Speed Issue on Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers:

Hi,

Does it solve the fan speed issue? If yes, might worth digging more.

Yes absolutely - fans are operating as per normal/expectation now.

According to https://support.lenovo.com/ie/en/solutions/tt2254-xenserver-8-cannot-acquire-the-dimm-temperature-and-fan-speed-is-too-fast-on-the-amd-platform-lenovo-thinksystem this is a work around.

The main problem is:

CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE is a configuration setting in Linux kernel which would affect initial system HW setting. In this case, due to CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE is not set, the clock source of AMDI0010 (the device inside CPU) can't be registered which results in incorrect I2C command output from it and causes the DIMM temperature retrieval failure in XCC side.
The system fan speed is automatically varies based on DIMM temperature readings, and when the DIMM temperature being error, the fan speed will be tuned to high rotation.

Riven

grep CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE /boot/config-4.19.0+1
# CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE is not set

A rebuilt kernel with this enabled might be all is needed.

DeOccultist

@RIX_IT
I've been informed by XenServer trial support that Lenovo has filed the ticket LEN-605 for this issue, it's probably a private issue tracker though.
They'll let me know once it is fixed.

olivierlambert

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Let's see what happens next

ThierryEscande

@Riven said in High Fan Speed Issue on Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers:

grep CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE /boot/config-4.19.0+1
# CONFIG_X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE is not set
A rebuilt kernel with this enabled might be all is needed.

Hi,

We're building kernel-alt packages for both XCP-ng 8.2 and 8.3 with X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE enabled. We'll notify you when they are available for testing.

ThierryEscande

The kernel-alt package with X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE enabled is available for testing.

This is for XCP-ng 8.2.1 only for now.

Use yum to install it:

yum --enablerepo=xcp-ng-testing install kernel-alt

Reboot and select XCP-ng kernel-alt 4.19.265 at the grub screen.

Riven

@ThierryEscande said in High Fan Speed Issue on Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers:

The kernel-alt package with X86_AMD_PLATFORM_DEVICE enabled is available for testing.

This is for XCP-ng 8.2.1 only for now.

Use yum to install it:
yum --enablerepo=xcp-ng-testing install kernel-alt
Reboot and select XCP-ng kernel-alt 4.19.265 at the grub screen.

It fixes the memory temp reading, and therefore fan controls - BUT I no longer have any networking.
Reboot to std kernel and its back just fine.

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