What to try if headless rackmount server doesn’t show up [SOLVED]
Recently we booted up our old 1U Dell R610 server to restore some data from it. However, we were unable to access the VMWare vSphere capabilities and could not ping the dedicated IP address.
Hooking up a spare monitor we found that the CMOS battery was bad and it was preventing bootup (i.e. it was stuck at an error confirmation screen). After using a keyboard to continue by “pressing any key” to get past the error, all was well 👍👍
Of course a production server would have DRAC ready to go and other management options, but if you encounter this type of behavior and do not have easy virtual access, try using a keyboard to “press any key” ☺
