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Installing System Components

Dell™ PowerEdge™ 400SC Systems Installation and Troubleshooting Guide

  Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan

  Expansion Cards

  System Memory

  Processor

  System Battery


This section describes how to install the following system components:

Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan

Your system contains three fan assemblies. The three assemblies provide cooling for the processor, memory modules, and expansion cards.

Removing the Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
NOTICE: To avoid damaging the fan power cables, do not remove the shroud too quickly.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Press the shroud release lever toward the front of the system. See Figure 6-1.

  4. Lift the shroud up to disengage the anchor tabs from the back panel.

  5. Once the shroud has been disengaged, unplug the fan power cables from their connectors on the system board.

Figure 6-1. Removing the Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan

Installing the Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan

  1. Attach the fan power cable to the fan connector on the system board. See Figure A-3.

  2. Align the anchor tabs with the securing slots. See Figure 6-1.

  3. Gently press down on the shroud until the anchor tabs snap securely into place.

  4. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  5. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

Expansion Cards

The system supports up to four half-length, 32-bit, 33-MHz PCI expansion cards. See Figure A-3 for the location of the expansion card slots.

Installing an Expansion Card

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Press the lever on the card retention arm and raise the retention arm. See Figure 6-2.

Figure 6-2. Installing an Expansion Card

  1. If you are installing a new card, remove the filler bracket.

NOTE: Keep this bracket in case you need to remove the expansion card. Filler brackets must be installed over empty expansion-card slots to maintain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification of the system. The brackets also keep dust and dirt out of the system and aid in proper cooling and airflow inside the system.
  1. Prepare the card for installation.

See the documentation that came with the card for information on configuring the card, making internal connections, or otherwise customizing it for your system.

NOTE: Some NICs automatically start the system when they are connected to a network.
  1. Place the card-edge connector in the expansion-card connector and press down firmly. Ensure that the card is fully seated in the slot.

  2. Before you lower the retention arm, ensure that:

    1. The tops of all cards and filler brackets are flush with the alignment bar.

    1. The notch in the top of the card or filler bracket fits around the alignment guide.

Press the retention arm into place, securing the card(s) in the system.

NOTICE: Do not route card cables over or behind the cards. Cables routed over the cards can prevent the system cover from closing properly or cause damage to the equipment.
  1. Connect any cables that should be attached to the card.

See the documentation for the card for information about the card's cable connections.

  1. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  2. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

  3. Install any device drivers required for the card as described in the documentation for the card.

Removing an Expansion Card

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Press the lever on the retention arm and raise the retention arm. See Figure 6-2.

  4. If necessary, disconnect any cables from the card.

  5. Grasp the card by its top corners, and ease it out of its connector.

  6. If you are removing the card permanently, install a filler bracket in the empty card-slot opening.

NOTE: Filler brackets must be installed over empty expansion card slots to maintain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification of the system. The brackets also keep dust and dirt out of the system and aid in proper cooling and airflow inside the system.
  1. Lower the retention arm and press it into place, securing the remaining card(s) in the system. See Figure 6-2.

  2. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

  4. Remove the card's device driver from the operating system.

System Memory

See Figure A-3 for the location of the four memory module sockets.

You can upgrade the system memory by installing combinations of memory modules. If you receive an error message stating that maximum memory has been exceeded, see "Indicators, Messages, and Codes" for more information. You can purchase memory upgrade kits from Dell.

Memory Module Installation Guidelines

For information on the type of memory supported by your system, see your User's Guide.

NOTICE: For best performance, install your original memory modules in pairs either in connectors CHANNEL_A DIMM0 and CHANNEL_B DIMM0 (white ejector levers) or in connectors CHANNEL_A DIMM1 and CHANNEL_B DIMM1 (black ejector levers). Do not pair an original memory module with a new memory module. Otherwise, your system may not start properly. See Figure A-3 for the location of the memory module connectors.

Figure 6-3. Determining the Memory Module's Capacity

NOTICE: If you remove your original memory modules from the system during a memory upgrade, keep them separate from any new memory modules that you may have, even if you purchased the new memory modules from Dell. Use only unbuffered ECC DDR memory modules.

Addressing Memory With 4-GB Configurations

Your system supports a maximum of 4 GB of memory using four 1-GB memory modules. Current operating systems can use a maximum of 4 GB of address space; however, the amount of memory available to the operating system is slightly less than 4 GB. Certain components within the system require address space in the 4-GB range. Any address space reserved for these components cannot be used by system memory.

The following components require address space:

At start-up, the BIOS identifies the components that require address space. The BIOS dynamically calculates the amount of reserved address space required. The BIOS then subtracts the reserved address space from 4 GB to determine the amount of usable space.

Installing a Memory Module

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Press on the securing clip at each end of the memory module connector. See Figure 6-4.

  4. Align the memory module's edge connector with the alignment key in the connector.

The memory module connector has an alignment key that allows the memory module to be installed in the connector in only one way.

  1. Insert the module into the connector, and carefully press each end of the module into place.

Figure 6-4. Installing a Memory Module

  1. Pull up on the securing clips to lock the modules into place.

If you insert the module correctly, the securing clips snap into the cutouts at each end of the module.

When the memory module is properly seated in the connector, the securing clips on the memory module socket should align with the securing clips on the other connectors with memory modules installed.

  1. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  2. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

The system detects that the new memory does not match the existing configuration information and generates the following message:

The amount of system memory has changed.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility

  1. Press <F2> to enter the System Setup program and check the value for System Memory. See your User's Guide for detailed information.

The system should have changed the value of System Memory to reflect the newly installed memory. Verify the new value. If it is correct, skip to step 13.

  1. If the memory value is incorrect, turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system.

  3. Ensure that the installed memory modules are seated properly in their connectors, and repeat step 6 through step 9.

  4. When the System Memory value is correct, press <Esc> to exit the System Setup program.

  5. Run the system diagnostics to verify that the memory modules are operating properly.

Removing a Memory Module

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Press out on the securing clip at each end of the memory module connector. See Figure 6-4.

  4. Grasp the memory module and pull it out of the connector.

If the module is difficult to remove, gently move the module back and forth to remove it from the connector.

Processor

You can upgrade your processor to take advantage of future options in speed and functionality. Each processor and its associated cache memory are contained in a PGA package that is installed in a ZIF socket on the system board.

Replacing the Processor

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
CAUTION: The processor and heat sink can get very hot during normal operation. Ensure that they have had sufficient time to cool before you touch them.
  1. Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Remove the processor cooling shroud and fan. See "Removing the Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan."

NOTICE: If you are installing a processor upgrade kit from Dell, discard the original heat sink. If you are not installing a processor upgrade kit from Dell, reuse the original heat sink when you install your new processor.
  1. Remove the processor heat sink. See Figure 6-5.

    1. Remove one retention module clip by pressing the tab on the clip and lifting the retention module clip up.

    1. While pulling the retention module tab out, lift the heat sink away from the processor.

Figure 6-5. Removing the Heat Sink

  1. Pull the processor socket release lever straight up until the processor is released. See Figure 6-6.

Figure 6-6. Removing the Processor

NOTICE: Be careful not to bend any of the pins when you remove the processor from the socket. Bending the pins can permanently damage the processor.
  1. Remove the processor from the socket and leave the release lever in the release position so that the socket is ready for the new processor.

  2. Align pin 1 (the imprinted corner) of the processor and pin 1 of the socket.

NOTICE: Processor pins are delicate. To avoid damage, ensure that the processor aligns properly with the socket, and do not use excessive force when you install the processor.
  1. Carefully set the processor in the socket and press it down lightly to seat it.

  2. Rotate the release lever back toward the system board until it snaps into place, securing the processor.

Figure 6-7. Installing the Processor

  1. Remove the thermal grease protective cover from the heat sink.

NOTICE: If your heat sink has cooling pipes, orient the heat sink so that the cooling pipes are toward the memory modules to prevent damage to system board components.
  1. Place one end of the heat sink under the retention module tab on the side opposite the removed clip, and lower the heat sink onto the processor until the heat sink snaps securely in the retention module. See Figure 6-5.

  2. Replace the retention module clip by pressing in on the tab and lowering that end of the clip into the retention module. See Figure 6-5.

  3. Replace the processor cooling shroud and fan. See "Installing the Processor Cooling Shroud and Fan."

  4. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  5. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

System Battery

A coin-cell battery maintains system configuration, date, and time information. The battery can last several years.

The battery may need replacing if you have repeatedly reset the time and date information after turning on the system or if one of the following messages appear:

Time-of-day not set - please run SETUP program

or

Invalid configuration information -
please run SETUP program

or

Strike the F1 key to continue,
F2 to run the setup utility

To determine whether you need to replace the battery, see "Troubleshooting the System Battery" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

You can operate your system without a battery; however, without a battery, the configuration information is erased if the system is turned off or unplugged from the electrical outlet. In this case, you must enter the System Setup program and reset the configuration options.

CAUTION: A new battery can explode if it is incorrectly installed. Replace the battery only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the manufacturer. Discard used batteries according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Replacing the Battery

CAUTION: See your System Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
  1. Enter the System Setup program and, if possible, make a printed copy of the System Setup screens. See "Using the System Setup Program" in the User's Guide.

  2. Open the system. See "Opening the System" in Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Locate the battery on the system board. See Figure A-3 for the battery location.

NOTICE: If you use a blunt, nonconductive object to depress the tab next to the battery, be careful not to touch the system board with the object. Ensure that the object is inserted between the battery and the tab before you attempt to depress the tab. Do not pry out the battery. You may damage the system board by prying off the socket or by breaking circuit traces on the system board.
  1. Remove the battery by pressing on the tab. See Figure 6-8.

Figure 6-8. Replacing the Battery

  1. Install the new battery with the side labeled "+" facing up, and press down until it snaps into place.

  2. Close the system. See "Closing the System" in "Troubleshooting Your System."

  3. Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.

  4. Enter the System Setup program to confirm that the battery operates properly.

  5. From the main screen, select System Time to enter the correct time and date.

Also, re-enter any system configuration information that is no longer displayed on the System Setup screens, and then exit the System Setup program.

  1. To test the newly installed battery, turn off the system and disconnect it from electrical power for at least an hour.

  2. After an hour, reconnect the system to a power source and turn it on.

  3. Enter the System Setup program. If the time and date are still incorrect, see "Getting Help."

  4. Enter the System Setup program and restore the settings you recorded before beginning this procedure.

  5. Properly dispose of the old battery. For more information, see your System Information Guide.

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