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August 9th, 2025 13:56
R7425 Fans at 100% with passively cooled GPU installed, iDRAC9 7.x firmware
I mistakenly upgraded to iDRAC9 7.x Firmware on a R7425 thinking it would resolve an issue I was having with the virtual console (it didn't, had to change web browsers and disable proxying), and now I am stuck with seemingly no way to downgrade to an earlier firmware or enabling manual fan controls via IPMI, RedFish, or otherwise. This is completely unacceptable as a consumer, to be locked out of features we rely on with no recourse other than to switch to another platform.
For context, I have a Tesla P40 GPU installed in an R7425 in Slot 1, and as far as I can tell, since it is passively cooled, Dell's temperature control logic pegs the fans at 100% to ensure the GPU has adequate cooling. This is totally warranted in theory, but it doesn't account for non-datacenter use cases like sitting in a mobile rack in an office or vehicle. This server is doing AI inference "at the edge", and we need it to be quiet and power efficient in order to accomplish this mission.
I'm requesting any viable workaround, or a simple "yes I understand the risks" type of control to unlock full IPMI/RedFish access in order to have manual control of fan speeds, or just fix the logic and allow users to set a minimum fan speed that is reasonable regardless of the presence of a 3rd party card.
DELL-Joey C
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August 11th, 2025 01:02
Hi,
I understood your point from the consumer view. As far as the community forum goes, I am unable to help much as the firmware releases by engineering. I assume the server is out of contract, but I would suggest trying to contact support to raise a case if it is possible for engineering for a solution to be able to revert to the desired version that you prefer.
As for the fan speed that is at 100%, have you tried soft resetting iDRAC?
Ref: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000225924/rac0181-idrac9-firmware-downgrade-failures-on-14-15g-poweredge-servers
Ref: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-my/000126703/how-to-reset-the-internal-dell-remote-access-controller-idrac-on-a-poweredge-server
cp-zdt
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August 15th, 2025 18:06
@DELL-Joey C Thank you for the response! It is no longer under a support contract. I have tried both soft and hard resets of the iDRAC with no improvement. I've also verified that swapping PCI-E slots on 2 of the 3 different risers does not matter, nor does disabling system inventory collection at boot in the Lifecycle Controller. Is there an email address I can contact for support or is it only a phone number these days?
DELL-Charles R
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August 15th, 2025 18:50
Hello,
There are just a few settings you can try if you haven't already:
Custom Cooling Fan Options for Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers
https://dl.dell.com/manuals/common/customcooling_poweredge_idrac9.pdf?dgc=SM&cid=243907&lid=spr5090153920&linkId=123036317
Did you purchase it with the GPU or install after purchase?
Did you follow the installation guidelines and get the GPU enablement kit which has the high performance fans, cooling shroud and other components needed when installing a GPU? I don't have the part number but you can check with Sales for a quote and purchase.
GPU card installation guidelines
Page 139-140
https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/poweredge-r7425_owners-manual_en-us.pdf
I would also recommend you be up to date on system firmware: BIOS and iDRAC
If you put in your service tag here it will give you the available contact options.
There are Phone and Chat options but I'm not sure about Email.
https://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/en-us/ContactUs/Dynamic
cp-zdt
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August 15th, 2025 20:45
Those cooling settings are what I am looking to configure, however the Minimum Fan Speed in PWM (% of Max) has range of 100-100 when the GPU is installed.
The GPU was added after purchase, and there are no high performance fans or shroud. Would that have any affect on allowing for manual fan speed control, or changing the fan PWM setting above?
All firmware is (unfortunately) up to date, which is the cause of this problem. I will try contacting support.