set system.thermalsettings.ThirdPartyPCIFanResponse 0

What did you see?

racadm get system.thermalsettings

racadm>>get system.thermalsettings

[Key=system.Embedded.1#ThermalSettings.1]

AirExhaustTemp=70

#AirExhaustTempSupport=Supported

AirTemperatureRiseLimit=NO LIMIT

#AirTemperatureRiseLimitSupport=Supported

#CurrentSystemProfileValue=Minimum Power

#FanSpeedHighOffsetVal=75

#FanSpeedLowOffsetVal=25

#FanSpeedMaxOffsetVal=100

#FanSpeedMediumOffsetVal=50

FanSpeedOffset=Low

MaximumPCIeInletTemperatureLimit=55

#MaximumPCIeInletTemperatureLimitSupport=Supported

#MFSMaximumLimit=100

#MFSMinimumLimit=15

MinimumFanSpeed=255

#PCIeSlotLFMSupport=Supported

SetAirTemperatureRiseLimit=Disabled

SetMaximumExhaustTemperatureLimit=Disabled

#SoundCapState=Not Applicable

#SystemCFMSupport=Supported

#SystemExhaustTemperature=0

#SystemInletTemperature=24

#SystemInletTemperatureSupportLimitPerConfiguration=40

#TargetExhaustTemperatureLimit=70

ThermalProfile=Default Thermal Profile Settings

racadm>>

There you have your answer ;)  You try to modify an property which doesnt exists.

I dont know if it was removed during iDRAC9  3.x -> 7.x or does it only exists on certain systems like Gen 15,16 or 17 Hosts.

I expect the later.

Regards,

Joerg

I thought that too but I refuse to believe that such critical function was taken away that heartlessly. 

More interesting thing is that if I ssh to iDRAC via warp (http://warp.dev) and execute that set command I get neither error nor OK, but it seems to work. 

I'm really confused...

I was a fool and updated iDARC to latest version  on my R640 (not sure if it factor of not). But for life of me I can not find any way to get the damn fans quiet out when I have 3rd party PCIe card installed. Sound level is somewhere between airplane jet engine and space rocket. I would apprciate if some one would know to silence the fans. Otherwise i need to take them physically away if that works. I have Version 7.00.00.183(Build 03) of iDARC 9 on R640

@user_62e233​ 
Just to clarify my pickle  a bit more. I have SlimSAS bridge on PCIe slot for external GPU. With racadm it might be possible to disable fan input from that PCIe slot if only the card would not be identified as P2PBridge:

get System.PCIeSlotLFM.2
[Key=System.Embedded.1#PCIeSlotLFM.2]
#3rdPartyCard=No
#CardType=P2PBridge
CustomLFM=0
LFMMode=Automatic
#MaxLFM=980
#PCIeInletTemperature=17
#SlotState=Defined
#TargetLFM=Airflow Controlled

Since the 3rdPartyCard=No this fails:

set system.PCIeSlotLFM.2.LFMMode 1   
ERROR: PCI3022: Unable to adjust the Airflow Linear Flow per Minute (LFM) settings of the PCIe slot
       because the LFM settings can be adjusted only for installed cards that are identified as third party cards.

I have not found any way to get around this dead lock. With later iDRAC versions "raw" endpoint has been removed so these settings can't be modified with ipmitool (at least as far as I can tell). 

Only solution so far is to remove 6 of the 8 fans to get a bit more tolerable sound effect (only slightly though)...

I found workable solution some time ago. Get yourself Datacenter licence for iDrac. It returns custom airflow control for NON Dell-branded pci devices. You will find plenty of offers on eBay. 

Hello,

those with a valid waranty can always try to open a case with tech support and they can work on your hardware and take it to the engineering if you a business case.  Contact Technical Support | Dell US

Respectfully,

Unfortunatelly Datacenter licence made no difference and the R640 that I have is second hand machine so no warranty. Custom airflow settings are still grayed out in the GUI and when trying to write raw values with ipmitool I get "

Unable to send RAW command (channel=0x0 netfn=0x30 lun=0x0 cmd=0x30 rsp=0xd4): Insufficient privilege level

"

I would be curious to know what has been the basis for the design decision to disable option to disregard PCIe input for fan speed! Worthy of some sort of award (not the one that you can be proud of kind). 

I don’t recall changing custom settings for a particular slot on my r640 (what was advised by engineer) but it works for my purposes. Datacenter licence “returns” ability to change thermal profiles. Regardless of thermal profile upon startup fans will spool up to 100% and stay in full mode for 10 mins. After 10 mins it will go down to a selected profile. I can go as low as 20% fan speed. From my understanding, full customisation of air flow for each individual slot is impossible for non Dell-branded pci devices. 

Here is a quote from similar post:

<<<

You -can- get the fan speeds lower than 30%, but it depends on your hardware. iDRAC references nearly every piece of installed hardware and generates a lowest-% value based upon what you have in it. If you have a typical quad Gb daughtercard NIC installed and no other components with a lower TDP CPU, you can go lower. Vs say, if you have a dual 10Gb SFP+ NIC with two additional Gb ports, it will automatically increase your lowest attainable fan %. While iDRAC9 allows you to disable third party fan response from PCIe cards that the server can't detect temperature readings from, unfortunately the daughter card and CPU/RAM automatically increases the lowest value and the response isn't able to be ignored. 

This is why some people claim they can go as low as 20% duty cycle, while others say their lowest is 40, 35, 30 or 25%.

>>>

So I kinda see Dell’s logic on banning custom airflow settings and adding their logic as base line below which you aren’t allowed to go. 

To summarise, if your goal is to break 100% fan constant speed -> datacenter licence for iDRAC9. 
If you want custom airflow for a non Dell-branded cards - it doesn’t seem to be possible.