PowerEdge R420 iDRAC Initialization Error After CMOS Battery Failure – Tried Resets and BIOS Update

Hello,

I'm having serious issues with the iDRAC on my Dell PowerEdge R420 after what seems to have been a CMOS battery failure (the server lost its date/time settings, and the issue was resolved after replacing the battery). However, the iDRAC is now failing to initialize.

Current Behavior:

• On boot, the server gets past "Configuring memory... Done"

• Then it shows: Initializing iDRAC... ERROR

• The next screen shows the Dell logo with the loading bar, but the FX (I dont remenber the key) Lifecycle Controller option is disabled

• Then this message appears:

  Warning! iDRAC initialization error. Continuing to boot may yieldunexpected power loss due to unknown power inventory and variousfeatures lost such as Remote Access, Active Power Management, ThermalManagement, Inventory, LCD, or System Error Reporting.

• If I choose to continue, the system proceeds to boot but later shows:

  SWC0700: iDRAC is not ready. The configuration values cannot be accessed.

This specific error is described here: https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/rack-servers/swc0700-idrac-is-not-ready-the-configuration-values-cannot-be-accessed/647f9cb2f4ccf8a8de0dddea

In BIOS, the iDRAC settings are disabled and cannot be accessed.

What I've Tried So Far:

1. Disconnected the server from power for 2 minutes, replaced the CMOS battery.

2. No change.

3. Did a hard reset: unplugged the server and held down the power button for 30 seconds.

4. Still no change.

5. Did another hard reset, but this time I also held down the “i” button (iDRAC button) for 30 seconds after reconnecting power, to reset iDRAC.

6. Still no change.

7. Updated BIOS to the latest version — successful, but issue persists.

8. Tried updating the iDRAC firmware:

   • Couldn't do it via Lifecycle Controller since it's not available.

   • Couldn't use SD card method — my server doesn’t have the SD PCIe expansion.

   • Created a USB with Dell SUU and another with Ubuntu.

     • I was able to boot into Ubuntu only after doing the hard reset from step 5 — otherwise, the server would shut down right after selecting "Try Ubuntu."

     • In Ubuntu, I ran SUU and installed everything available — nothing related to iDRAC showed up.

     • Rebooted as instructed by SUU after updates.

     • Tried installing the .bin iDRAC update from Dell’s website directly in Ubuntu, but it failed due to missing dependencies and no internet connection on the server.

My Questions:

• Is there anything else I can try to recover or reinitialize iDRAC?

• Could this post be related to my problem and offer a solution?
  https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/poweredge-hardware-general/unable-to-upgrade-idrac-7-from-22121/647fa3d3f4ccf8a8de9cfca7

• Could this be a hardware failure in the iDRAC chip itself? Is replacement or a new motherboard the only option?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to avoid replacing the motherboard if there's a chance to bring the iDRAC back to life.