No display on HP z240 tower workstation

[User770]

Hello, I'm tinkering with an HP Z240. All of the parts are second hand. I've put a Xeon E3 1230v6 in it. I had ECC RAM in it but it gave me error beeps (3 long and 2 short) saying there was a ram problem.

I put in non ECC ram in and there are no more error beeps. The CPU fan comes on, stops, and then starts again and remains on. There are no beeps at all. I can't get any display out. I've tried a display Port straight from the motherboard. I've also tried HDMI from two GPUs, a GTX 1650 and a RTX 3060. Still no display.

I've cleared the CMOS.

The CPU looked in great condition when I installed it.

Any ideas on what to do next would be appreciated. 

The motherboard appears to be HP Z240 ATAYAL Rev 1.00 837344-001 Socket 1151 DDR4.

[NonSequitur777]

@User770,

Welcome to our HP community forum!

A Xeon E3 1230 v6 is compatible with an HP Z240 Tower Workstation, but it has no integrated graphics, so a discrete graphics card is necessary in order to get a video output.

What I would do is first reinstalling a working processor and making sure that your BIOS settings (under 'Advanced') show that your PCIe x16 slot is enabled, and that you got the latest BIOS update, which is 01.91 Rev.A.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[DGroves]

the z240 REQUIRES  proper ram placement

install your first RAM stick into the slot labeled 1.

the second stick goes into Slot 2, which isn't next to Slot 1.

both of these slots should have dimms of the same capacity/RANK

If you have a third stick, it would go into Slot 3,

(which will  be between Slots 1 and  2)

for the 4th dimm, it again needs to match the dimm in slot 3 in  capacity/RANK

[SDH]

Why don't you post a picture of each of your RAM sticks so we can see their label codes?

Do you know the difference between buffered and unbuffered RAM?

[User770]

Hello, thanks for your reply and welcome! 

Is the Xeon E3 1230 v6 compatible with the stock bios firmware? I am unable to update the bios firmware as I cannot get a video signal at all with this CPU. 

I'm guessing the Xeon E3 1230 v6 requires an updated bios firmware to be able to function. 

I suppose I may have to buy a  processor that was released with the original firmware, which I think may be the i5 6500, the i5 6600 or the i7 6700. 

[User770]

I think buffered is ECC ram and unbuffered is regular ram?

This is the ram that works. 

This is the ram that gave 3 long beeps and 2 short beeps error. 

 

[SDH]

You need to search for Z240 Tower QuickSpecs pdf and gather up all you can find. The latest is usually the best to work from. Go into that and find the section that shows the different memory to pick from. Read in there about how some processors need only one of the ECC possibilites and the majority can use ECC or non-ECC. Note that the memory all is supposed to be unbuffered. Not buffered.

No, ECC/non-ECC is not the same as buffered/unbuffered. That is also known as registered/unregistered.

Then as DGroves stated there are issues like don't mix ECC and non-ECC nor different ranks and buffered/unbuffered. It all gets confusing pretty quickly. So best thing is to ask someone you know and trust, like DGroves, what he is using in his Z240 Tower builds and duplicate that. I personally don't have any Z240 Towers.

[SDH]

Beyond memory... yes, if you have a brand-new processor and way-old BIOS on the motherboard your workstation may not know how to work with that newer processor. This is called being painted into a corner.

An old cheap processor install can get you out of that and allow you to update the BIOS. Then you get to put in your new processor and the BIOS will now know how to work with it.

I'll try to remember to post how to do that from within BIOS for you tomorrow. The Z440/Z640 and your Z240 updating of  BIOS from withing BIOS works differently than in the old xw workstations and even from the ZX20 ones. I'll let you know how.

[SDH]

Attached are some memory related things. The QuickSpecs PDF on page 12 gives some memory tips. All unbuffered. It looks like there are some restrictions on ECC vs non-ECC memory based on processor that is being used. I happened to have some that I think will work for you... note the HP Assembly P/N on the right side label. Look for that on eBay. I'd start with one and if it works then I'd get 3 more for your 4 total memory sockets.

HP gives different Assembly P/Ns to same memory at times... sometimes you just need to test if you can't find an official kit to look at from HP on eBay or from google.

Regarding upgrading BIOS from within BIOS I've attached a PDF I made for the ZX40 workstations such as the Z440 and Z640. Same ideas for the SoftPaq you'll need to download from HP for your Z240 Tower, and extract that on another functioning computer. It does not even need to be a HP computer but you'll need to follow the steps and make sure you get the right one. Start with Google and search for Z240 Tower drivers, then choose W10/W10, and it will be there under the BIOS section. This is the safest way to update BIOS, rather than from within an operating system.

However, it sounds like you can't even see BIOS yet, so you need to fix that first (which I believe is due to wrong memory).

This kit gets you the next pic's HP label number...This is what I have here that I believe would work for you...

[SDH]

Regarding your memory sticks... I think the HyperX is buffered and know it is single rank. Re the Samsung I think it is buffered too and dual rank. Different speeds. Guaranteed to not work. Get 1 or 2 of what I showed you... your and my time is worth something... so spend on what is matched and has a very high chance of working. Let us know.