I want to run a Z800 workstation without a graphics card?

[xdawg]

I have 3 Z800's sitting in my office, unfortunately one is missing a graphics card.  I want to build the one without a graphics card, so temporarily I borrowed the card from one of the other boxes.

When I booted up the box that I borrowed the card from, it started whining and beeping with the red light - it was 6 beeps which according to the documentation is the code for missing graphics card.

Will it ever just shut up and boot without a card?  Or is this something that I need to disable in the BIOS?  It was quite annoying so I powered it down since I wasn't sure how long it would last, and ofcourse without a graphics card I couldn't see any error messages it may have been sending.

[Z600HeadlessNow]

I have two Z600 workstations that I want to run headless.

I've been trying to do a headless boot were I don't have any graphic card installed, but I get an error message that sounds 6 beeps and flashes the red led 6 times, indicating a missing graphic card. According to HP they added a "Headless Boot Option to Repset" in Bios 03.54, but I can't find it in bios. Is it still there in my bios version, 03.57? I've searched online but I've not been able to find a solution to this most annoying problem. Others have asked about this problem but there hasn't been any answers. Not even a: "No, it's impossible".

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=3912020&swItemId=wk_122930_1&swEnvOid=405...

HP, halloo!!!!!!!!

Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit:

Here is another HP customer waiting for a timely resolution. Notice the date of the unanswered comment.

/t5/Workstations-z-series-xw-series/xw6200-headless-operation-no-graphic-card/m-p/2304908/highlight/...

[Dennis_Handly]

>HP, halloo! Wake up!

This is a peer to peer forum, not an official HP support site.
Have you tried contacting the HPSC?
http://www.hp.com/go/hpsc

[Z600HeadlessNow]

I called HP support in Sweden and it turned out that I knew more about this problem than they did. That is to say, I was at least aware of the problem. They were not. Now we are all aware of the problem, and now I'm waiting for someone who is aware of a solution. HP support in Sweden didn't have any solution.

First they said Z600 didn't have a headless boot option. Then I pointed out that HP added that to the 03.54 bios update, so they checked 03.54 but they didn't have any explanation for that. So I asked if that option was removed in later bios updates, but they didn't have any answers. So I asked if I could download bios 03.54 and they said maybe. Then I said I had read that it's not possible to revert to a older bios. So they checked that and said I was right.

I don't think this is the whole story. There was too much insecurity in their answers. They smelled holiday temp workers (20141229).

EDIT:

Why must I, and millions of other HP customers, fume CO2 into the atmosphere, simply because HP can't be bothered adding a few lines of code into the bios? Codes that would enable us to remove the unnecessary graphic cards from our 24/7-on workstations, and thereby saving money and the planet.

Is HP a green company?

[RajeshKG]

Hi Customer,

This machine is built for heavy duty and to work round the clock.

To maintain the performance of the Processor the load of the graphics is shifted to External source i,e a Graphics card.

Hence a Graphics card is required for the display.

Regards,

Rajesh

HP Expert.

[SDH]

I'll jump in..... I have a xw6400 running headless, and it was set up with a fanless HP nVidia Quadro NVS295.  No monitor, keyboard, or mouse is attached.  W7Pro64, 2 SLAEJ E5345 quad cores, 8GB RAM.

Working great.  I just checked on eBay and can get one of those for $9.00 with free shipping.  If it is a video card that is the key to unlock running headless then that's pretty cheap.  I had one of my friends set that up for our son, so I don't have all the configuration details for you.  But, it has been working fine for several years now.  I get in to it remotely as needed.

[Dan_WGBU]

Headless mode on the Z800 can be set by using the HP BIOS Configuration Utility, located here:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/clientmanagement/download.html?404m=rt404Mb,newcclltow1en

I partially tried it on my Z800.  Download the latest version 3.2.3.1 service pack sp68876.  I installed it twice, the second time the installer came up in Program Maintenance, and I selected Modify, then continued.  The Custom Setup window came up, and I clicked on the + by BIOS_Config_Utility_Files, to show lines with 32Bit and 64Bit BIOS Config Utility options.  I clicked on the 64Bit Config Utility option downarrow, to install the 64 bit version, then continued.  Maybe the second install for the 64 bit version is unnecessary. 

The BIOS config programs are installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\BIOS Configuration Utility.  The executables did not show up in the Win7 Start menu, only the user's guide did under All Programs -> HP -> BIOS Configuration Utility.  

So I opened a "DOS" window (Search programs and files, typed in CMD, then ran it as Administrator), went to C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\BIOS Configuration Utility, then ran BiosConfigUtility64.exe /getconfig:YourFileNameandLocation, it it generated a text config file. 

Open the config file, and look for Headless Mode.  It will show:

Headless Mode

       *Disable

        Enable

Delete the * before Disable and put a * before Enable, save the file, then run BiosConfigUtility64.exe /SetConfig:Thenewfilename and location. 

This should set the system to a headless mode.  More info is in the BIOS Config User's Guide.

** I did NOT set my Z800 to headless mode, so I cannot verify it worked or it can be reset back **

No personal guarantees, maybe someone else tried this first and can give more info.  But I did run the program, and was able to generate the config file and find the settings.

[Dan_WGBU]

To clarify, there is no F10 (BIOS setup screen) option for headless operation.  The HP BIOS Configuration Utility must be used to disable graphics for headless operation.