Bug in Z240-SFF Fan-Control

[Faisal65]

i am facing same issue on my HPz240 sff. i tried different processors but same problem. all fans are okay because when i change idle fan setting in bios then fans rpm speed increase. so i think its bios issue or something else.

[marcmeyer]

@Faisal65,
thank you for your feedback.

I have now reinstalled the ME Firmware 11.8.94.4494.bin (a downgrade is prevented by the installer), but the problems persist. I will now remove individual components and reboot each time, and as a last resort, order a new CPU or a new motherboard.

However, if Faisal65 is experiencing the exact same issues, wouldn't it be a good idea for HP Support to look into this matter?

[NonSequitur777]

@marcmeyer,

Yes, it would be a good idea, but since the HP Z240 SFF Workstation reached its end-of-life (EOL) around November 2018, HP is not going to do anything about it, I'm afraid.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Faisal65]

But they keep providing bios updates. last bios update is Aug 2024. So it can be fixable by bios update.

[Faisal65]

I experience this issue on two different hp z240 sff machines. one thing that is common in both of them are both are base model with 65w coolers. but i use xeon 72w processor. it is not hardware fault. its bios or Intel Me or may be microcode fault.

[marcmeyer]

I’m afraid I don’t think it’s the BIOS, as I’ve downgraded it to V01.87 as a test, and the issue remains the same.

@Faisal65: Which Intel Management Engine Firmware are you using?

My test of removing all components (except for one SATA, one GPU, and one RAM stick (16GB)) was also unsuccessful. I suspect it’s the Intel MEF, as I can’t imagine that something on the motherboard or CPU could be defective in this case.

Perhaps Hewlett Packard could take another look at the issue (even though it's end-of-life), because if it is indeed an Intel MEF bug, it should still be fixed, as V11.8.94.4494 was the last version released for the platform. (By the way, there is no Intel MEF version available for download on the product page.)

[SDH]

On most of my builds I turn off Intel ME in BIOS. Would that not be nice if you can do that also and your issue went away? DGroves has said many times IME has little to no value except in certain complex enterprise environments.

I've never had an issue with turning it off here. If I want to upgrade the ME firmware (being too compulsive) I have to turn IME back on in BIOS, upgrade the FW from the SoftPaq, and then I turn IME back off. 

I can tell you how I navigate to turning it off in the Z440/Z640 BIOS but I don't know if the navigation is the same in your Z240 SFF BIOS... let me know if you want that.

EDIT:  Sorry guys... got my terminology mixed up late last night. It is Intel AMT I turn off via BIOS/ Advanced tab/ Manageability Application Configuration/ AMT is defaulted to Enable... I change it to Disable.

[Faisal65]

I'm also on V11.8.94.4494 but in bios version 1.91 changelog mention that it contain ME V11.8.95.4551 Update. But when I install 1.91 it did not update ME version.  @SDH I can't find option to turn off ME but there is a option to turn of AMT.

[Faisal65]

Yes I also now thinking its Intel ME issue. Because I found bios version 1.85 from somewhere. so I installed it and it did not solve the issue.

[marcmeyer]

I believe IME 11.8.95.4551 has not yet been released for the Z240-SFF, because I can't find a single Softpaq for it:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%2211.8.95.4551%22+%22z240%22&num=10

I only find this for a laptop:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%2211.8.95.4551%22+%22softpaq%22&num=10
or here:
https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp151001-151500/sp151300.exe