Intel RMM3: Error Opening Video Socket Fix

Intel has released an update for the RMM3 module that is supposed to fix the error when trying to establish a remote KVM session.

• MPECS Inc. Blog: Intel Remote Management Module 3 – Error Opening Video Socket

The downloads for the Intel Server Board S3420GP series can be found here:

• Intel Download Center: Intel Server Board S3420GP

Note that the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX has a different firmware set than the Intel Server Board S3420GPLX.

There is also a catch in the BMC installation procedure that should be noted at step 3 of the BMC firmware Release Notes.TXT file:

=====================================================================
            INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
=====================================================================

  1. Copy the BMC_0124.ima, fwpiaupd.efi, ipmi.efi, upd_BMC.nsh files
     to a USB key, hard disk drive or floppy drive.
     All of these files must reside in the same directory.

  2. Boot to EFI and then run the upd_BMC.nsh script file to update the BMC FW.

     Using fwpiaupd.efi with your own command line parameters is not supported
     and doing so is at your own risk!

     *** If you have an Intel Remote Management Module 3 plugged into the baseboard ***
     *** then proceed to the next step otherwise go to step #4 and proceed ***

  3. Power off the system and cycle AC power

  4. Install latest available FRU/SDR package.
=====================================================================
                           KNOWN ISSUES/WORKAROUNDS
=====================================================================
  - Users of the KVM feature will need to update their client Java JRE to version
    1.6 (JRE 6) or later otherwise the KVM redirection application will not launch.
    The latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE) update can be downloaded from here:
    http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

  - The following features are not supported in BMC FW :
    ∙ IPMI serial channel, COM port MUX switching and the terminal mode feature.
=====================================================================
                           ISSUES FIXED
=====================================================================

01.24
  -  Issue with Win7/IE8/Java 6 Update 22 through RMM3 connection/remote access.

Essentially it looks as though we are visiting most of our clients with RMM3 and RMM3LITE modules installed to run these updates to power cycle those boxes. Fortunately some have their servers hooked into a UPS or PDU that allows us to power cycle the A/C remotely!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Remote Management Module 3 – Error Opening Video Socket

We have hit a problem with the KVM setup in Intel’s RMM3:

Socket Error

Error opening video socket

This particular server was set up here in the shop using the RMM3 connection plugged into our local network. We took the server to our client’s site, plugged everything in, and subsequently went to test connectivity via one of our shop systems.

The RMM3 site came up okay but when we went to start a KVM session the above error happened.

A call into Intel’s support line did not yield any positive results either.

The proper method to try and ground zero both the RMM3 module and the BMC can be found at the bottom of the following Intel Support page:

• Intel Support: How to configure or reset the Intel® Remote Management Module 3 (RMM3)

If you need to reset to factory defaults (e.g. invalid user name or password)

A reset can be done with the syscfg utility.  Download syscfg for for the 5500 series or for the S3420GP series

• Unzip the file and copy the folder UEFI_SYSCFG_V501_B23\ preferably to an USB key

• Boot the server and enter the BIOS

• Go to the Boot Manager menu and select the option to boot to EFI shell and enter

• In the EFI shell prompt, type fs0: (0 is the device containing the sysconfig utility e.g. USB pen)

• Browse to the directory with the sysconfig utility

• The path has to be defined by entering: set SYSCFG_PATH fs0:\<syscfg_efi> where syscfg_efi is the folder containing all the files from the sysconfig utility

• The settings can be reset by entering: syscfg –rfs

Given the above, we will be leaving a small amount of space on any bootable USB flash drive permanently plugged into the server and formatting it FAT32 so that utilities like this can be accessed via the EFI shell.

A post on the Intel Communities Web site was the only result in our searching:

• Intel Communities: RMM3 & S3420GPLX

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Server Board S3420GPRX At Full Capacity – 32GB RAM – A Great Virtualization Platform

After deliberating over which set of 8GB sticks of RAM to purchase to outfit our single socket virtualization platforms with a full 32GB compliment we decided to go with the following part:

• Kingston Value RAM: KVR1066D3Q8R7S/8Gi

There is also a 1333MHz version of the Intel certified RAM from Kingston but there were some questions around whether that particular model would back itself down to 800MHz which is where a memory channel will go speed wise when two quad ranked sticks of RAM are installed.

The screenshot above is via an Intel Remote Management Module.

• Intel Server Board S3420GPRX with I/O Shield (previous blog post)
• Intel Xeon Processor X3470 at 2.93GHz
• 32GB Kingston ECC 1066MHz
• Intel RS2BL080 RAID + Battery Backup
• 6x 300GB 15K Seagate SAS (5x RAID 5 + 1x Hot Spare)
• Intel Server Chassis SC5650DP with hot swap backplane.

The system is fairly quiet and is quite quick. We are expecting this configuration to more than meet our client’s needs.

One thing to note when setting up standalone virtualization boxes with the full GUI OS installed is to change the power settings to High Performance.

This particular configuration will be running:

• Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard.
• 2x vCPUs, 16GB RAM
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard in RDS/RemoteApp mode.
• 2x vCPUs, 4GB RAM
• Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard (P2V) running legacy LoB.
• 1x vCPU, 2GB RAM
• Windows 7 Enterprise x64 (one to four or five desktops).
• 2x vCPUs, 1.5GB-2GB RAM each.

Our client is a small non-profit with 8-11 seats depending on the time of year. We are quite confident that they will be happy with their new setup once we have migrated them from their current SBS 2003 R2 Premium.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer