Score:0

HP - BIOS - Invalid Opcode Exception

br flag

I have an HP DL360 Gen9. It is running Windows Server 2019, but after I restarted it, I'm not able to boot again after "Loading System Firmware Modules - Complete" it just dies with an "Invalid Opcode Exception" ass can be seen below.

("Loading System Firmware Modules - Start" POST Code: 2500 -> "Loading System Firmware Modules - Complete" POST Code: 2600, then the "Invalid Opcode Exception" POST Code still: 2600)

I have tried to update the BIOS to the latest version, but that is not working either.

BIOS / System ROM: P89 v2.90 (04/29/2021)
LO Firmware Version: 2.78 Apr 28 2021
TPM Status - Present: Enabled
Module Type: TPM 2.0

Error part 1 of 2
Error part 2 of 2

Windows is booting from a local RAID 1 from the "Smart Array P440ar Controller"

I hope someone can help me out understand what the problem is so that I can fix it.

Score:1
pk flag

Those POST codes are not in the public list of HPE Proliant Gen9 POST codes: https://techlibrary.hpe.com/docs/iss/shared/error_gen9/GUID-F4913264-0358-4A71-9914-59199912055D.html

"Invalid Opcode Exception" would indicate that the processor was trying to execute an machine code instruction and found it was not a valid one. Since the previous step was loading the system firmware modules, my guess would be that the next step would have to be execution of some code from one or more of those firmware modules. So the error message might indicate that some piece of firmware is corrupted.

Do you know the last time the system was booted successfully before this problem appeared? Has the system received any firmware updates since then?

The next piece of firmware to execute might actually be the firmware of the Smart Array P440ar Controller. The iLO firmware version has already been displayed, so the firmware module related to the initialization of the iLO functionality is probably already successfully executed.

You might try temporarily unplugging the Smart Array controller from its slot. If that makes the Invalid Opcode Exception not appear, then the problem could be that the Smart Array firmware has been corrupted. Unfortunately I have no suggestions on how you might recover from that.

Mikki Sørensen avatar
br flag
Thanks I will try that Monday as the server is out of reach this moment. The only thing updated since last boot of firmware is the iLO, I do not think i updated the raid controller, but i will check. I can live with losing the data on the RAIDs controller.
Score:0
br flag

I got in contact with HP and got this information.

  • You have to try clearing NVRAM once. https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=c04441985 -- Page 92, Switch 6 to get a dip, boot server and put it in same state to boot again.
  • Swapping CPUs
  • Checking if it is not a slot issue
  • Perform minimum configuration to narrow down if any hardware fault In case the issue persists - it could be a system board issue and replacement would be needed
  • You can also try re-installing a different windows image.

I only had to clear the NVRAM, that worked. No need for the other steps if the NVRAM clearing did not work, but now other have them.

A little bonus info: The boot drive was a RAID 1 on the RAID controller, I had to reenable that logic disk.

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