Problems with Dell hardware support

[L.P.H. van Belle]

bit off topic, but not only dell does these things.

( i live in holland ) 
here i you buy a other adsl modem then supplied by the ADSL distributie
the say you have to replace the adsl router.

Therefore i always say wat they want to hear.

This simply works.
and for dell servers make sure you have a Live cd with omsa on it.
http://linux.dell.com/files/openmanage-contributions/omsa-51-live/ 

good luck with the support.

Louis



 

>-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
>Van: linux-poweredge-bounces at dell.com 
>[mailto:linux-poweredge-bounces at dell.com] Namens Dr A V Le Blanc
>Verzonden: maandag 14 juli 2008 15:27
>Aan: Rebecca_Warburton at dell.com; linux-poweredge at dell.com
>CC: john.grannan at man.ac.uk; Andy.Fox at man.ac.uk
>Onderwerp: Problems with Dell hardware support
>
>Dear Ms Warburton,
>
>I've been asked to mention to you some of the problems we have 
>with Dell's
>hardware support.  I'll use as an instance the case of a poweredge
>with the tag number 8ZY2N2J.  This machine was reported to Dell on
>June 30 because it was reported to have a faulty disk drive.  On that
>day I gave to our operator Andy Fox, who liaises with Dell, 
>the following
>information from the System Event Log on the DRAC card:
>
>The server's system event log has this entry:
>
>Record:      30
>Date/Time:   06/29/2008 08:54:49
>Source:      system
>Severity:    4
>Description: Storage Drive 2: drive slot sensor for Storage, 
>drive fault was asserted
>
>The person we contacted asked us to run some diagnostics.  
>First he sent
>us a URL for some windows executables.  We replied that we don't have
>windows on this machine; we have Debian Linux.  He informed us that
>this is not a supported operating system.  Well, we knew this. 
> He asked
>us whether we knew that we could 'easily' convert this to a supported
>version of Linux.  I confess, I found this rather insulting, as I know
>very well that getting all of our software to work on another 
>version of
>Linux is by no means trivial, and we would have the serious problem of
>supporting it afterwards.  I currently look after some 73 Dell servers,
>none of which runs an OS supported by Dell.
>
>I might add that Dell's OMSA 5.4.0 is installed on this machine, but
>it seems to be unable to see the disk drives or the Raid array.
>
>Anyway, we have offered to try to run diagnostics from a floppy disk or
>CD if we were given one.  We received two URLs, one to a 
>32-bit diagnostics
>CD and one for poweredge diagnostics.  We can easily boot a DOS floppy
>image, but neither of these .exe files runs in DOS mode; they require
>windows.  I know this because I've tried both of them.  I have access
>to windows machines, but not as administrator.  One of these programs,
>if you run it on the NT box, complains that it must be run as 
>administrator.
>The other runs and produces some other .exe files, but these 
>also refuse
>to run unless you are an administrator.
>
>Dell also sent us a URL for a shell script that is supposed to write an
>ISO image.  This shell script fails.
>
>So, you should understand that we have not been able in several days to
>get access to a single diagnostic program that we were able to run on
>our sick server.  Someone at Dell finally sent a disk to us, and we
>replaced the disk.  Before replacing the disk, the Raid 
>controller software
>that is accessible at boot time said that the old disk had 
>failed.  After
>replacing the disk, the software said for about 90 minutes that the
>disk was rebuilding, but at the end of this process the controller says
>that the raid array is degraded.
>
>We contacted Dell again, first by email on Friday July 11, to which
>we received no answer, and then again today.  The response from the
>contact person was:
>
>(1)  There is no way to force the raid array to work normally on this
>     machine without either reinitialising it or installing a supported
>     operating system.  I believe this is simply false.
>
>(2)  He accuses us of having REFUSED to run diagnostics on the machine.
>     We have been trying desperately for two weeks to obtain a 
>diagnostic
>     program which we could run, but with no success.
>
>(3)  He tells me that I can create a live CD based on various things
>     from which I can somehow run Dell diagnostics.
>
>Dell's hardware support for people who do not run supported OSes is
>notoriously poor, but that is no reason to insult us.
>
>I am a person who has received considerable help from Dell 
>employees online,
>though various mailing lists, but rarely from your telephone 
>support.  I'd
>like to suggest a few simple things that might help other 
>people like me
>-- and if you don't believe there are other people like me, I 
>can easily
>give you a few URLs.
>
>(1)  Please, when a hardware problem is reported to Dell, the 
>support person
>     should BEGIN by asking what operating system and version 
>we are running.
>     This would avoid wasting days sending us inappropriate 
>executables.
>
>(2)  Please don't suggest to someone who is reporting a hardware fault
>     that he should change to a different operating system.  This is
>     rather simple minded, and does not create a favourable impression
>     of the intelligence or understanding of the contact person.
>
>(3)  Please, in the future, any CD or floppy disk images which contain
>     diagnostic programs should also be available in ISO or floppy
>     image format, so that those of us who don't have access to a
>     suitable windows system can try things without being asked to
>     jump through hoops first.  You can even say that these are not
>     'officially supported' images; we don't care.  What we want
>     is to be asked to do something doable.
>
>(4)  Each of the messages I have received from Dell support claims that
>     I can fill out a satisfaction survey.  I have not yet seen such a
>     survey, but I think I can say that I am grateful to whoever sent
>     the replacement disk, but otherwise the service is completely
>     inadequate, and the support skills of the person who dealt with
>     this particular query could do with some polishing.
>
>Yours,
>
>     Dr Owen V Le Blanc
>     I T Services
>     University of Manchester
>
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