12G LifeCycle Controller Hangs During POST

Note: This blog post is for Dell PowerEdge 12G systems. Here is the 11G how to: https://crtech.tips/lifecycle-controller-hanging-during-post/

Sometimes a Dell PowerEdge 12G system can get caught in POST. This is caused by a LifeCycle Controller glitch. You’ll know you are caught when you see “Intializing firmware interfaces…” for 30+ minutes.

I have seen this happen when you boot into the LCC then prematurely reboot the system. The system then get’s stuck trying to boot into the LCC. I have also seen a system have an up time for over a year and on the reboot the error is present.

You can leave the machine at this screen for 30 minutes or more and it may never move.

Luckily, there are a number of fixes for this issue.

-Power down the machine and unplug power from the system, then drain the flea power by pressing in the power button.
-Replace the motherboard, but that’s a little extreme!!!
-The easiest method is to simply tell the system to “Cancel LifeCycle Controller Actions”

Here is how it’s done:

Boot to System Setup by pressing F2 during POST on the page with the Dell splash screen logo.

Enter iDrac Settings

Choose LifeCycle Controller

Note that Cancel LifeCycle Controller Actions is set to NO. This is our problem.

Change this setting to Yes

Exit saving changes and let the machine boot.

That’s it!