In a Dell PowerEdge 1950 Generation III was a Remote Access card in the usual slot and an expansion video card added to the center expansion riser. Since the Remote Access card was not being used I wanted to move the card to a different machine. The result of removing the card was that the server will never enter the BIOS setup. Instead the server hangs at the point where the setup should start. Resetting the NVRAM is possible and confirmed by the message on the screen that NVRAM has been reset. Still setup cannot be entered. Control-E to enter the Remote Access setup also results in a hang. An attempt to boot all the way to the operating system also results in a hang. Moving the video card to the right expansion riser makes no difference.
There is a information here that a different version of PowerEdge servers has an unresolved bug in enumerating devices after a change. It could be relevant.
Re-installing the Remote Access card, which I have no intention of using, restores normal operation. Is there a solution that does not require that this card be present?
Aside: One interesting side-effect results from removing the Remote Access card. Formerly, with the Remote Access card installed I had to use motherboard video (VGA) to see the BIOS boot and setup and then I had to use expansion card video (DVI) after the operating system started. With the Remote Access card taken out, expansion card video starts earlier so motherboard video is not necessary.
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