Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
3 Posts
0
117441
Hard drives Removed "Media test failure. Check cable" error
My 5 year old son removed the SAS hard drives from my Poweredge 1950 while it was powered on. Now I am getting a "PXE-E61. Media test failure. Check cable" error when I try to boot up. I checked the cables and they seem fine. I also checked the boot sequence and all it shows are two NIC boot options and an option to boot from the optical drive. There is no option to boot from the hard drive. I'm affraird the drives somehow got fried but am hoping I get need to somehow add the hrad drive back to the boot sequence but don't know how to because they are not showing up as options in the bios. Any suggestions? Thanks!
theflash1932
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16.3K Posts
0
September 30th, 2010 19:00
PXE message indicates it is trying to find a network image to boot to. "Media test failure" indicates it didn't find one, which is normal if you don't have a PXE server on the network actively listening. If this message is new, then it likely could not boot to the hard drives, so it moved to the next device ... the NIC.
Does this server have a SAS 5/6 RAID controller (CTRL-C during POST) or PERC 5/6 RAID controller (CTRL-R during POST)?
PERC - You will need to boot to CTRL-R, hit Enter (or F2) while highlighting the controller, then Foreign Configuration and Import.
SAS - You will need to boot to CTRL-C and possibly Activate or Import Foreign the container/array (my recollection is a bit hazy on this one).
The 1950 has hot-swappable drives, so there is no way that they could have been fried or damaged by being removed, but the data on them is what you should worry about. Focus first on seeing if you can bring the array back online - if you Import the Foreign Config, it will likely only bring one online and the other will need to be Rebuilt.
Nick1103
3 Posts
0
October 19th, 2010 23:00
Thanks for your response. Unfortunately the option to rebuild the array or import the config isn't available, There are no VD. I have 4 PD and do not know what RAID was used to set them up. I tried creating a new configuration to no avail. The drives definately are good. I can hear them spin up but the system won't boot. Is there a way to reconfigure the array from scratch or am I screwed...Thanks
theflash1932
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16.3K Posts
0
October 20th, 2010 13:00
If you tried creating a new configuration, you might be screwed. What controller do you have, and exactly what did you do? (Steps, commands, etc.)
Nick1103
3 Posts
0
October 20th, 2010 16:00
I'm pretty sure I screwed it up. I have a PERC 5/i conroller in a Poweredge 1950. I entered the configuration utility using Ctrl-R and looked for a foregin config. None was there. It showed "Controller 0" - "No Configuration Present!" so I went in and created VD using each Raid to see if it would work and initialized it. Nothing....Question: Does the data get wipped off the HD's or can I try to connect them to my PC using a SAS/SATA USB adapter? I tried doing that but the drives didn't seem to get power but they spin up in the server. I know my USB adapter had a loose wire so I just ordered a new one. Thanks for all your help.
theflash1932
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16.3K Posts
0
October 20th, 2010 20:00
When you get into CTRL-R and it is showing No Configuration Present, hitting F2 or Enter on the controller listed should have given an option to Import or Clear the Foreign Config ... for future reference, you want to import it. If it failed to import and your firmware is pre-5.1.1.0040, you can usually flash the firmware to 0040 then import it.
When you "created [the] VD", you said you also initialized it ... that means the game is over. This overwrites any previous data to prep it for a new array. This might have worked had you not initialized ... it is called a retag - essentially only assigning each drive to a spot in the array. So long as these spots are the same as it was originally configured, the actual data on the drives will usually stay intact. This is usually only for a recovery attempt when the config will not import and/or there is no foreign config, but it cannot be initialized.
Even if the data was intact, you would not be able to get anything off the drives by connecting them to another controller. Controller meta-data (the format and structure of the array) is usually specific to the controller (at the very least) and the firmware level (at most). So, only a controller that uses the same meta-data can read/see data from another controller. For example, PERC 5 meta-data can be read by most PERC 5 and PERC 6 firmware versions, and a very select few LSI-branded controllers (on which the Dell PERC's were based). PERC 4 data cannot be read/used by a PERC 5, RocketRAID controllers cannot read/use PERC or Adaptec meta-data, etc.
Sorry for being the bearer of bad news :(
Good luck!