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How to clear foreign state hard drive in T630 with PERC H730 Controller
I recently purchased a Poweredge T630 server computer configured with a PERC H730 controller and two 1TB (raid 1) SATA drives.
Since the H730 controller is compatible with non-dell certified drives, I purchased 2 WD red label drives to add more storage space. The problem I have is that the H730 controller detects one of the 2 WD drives as a "foreign" drive. Under the "Available tasks", I only see two options, "Blink" and "Unblink". Unlike other WD hard drive, the controller doesn't even allow me an option to convert to RAID capable disk. This only happens to one of the two WD drives. The WD drive with "foreign state" is not defected or damaged. How can I clear the foreign flag on one of the two WD drives so that I can convert both drives to RAID ready state.
DELL-Josh Cr
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April 14th, 2015 18:00
Hi,
Do you have a foreign view tab when you are in the H730 bios? If you do you should be able to use ctrl+N to get to that screen, highlight the controller, press F2 and go to foreign config and have the option to clear the foreign config.
koguma
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April 14th, 2015 22:00
Unfortunately, there is no such tab in the Bios.
Again the only option I get is "Blink" or "Unblink".
The two drives I initially ordered with the server are in "Online" state.
One of the two WD drives is in "Ready" state and the other WD drive is in "Foreign" state.
DELL-Josh Cr
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April 15th, 2015 17:00
It is possible that the drives are not compatible still. Can you try putting the drive in another system and trying to format it?
Neerajg
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April 15th, 2015 01:00
Hello, Please Enter in to H730 Configuration utility go to CTRL+R page, option you will find in POST. Then press CTRL+N which will navigate you to next page and in third page you will find the TAB Foriegn View. from where you can "Clear" or "Import" the foriegn configuration.
Thanks, Neeraj
koguma
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April 15th, 2015 17:00
WD drives are not listed under the "Foreign View" tab.
Under the "VD Mgmt" tab, I only see one WD drive as "Unconfigured Physical Disk".
koguma
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April 15th, 2015 20:00
The drive works fine on my workstation, but I formatted it again anyway and connected to the server computer.
It still prompted with "Foreign" flag so I went into the H730 Bios, highlighted the controller as you mentioned earlier and pressed F2. The system, surprisingly, prompted with an option to clear the foreign state.
I cleared the foreign state and I was able to configure both drives with a new raid array.
Thank you so much both Josh and Neerajg for your help. I really appreciated it.
Josh, you rock!
I.T.-Man
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June 29th, 2015 14:00
If you are in the Ctrl-R management screen, stay on the first tab. Do not Ctrl-N to the Foreign Mgmt tab.
Highlight the PERC (top Line), press F2 and select Foreign Management. There you can clear all Foreign settings. I had the same issue and could only blink/no blink from the Foreign Mgmt tab.
-James