PowerEdge 1950 missing raid ctrl keys for PERC 5/i RAID

Question

Hi, I have Dell PE 1950 that I'm suppose to configure RAID but it seem ctrl keys from BIOS going to RAID management is missing? How come? there's only ctrl keys ctrl-c for LSI Logic MPT SCSI setup utility but from inside I couldn't find any RAID options thus I couldnt initialize the two disk. Can you guys please help why? Does it mean I dont have RAID perc5i controller?:emotion-16:

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

1. CTRL-C indicates a SAS 5/6 card, not a PERC 5/6, which would be a CTRL-R.

2. If you can see your drives in the System Setup F2, then you do not have drives attached to ANY RAID controller - the BIOS can only see drives attached to the onboard SATA ports.

So, no, it does not sound like you have a PERC installed. You could open your system to see where the drives are actually connected.

2003 is not seeing the drive(s) because it doesn't have the drivers necessary to talk to the controller ... you need to know which controller is managing your disks before you can load the correct driver to install Windows.

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Using the 'What's in the Box' link, here is what is included: 1 x PERC6/i Integrated SAS RAID Controller Card 1 x 7 WHr Lithium-Ion Primary Battery So, yes, it does include the RAID battery.  Dell no longer uses RAID 'keys' to enable ROMB (RAID On the MotherBoard), as even their 'integrated' offerings are actual PCIe cards.

DELL-Geoff P · Accepted Answer

What's in the box link: 1 x PERC6/i Integrated SAS RAID Controller Card 1 x 7 WHr Lithium-Ion Primary Battery 1 x Heatsink

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

PERC 2/3/4, as are found on servers like up to the 8th generation servers (2850, etc.), required a key to enable RAID (ROMB) on the integrated SCSI system.  All systems 9G and newer (1950, 2950, etc.) with a PERC 5/6/7 use RAID controller cards either inserted into dedicated storage PCIe slots (most rackmount servers) or into the system PCIe slots (most towers, but sometimes specific slots are preferred).

DELL-Geoff P · Answer

There should be a ctrl -R option during the POST process. I would open the case and confirm the Perc 5/i controller is installed, then reseat it. Power up the server and check for the Ctrl-R prompt again. If it does appear, then you can setup your array. You will also need the controller drivers so the OS can see the drives to install to. They can be on a USB floppy or slipstreamed into your installation media.

Regards

ampdeck · Answer

one more thing.... I tried installing Server 2003 but It wont install and I'm getting an error could not find disk. I checked from F2 bios utility and it can detect my two sas drive. please help.

ampdeck · Answer

thanks for the prompt response guys. I think my two sas drives are connected to SAS 5/6 card as what theflash1932 said as I am able to install esxi 4.0 and running like a charm. what I really wanted to do is to configure raid0 so I can combine my two sas drives for bigger storage will be used in esxi. So now it seems that I wont be able to do raid0 since the controller doesnt support raid =<..... one question guys, since my controller is only showing me option key ctrl-c to manage sas drive. How do I initialize my disks? I already tried all tab from ctl-c menu but I just couldnt find disk initialization

theflash1932 · Answer

Since it is most likely that the drives are connected to the SAS 5/6, you can probably use this driver:

www.dell.com/.../DriverDetails

You will need to either load it onto floppy disk (after running to extract the files) an load them at the F6 prompt during Windows Setup or use nLiteOS.com (recommended) to integrate them into your installation files.

theflash1932 · Answer

It depends ... the SAS 5/iR and the SAS 6/iR DO support RAID (R = RAID), but the SAS 5/i (no 'R') does NOT support RAID.  You would create the RAID 0 (called Integrated Striping) in CTRL-C if you have an 'R' version.  Also, because RAID and non-RAID are not compatible, you would need to reinstall your OS after configuring the RAID 0.

ampdeck · Answer

sorry what I mean is ROMB key? or it's no longer needed on PE 1950 only for PE 2950/2850?

ampdeck · Answer

Thanks for your help theflash1932... ill take note on that.

ampdeck · Answer

quick question theflash1932... is raid key and battery included in the item below link?

ampdeck · Answer

oh yes sorry I speak too soon I didn't notice the whats in the box link. I really appreciate your quick response theflash1932. cheers.

theflash1932 · Answer

You need the 'integrated' version, which is still a card, but it is designed to go into the dedicated slot in the 1950: The PERC 6 is the newer version of the PERC 5 and is fully supported on the 1950 ... you will want to make sure your BIOS (and ESM/BCM) is up to date before using a PERC 6.  If you really wanted a PERC 5, you can still find them: www.xbyte.com/ProductDesc.aspx

ampdeck · Answer

big thanks  theflash1932..... I think I'm gonna start checking raid perc 5i controller for my PE 1950.... could someone please suggest specific model of raid perc 5i for PE 1950? I've tried searching ebay and it gives me bunch of models.....

PowerEdge HDD/SCSI/RAID

PowerEdge 1950 missing raid ctrl keys for PERC 5/i RAID

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