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T430 - Avago EFI SAS Driver, cannot pass to access most suggested fixes.
Hello,
T430, H330
Boot: SATA SSD connected to motherboard, works fine without H330 card.
Previously this server was working perfectly. After installing a Mellanox SFP+ card the system became unstable and would crash. The card was removed and then the machine would not boot. Connecting to a monitor I get the "Avago EFI Sas Driver unhealthy status reported" error. Following the prompt shows "L2/L3 Cache Error" has me input an 'X', and then nothing happens. If I click Finish and Save, it goes back to the boot enumeration screen and informs me a driver needs to be configured. I cannot get out of this loop. I see someone suggest doing the input entry through the LCC/Bios, but I cannot get into those with the card installed.
iDrac showed the controller at first but it seemed to be inaccurate as it would show the drives even if they were removed. After removing the card the first time it says there is no out of band controller available when reinstalled.
I cannot access any of the boot options (F2, F10, F11 for USB) while the H330 is in the machine. If I remove it all work fine. All cables and connections have been checked. all drives have been taken out and put back in without change. All harddrive bays show a solid green light when a drive is inside.
I have tested multiple Bios options such as boot settings (which the machine does not make it far enough to use), Bios update, LCC update, and have a H330 firmware update but cannot apply it because the machine refuses to boot with the card in.
Should I be looking at acquiring a new H330 card at this point?
DELL-Chris H
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September 26th, 2022 08:00
AJ12,
Was the H330 order with the system, or was it added afterwards? If added afterwards, would you verify the part # found on the controller? If ordered with the server, then I would lean towards the possibility of the controller having failed.
DELL-Joey C
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September 26th, 2022 00:00
Hi @AJ12,
The error "Avago EFI Sas Driver unhealthy status reported" seems to be a normal error when it detected a drive failure. If you are not able to access to iDRAC with the PERC H330 installed, the card might be faulty. You did mention that iDRAC is accessible with the controller attached? Can you try updating the iDRAC firmware using iDRAC? Please note, if the PERC firmware is too old, you may need to update the firmware incremental.
AJ12
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September 26th, 2022 06:00
Hi Joey,
I have seen multiple forums and dell techs give different reasons for the Avago EFI sas driver error. Yes the iDrac is accessible. The iDrac has been updated. As said above I don't have the ability to update the PERC firmware as I cannot boot into anything, from Bios to LCC or an OS.
Thank you,
DELL-Chris H
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September 26th, 2022 06:00
AJ12,
If you remove the recently added card does the server allow you to then boot to BIOS, etc? If so, would you remove the card and verify first if the server is up to date on BIOS, iDrac, raid controller, etc and let me know the current revisions. Secondly, would you confirm the part # of the specific card that is causing the issues, that way I can verify if it is compatible.
Let me know.
AJ12
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September 26th, 2022 07:00
Hi Chris,
Please note, " After installing a Mellanox SFP+ card the system became unstable and would crash. The card was removed and then the machine would not boot." All troubleshooting began after removing the card. The other devices in at the time, that have also been removed, were an nVidia 1050 TI (working with GPU passthrough on the linux host).
Other information (updated with everything I found on the support page for the machine):
BIOS Version
2.15.0
Firmware Version
2.83.83.83
Lifecycle Controller Firmware
2.83.83.83
The RAID card is currently in the machine but the iDrac controllers tab shows the following, regardless of being on or off:
RAC0503: There are no out-of-band capable controllers to be displayed. Check if the host system is powered off or shutdown.
The RAID card model is: 04Y5H1
It reports an L2/L3 cache error, and prompts me to enter an 'X' and then does not do anything and the machine is stuck in a loop. Should I be able to run diagnostics or firmware updates if I put this in a normal motherboard temporarily? The repair/guide pdf from Dell only has a couple of lines about this that are less than helpful.
DiegoLopez
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September 26th, 2022 07:00
Hello @AJ12,
Please, be aware, nVidia 1050 TI is not supported to work on a T430. Unsupported hardware may cause unexpected errors on the system. What about the drives? Which drives are you using?
Firmware seems ok.
I would suggest going for a Minimun to Post configuration and adding the hardware one by one and checking the boot till the error appears. That will tell you with one is the faulty part.
The minimum components to allow the Dell™ PowerEdge™ T430 to complete POST are:
As you can see neither the PERC card nor drives are required in the server to complete post.
Regards.
AJ12
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September 26th, 2022 08:00
Hi Diego,
As noted, the 1050 has been removed. I have already done the strip down. Boot failed with and without drives, so I don't believe it is the issue but they are Dell certified 1TB drives. The system boots if I take the H330 out, fails and loops if in.
AJ12
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September 26th, 2022 15:00
Hi Chris,
It was original. It is unfortunate timing and seems odd that a different PCI card could cause the RAID controller to fail, but as there does not seem to be any other solution to reset it it seems I am out of luck. I may try it in another machine this evening and see if I can run a firmware update on it but I will start looking for a replacement.
Thank you for your time.