Dell PowerEdge R510 boot to Support Live Image

Hello,

The Control + R RAID configuration tool shouldn't be accessible in UEFI boot mode. The PERC should be something configured through the F2 menu, then the device menu. Can you confirm that you when press F11, you're getting into that blue and aqua configuration utility?

What happens if you remove the PERC and attempt to boot? This won't endanger your configuration, the drives keep a copy of the RAID metadata so that the array can be recovered in the event of a controller failure.

Raid utilityEntering to UEFI and VD00 marked as offline nowBoot right after issue happens

I press F11 and it changes the line in the top right corner to Entering UEFI Boot manager but nothing happens.

I tried to press any keys to continue and expecting to be loaded in SLI but it brings me to Raid utility ( I attached the picture as well) and I never was able to boot into LSI no matter what I use it is an external USB CD-ROM with DVD or Regular USB stick with LSI.

I checked the USB flash drive and it is working perfectly, I was able to boot on my laptop to LSI without any issues, which makes me think the LSI USB flash drive is ok.

Initially, this server has the following configuration:

2-6 Core CPU's
64 GB RAM
5 - 2TB Drives w/ RAID 5
Drive C: 500 GB
Drive D: 7.5 TB

Drive D is an iSCI drive which was great to have for all-important staff on the server. Data is ok.

 a couple of things I need to clarify for now for myself,

1) what can I do to boot the server to SLI

2) currently VD 00 marked as offline ( I replaced drive with fault to new one and keep old one on side just in case) how to rebuild VD00

3) Why those drives are marked as missing if all five drives we have in place and four of them are green.

I attached a screenshot of the log file as well, issue happened on Feb 20 night.

Currently I replaced drive marked as blue but keep it on a side.

I can keep servers online for a few days more until it will be clear what to do.

I did post reply above with screenshots and pictures and other details,

I hope it will be helpful to receive some advice what will be my next step.

I wish to boot to SLI and check if anything I can recover, as well to run some updates before I start using the server again for noncritical tasks.

I would not expect to see the storage, because the PERC is the storage controller. With the controller removed, there's nothing from OMSA to talk to.

You might try deleting the array volume. The image you have indicates that the RAID 5 volume has failed. Clearing that configuration may stop any behavioral issues during boot.

Hello Dylan,

Thank you for helping me,

I removed PERC and I was able to boot into SLI

I am looking now to see how to check if anything it will help me with. I cannot see storage in OMSA that I started from SLI

My goal is to get all, whatever I can get, from that particular situation in terms to save data. If after I removed PERC I was able to boot, does it means that PERC is failed and needs to be replaced? The original goal to use LSI is to work around of failed boot and get access from SLI OMCA to storage settings and get access to storage.

The SLI really isn't a data recovery tool. I would not expect it to be of significant use in preserving or any data. Aside from that, your images show the RAID volume as having failed. I would expect to recover no data from the array, though you might contact a data recovery service, if the array contained critical data.

I don't suspect that the PERC has failed. However, if you'd like to test, I'd delete the failed virtual volume and see if you get a change in behavior. The array can be recreated by performing what is called a 'retag' operation later. Essentially, this would entail creating a RAID array with identical settings as the one you delete. Once the array is cleared and you boot to SLI, you can use OMSA to export a controller log and review it for any errors. Alternatively, you can also just run the onboard hardware diagnostics in the Lifecycle Controller.

Thank you for your responses Dylan,

I am not expecting to use OMCA as a data recovery tool. I am trying to get to the root cause of that issue.

And the thing is, I was able to boot into LSI image only when I take off the raid controller

The main issue right now is I cannot boot to anything by pressing F2 or F11 or F10

it is always stuck on the screen below; I am not sure what I have to do to skip it; as soon I press any keys, it brings me to raid utility

Entering to UEFI and VD00 marked as offline now

I tried to enter F10,

and it stops me on the screen I attached. As soon I press any key it brings me to Raid utility.

Am I doing anything wrong?

I would not be able to make any additional recommendations beyond deleting the failed virtual disk, at this time. I would delete it, then attempt to boot to SLI again. You should then be able to review the PERC log for any additional information relating to the failure.

Has the failed VD been deleted?

If there are any failed virtual disks listed in the controller's inventory, I would delete them. If this doesn't make any change or there were no virtual disks to delete, then you might look at clearing the NVRAM from the motherboard using the jumper. The owner's manual will have the diagrams, if you need them. If clearing the controller's configuration and clearing the NVRAM both fail, I would look at hardware replacement.

the failed VD that you may see on-screen was the iSCSI drive 7.5 TB that I moved on the first day, to save the data on another server.

I deleted VD 7.5 TB

when the server boot to SLI and I started OMCA it shows drives but only four of them, but on the front panel, all five are green.OMSA from sli shows four disks

However, logs show that inserted all five, I attached that below

 why it is only four but no five I don't know, what was the reason for that issue also not clear for me.

I will do that, thanks.

How can I upgrade Firmware for entire server using update utility from SLI (centos live disk)?

You would need to download the .bin update packages and put them on a USB. Once SLI is booted, you can mount the USB and run the update scripts from there.