Hello Michelob,

It could be compatibility with the controller. We support the PERC 5/e and 6/e:

If a PERC 5/E or PERC 6/E is supported in a server then the PowerVault MD1000 is supported on that server.

https://dell.to/3CD8CUl

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your reply.

There must be something else because the same kind of document you mention, but relative to the MSI controller shows that the MD-1000 is compatible :  see page 32 of https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/MegaRAID-SAS-Gen2.5CompatibilityList

Anyway, I'll order a PERC6 card and will install it into a DELL R210 I got.  This should work easier I guess.

Maybe you could help me in one last thing :  even if the MD1000, and particularly the EMMs, show the issue I explained above, shouldn't the disks' LEDs be turned on ?  Because I got absolutely no light whatsoever, and maybe the device is dead (in which cas I shouldn't order the PERC card of course...).

(the HDD trays are well equipped with SATA interposers)

Thanks a lot,

Michel

When I say no light, that's not correct :  the 3 MD100 LEDs (power, unified...) are working.  That's the disks led that never light on.

Hello @Michelob,

Well, your question make sense. It's not worth to invest on a PERC card if the MD1000 is not working correctly. However, there are not many options to see and check if the MD1000 is working or not.

I suggest you to check the boot output with a serial cable and a putty client. By doing so you may be able to see if the MD1000 is alive and is giving any errors.

Hope this is useful for you.

Regards.

Hi Diego,

To manage this, do you mean I need to connect the MD1000 Output port (SFF-8470) to (for example) the Serial port of my Poweredge R210 ?  Or do you mean from the Dell factory debug port ?

This looks a bit beyond my knowledgdes, but if you have some link that explains all this, I'm ready to try !

In fact, what would be great to know, is which connectors of either the 8470 port or the Debug port I should connect to the RS232 (as I didn't find any ready-to-go cable on the web).

Thanks a lot,

Michel

Hello Michel,

I will check with Diego. At the moment I am not finding any information to view boot output with serial cable.

Do you have OpenManage Server Administrator with Storage Management component  installed?

That will be your management tool and you can check for any issue.

I don't know if it will read the controller you have so you may need to get the PERC.

One thing not covered yet; Are you in Unified mode or Split Mode?

With your setup I think you will want Unified.

The hard drive Status should light:

Status LED -Description

Off -Slot empty, drive not yet discovered by server, or an unsupported drive is present

Page 11 : https://dell.to/3w7BNfK

If it is off it could be  the controller (need PERC), cables or hard drive.

Are the hard drive Dell branded drives?

This will show supported harddrives : https://dell.to/3bQhJWd

Hello @Michelob,

Maybe that's your best option at this point. As Charles said, serial is not possible with a MD1000 as it is possible with most modern PowerVaults. 

We are looking forward to hear from you.

Regards.

Hi Charles,

I installed OMSA for sure, but unfortunatly, I never managed to connect, despite a lot of searches and attempts.  I read the manual, added requested components in Server 2019, but I gave up.  This is adding more complexity to my issue, I know.

I'm currently on Unified mode, but also tried on Split mode.

No, the HDDs aren't DELL ones.

There's so much unknown parameters here that I ordered a cheap second hand PERC 6/e (same price as one SFF cable...), which should fit in my other lab server, a Poweredge R210, where I can install Win Server 2008 if absolutely necessary (I read somewhere there is no support for the PERC after that release).  But I'll surely try anyway with W10 or Win Server 2019.

I keep you posted.

Thanks,

Michel