Dell Internal Dual SD

Hello,

The IDSDM (Internal Dell SD Module) can house the ESXi OS. It's quite common for it to do so, but I can't tell you if yours is installed there, or not. You can install to internal storage, regardless of the presence of the IDSDM. What model server is this? If it's recent, logging into the iDRAC should show you the System Event Log, which would include entries for the SD module, if it is having hardware issues.

If that's the case, then I wouldn't expect the neither module, nor SD card 1 or 2 to be having hardware issues. You might also run hardware diagnostics from the Lifecycle controller just to confirm. 

Are you getting any purple screens when it crashes? If so, is there any chance there are images you can share?

hello thank you for your response, this is a poweredge R720 that we have been running esxi OS for years now. i dont see anything in the  IDRAC logs that point to the IDSDM having any issues.

Wondering what came of this-- I have two R720xd's in different offices that are currently riding with the SD module missing in ESXi- "Lost connectivity to the device t10.Dell____Internal_Dual_SD"

- the SD module is showing all good in OMSA and iDrac... Kind of screams "ESXi issue" ..wondering if others are seeing this..

Hello somejoe,

I'm sorry to see you have an error that the SD module is missing.  Where are you seeing this error: "Lost connectivity to the device t10.Dell____Internal_Dual_SD"?

Is ESXi installed on the SD module or physical disks? 

     What version ESXi is installed?

     Do you have any problems booting the server?

I would first confirm you do have two SD cards installed and review the System Event log, in the DRAC,  for any IDSDM errors.

Also make sure you have current system firmware including the IDSDM:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/poweredge-r720xd/drivers

iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller v. 2.65.65.65

Dell 11G Internal Dual SD Module, v.1.10

Dell Server BIOS PowerEdge R720/R720-xd Version 2.9.0

If those are up to date then save and clear the System Event log and do a flea power drain and reseat the module.

Save the System Event Log from the DRAC then clear the log

drain flea power (shut down, disconnect power cables, hold in power button 20 seconds with cords removed)

Open lid and reseat the SD module and the two SD cards, reseat the lid on the server.

Then reconnect power and check results.

Please let me know how it goes.

ESXi 6.5 - I have not reset power on either host, I've got to get somebody at each office to put usb drives in them just in case the SD modules are actually bad- then I can quickly reinstall ESXi 6.5 to the flash drive.

-latest esxi software and Dell firmware is installed.

The error shows up in the host summary screen in vCenter - is an active alert in the monitoring tab. That is what is weird, the storage device is missing to the host OS, but OMSA shows both SD cards all good. I've reset all esxi services that can be reset without rebooting the host- A reboot will probably resolve the issue, but I'm going to be ready to rebuild the hypervisor on a flash drive just in case the SD mods actually have issues.

Hi, If I may- it'd best trying to apply what Charles has provided for the troubleshooting first, and if that doesn't help then maybe we should look into a hardware issue or something else. wish you a happy holiday.

This is NOT a bad SD card problem, it's just another bad DELL / VMware patch issue. We had 8 M620's and 8 M710HD's in an m1000e blade, all were running fine on the Dell custom ESXi 15256549 build. Did a mass update to ESXi build 17167734 and ALL immediately started exhibiting the same "Lost connectivity to the device mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 backing the boot filesystem /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0. As a result, host configuration changes will not be saved to persistent storage" error and showing the IDSDM's as "DEAD".

The system boots from the IDSDM's without issue, the hardware shows the IDSDM’s fully redundant and good, all devices are running the latest firmware. VMWare support says it's because "you're using a custom build from Dell that will never get updated properly". Reinstalled using VMWare's native ESXi 17167734 build, same problem. VMWare support then changed their tune to "this is a Dell issue, you need to open a ticket with them" completely ignoring the fact the only thing that changed was the ESXi version.

Re-installing the previous build magically solves the Dell hardware issue.

It's obvious the same level of "support prowess" Dell is known for has been unfortunately extended into VMWare.

I tend to believe that ExDellFan is correct..

I have 2 of 4 Dell R720's w/this exact same issue..   all started a while back with one of the updates along the way..  I've re-seated SD Cards and Rebooted hosts till I can't take doing it any longer...  I have not tried taking them back to a previous build.  But they are at the latest VMware ESXi, 6.7.0, 17499825.  

I guess, Back to the Dell website to see if there are any newer builds.. ??

At one point, I had one of the 2 problem hosts run for +2 months w/o issue..  that is, until I installed the latest VMWare Patches last week..  and nothing but problems again since.

Hello,

sorry but Poweredge R720 is not in the HCL for ESXi 6.7.x, it is only supported until 6.5.x version.

This could be the reason of the issue.

Please let me know how can we help you.

Thanks

Marco

Hi Marco,

Yes, I see that is the case now that we've been at v6.7 nearly 2+ years already.  I have 2 Hosts w/NO problems what so ever.  I don't even know if we can bring these back to v6.5 to be supported.  (?) I checked the logs and there are NO problems or errors with the SD card, so I don't believe this is an SD card issue.

Also, I see updated drivers for these R720's that are for Dell EMC iDRAC Service Module (VIB) for ESXi 6.5 U3 & 6.7 U3, v3.5.1.

So, getting mixed signals at v6.7 being the cause of the problem.  Why would you have driver updates for 6.7 on these R720's if they're not supported?  I'm just curious is all?  What would you recommend or suggest to help resolve this issue?  Can they go back to v6.5?

Hello,

if you see in the R720 Dell download page you cannot select 6.7 version.

https://dell.to/3bAtTTr

If there is not a SD card issue, maybe you can go back to the v6.5 and it should be fine. I know that v6.7 can work without any issue, but since there is an issue we can suppose that it is the new OS that is not working with this hardware.

Anyway you can also have a full troubleshooting service from technical support but I guess that they will say to you that OS is not supported so it is complicate to troubleshoot.

Thanks
Marco

Btw Marco,

I did see that you can only download the v6.5 U3 as the newest from the Dell site.  IDK how I ended up with v6.7 but now believe that it's a VMWare install and not the Dell (customized) install.. ?

I don't remember the details as to how we arrived at v6.7.. as that was ~2+ years ago..  I think when v6.7 was first released.

Hi Marco,

Thank you for your note and yes, I'd imagine that Technical Support would tell us that it is not supported as well.

Oddly, everything seems to work fine..  almost like that check engine light that keeps coming on.. and yet the car still manages to get down the highway just fine.   I guess it's just like an old car..  keeps running despite the light being on.   I'll have to think about going back to v6.5.  IDK if going backwards at this point will cause a new set of issues or not?

I left one of the problem hosts in Maintenance Mode over night..  I took it out of Maintenance Mode this AM and right now, it actually looks OK..   but my guess is that may be short lived.  These old servers are gonna give me gray hairs..  (oh wait..  too late)

Thanks Again,

Hello,

there are no known issues with the v6.5, event U3.

About the relases, v6.7 was already released when ESXi 6.5 Update 3 arrived.

Please let us know if you need more support on this.

Thanks

Marco