Installing New HDD on PE 1950

Question

Hi All,

I recently had a PE 1950 which I am planning to use for 3d and other engineering applications. I managed to get a new HDD with specs below:

Ultrastar 15K600 HUS156045VLS600, 450 GB, 15k RPM, SAS

When I installed it on my PE 1950 and run the disc controller setup, it shows Wrong Type and I cannot configure further.

Any work around / advise to fix this?? I purchased 2 new disks and would appreciate the help.. Thanks

theflash1932 · Answer

What RAID controller are you using?  What is the firmware level of that controller?

theflash1932 · Answer

It may be because the drive is not compatible, but it is more likely that your firmware is out of date.  I would suggest updating the system firmware (BIOS, ESM, Backplane, SAS), then trying again.

kumagenyo · Answer

this is what I could get: Adapter: SAS1068E MPT Firmware Revision: 0.20.46.00-IR NVDATA version 28.06 Dell SAS 6 v6.14.10.00 (2007.09.09) thanks for the quick reply..

theflash1932 · Answer

Your controller isn't a PERC 5 either ... the information you provided earlier says it is a SAS 6/iR.

theflash1932 · Answer

I did some checking and what I found was PE 1950 III's raid controller PERC 6/i could support 450gb 15k SAS, But mine was PERC 5/i which did not.

What exactly did you find? The PERC 5 and 6 can both take SAS or SATA drives up to 2TB. Firmware is your best bet. Using non-certified drives always runs the risk of some sort of incompatibility. Running firmware at the latest versions helps reduce the number and severity of issues.

kumagenyo · Answer

I did some checking and what I found was PE 1950 III's raid controller PERC 6/i could support 450gb 15k SAS, But mine was PERC 5/i which did not.

If I put in PERC 6/i on to my system would it work?

i'll give the firmware update a try hope it works. thanks. (It would be a shame to shelve my two new drives)

kumagenyo · Answer

Thanks for that info. I successfully updated the BIOS but failed on the Backplane and Raid Controller (My OS is Windows 7 professional 32-bit) is there any work around to install the firmware updates?

kumagenyo · Answer

Thank you very much for the support.. will proceed on this and hope to resolve my problem.

theflash1932 · Answer

Because you are using an unsupported OS, you will need to update the system outside of the OS.

You can boot to SMTD:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=PYKGK&fileId=3365348005&osCode=WNET&productCode=poweredge-1950&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SZ

Then insert SUU as the repository when prompted:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=D9V9X&fileId=3197590144&osCode=WNET&productCode=poweredge-1950&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SM

You can also use Repository Manager to create a bootable ISO with just the 1950 firmware (use only Linux packages) from ftp.dell.com:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/555/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=732C1

kumagenyo · Answer

I just bought and installed PERC 6/i and updated the firmware to the latest version. when I put my new HDD (HGST Ultrastar 15K600 HUS156045VLS600) 450gb SAS, when i start creating VD Raid 0 or Raid 1, the PD page displays my HDDs as FAILED. even i tried initializing it and Force Start it stil display as Failed.

Any advise please?

theflash1932 · Answer

Could be an incompatible drive, but it is more likely that the drive is faulty.  Did you also update the BIOS and ESM?  Did you update the drive firmware to the latest?

PowerEdge Hardware General

Installing New HDD on PE 1950

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