PERC H730 Controller Not Detected

Question

Hello,I recently installed a new H730 Mini PERC Controller (Dell Part No. 0KMCCD) into a PowerEdge R730xd. When I try to boot to the Ctrl + R configuration utility, the system loads the S130 Configuration Utility and shows no physical or virtual disks. I've checked the devices settings in the BIOS and the H730 mini controller doesn't appear there either, only the S130 appears. I've tried multiple restarts, both UEFI and BIOS boot modes, disabling and re-enabling SATA RAID mode, and still haven't made any progress.Any help?Thanks

sbrickey23 · Accepted Answer

Just updating everyone who was involved on this discussion. It's been a week since we emailed the seller and we still haven't gotten a reply, so as of now we're still waiting on them to discuss a warranty replacement. We've tried a few more different configurations to boot to the PERC Controller, but we cannot bypass the integrated S130. Our cable connections were fine and compatible with the equipment we're using. At this point in time, we believe the issue is with the connections between the PERC controller and the motherboard due to our inability to diagnose any other issue.

Once again, thanks to everyone who gave input on this!

DELL-Young E · Answer

Hello I hope this helps:   https://dell.to/3Q4vi9D

sbrickey23 · Answer

Update:We still haven't found a solution to this issue. This morning we reset the BIOS to defaults as well as the iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller. The system still does not recognize the newly installed PERC controller. We also purchased a second H730P to make sure it wasn't an issue with that and neither controller will pick up during boot.Any help is appreciated!

Dylank · Answer

Did this system have a mini mono controller installed before and what type of cabling is coming from the backplane?

Are you ensuring the cable is completely screwed down on the gold contact points of the mini mono controller? If the cable isn't making full contact with the gold contacts the controller won't show up or function.

DELL-Chris H · Answer

Sbrickey23,

So if the server originally wasn't shipped with a hardware controller, and this is the first time you are adding the H730 controller, then there will need to be a new cable as well. Now to determine what you will need, you need to compare the wiring diagrams (starts on page 172 here) to your existing configuration and see which most closely matches and let us know.

As far as seeing the S130 on boot, you would need to go to the BIOS and disable embedded raid. That should allow the H730 to be seen at the prompt.

sbrickey23 · Answer

The server came with an H730 mini mono controller installed, however since it didn't work we decided to replace it with a new one. Apparently that wasn't the issue. I've confirmed the correct cables are connected to the backplane. When attempting to boot I've tried turning off, and switching between, the RAID Mode, AHCI Mode, and ATA Mode in the BIOS, but those did not yield any different results. Is there another setting I'm missing?

Edit: I should also note that the original PERC controller functioned for a short amount of time, however it lost its configuration multiple times both before and after the OS was loaded. There was no additional software installed other than the OS, and this took place multiple times over the span of 2 months.

Thanks

Dylank · Answer

One last thing I forgot to ask although I'm fairly certain nothing will come of it. Have you booted to the F2 menu at the end of POST and gone to the system devices section to see if it shows up there? Just figured I'd mention checking there as depending on your boot settings you might not always get the POST messages for ctrl+R.

If nothing comes of that though my thought is since you've tried multiple controllers with the same behavior on all of them my mind goes to the other couple of devices and components that are going to be associated with the raid controller here.

I would take a look at all of the cables leading to and from the backplane. Verify that the SAS cables are firmly seated on the backplane end, potentially even unplug and replug every cable going to it. There should be a number of cables running to the motherboard which will be dealing with power and signaling for the backplane as well which you would want to ensure are plugged in.

After verifying everything is firmly seated my next guess would be potentially a failed backplane or cable, or potentially even the gold contact points on the motherboard which the mini mono card interfaces with having issues. Backplane/cable failures aren't very common as there isn't a lot going on with them but it's definitely a possibility considering you've basically ruled out the raid controller by trying multiple cards here.

sbrickey23 · Answer

We've tried checking there too after each boot, but only the integrated S130 controller appears. We'll take a look at the cables going to the backplane and the contacts to ensure they're firmly set, but with multiple cards and multiple installs and removals, I've also started to think that it's probably an issue with the contacts themselves. Getting in contact with the seller now to check about a warranty replacement or other solution. Will update once we know more.

Thanks you all for your help so far!

sbrickey23 · Answer

Thanks for the recommendation! Depending on our results with the seller, this may be our next best option.

Dylank · Answer

So while it might not be ideal, if the seller doesn't get back to you and you don't want to replace the whole motherboard you can get a PCIe version of the controller.  You would also need a new cable as the PCIe card will use standard SAS connections rather than the screw down method of the minimono style controllers.

PowerEdge HDD/SCSI/RAID

PERC H730 Controller Not Detected

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