PowerEdge R410 new RAID initializing issue

Question

We have a R410 on which I am attempting to install a fresh RAID 6 with 4 new SAS drives. However, after configuring the RAID from the PERC 6/i BIOS utility, I tab to "OK", and the LEDs immediately flash amber on all the drives. From the utility, the new VD shows as offline, and under Physical Disks, all the drives say FAILED.

All four drives are brand new. I've tried configuring the RAID with both the PERC BIOS utility and the USC interface, but with the exact same results. LEDs are green and appear good until RAID settings are applied, at which point all four drives have amber flashing LEDs. Once booted to the Server 2008 r2 install disk, Windows doesn't see the drives.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

DELL-Bo Pham · Accepted Answer

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the update. It may be very well a drive compatibility issue. I'm not saying that you can't use non Dell certified drives, because there plenty of customers who do. It just that we can't tell you the behavior expected from non Dell certified, nor are we able to troubleshoot them effectively due to communication issues with the controller. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I've seen them work but with odd errors on the controller log.

You best best bet is to ensure that the controller itself is not faulty by grabbing some known good certified drives and testing it out by creating some temporary VD's.

By the way, for platform updates, you may also try to setup your network through the USC menu and do the Platform updates by hitting the ftp.dell.com source. Then followed by the OS deployment option. If your Lifecycle Controller(LCC) is updated, it should function well for system updates and OS installs.

Let us know what you find out, or how we can further assist.

DELL-Bo Pham · Answer

Hi Jeff,

That definitely sounds odd. Are the drives Dell Certified? There may be firmware conflict. Ensure the the PERC, along with BMC/iDRAC/BIOS are at the latest firmware. Also run the firmware update against the hard drives. You should also reseat all cables going from the PERC to the backplane or drives.

Here are the links for the R410

If applicable > BMC firmware Version 1.92, A00, released 9/24/12, URGENT, *May take 8-15 minutes to complete. No reboot needed. Windows: http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00808546M/1/R410_ESM_Firmware_9DRNW_WN32_1.92_A00.EXE

iDRAC6 remote access controller firmware Version 1.85, A01, released 2/29/12, URGENT, *May take 8-15 minutes to complete. No reboot needed. Windows: http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00293905M/7/ESM_Firmware_3VM7N_WN32_1.85_A00.EXE

PERC6i Adapter Firmware Version 6.3.3-0002, A00, Released 4/4/13, Urgent if yours is less than 6.1.1
Best practice when updating RAID firmware using Dell Update Package, do not reboot and proceed to next update:Windows :
http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01002155M/1/SAS-RAID_Firmware_3P52K_WN32_6.3.3-0002_X00.EXE

Bios Firmware Update Version 1.12.0, Release 10/4/2013, Urgent if below 1.4.8 , requires immediate reboot: Warm reboot required. Windows x64: http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01734880M/1/R410_BIOS_68WNM_WN64_1.12.0.EXE

Perform the hard drive firmware update separately via your choice of bootable media below.

SAS and SATA Hard drive firmware offline update utility A48 released 12/12/13 highly recommended, urgent for Western Digital and Seagate SATA drives. This tool creates a bootable CD, USB Flash drive, or image for DRAC 5/6 virtual media, which you'll then need to boot on to install. The update process will bring up a GUI, select Automatic Update

http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01896751M/2/NautilusDOSA48_ZPE.exe

Video how to - Choose " How to use the Hard Drive Firmware Tool with a bootable CD to update all SAS/SATA or SCSI drives."

Let us know how that goes.

Jeff_1978 · Answer

Hi Bo, thanks for your response! The drives are Hitachi Ultrastar 15K 450GB. I'm not sure if they are Dell Certified, but the Dell Resource Manager does have a firmware package for them.

Based on what I have read on other forums, I think you are right about it being a firmware issue. This particular R410 was purchased as a spare several years ago, and has not been in use until now, so all of the firmware is outdated.

I have exported the firmware repository using DRM to a USB stick and booted the server to USC. However, when I run Platform Update, I get a warning message that says "Catalog file not authenticated correctly. Do you want to proceed?" I click "Yes", and then I receive an error message stating "No update is available." I found a DRM tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hZA7SHJarQ4 that shows a RM folder in the root of his USB stick at the 1:55 mark. When I exported the firmware bundle to my USB stick, no RM folder was created. Is this causing USC not to find the updates?

Jeff_1978 · Answer

Sorry, I missed the last part of your response where you said to create a separate bootable media with Nautilus. I'm installing Nautilus now, and will report back how it goes.

Jeff_1978 · Answer

Unfortunately, the drives still aren't working, even after installing all of the updates above. I'm going to assume it is because they are not Dell Certified.

The USC RAID configurator seems to work, because it returns a successful message. However, upon rebooting from USC, no RAID is detected by the PERC 6i.

Jeff_1978 · Answer

I tested the controller with other known good drives, and it worked, so I am certain the drives aren't compatible. Thanks for you help on this! I've learned my lesson to always check drive compatibility before ordering!

PowerEdge HDD/SCSI/RAID

PowerEdge R410 new RAID initializing issue

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