PowerEdge R730xd not Recognizing Samsung SSD

Hi there,

Could you provide me the SSD DPN#, I might need to check if it's compatible with R730XD. Also, have you updated the RAID controller, iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller firmware?

Let me know the details. 

The DPN is MZQLB960HAJR.

I updated the server firmware initially using the appropriate platform specific bootable iso, then once the LC was updated to the point it could use HTTPS I grabbed later updates with that.

Hello,

where the SSD is not recognized? Can you check under physical disks of the PERC bios if SSD is recognized?

What's is your RAID configuration ?
Thanks

Marco

In PERC bios there are currently no physical disks recognized under physical disk management, And to clarify the Samsung SSD is the only disk inserted at the moment.

In the RAID configuration there is currently no configuration present, with no option to set one.

I am not showing that drived listed as supported, so that may be the cause. Are you seeing any amber lights or errors?

No errors and no amber lights. As I mentioned the only visible light issue I see is the blinking green light for the inserted drive.

It sounds like it can't negotiate a connection. Sometimes you can find additional detail in the SEL of the iDRAC, or the LC Log. If that doesn't work, the PERC log is the best resource to use, which is also obtainable using the iDRAC. You can export a SupportAssist collection, choose to export the RAID log, then find the RAID log available in the output. You can view it in any text editor, I use Notepad++. If the drive is in slot 0, search that log for "PD0" or "Physical Disk 0," you should find any issues between the drive and controller there.

I was reviewing the thread as a whole and I saw that you listed the DPN as MZQLB960HAJR. That isn't a Dell part number, that's the Samsung model number. It may still be perfectly fine, but is there any chance you might be able to share a picture of the drive label? I ask because that may be the best way to clear any confusion.

There isn't any sort of BIOS level SSD enablement, though. I'd be curious to see the RAID log you exported. If you're open to it, you can upload it here (or another file share resource, if you'd prefer). The fact that the LED is blinking would leave me expecting some sort of logging, even if it refuses any sort of connection.

I did not see anything in the exported logs.

Currently the machine has no OS and the only drive is the Samsung SSD located in slot 20. If there is only a single drive is there a specific slot that it needs to be placed in?

The pdf at https://image-us.samsung.com/SamsungUS/samsungbusiness/pdfs/SSD-983DCTDSHT-OCT18T-Final-10-26-18.pdf for the MZ-QLB960NE seems to imply that it would work. Is this not the case for the MZ-QLB960NE model?

At this point I am wondering if the R730xd is pre-configured to use SSD? The manual leads me to believe so, but I have come across discussions reporting needing extra parts for the R730.

How would I go about verifying that the server is configured correctly so I will know I won't simply run into the same issue with other drives?

This is the drive in question. And looking back the issue seems to be that an error occurred and the raid log itself was never exported. I am not sure how to resolve that, but am more than willing to give any of the other logs I have if it will provide insight.

Hi,

Thanks for the drive picture. I don't think R730xd can detect the drive with due it's not compatible with the server. The drive does not contain Dell firmware, which allow the RAID controller and the server to communicate with. And, you're unable to flash Dell firmware into the drive due to it's an original manufacture's drive, not a Dell certified drive. 

Hope this clarifies the issue. 

Where could I find a list of compatible SSD for the R730xd? And what exactly makes the Samsung SSD incompatible? I just want to avoid similar issues moving forward, and neither the technical guide or owners manual seem to shed light on the subject.

Hello,

You would need to contact Sales to get a complete drive list. However, if you have a certain set of spec requirements, I'm happy to take a look at that for you. Did you just need something around 1TB, or do you have a set of requirements more specific than that? If you can help me narrow this scope, I may be able to help more. If you'd be more interested in browsing, I did find some options by searching for "r730xd ssd" on the main Dell site.

As for the Samsung SSD, I've seen a number of Samsung drives not negotiate with the RAID controllers. They weren't validated by engineering, so we can't support them. Drives without Dell firmware can and certainly still do work, but it's been my experience that unvalidated Samsung drives have trouble more often. I've been told that there is something missing from the Samsung firmware that prevents negotiation (I don't want to go into "something" too much, because it's been a long time since the conversation, it was a casual conversation, and it's something I treat *ONLY* as a plausible cause, not a certain fact). I only think of that as a plausible explanation because the handful of RAID logs I reviewed where unvalidated Samsung drives were used I could only see the PERC try to interact with the drives, but didn't log responses from the drives.