Hi chris.d1,

   The problem is a disk type misidentification during the foreign configuration import when upgrading from H330 Mini to H730P Mini:

Possible Cause:

• The H730P Mini (firmware 25.5.9.0001) is incorrectly identifying the global hot spare in slot 11 as "Tape, SATA" instead of "HDD, SATA"
• This disk type mismatch blocks the foreign configuration import
• Both iDRAC and CTRL+R correctly identify it as HDD, SATA, but the import mechanism fails on the misclassification
• The error "Configuration conflict. The Physical Disk's place may have been taken by another Physical Disk" indicates the controller can't map the disk correctly due to this type mismatch

Suggested Steps : Your proposed approach is correct and recommended:

Step-by-Step Solution:

1. With H330 installed:
• Remove the global hot spare assignment from slot 11
• This clears the configuration metadata for that specific disk
• Verify the RAID arrays are still healthy
2. Swap to H730P:
• Power down and install the H730P Mini
• Boot and access CTRL+R or iDRAC
• The disk should now be correctly identified as HDD, SATA (no conflicting metadata)
• Import the foreign configuration - this should now work
3. After successful import:
• Reassign slot 11 as a global hot spare
• Verify all VDs are healthy

Alternative if the above doesn't work:

• Update H730P firmware to match or exceed the latest version (your H330 is on 25.5.8.0001, H730P is on 25.5.9.0001 - check if there's a newer version that fixes disk type detection)
• Clear the foreign configuration on the H730P before import (last resort, as you'd lose the RAID metadata)

Why this should work:

The global hot spare assignment creates specific metadata that the newer controller is misinterpreting. Removing the assignment clears this metadata, allowing the H730P to correctly identify the disk type and successfully import the foreign configuration.

This is a known issue with PERC controller upgrades where disk type detection can be inconsistent across firmware versions.

Regards,

DELL-Bridjet V

Social Media and Communities Professional

Dell Technologies | Enterprise Support Services

#IWork4Dell

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Hi

This is most likely being caused by the hot spare's config data, not the drive itself. The "Tape, SATA" mis-ID on the foreign config is a known quirk when the PERC generation change causes the controller to misread the metadata written by the old configuration — it's cosmetic/config-related, not a drive failure, since iDRAC and CTRL+R both correctly show it as HDD/SATA outside of the foreign import screen.

Your plan is the right one:

With the H330 still installed, unassign the global hot spare from slot 11 first, then delete/re-add it if needed so the controller writes fresh spare metadata.
Then swap in the H730P and try the import again.

If that still doesn't clear it:

Try importing the two VDs without the hot spare present (pull slot 11 physically before swapping controllers), get the RAID1 and RAID5 imported cleanly first, then reinsert slot 11 and re-assign it as a global hot spare fresh on the H730P — this avoids relying on the H730P to correctly interpret old spare metadata at all.

As a last resort, some users have needed to clear the foreign config entirely and rebuild (only if you have a backup), since occasionally the PERC 9 series just won't cleanly parse older H330 metadata across a controller-family change.

Also, just as a general note for anyone doing this swap on an R730xd — if you end up needing a replacement H730P Mini down the line, the Dell 7H4CN PERC H730P 8-Port Mini Mono RAID Controller (2GB NV Cache) is confirmed compatible with the R730XD, so that's a solid source if yours ever needs swapping out.

Thank you @DELL-Bridjet V and @Mark Franklin 

I will be re-attempting my conversion tomorrow. Thank you for the help. Will follow up with the success or failure. 

Wanted to make sure as clearing the FKs isn't an option unless it blows up during the swap. 

@DELL-Bridjet V and @Mark Franklin 

The process recommended was unsuccessful again. 

We unassigned the global spare, ensured the job queue was done then did the swap. 

Went into the F2 menu to import, all physical disks and virtual disks were reporting ready, no errors whatsoever. 

Global spare was missing as expected.

Though this menu again showed no import option, only the clear option. 

Decided to reboot the server and go into the CRTL+R menu to see if that helps. 

This was the same though, everything showed as expected with no errors though the import option was greyed out, only clear was selectable.

Even pulled the global spare drive on a second round of trying with no luck as well. 

With no errors and everything picking up as expected in idrac I have no idea where to go from here other than clearing it and rebuilding which is not ideal as restoring from a backup on this device feasible in the current situation.