R730XD - PCI-E H330 to 2-slot rear backplane

Hello jtostenr,

This is correct: HBA330 mini is connected to A0 and B0 on the front backplane with cable #05YYHW.

And you should have: H330 adapter connected to rear backplane with #8KX9H

What results do you get in that configuration?

Please note I removed the image as it shows your service tag.

Swapped A0 and B0 back to proper positions and then swapped cable on H330 PCIE from A to B. Same error as before:

Swapped A0 and B0 and get the following alarms:

Thank you for those results. It looks like you have the HBA330 mini connected to front backplane correctly.

For the rear backplane;

Do you have the signal cable and powered connected?

Is the H330 adapter connected to rear backplane SAS connector?

Do you see any damage on the backplane connectors on the cable connectors?

Yes, power, signal and SAS cables are connected. No obvious damage. See attached pics.

That all looks good in pictures.

Have you tried clearing the iDRAC hardware log, do a flea power drain, clear NVRAM and make sure Collect Information on Restart is enabled (CSIOR)?

drain flea power (shut down, disconnect power cables and Network cables, hold in power button 20 seconds with cords removed).  After flea power drain, system has to set for 3 minutes for DRAC to reset without any power plugged in, then plug in NIC and power but wait 2 minutes before power on to give DRAC time to initialize.

Clear NVRAM - there is a map under the lid to show the jumper location. Shut down,  Set jumper to the Clear position, power on and Post up to the jumper error, shut down and return to original location.

CSIOR:

-boot to F2 -> System Setup -> iDRAC Settings -> Lifecycle Controller to check status

-Choose: Lifecycle Controller set to Enabled

-Collect System Inventory on Restart set to Enabled.

Just finished going through all these steps and still getting the same error.

Would this alarm be the reason why my fans are running at 83% under no load?

Hi as far as fan speed goes, it's not just one thing. There are numerous reasons and mix of them behind the abnormal fan speed.

Any other ideas on how to fix the "CBL0009: Backplane 0 connector A0 is not connected." issue? At this point, I am looking at having to go back to booting from dual SD cards, which is no longer supported by VMware. Is it possible to use a BOSS card in a 13G server without generating alarms?

Hello jtostenr,

Unfortunately the BOSS is not supported in the R730xd. It is first available in the 14gen servers.

Do you happen to have the other rear backplane cable #8RJM1 you can test with?

This may be the cable needed as the description is PERC to 2HD backplane:

#D8T8R - ASSY,CBL,PERC,2HD BKPLN,R730XD

                 Assembly, Cable, PERC, 2HD Backplane, R730XD

I'll need some time, this will take more research. It may be it is not a supported configuration is the reason the solution is not readily available.  Maybe also some community members that have done it will post their experience.

I will update you when I find more information.

Where are you seeing a configurator tool?  Can you supply me a link?

I purchased the 8RJM1 cable, but unfortunately it will not arrive until Tuesday. The D8T8R cable appears to be for SATA as far as I can tell.

Thank you for the assistance, I'm really hoping to get this resolved. I am pretty sure that it is a supported configuration since it is available in the Dell configurator tool.

See this post:
https://www.360ict.nl/blog/s2d-setup-with-hba330h330-fixed-in-dell-configurator/

Thank you.

That is a screen shot of 2017 configurator. R730xd is no longer available in the configurator is why I did not see it.

This will give me something more to work with on my escalation.