Battery missing

Question

Poweredge t110 ii server . i received the server without the battery , yesterday the electricity stopped for along of time and the system failed to open or boot the previous installed Ubuntu( with raid 5) . i want to know if there is a relation between the missing battery and the system fall . If there is no relation could you please tell me other things that may cause system fall ?? (NOTE : we are using UPS last for 30 minutes)

i also want to know a solution to reset the RAID to the default configuration because when i tried to re-install Ubuntu the installation failed to see the other 3 hard disks and show only one !!

Thanks in advance

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Well, yes, you can re-enable the S100, but just know that the S100 is a WINDOWS-ONLY controller. Boot to BIOS Setup (F2), SATA Settings, set Embedded SATA to RAID.

You should plan to get a battery ... they cost like $3. Normally, the absence of a battery would not cause the system to fail, but if the server ever got unplugged or lost power, then all the BIOS settings would be reset to default. So, if you had Embedded SATA set to ATA, for example, and you lost power, the system would have reverted to AHCI ... THAT could cause the OS to fail to boot due to driver-related settings.

If you don't believe this caused your system to fail, then you need to provide more details, as I can't answer that with what little information has been provided.

When you say the system failed, what do you mean? Are you talking about hardware failure or software/OS failure? Did the server itself stop responding/booting/etc., or did the OS stop booting, giving errors, etc.

theflash1932 · Answer

What RAID controller are you using?  How large are your disks?  How many, four?

mona4300 · Answer

The RAID software included with Ubuntu CD  is based on the 'mdadm' driver four disks , each 500 G

theflash1932 · Answer

So, are you running a linux-managed software RAID, or are you running a hardware RAID configuration?  What controller are the drives physically connected to?  Onboard SATA or add-in card?  If a card, which one?

mona4300 · Answer

The first option 'a linux-managed software RAID' First, the server was running using PERC S100 SATA To install ubuntu i select 'Initialize to non-raid' to stop the default one , Then install RAID driver from the ubuntu CD

mona4300 · Answer

There is no way to reset the server again to perc s100  at the system boot ? or Ubuntu delete it ?? and what about the battery ?? and the general reasons for system fall ??

theflash1932 · Answer

If you want to know how to 'reset the RAID to the default configuration' of a linux software RAID, then you will need someone better versed in linux RAID than me ... this is not a function of the hardware.

theflash1932 · Answer

Default value for Embedded SATA is AHCI, so if your BIOS settings were reseat to defaults (power outage with no battery, etc.), and you had been running in ANY other mode, then the OS would not boot properly. Settings for the Embedded SATA are Off (which would render onboard SATA ports useless), ATA, AHCI (default), and RAID (S100).

"may be the battery is a reason but i closed the server a lot of time and re-open it with no problem :/ :/ "

?? Closed?? Re-open??

mona4300 · Answer

actually i don't know exactly the failure reason but what i get is a black screen saying that

file system not found , the problem related to OS booting and RAID configuration

OK , what is the default value for Embedded SATA ?? if i choose no raid and stop the perc s100 what will be its value ??

may be the battery is a reason but i closed the server a lot of time and re-open it with no problem :/ :/

any way thanks for your help

mona4300 · Answer

Which mode will be enabled when i choose 'Initialize to non-raid'  from PERC Controller  ??

mona4300 · Answer

OK thank you for all this information :)

theflash1932 · Answer

I don't know ... it is unlikely to change the actual mode.  If the BIOS still lists Embedded SATA as RAID, then it is still in RAID mode (many RAID controller support both RAID and non-RAID).

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