R740XD BP2 SAS cable error

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forums so hopefully I'm in the right place.

I'm having an issue with my R740's mid bay backplane. The specific error I get is this: HWC2003: The storage BP2 SAS A0 cable is not connected, or is improperly connected.

My system has the following:

H740P raid card
12x3.5" BP1
4x3.5" BP2

Note: it does not have a rear flex bay installed

I've double checked all the cables' part numbers and where they're supposed to connect too, and they are correct. I've also changed out the cables to others I have on hand and the server produces the same error.

When I boot into the BIOS, I see backplane 1 (front bays) and backplane 2 (mid bays) show up in the system information. However when I look into the H740P's configuration utility, the H740P only shows backplane 1. Strangely enough, despite the H740P not listing BP2, the two drives in the mid bay still show up in the inventory in iDRAC but their disk numbers are reported incorrectly as disk 14 and 26. Or at least I assume those are incorrect. I figured this means that the SAS connection from the mid bay is in fact working and there's some error in reporting it either from the perc card or within iDRAC.

One final important piece of information though is that this motherboard is originally from a OEMR R740 non-XD. I purchased an R740XD chassis 3rd hand because I wanted to expand my storage options. After that swap it was working completely normally with the XD's front bay until of course I put in the mid bay at which point it throws that HWC2003 error. Some people I have talked to in other communities have suggested that this error might be because the motherboard still identifies as an R740 non-XD so it's not expecting backplane zero or backplane two to be installed. However, from all my reading online, it seems like the right ear of the chassis lets the motherboard know either it's supposed to be an XD or non-XD.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks!

kmstallone · Accepted Answer

Hi Young,So I solved everything. The first error in the original message was because I was using a cable meant for the 24 bay SFF R740XD while I needed a cable meant for the 12 bay LFF R740XD. The second error was from the BIOS requiring the use of a rear bay expansion if you're using the mid bay expansion. So I ended up purchasing a rear bay and now my R740 'XD' is happy once again since it has the front bay, mid bay, and rear bay.So I guess for anyone who wants to know for the future, it is possible to turn a R740 into an R740XD, just make sure you're buying the right cables and that if you want a mid bay you need a rear bay hahaBest,Kevin

DELL-Young E · Answer

Hello, thanks for choosing Dell. 'One final important piece of information though is that this motherboard is originally from a OEMR R740 non-XD. I purchased an R740XD chassis 3rd hand because I wanted to expand my storage options.'The advices need to come from those who have actually tried this. Let's see what the other contributor has to say. Sorry I can't be of help this time. Wish you a good one.

kmstallone · Answer

Hi Young,

Thanks for the response.

After a bit more troubleshooting and researching I have discovered that my server does now identify as a R740XD so that's all fine in regards to that.

I found out that the SAS cable I was using to connect the mid bay to my front backplane was actually a SAS cable that was meant to connect a mid bay to a 24x 2.5" front backplane and not a 12x 3.5" front backplane. After ordering the correct cable and receiving it, my R740xd no longer complains about BP2 SAS A0 cable. However, unfortunately the server now seems as if it wants the rear backplane (BP0) present in the machine as I now get this following error:

The storage BP1 SAS A2 cable is not connected, or is improperly connected.

BP1 A2 port is the port where the rear backplane's (BP0) SAS cable connects to the front backplane (BP1). I was not under the impression that the server would want the rear backplane present if it had the mid bay (BP2) present. Do you know if this is the case where you need a rear bay if you're running a mid bay in a R740xd or is something else potentially wrong? I was not planning on putting a rear bay in this server as I would like the PCIe lanes.

Thank you very much.

Best,

Kevin

DELL-Young E · Answer

Hello, once again, I regret to tell you I'm having a hard time answering your question. I am not sure if I'm on the right direction but what I could say now would be R740 and R740XD are two different things. Adding some parts to a R740 does not make it a R740XD.

fred7911 · Answer

Hi, Could you please give the Dell Part number for the cable you installed?I'm looking for a cable to install a Perc H750 on a R740xd with a 12x3.5' backplane.. Thank you!

kmstallone · Answer

Hi, happy to help.

From my H740P to my front bay 12x3.5" I have a 0787PR

From my front bay to my mid bay I have a 0YF7RN

From my front bay to rear bay I have a 0674FN

It seems as if the PERC H750 has a different connector on it than the H740P so the 0787PR won't work for you. You'll need a different cable if the one you're looking for is to go from your H750 to your front backplane.

fred7911 · Answer

You are totally right, the H750 connector is different from the H740P, and I misread your first message (I thought you had a H750). Thank you for pointing it out!

fred7911 · Answer

Hi, finally here is the part number I used to connect my 12x3.5" front LFF backplane to a H750 perc controller (internal), on my Poweredge R740xd

Part #:FN8DG

It has the good length even if the H750 is on the riser 2.

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R740XD BP2 SAS cable error

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