Equalligic PS400E Time of Day Batterie is low

Anyone know of an alternative solution for this for a situation where a customer has no support? It appeared at first that it might just be the "CMOS" battery (2032), but this appears not to be the case since, after replacement of both batteries, the alert has returned a bit more than 24 hours later...

Thanks,

Ben

With Time-of-day clock battery voltage is low errors, it is possible that the controller is not reading the proper battery voltage any longer.  Without a review of the diags (requires a support contract) it would be impossible to identify the cause.  You can try to fail over the array to the secondary control module to see if the error continues, if so there is something other causing the error message, again this would require a review of the diags to determine the cause.

Since the PS400 is EOL (end of life), there is no option to get a support contract.

-joe

Bringing this back from the dead.....

I ran across this thread while searching for some info on the same problem - I have the "Time of day clock battery is low" message on my Type 2 array (just one controller).

Figured I would post what I found in case anybody else can benefit.

The time of day clock battery on the Type 1 , Type 2, Type 3 - and I believe the Type 4 controllers - is not the coin cell.  On later array controller types the coin cell is used for the clock - but on the earlier model controllers the battery is in a small yellow rectangular component.

The top of this component should read something similar to the following:

Timekeeper

Snaphat

Contains Lithium Cell

This component plugs onto a socket on the controller board. It has four pins - and is keyed so it will install correctly. The replacement parts are available online - I found them listed by doing a Google search.  I pulled one of these from an out of service Type 3 controller yesterday - and just had a chance to try it on my Type 2 controller tonite - and my controller is now showing a healthy state with the new battery installed.

To replace simply pull up carefully on the component - it should come out of the socket relatively easily - then install the new one.  I would halt the controller and power off to preserve data before doing this.

Before wondering if the controller is bad - I would try replacing this component first and see if the warning message clears.

Do you have part number of battery? Is there any manual/ video about how to replace this? I  got no support from Dell

Hi,

I would have to pull one of the controllers out and see if there was a part # on it.  To my recollection I pulled the part number directly off of the part on the controller board - did a search - and found the replacement parts on Digi Key or a similar site.   I believe I may have some more of the batteries laying around - I'll check my stash at home (at work now).

I still have the array in service - and the replacing that battery fixed the problem.  It's been working fine ever since.

Hello, 

 No, there is no "status" information stored on the compact flash cards.  Their only purpose is to boot up the controllers.  No configuration information is stored there.  They are stored on the array itself. 

 So likely the TOD clock battery has failed with age.   It's not designed to be replaced in the field. 

 Regards, 

 Don 

The EqualLogic PS4100 controller has a lithium 2032 coin cell for the clock. I have replaced the coin cell several times. I will swap good and bad daughter cards to isolate the read bad part.

If the clock chip has gone bad I don't know if a TV repair guy can replace a surface mount chip.

The capacitors you replaced are there to back up the data cache in the event that the array loses power or goes down suddenly - like in the event of a controller failover.   Data that is in flight before being written off to the disks - goes thru cache - the capacitors are there to keep the controller up long enough to save that cache off when power fails.

Technically - the capacitors are not a "battery" - although they serve the same function as the battery does on many of the other Equallogic controller types.

If they were leaking - they were failing - and needed to be replaced.  If the fix you implemented is working correctly - that particular controller should be in "write back" mode.  It will be in "write thru" mode (no data saved in cache) - if the system recognizes that the cache is not being backed up by the capacitors.

There is no need to reload the firmware - or change out the SD cards - the system is picking up the "Battery Status Failed" from somewhere , and the only two places that could be coming from are the clock battery (the coin cell previously mentioned) - or the capacitor pack.

The other thing to bear in mind - is that the messages (if I recall correctly) - may not be clear as to which controller in the system actually has the bad battery.  It's a good idea if you see the messages to change out the battery in both controllers

Hi I realise this thread is old but hope you can assit. 

We have an out of service PS4000 series with the Time-of-day battery is low message. I need to power the unit down as part of a power and hardware upgrade (which will eventually replace the PS4000) but will I lose any configuration information when powering back up assuming the battery is NOT changed.

Many thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Anthony

@Prosolve​  Hi Antony I realise this thread is old but hope you can assist. I have the now same issue. Did you get yours  resolved ?

Many thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Roy