VxRail: Nodes with HBA355i Generated CTL137/CTL138 alerts
Summary: VxRail appliance node with HBA355i adapter generated CTL137/CTL138 alert in life cycle controller logs.
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Symptoms
VxRail cluster runs on the version from 7.0.41x to 7.0.45x on the VxRail 6.x series appliance node(660, 670, 665, 675), the VxRail Manager generates the event "VXR508CTL137."
In the iDRAC life cycle log, the below message log information similar to the following will be generated with the timestamp */*/* *:* .
*/*/* *:* iDRAC Storage Informational CTL138 iDRAC has successfully restored connection with the device Storage Controller in SL 3. */*/* *:* iDRAC Storage Warning CTL137 iDRAC is unable to successfully communicate with the device Storage Controller in SL 3, because of one or more of the following reasons: device is incorrectly seated, iDRAC firmware error or device firmware error. */*/* *:* iDRAC Storage Informational CTL138 iDRAC has successfully restored connection with the device Storage Controller in SL 3. */*/* *:* iDRAC Storage Warning CTL137 iDRAC is unable to successfully communicate with the device Storage Controller in SL 3, because of one or more of the following reasons: device is incorrectly seated, iDRAC firmware error or device firmware error.
Like the below photo:
Cause
VxRail introduced the HBA355 adapter from version 7.0.210 on the VxRail 6.x series appliance node, this series of nodes is based on the Dell PowerEdge 15G rack server. This problem is a hardware problem between the HBA355i and iDRAC communication.
For the events CTL137/CTL138, the iDRAC is continuously monitoring the devices like HBA (i2C channel), and PERC installed on the server for various controller real-time data (For example, health status changes and temperature). If the HBA controller fails to respond to iDRAC over a period (10 consecutive i2C poll requests), then iDRAC will log a CTL137 event to notify the user that iDRAC communication is lost.
Once the communication is restored after a CTL137 event, a corresponding event called CTL138 will be logged to inform the user that the communication between iDRAC and the controller has been restored/re-established.
For more detailed info may check PowerEdge: What is a CTL137 Event and How to Troubleshoot it and VxRail: Event Code: VXR508CTL137.
Resolution
This problem is fixed in 7.0.480 in the 7.0 release and 8.0.200 in the 8.0 release.
Thus, we suggest upgrading the whole VxRail cluster to the fixed version.
If you cannot upgrade the VxRail cluster to the fixed version, engaged support. Browse to the Contact Technical Support to create a service request to engage the Dell support engineer.
Additional Information
Reference KB for CTL137 and CTL138 events.
| KB Article number | KB article Title |
| 000182797 | What is a CTL137 Event and How to Troubleshoot it? |
| 000184757 | Dell VxRail: event code: VXR508CTL137 |
Affected Products
VMWare Cloud on Dell EMC VxRail E560F, VMWare Cloud on Dell EMC VxRail E560N, VxRail Appliance Family, VxRail Appliance Series, VxRail E660, VxRail E660F, VxRail E660N, VxRail E665, VxRail E665F, VxRail E665N, VxRail P670F, VxRail P670N, VxRail P675F
, VxRail P675N, VxRail S670, VxRail Software, VXRAIL V670F
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Article Properties
Article Number: 000220313
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 13 Feb 2026
Version: 5
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