Data Domain: EVT-MPATH-00005: A Single Disk Loses Multipath Redundancy

Summary: EVT-MPATH-00005: The number of active paths to a disk has decreased. Multipath redundancy has been lost unless there is more than one connection path.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

A single disk path is available to a disk.

A disk is reporting a missing disk path.

Event Alert:
EVT-MPATH-00005: The number of active paths to a disk has decreased. Multipath redundancy has been lost unless there are more than one connection paths.

Cause

There is a missing disk and or SAS path to a disk.

Resolution

The workaround is to switch the affected SAS and or Disk path as follows:

Identify the active path that the drive is on:

#disk multipath status

Example Output:

Disk Multipath Status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Port   Hops   Status    Disk                                                                                                       
----   ----   -------   ---------------                                                                                             
2a     1      Active    2.1 - 2.16                                                                                                 
       3      Standby   4.1 - 4.16                                                                                                  
       2      Active    6.1 - 6.16                                                                                                 
       4      Standby   8.1 - 8.16                                                                                                  
2b     3      Standby   3.1 - 3.16                                                                                                 
       1      Active    5.1 - 5.16                                                                                                  
       2      Active    7.1 - 7.8                                                                                                  
       2      Standby   7.9 - 7.16                                                                                                  
2c     0      Active    9.1 - 9.8                                                                                                  
       0      Standby   9.9 - 9.15                                                                                                  
3a     1      Active    3.1 - 3.16                                                                                                 
       3      Standby   5.1 - 5.16                                                                                                  
       2      Active    7.9 - 7.16                                                                                                 
       2      Standby   7.1 - 7.8                                                                                                  
3b     4      Standby   2.1, 2.3 - 2.16         <<<---- Disk 2.2 is missing a path on SAS port 3b                                                                                      
       2      Active    4.1 - 4.16        
       3      Standby   6.1 - 6.16                                                                                                 
       1      Active    8.1 - 8.16                                                                                                 
3d     0      Active    9.9 - 9.15                                                                                                 
       0      Standby   9.1 - 9.8

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In ALL cases, try a nondisruptive recovery by rescanning the affected disk slot:

# disk rescan <n.n>

Example: 

# disk rescan 2.2

If the disk rescan does not recover the missing path, then follow the steps below:

Determine the missing disk path and its related SAS and or HBA Port numbers:

Useful commands to achieve this are: 

# disk port show summary

# disk multipath status

# enclosure show topology

# log watch debug/plaform/kern.info
 
Note: A stable backend system has little to no scrolling in kern.info.
Expect plenty of output when making changes that impact the SAS chain. As an example, when a disk path is disabled.
 
  1. Seek necessary customer approval and then move forward to disable the file system by issuing the command:
#filesys disable
  1. Disable the port with the missing pathDO NOT disable the active or remaining path (in this example, 2a). Issue the command:
#disk port disable <port number>

In the example above, path 3b is disabled by running the command:

#disk port disable 3b
  1. Wait for 2 minutes to allow paths to failover to single or remaining SAS path. After 2 minutes, check and confirm that the paths have failed over successfully, then continue to the next step.
  2. Reenable the affected port:
#disk port enable <port number>
  1. Allow 2 minutes for the system to remap the disk paths: For example:
#disk port enable 3b
  1.  Run a topology or I/O test down the affected path:
# enclosure test topology <path> duration <time in mins>

In the example above, the syntax is:

# enclosure test topology 3b duration 2
  1. Verify that the secondary path is now active. Run the command:
# disk multipath status
  1. Reenable the file system once the pathing issue is resolved:
# filesystem enable

Additional Information

If the issue is not resolved after performing the above steps, reseat or replace the disk.

To reseat a Data Domain disk:
  1. Remove the affected disk.
  2. Wait 2 minutes.
  3. Reinsert the disk.
  4. Wait 2 minutes.
  5. Check disk and multipath status.

Affected Products

Data Domain

Products

Data Domain, Data Domain Deduplication Storage Systems, DD OS
Article Properties
Article Number: 000052171
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 05 Sep 2025
Version:  6
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