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PowerEdge XE8545 - U.2 NVMe drive not recognized
Hello all,
We've been having a hard time trying to get XE8545 to recognize an aftermarket U.2 NVMe drive. When we attach the drive to the server, the status LED (on the top) turns green and blinks. The working indicator LED (on the bottom) does not turn on.
The drive is not recognized anywhere on iDRAC including in Storage > Physical Disk section and System > Overview > PCI slots section. ESXi (DEL-ESXi-703_19482537-A04 (Dell Inc.)) also does not recognize the drive in both the Storage section and Host > Manage > Hardware > PCI devices section.
The drive in concern is Samsumg PM9A3 7.68TB (MZQL27T6HBLA-00A07). When we connect the drive to a desktop PC, it works without an issue so it doesn't seem to be the drive's problem. Also, the drive is listed on the ESXi compatibility matrix so it is not a driver issue either.
We've tried changing the BIOS settings as following, but none worked.
NVMe Settings > NVMe Mode [Non RAID -> RAID]
NVMe Settings > BIOS NVMe Driver [Dell Qualified Drives -> All Drives]
Boot Settings > Boot Mode [BIOS -> UEFI]
Any ideas on recognizing the drive will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
DELL-Joey C
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May 23rd, 2022 01:00
Hi @mpark,
Unfortuantely, for U.2 NVMe drives, it is limited to few models of drives that is compatible with XE8545. I'd search through for MZQL27T6HBLA, but it's not listed. So you might be facing an incompatibility issue. I'm pretty sure you have already updated the server's hardware firmware?
We may need to wait for the public member in this forum to provide any feedback if they faced the same issue and has a solution for it.
mpark
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May 23rd, 2022 02:00
Thanks for the reply, @DELL-Joey C.
May I ask, where can I find the compatibility matrix in regards to U.2 drives attachable to XE8545?
Dell-Martin S
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May 23rd, 2022 06:00
Hi,
we have no public list but you could contact your Sales representative to get a perfect offer.
Regards Martin
mpark
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May 23rd, 2022 22:00
@Dell-Martin S @DELL-Joey C
We have a Micron 7300 Pro drive, also aftermarket, that are free to use. Can you check whether any of these drives are in the compatibility matrix of XE8545?
DELL-Joey C
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May 24th, 2022 00:00
Hi @mpark,
Here's what I found in my accessible database.
mpark
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May 24th, 2022 22:00
@DELL-Joey C, Thank you for sharing the contents in the database! I just have one question, is this the complete list? Aren't there any drives that are over 4TB?
DELL-Joey C
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May 25th, 2022 02:00
Hi @mpark,
This is the list that I am able to access to and might be the only part which are compatible to XE8545.
By the way, how are you connecting the drives? Through the backplane? Did you make sure the hardware firmware is all up to date? Do you have access to check the backplane DPN#?
mpark
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May 25th, 2022 23:00
Hi, @DELL-Joey C. Thanks for the confirmation.
I am connecting the drives by the front bay so through the backplane (I guess). I checked that all hardware firmware is up to date. I used Dell's SUU to update all the firmwares including SEP hardware, which I think is the firmware for the backplane. I noticed that there are seperate lines for NVMe drives in the backplane of XE8545. I suspect it is of course connected when the server is manufactured, right?
Can I get the DPN# through iDRAC? I wasn't able to find any info other than the backplane's enclosure ID being BP15G+ 0:1.
DELL-Joey C
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May 26th, 2022 00:00
Hi @mpark,
I doubt you would be able to find the DPN# of the backplane in iDRAC. But I went through the user guide and I think there is only 1 backplane model, hence need not check it at the moment. Yes, the backplane has 4 connectors to be connected to the mainboard in order for you to use NVMe drives, each port supports 2 disk only. Can you check if they are connected to the mainboard? (I notice the labels are incorrect, hence please refer to the picture only) https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/poweredge-xe8545/marzal_xe8545_ism/system-board-connectors?guid=guid-1a4063fa-f53f-4f8e-90ce-fe498c8911b1&lang=en-us Port no. 33, 36, 37, 40.