[clug-talk] Poweredge Disk Problem

[Craig McLean]

Hello.

I finally had some time to open up my Poweredge 1800 server and do some
serious troubleshooting.  Unfortunately the problem looks like hardware.

I started by stripping out every unnecessary card, and stick of RAM, however
the issue persisted.  I then took out the PERC card and all disks.  I added
a SATA disk and then used a DELL ISM CD to install the utility partition.
>From there I was able to make it boot and run the Dell extended diagnostics.
The result stated that there is a power problem, there is also now a
flashing amber light on the server chassis.  I did some googling and
basically found that there is a hardware problem related to power.  Either
on the motherboard or in the power supplies themselves.

I'm going to take the cover off the supplies and the distribution box and
look for anything obvious, however I think this is a closed case.

-----Original Message-----
From: clug-talk-bounces at clug.ca [mailto:clug-talk-bounces at clug.ca] On Behalf
Of gustin at echostar.ca
Sent: June-01-10 2:43 AM
To: CLUG General
Subject: Re: [clug-talk] Poweredge Disk Problem

On Sun, 30 May 2010, Craig McLean wrote:

> Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 19:21:34 -0600
> From: Craig McLean <craigmclean at shaw.ca>
> Reply-To: CLUG General <clug-talk at clug.ca>
> To: 'CLUG General' <clug-talk at clug.ca>
> Subject: [clug-talk] Poweredge Disk Problem
> 
> Hello.
>
>
>
> I'm trying to setup OpenNAS on a Dell Poweredge 1800 server with 3 300GB
> SCSI Hot Swappable disks.  I'm experiencing some unusual behaviour.  When
I
> turn the server on the disks periodically decide not to spin up.  On this
> server it is normal for the disks to start up a few moments after power is
> applied, however for some reason that doesn't happen.  When this happens
the
> POST process gets stuck at initializing the Dell PERC 4 RAID card.
>

>
> Obviously this isn't an OpenNAS problem, however I am hoping somebody 
> who knows more about Dell server hardware will have some hints on what 
> is going on here.
>
My first two instincts would be to check the RAID card and the power 
supply.  Most decent RAID cards have the ability to stagger the start up 
of the drives so that they all do not spin up at the same time placing 
undue stress on the PS.  Check in the BIOS of the RAID card for such a 
setting, if it is not set, try staggering the start-up of the various 
drives.

Can you test this system with a different (it could be same make/model or 
different) RAID card just to see if the disks power up reliably?  You may 
also wish to try moving the RAID card to another PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot if 
possible.

Having said that, 3 drives is not something that usually stresses a power 
supply unless the power supply itself is failing. Try replacing the power 
supply if possible.

Your priorities will dictate the order in which you proceed.  If data 
integrity is most important, then start with the power supply.  If time 
and convenience are more important than I would look at the RAID card 
first.

Hth,
__
Gustin

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