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How do I see my Physical Drives on my Computer?
I have a Dell PowerEdge 2970 with 5 Drives. Currently I am seeing only 2 of the drives. In the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator ->Storage -> PERC 5i/Integrated(Embeded) ->Connector 0 RAID -> Enclosure(Backplane) -> Physical Disc. Physical Disc 0:0:0, Physical Disc 0:0:1 and Physical Disc 0:0:2
Physical DIsc 0:0:0 and Physical Disc 0:0:2 there are only 3 item in the drop down menu under Task Column which are (Blink and Unblink) and for Physical Disc 0:0:1 has an additional item which is Clear, I clicked on the clear item and the % Complete under the Progress Column never moves.
Can anyone please tell me what to do to have my drives back? Though I was seeing only one drive since I started working on this server. Note it is a Refurbished Server
Physical DIsc 0:0:0 and Physical Disc 0:0:2 there are only 3 item in the drop down menu under Task Column which are (Blink and Unblink) and for Physical Disc 0:0:1 has an additional item which is Clear, I clicked on the clear item and the % Complete under the Progress Column never moves.
Can anyone please tell me what to do to have my drives back? Though I was seeing only one drive since I started working on this server. Note it is a Refurbished Server
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mikem
ASKER
In Open Manager am seeing only 3 drives and in Computer Management -> Disk Management I see only 2
Is the third drive that you see in Open Manage "unallocated" or an actual logical drive?
If the drives are mounted on a RAID controller, then the controller will only present the existing containers to the operating system. If all drives are configured as a single RAID array (container) then you will only see the single container in DM - the size should match 4x size of individual drives - the equivalent of 1 drive is used as parity.
Drives that are not initialised by the controller may not be seen by the OS or any disk management tools.
When booting the computer, wait until you see a message (e.g. Press ) to go into the PERC RAID admin and see how many drives it shows in there. It could be that the drives are just not initialised.
Is there any data on this system that you need?
Mike
Drives that are not initialised by the controller may not be seen by the OS or any disk management tools.
When booting the computer, wait until you see a message (e.g. Press ) to go into the PERC RAID admin and see how many drives it shows in there. It could be that the drives are just not initialised.
Is there any data on this system that you need?
Mike
ASKER
currently no data, but what we want is how can we initialize these drives that are not initialized so that the OS can see them.
You should be able to go into the PERC menu during boot (before windows starts) to configure the drives. If you change the existing configs, you WILL lose all your data including the OS.
The best way would be to delete existing RAIDs and create a new config and add the drives as you want them.
Then re-inatall the OS of your choice.
Mike
The best way would be to delete existing RAIDs and create a new config and add the drives as you want them.
Then re-inatall the OS of your choice.
Mike
ASKER
I tried looking at PERC menu but I did not see is it the same as disbaling raid. I disable raid but i could not boot any more but i can tackle that one. the problem is the PERC menu you are talking about.
ASKER
Good I have seen the PERC menu. I just pressed Ctrl - r and it was there. I could see the drives but only two are online the others are not accessible for operation. In deleting the RAID do i have to delete the Virtual disk in PERC OR IS DIFFERENT.
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ASKER
Mike YOU are a GENIUS I shall never forget you, you made me confidence and help me solve the problem. I can see all the dirves and i can do any possible raiding system with it. So once again mike Thank you very much.
ASKER
Mike you are great, I really appreciate your effort so I am saying a big thank you.
sneceesay77@yahoomail.com
sneceesay77@yahoomail.com
Thank you, thank you.
Mike
Mike
Go to Computer Management -> Disk Management and you should have couple of partitions as unallocated space. Right Click and Format it giving a drive letter.