Adaptec RAID Controller bad?
I have a server with an Adaptec 2120S Raid Controller and an Icy Dock, removable hard drive carrier. I have 3 drives connected to it in a RAID 5 array. After the holiday weekend we came in to find the server with an error saying no operating system. Tried rebooting and get an adaptec "Fatal Error Controller Monitor Failed Controller Not Started" It finally times out after about 15 minutes and gives me the no operationg system error. How can I determine if my controller is bad, the Icy Dock or one or more of my drives?
ASKER
The Icy Dock is an enclosure that fits in 3 full size bays on the server with a back plane only, no raid on the Icy Dock.
Without a cable connected, it appears to boot fine until it looks for the drives. Then it says SCSI IDs not responding..id0,1,2,3 ..... I tried another cable and still got the error. I can not by-pass the Icy Dock, the connector on the hard drives are different than the ones on the controller and Icy Dock. Correct me if I am worng, I pretty much have it narrowed down to the drives and/or Icy Dock? I have had a drive go bad before in a raid 5 with 3 drives and just replaced it. Wouldn't it be odd for 3 drives to die at once?
Without a cable connected, it appears to boot fine until it looks for the drives. Then it says SCSI IDs not responding..id0,1,2,3 ..... I tried another cable and still got the error. I can not by-pass the Icy Dock, the connector on the hard drives are different than the ones on the controller and Icy Dock. Correct me if I am worng, I pretty much have it narrowed down to the drives and/or Icy Dock? I have had a drive go bad before in a raid 5 with 3 drives and just replaced it. Wouldn't it be odd for 3 drives to die at once?
Yeah, its highly unlikely all three drives went bad - unless there was a surge or some other electrical problem. Since you likely have 80 pin hot swap drives, you'll either need to get a cheap generic backplane or three 80pin to 68pin adapters...unless the icy dock is under warranty (or pickup a new enclosure if its cheaper than the alternative).
http://www.axiontech.com/p
http://www.axiontech.com/p
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What did you end up doing?
ASKER
Ran the diags according to delethe and it showed 2 of the 3 drives had failures. Basically calling it a loss and starting over with a new array and drives. Fortunatly we had some spotty backups and didn't get hurt too bad from it.
Bummer, did you ever update the firmware or try the low level reset?
If you need to recover any important data and didn't format the disks, try raid reconstructor...it should be able to rebuild the array and allow you to create an image.
http://www.runtime.org/rai
If you need to recover any important data and didn't format the disks, try raid reconstructor...it should be able to rebuild the array and allow you to create an image.
http://www.runtime.org/rai
Disconnect the cable and boot. Error message still there?
Perform a low level reset on the 2120S with the same firmware version (place a jumper on J5 before using the AFU).
Error message? Update to latest firmware