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poweredge 2650 no logical drives found
I have a poweredge 2650 Server with 2 arrays one has 2 hard drive mirror and 3 hard drive raid 0.
The server would not boot up. after reading through the forums i was able to fix it by removing all components from the motherboard one by one and cleaning them and blowing the dust out of the server components. Now when it boots it does not find any of the logical drives. It is out of warranty and can't call dell for support. What can i do to either backup the information or image the partitions to reconstruct the containers on the adaptec 3/di controller. I have tried Acronis true image and it wont find the partitions. Please help its super important to get it to boot and or backup partitions as they were.
The server would not boot up. after reading through the forums i was able to fix it by removing all components from the motherboard one by one and cleaning them and blowing the dust out of the server components. Now when it boots it does not find any of the logical drives. It is out of warranty and can't call dell for support. What can i do to either backup the information or image the partitions to reconstruct the containers on the adaptec 3/di controller. I have tried Acronis true image and it wont find the partitions. Please help its super important to get it to boot and or backup partitions as they were.
In case you have had experiences where out-of-warranty systems were denied free support ... this applies only to Enterprise products (PowerEdge/PowerVault, etc.).
If you connect the HD's into the original slots, and all internal cables are properly attached, your array should be fine. If something happened to the RAID 0 array, your data is lost, as RAID 0 is a very risky array due to it's 0 redundancy.
ASKER
Thanks for the quick response to all. Yes i called dell and again they said nothing they can do for out of warranty items. I have connected all HD's to their original places as i was very careful before the clean up and repair of the power boot up issues were resolved. I can not loose any data for it is essential to keep it.
Dell cannot replace parts or send service at their expense after the warranty has expired, but they will assist as usual with any hardware problem short of sending parts/technician. I worked for Dell's Server support until January - if you were told you cannot receive support (again, short of replacing parts), then ask for an Escalations Manager ... this has always been their support policy for servers.
Anyway ... as for the arrays ... make sure you turn on RAID in the BIOS (F2), and enter CTRL-A (for PERC 3/Di), accepting the configuration. What do you see as the status of the arrays/members in there?
Anyway ... as for the arrays ... make sure you turn on RAID in the BIOS (F2), and enter CTRL-A (for PERC 3/Di), accepting the configuration. What do you see as the status of the arrays/members in there?
I agree with PowerEdgeTech - while I've never worked for their support I've never been denied support on server short of Dell refusing to send out a tech or parts without me/my company/my client paying for it.
ASKER
Turned raid back on in the bios set the time and date due to the replacement of the bios battery that was dead. accepted the configuration of the new setup went into ctrl - a and no containters were found under manage containers?
ASKER
ill call them again here soon maybe i got someone having a bad day.
Never keep any data of any importance on RAID 0, or if you do back it up very regularly (depending on the importance of it and on how the data changes, every few minutes). RAID 0 is only meant for temporary storage. All data on such an array is lost with the slightest irregularity in the array.
When you boot the server, while the PERC is initializing, press ctrl+m, and you should get into the controller's utility. Are all disks seen there and how do the arrays show up? Are they online and healthy?
When you boot the server, while the PERC is initializing, press ctrl+m, and you should get into the controller's utility. Are all disks seen there and how do the arrays show up? Are they online and healthy?
ASKER
No arrays are being shown or containers ctrl-m is not doing anything if i make the containers as they were will that erase all data? or will it remember that it was configured with two arrays before? I have pulled everything apart again and put it back together to make sure all connections, cables, HD's are put in place correctly and well connected.
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ASKER
I can not loose the data so i will try both of the options at hand but definitely will not recreate the containers
i will remove the hard drives and all other suggestions i will report my findings asap.
i will remove the hard drives and all other suggestions i will report my findings asap.
ASKER
i can only start from scratch now thank you all
You likely need to go into the CTRL-A configuration utility of the PERC to save the configuration(s). (Make sure RAID is enabled in the BIOS!)