topic Re: disc array VA7100 in Disk Enclosures

disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:16:12 GMT

Hello everyone.
I want to format a VA7100 disc array how would I do this?

any help would be appreciated

Re: disc array VA7100

LiPEnS — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:26:54 GMT

Hi,
#man armfmt
on host where "HP StorageWorks Command View VA" is installed (array-id is #armdsp -i return Unique ID value).

Regards

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:39:36 GMT

Hi Lipens.
armdsp -i gives me "invalid option" message

I must note that im connected directly to ths disc array and have no unix available.

according to something I researched about 5 minutes ago, the instrction to format the array is:

armfmt -f -h

1. is there any other way to obtain the array id?
2. what would happen if a just executed armfmt by itself ?

Re: disc array VA7100

LiPEnS — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:45:29 GMT

try before:
#armdiscover -v

regards

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:59:12 GMT

Here is the display for using armdiscover.

armdiscover -v "Invalid command"

Re: disc array VA7100

LiPEnS — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:10:38 GMT

Are you sure to have a VA and instaled "HP StorageWorks Command View VA" on host??
Post results of:
#ioscan -fn

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:45:56 GMT

Hello again.
I was on a lunch break, sorry for the delay.

The thing is:

The VA has a port to connect a console on the back, And im connected to this port Im not interacting with unix to mi knowlodge,

Why did I connect to this port, I was told that in order to format the array i needed to connect here.

I am being displayed a prompt like these one:

No map>

And in this prompt, commands like:
armdsp
armdsp -f
vfpdsp
vfpdsp -f

are accepted.

Also i must note that in the front of the VA
the green LED is on
And the Ambar LED is flashing.

Re: disc array VA7100

LiPEnS — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:21:19 GMT

Other way to obtain the array id is:
vfpdsp -e
and take Serial Number.
Command armfmt accepts as array-id also Serial Number of VA.
Take http://www1.itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docLocale=en_US&docId=200000079881084 to troubleshooting of VA and LED status indications.

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:59:04 GMT

Hello Lipens

Formating of array is complete, but now there is a message that says, "Not enough disks", I only have 3 disks in the array, I read that you need a minimum of 4 for the array to work, is this true?, and if it is can this by bypassed?

Re: disc array VA7100

Nguyen Anh Tien — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 04:47:00 GMT

You can connect serial console to COM port (back view of VA) and run
>fmt
it can format array.
Minimum disks required is 4.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SupportTaskIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=115&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=33737

Re: disc array VA7100

LiPEnS — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 04:51:44 GMT

Post what and how you format array.

Regards LiPEnS

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 05:28:33 GMT

I connected serial console to COM port (back view of VA) and runned
>armfmt
It displayed this message when I executed armfmt.

Format array: clear all data (yes/no)

Formatting subsystem

Not enough disks

I must note that

armfmt -h -i
Did not work

Re: disc array VA7100

Arend Lensen — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:54:37 GMT

Can you post the output of the serial port here?

dsp -c -d -e -f -s

please?

Kind regards,
Arend

Re: disc array VA7100

Srinivasa_6 — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 23:16:31 GMT

Okay, so... till now, you've tried a format command from the VFP and after it completed, the array went into a "Not enough disks" state. The minimum number of disks needed before you do a format of the array, is 4 disks. Now, you can insert a disk and then again execute the format command from the VFP. The array must come back to a ready state after that.

Regards,
Srinivasa S

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 00:28:42 GMT

Hello again.

Just starting my shift, so sorry for the delay,

outputs for this command (dsp -c -d -e -f -s) are pretty long and since i dont have a network connection it would take pretty long to get them to you.

what is it you want to know, maybe I can summerize for you?.

The thing is i dont have that extra disk, can this be bypassed?, can the array only work with 3 disks, I need this array for a small project I just want it to work, its not important if it does not work to its full capacity.

Re: disc array VA7100

Srinivasa_6 — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:05:50 GMT

AFAIK, the array HAS to have 4 disks in order to operate. Its something to do with the way the VA does RAID striping for RAID0+1 and RAID6. And this cannot be changed. You have to find another disk if you want to get the array up. Once you find a disk, a simple format command from the VFP should get it to ready state (Assuming everything else, like the batteries, etc are fine).

Re: disc array VA7100

Fabian Briseño — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:12:37 GMT

thanks guys.
sorry for the big delay. but i just found another disk and the array i working fine.

thankyou to everybody