HP MSA2312i (2000i G2 MSA) controller revival?

[PandaNL]

Hello,

I have an old MSA2312i which I want to use for my home lab, but only one controller is working.

We had a controller failure a few years ago, so we got a refurbished controller, only this controller had a newer firmware version and partner firmware update was enabled which I did not know.

So when placing the refurb controller it did a firmware update of the controller which was already in the MSA, without me knowing it was doing this I turned off the MSA which resulted in a somewhat bricked controller.

Does anyone know if it is possible to revive this controller?

Someone on Reddit sugested to use xmodem to send the firmware file to the faulty controller, when the tranfser is complete I get the following message:

MANAGEMENT CONTROLLER SECONDARY LOADER MENU                                           

Loader primary code failure!                            

Code load:          
 First select destination:                          
  7. Primary   8. Secondary   9. Both Primary & Secondary (Default)                                                                   

 Then select protocol:                      
  1. FAST BINARY (for enginee                            
  2. KERMIT           
  3. XMODEM           

Other options:              
  5. Run controller (i.e., continue bootup from this point)                                                           
  6. MC Loader Utility Menu                           
  X. Reboot (i.e., run bootup from the beginning)                                                 

To run diagnostics, select 5 and then hold space bar.                                                     
You have chosen primary & secondary flash for code load, now select protocol.                                                                             

Ready to receive xmodem download                                
CC  
File received OK                

SC code on MC processor.                        

FILE CORRUPT!             

Hit <ENTER><ENTER> to continue.

Controller product number: AJ803A

CLI bootup from failed controller: https://pastebin.com/sG74P64Y

CLI management bootloading menu https://pastebin.com/WY7KB4TR

[Shawn_K]

Hello,

Just as an FYI - the MSA2300 is an End of Support Life Array. Which means the system is very old and should be used with caution. If you have mission critical or any critical data on the system please consider upgrading your hardware and performing regular backups. I would be very concerned over the age and use of the hard drives in this system.

The screenshots and output you provided does not give any input towards the firmware versions on the two controllers. My concern would be the firmware version that was on the system prior to the installation of the refurbished controller installation and the firmware version of the refurbished controller. WIthout knowing those details it will be hard to provide an action plan.

To start, I would remove all disk drives and then I would try to pull out the refurbished (new) controller and see if you can get the old controller stable. You may need to reboot the system with just the old controller installed. If you can get the old controller online and stable this will provide you access to the system and data.

If you cannot get the old controller stable try to boot with just the refurbished controller and determine if you can stablize the system with that controller. 

In either case, if you can get one controller online you may be able to install the other controller and upgrade the firmware version to be the same on both controllers. 

Please do let us know the firmware versions on the two controllers as this might provide more insight into next steps.

Cheers,
Shawn

I work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The comments in this post are my own and do not represent an official reply from HPE. No warranty or guarantees of any kind are expressed in my reply.

[PandaNL]

Hi Shawn,

The refurb controller is working just fine, the MSA works fine with one controller that is not the issue. The issue is to revive the bricked controller.

The refurb one has the latest firmware that I could find, and I'm trying to XMODEM the same firmware to the bricked controller.

Partner update does not work as it does not recognize the failed controller, however there is still output via CLI from the bricked controller, so this is not a hardware issue.

Firmware version of the working controller: M114P01
Firmware version of bricked controller: unknown

[Navaneetha1]

PandaNL , 

HPE supports firmware upgrade only via SMU(GUI) or CLI.

You can try installing only this controller (Bricked Controller) and try upgrading the firmware via CLI.

I work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The comments in this post are my own and do not represent an official reply from HPE. No warranty or guarantees of any kind are expressed in my reply.