HDD Insuffient Space Reported when replacing a faulted drive

[Alan Kromholc]

Hi,

I'm replacing a faulted HDD on an HP DL180 G5 server. This drive belongs to a RAID 10 array on an E200 controller.

I've ordered the hard drive using the same code as the ones i had (459318-001 250GB)

However, upon replacing the drive and booting, i'm greeted with the message "Insufficient space available on the drive. Please replace..."

Drive info from HP array utility (Windows) is the following:

Status Failed (This is the NEW drive)
Size 250.0 GB
Drive Type SATA
Model ATA ST3250824AS
Serial Number 5ND3RG2V
Firmware Version 3.ADH
PHY Count 1
Transfer Speed 1.5GBPS

Status OK (This is one of the OLD but working drives)
Size 250.0 GB
Drive Type SATA
Model ATA GB0250EAFJF
Serial Number 9SF0P1LD
Firmware Version HPG1
PHY Count 1
Transfer Speed 1.5GBPS


Further information is that while both are seagate drives, the new one is a Barracuda and the old ones are Barracuda ES.

Also, if i enter the E200's boot config utility the old drives are reported as 250.1GB and the new one is reported as 250.0GB.

Both drives and the E200 seem to have the latest firmware according to HP's smart update utility.

So is there anything i can do? Have i been given an incompatible drive?

Thanks.

Best regards,
Alan

[Johan Guldmyr · Accepted solution]

Hi,

As far as I can tell yes, the new drive is incompatible.
With the 100MB more space on the old drives than the replacement the rebuild will not start.

Try your luck again. But if this is the one that HP sends out on that spare part, maybe they don't have the old ones in stock anymore.. Or maybe you were unlucky and the one you got was not according to spec.

[Terry Hutchings]

Did this drive come from HP? Usually HP has their firmware on the drives (like the HPG1 on the other drive).

[Michael A. McKenney]

With HP, use the identical drive. On my LSI Logic MegaRAID 8708EM2, you set coercion algorithm to reduce the RAID array by 1GB so you don't run into this issue. On HP Servers, the only method is the identical drive or a larger one.

[Alan Kromholc]

Hi All,

Thanks for replying!

Yes, this is an original drive from HP.

Seems i'll have to have a little chat with the distributor...I was hoping for a "Upgrade the XXX firmware and it will recognize the missing megabytes" magic solution...

Best regards,
Alan

[Johan Guldmyr]

I haven't looked at that anyway, might be possible!

Wouldn't it be nice if you could upgrade disks and you got more space ;)

[Michael A. McKenney]

Not sure a firmware fix will solve it. Usually don't not add sectors. Each drive has a certain allocation of reserved sectors. In RAID, you should only use the same drives for best performance. Different drives have different characteristics that could affect RAID performance and reliability. Can he replace the drive with the identical drive? If they don't exist, go one size larger.

[Alan Kromholc]

Hi,

Does anyone know if 459318-001 (250GB) is compatible with 458928-B21 (500GB) in a RAID array on an HP DL 180 G5 ?

I can't get hold of a 459318-001 in my country.

Thanks,
Alan

[Michael A. McKenney]

The 500GB drive will replace the 250GB drive in RAID. The only issue is you will only be able to use 250GB of it. the smallest drive sets the size of the array.

[Alan Kromholc]

And so, it comes to an end...

I ordered the 500GB version and replaced it.
Server booted, informed that the array was about to be-rebuilt and proceeded by just giving me a blinking cursor...

I thought it was doing something...

Cursor was blinking for 2 days and nothing happened...so i turned the server off and back on...i wasn't asked this time if i wanted to rebuild the array, it just informed me a rebuilt was underway.

Now server booted properly and array is being rebuilt. Already 20% after 40 minutes and progressing steadily, on a 500GB RAID 1+0 array. Don't know what the hell was that blinking cursor doing...

Thanks to everyone that helped.

Best regards,
Alan