HP P420 and FBWC modules

[nitro52]

Hi,

I purchased a PH Smart Array P420 Controller with a 512mb FBWC module but i'm having a few problems with it. Firstly if i boot with the FBWC module i get the p420 post screen that says initializing, it sits there for ages then just goes to a black screen. 

I found that if i remove the module it boots ok into windows. when i use the HP Array configuration utility it says that the p420 has been disabled because the cache module is not installed. 

So firstly is the FBWC required or is there a way to run without it? secondly i found this site that seems to list thet FBWC parts

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03226233

It looks like the 512MB module i was sent only works with the P222 controller. Is this correct? Is the issue because i need at least the 1Gb FBWC module?

Mod: This topic was moved from Nimble storage to ProLiant Servers

[Suman_1978]

Hi,

FBWC is optional https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/Getdocument.aspx?docname=c04111534

FBWC is required to enable some features:
Online array expansion (with FBWC)
Online Advanced Capacity Expansion (with FBWC)
Online logical drive extension (with FBWC)
Online RAID level migration (with FBWC)
Online stripe size migration (with FBWC)
Online mirror split, recombine and rollback (with FBWC )

Thank You!
I am a HPE employee
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[nitro52]

Hi, 

Thanks, that answer part of my question but raises another question. If it is optional for only certain features i can't seem to get into any configuration software to configure it and disable the cache. 

When i try to access the card via the HP Array Configuration Utility i get the message. 

"Smart Array P420 in Slot 2 is disabled because the cache module is not attached. Please re-attach the cache module to re-enable the controller"

But when i try to Boot with it attached i get the HP P420 post screen with a message saying Initializing ..... then after about 5mins i changes to a black screeen and never boots. 

I ended up buying the 1GB FBWC module incase the 512 was incompatable but sadly i get the same black screen issue when booting. 

Also it gives me no shortcut options to enter any sort of config. When i remove the cache module then it boots however i think it shows an error but continues to quick to read. 

At the moment i'm lost at what else to try.