ProLiant 1600 drive-cage suddenly not responding

[Chris Barber_4]

I have a Compaq ProLiant 1600 server, which was working great until just recently. Then after booting up one time and after Windows started, I got a blue screen that said there was a fatal error, memory had been dumped, and I would have to restart. As it was booting up, the hard drive LEDs flashed, but then I got some error and had to reboot once again. Finally, when it is now booted up I always get the error:

1775-Slot 6 Drive Array - ProLiant Storage Enclosure Not Responding
SCSI Port 1: Check storage enclosure power switch and cables.
...
1785-Slot 6 Drive Array Not Configured
No Drives Detected

The hard drives do not spin-up, and none of the drive-cage LEDs light up. I have found a couple threads where others have had the same problem, but I have checked all the cables--as far as I know--and have not had any luck. In addition, there was no jostling of the server of any kind that should have affected any connections between the day when it was working and when it broke.

So my questions are:
- What troubleshooting methods should I take, if any? Could the problem lie anywhere else, other than with the drive-cage itself and the SCSI and power cables?
- Do the storage enclosure cards regularly just die like that? Should I simply resort to buying a new enclosure?
- I realized that, after moving the server to a space where it was standing up rather than in a rack, I didn't change the switch for rack vs. tower configuration on the PCI Expansion Board. Could this have caused the problem? I switched it to the correct setting, but it didn't seem to affect anything.

Thanks for your time and effort,
Chris

[Jvan]

Hi Chris, have you checked that the cage is seated correctly and that your Raid controller is not suspect?

[Jvan]

Hi Chris, have you checked that the cage is seated correctly and that your Raid controller is not suspect?

Kind Regards,

[JohnWRuffo]

Chris:

If you do not set the server to tower configuration (SW1 S3 OFF) then you are telling the fans to use variable speed. This can hurt the server over time by not properly cooling the system.

My suspect in this case would be the power supply.

[Terry Hutchings]

I don't believe setting the server up on its end has caused this problem.

If you take the cable from the drives and move it to the embedded scsi are the drives seen and do they spin up? If the drives spin up then the problem is likely caused by a controller problem. If they don't then the problem is likely either a power problem or a backplane problem.

[Chris Barber_4]

Problem solved--but not as expected...

I first tried to boot up with a different power cable plugged into the drive-cage. The green-arrow LEDs flashed slowly during boot-up, and then I got the same error message. Before I'm relatively sure I didn't see the lights flash. Then I tried what Terry suggested, and plugged the drives into the embedded scsi controller. The drives spun up, but I got an error about an "imminent failure" of disk ID 0. Then I there came some loud cracking/popping noises, followed by a burning smell. I immediately turned the machine off. After removing that disk, then they would all spin up fine and without any errors. Then I plugged the drive-cage back into the SmartArray Controller, and it said drives ID 0 and 4 were not responding. I rebooted with both those drives removed, and ran the SmartStart Array Config. I tried reinserting the disk I had in slot 0, and got a green light, and it was rebuilt from it's mirror. Then I tried the same with the disk I had in slot 4, but that came up with a red light, and so I replaced that with a spare and is rebuilding now.

I don't know if you cared to hear all that, but I thought it was quite unusual. Also, although my problem is fixed now, I'm wondering if any of this could have been caused by something I've been doing all along? After the one drive going "down in flames," I am questioning whether this could have been cause by a static-elec./ground problem? I suppose it was probably just a faulty disk.

Also, John, thanks for explaining what the rack vs. tower switch does. I never had any idea.

My problem appears to be fixed, even though everything is plugged in and configured exactly as it was before, aside from one replaced disk. Your advice helped me remedy the problem, nonetheless, so I thank you all.

-Chris