Removing an external enclosure

[Jon Etkins]

I have recently consolidated a multi-spindle RAID 5 array spanning two F1 Storage Systems, into a new array with fewer larger drives, and have rearranged the drives so that all the active drives are now housed in one F1. I have deleted the unused array and removed the unused drives from the second F1, but I am unable to turn off the empty enclosure because if I do so, my Smart 3200 controller throws a 1775 "Proliant Storage System not responding" message and halts at an F1 prompt whenever the server is rebooted.

How can I remove the second enclosure from the controller's configuration so that I can power it off and/or remove it?

[Yaw Eng, Law]

Well, if you can attach screenshot(s) of the boot-up screen, until it stop at F1, that's be a point to start.

[Jon Etkins]

Not quite sure how to take a screen shot of a BIOS message, but I'll transcribe it here:

Slot 3 COMPAQ Smart Array 3200 Controller (rev.A, v4.50) 3 Logical Drives
1775-Slot 3 Drive Array - Proliant Storage System Not Responding
SCSI Port 2: Check storage enclosure power switch and cables.
Turn system power OFF while checking power and SCSI cable connections, then turn system power back ON to retry.

Press "F1" key to continue
Press "F10" key for System Partition Utilities


If I do as it says, and power the system up with the empty F1 also powered on, it's happy.

I suppose I could power everything down, unplug both enclosures, run System Erase to clear out the entire configuration of the Smart card, then power down again, reconnect the in-use enclosure, and power back up and pray that the card correctly recognises the drives and restores the configuration recorded on them. But that seems an awfully neanderthal way of doing things.

Surely there must be some easire/safer way to remove an unused Storage System enclosure from a configuration?!?

[Jon Etkins]

OK, I found the answer this evening by accident.

It seems that the 1775 error message doesn't indicate that the system is unable to detect a controller that used to be connected, but rather it indicates that it has detected an enclosure which is connected but not responding.

I had simply powered down the unwanted enclosure, but apparently the SMART card was detecting its presence on the SCSI bus despite it being unpowered. Once I disconnected it from the SMART, the 1775 message went away and the system boots normally.