DL380 G10 Mid Plane 18TB Drives p816i-a

[ElPedro1970]

Have a G10 DL380 LFF.  The controller is a p816i-a with firmware 6.52.

There are three front LFF cages,, fully populated with drives plugged into ports 1,2,3 of the 816.  Plugged the mid plane LFF cage into port 4 of the 816i-a (plugged in the power cable as well) -  Installed qty 4 18TB P37664-B21  drives into the mid plane LFF enclosure.

The 18tb drives do not show up in SSA.  I believe the mid plane cage does, as when we look at the details of the array controller it shows 4 drive enclosures. If we unplug the data and power cables for the mid plane drive enclosure, the 4th drive enclosure no longer appears in the array controller details in ssa.

We suspect a problem with the 18tb drives, so we are going to take some different drives down to the location and test them.

Does anyone have any other thoughts/advice on this? Thanks!

[shuff · Accepted solution]

here's my checklist for situations like this, FWIW:

1. Compatibility Check: Ensure that the 18TB P37664-B21 drives are compatible with the p816i-a controller and the HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 server. The drives should be supported by the controller and the server's firmware. Verify that the firmware version of the controller is up to date (version 6.52 in your case).

2. Firmware Update: Make sure that both the controller and the drives have the latest firmware updates. Firmware updates can resolve compatibility issues and improve hardware detection. Use the Smart Update Manager (SUM) or download the latest firmware from the HPE Support website.

3. SSA Access: Access the Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) in both offline and online modes to ensure that the drives are detected. The SSA can be accessed offline using Intelligent Provisioning or booting from the SPP ISO image, and online by downloading the SSA version 6.10.14.0 or later.

4. Diagnostic Tools: Utilize diagnostic tools such as the iLO firmware, UEFI System Utilities, and SSA to troubleshoot and generate feedback about the arrays. These tools can help identify any issues with the controller or the drives.

5. Port Discovery Protocol: Ensure that the port discovery mode is set correctly. For SmartRAID controllers, the port discovery mode should be set to Universal Backplane Management (UBM) rather than Serial GPIO (SGPIO). This setting enables the controller to communicate properly with the storage backplane.

6. Physical Connections: Double-check all physical connections, including data and power cables, to ensure they are securely connected. Verify that the mid plane LFF cage is correctly installed and configured.

7. Testing with Different Drives: As you mentioned, testing with different drives can help determine if the issue is specific to the 18TB drives. If other drives are detected correctly, the problem may lie with the 18TB drives themselves.

[TVVJ]

Hello,

You may refer to "HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 Server Maintenance and Service Guide > Cabling diagrams" and see if it helps.

Regards,

[ElPedro1970]

Thanks!  Will try working through some of these steps.

[ElPedro1970]

Thank you

[support_s]

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