DL380 Gen10 drive cage won't accept drives

[EK0]

We recently purchased a ProLiant DL380.  We also purchased a SAS drive (HPE 879300-001) that was listed as compatible with the DL380, but when we tried to slide it into the bay, the drive would not go in all the way, would not make contact with the connector, and could not be locked into its slot.

We returned the drive and contacted another vendor, asking them if there was some way to be sure their drive would be compatible with our server.  They showed us that their drive (881457-B21) was listed in the Quick Specs (p. 53), and so we bought it, but when it arrived we had the same problem: the drive would not go into the bay all the way.

We opened the server and took the drive cage (P26901-001) out, and it seems the roof of the cage has tabs that block the drive carrier from reaching the connector.  The only way to get the drive to connect is by bending it enough so that the tab on the roof slides to one side of the metal piece on the drive carrier, but we don't want to force the drive in like that.  The only other way to get the drive to go in would be to bend the tabs so that they don't interfere with the carrier.

You can see a picture of the drive in the cage here (not sure how long the image will be hosted): 

Can you tell us what we can do?  I don't understand why the drive is listed as compatible, yet the cage seems to be designed to prevent the drive carrier from traveling all the way to the end of the slot.  Is a special carrier required?  I asked the company that sold us the second drive, and he said he was stumped, and suggested asking a question on this forum.

All the instructions I've read and videos I've watched imply that the drive should just slide in until it can be locked into place.  There is no mention of any special carrier requirements.

Thank you for any help you can give us.

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 Server-3.84TB SSD SKHynix VK003840GWTHD May Report Predictive Failure

2. HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 Server - Error while Installing VMware ESXi 6.0

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[EK0]

Sorry, but I don't understand.  The first document I can't access, but it seems to be about operating errors generated for a different kind of disk.  We can't even insert the drive in the bay, let alone get any kind of messages from the drive.

The second document is about installing VMware.  Our issue is with hardware, not software.

[Suman_1978]

Hi,

I think the drive cage is for NVME or SSD.

Would you be able to share the Drive Cage part number ending with B21
Would you be able to share the Server Model number ending with B21

Thank You!
I work with HPE but opinions expressed here are mine.
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[EK0]

@Suman_1978 Hi Suman,

The cage has part number P26901-001.  At the moment I don't know if there is another number ending in B21 because I'd have to open up the server and remove the cage again.

The server model number is P56961-B21.

[EK0]

By the way, HPE lists our model with this description: "HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 4210R 2.4GHz 10-core 1P 32GB-R MR416i-p 8SFF BC 800W PS Server".  We have concluded that the "BC" means "basic carrier", and that HPE's documentation (page 21 of the HPE Hard Disk Drives QuickSpecs, https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00001287enw) for the Gen10 server is incorrect.  That document says that Gen10 servers only accept "smart carriers", and Gen10+ servers only accept "basic carriers"; but our particular Gen10 model only accepts basic carriers.

We see that p. 25 of the server QuickSpecs (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00008180enw.pdf) states that P56961-B21 "Supports only SAS/SATA Basic Carrier drives. Does not support Smart Carrier drives or NVMe drives", which would explain what we're experiencing.

Our plan is to buy a basic carrier, remove the drive from the smart carrier, and put it on the basic carrier.  Can you tell me if this will work?

[BPSingh]

Greetings!

The drive which is being attempted to install is a smart carrier (SC) drive. 

https://partsurfer.hpe.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=881457-B21

What is the storage controller installed in the server? 

As per page# 52 on the quickspecs: https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00008180enw.pdf

Notes: Only Basic Carrier (BC) drives listed in above sections of Quickspecs will function with Broadcom MegaRAID controllers. Smart carrier (SC) drives will not function with Broadcom controllers. Configurations
must not mix BC and SC drives.

If you enter the server serial number on the below web-link, it should show the configuration that the server is shipped with. 

https://partsurfer.hpe.com/search.aspx

[EK0]

@BPSingh As I mentioned, I already know from the documentation that the P56961-B21 "Supports only SAS/SATA Basic Carrier drives. Does not support Smart Carrier drives or NVMe drives".

What I was asking was whether I can take the drive out of the smart carrier and put it into a basic carrier and use it like that.

[BPSingh]

Greetings!

We would recommend you to use basic carrier drives mentioned in the server quickspecs. 

[ITLearner1]

Hi Dear

the problem caused because you are using an NVMe u.2 (or U.3) while the drive cage is dedicated to accept SAS (or SATA) hard drives.

Try to buy SAS (or SATA) Hard drives to solve your problem or change your drive cage to work with NVMe (Keep in mind that the you need NVMe enablement kit to connect your NVMe drives to the system).

i HOPE THIS WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM

[bogeygolfer1]

@Eko Just curious if this approach worked?

[EK0 · Accepted solution]

@bogeygolfer1 Yes, taking the drive out of the smart carrier and putting it in a basic carrier worked.  The server has been running with this disk for over a year now.

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hello @EK0,

That's Awesome! 

We are extremely glad to know the problem ha been resolved and we appreciate you for keeping us posted.