After digging around I was able to find a DL360e Gen8, that had the cache module and the B320i riser option. As I stated in an earlier reply, this server as well as I think three other models are unique with the B120i as they do support the cache module and now I've learned they also support RAID 5. I removed the B320i riser while testing. The QuickSpec you refer to also states the following on page 10, which adds to the confusion.
Technical Specifications
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HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i Controller Dimensions
Disk Drive and Enclosure Interface - Transfer rate Embedded
Up to 6Gb/s SATA (Serial ATA)
Connectors 6 internal SATA connectors
Server Interface x4 PCIe 2.0
SATA Speed 6Gb/s SATA links
Cache Memory Zero Memory RAID has no cache memory
Logical Drives Supported Up to 8 logical volumes (6 physical drives)
Host Memory Addressing 64-bit, supporting greater than 4GB server memory space
Hot Plug Support Yes
RAID Support RAID 0 (Striping), RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1+0 (Striping & Mirroring)
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HP Dynamic Smart Array B320i Controller Dimensions
Disk Drive Interface Transfer rate Embedded
Up to 6Gb/s SATA (Serial ATA)
Connectors 2 internal x4 connectors
Server Interface x4 PCIe 2.0
Speed 6Gb/s SAS links
Cache Memory Zero Memory RAID has no cache memory
optional 40-bit 512MB ECC protected Flash Backed Write Cache (FBWC)
Logical Drives Supported Zero Memory, Up to 2 logical volumes (6 physical drives)
Host Memory Addressing 64-bit, supporting greater than 4GB server memory space
Hot Plug Support Yes
RAID Support RAID 0 (Striping), RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1+0 (Striping & Mirroring)
RAID 5 with optional 512MB FBWC
NOTE: 512 MB cache is required to enable RAID 5 support
NOTE: SAS mode requires purchase of SAS license key. For more information please visit www.hp.com/go/saslicense
I haven't touched one of these systems in a few years, I even asked a couple of other enginners and got the same response I originally provided.
Once you get the cache working, the next issue you could face might be a driver issue. Is there a driver available for the operating system you plan to use? Keep in mind the B120i is in fact a chipset SATA controller. Many refer to this as 'fake raid' as the RAID functionality is in the driver and not the hardware itself. There are drivers for supported Windows versions, as well as supported Red Hat and SUSE Linux versions. On the Linux side, the drivers are kernel dependant and you can end up in a situation where you have to wait for the driver release until you can upgrade to the next minor release. The drivers for RHEL 7.5 were just released in the last few weeks.
But to answer the original questions
@GHeijmans wrote:
772 Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID in Embedded Slot has one or more cache module batteries/capacitors that are recharging. Caching operations such as Expansion, Extension, and Migration are temporarily suspended until the batteries/capacitors are fully charged. Caching operations will automatically resume when charging is complete.
This is a normal message produced when a battery or super cap is not fully charged and should go away once the battery is charged. If you just installed the cache module and battery, one would expect the charge to be low. From what I'm am seeing in SSA, the features mentioned here are not available for this controller anyway.
@@GHeijmans wrote:
825 The cache for Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID in Embedded Slot has been disabled because the cache module encountered a hardware failure.
Try re-seating the module, or insert a different module if you have one
good luck
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