Smart Array 431 - "Drive not stamped for monitoring"

[Mark Lidstone]

Hi all,

I had a drive fail in a RAID5 array on a Smart Array 431 controller in a ML350 (1GHz).

After much faffing about trying to find a compatible replacement I installed a new drive and rebuilt the array.

However, now when I start up the Array Diagnostic Utility I get the following error:

SLOT 4 SMART ARRAY 431 CONTROLLER ERROR REPORT:

SCSI Port 1 Drive ID 3 is not stamped for monitoring

That's the drive that I've just replaced and as I understand it, there's something missing from the physical drive in the array.

After hunting about I found a HP troubleshooting guide that says I need to change the "Accelerator" value, then change it back again. However, the controller has only a 2Mb cache for read caching and it won't allow any changes to any relevant settings.

I've installed the latest BIOS for the SA431 and the ML350.

Can anyone suggest another way to get that onto the drive without rebuilding the server?

Many thanks,

Mark Lidstone

[JohnWRuffo]

Mark:

What the instructions are making you do is to re-save the array configuration. Try changing the rebuild priority to high and save.

You can also run the M&P Patch after the ACU saves.
Click here to download:
http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/10468.html
You will need one diskette for this.

[Mark Lidstone]

Many thanks for that information. I did change the rebuild priority to high while it was rebuilding. I shall change it to low and back again now it has finished.

However, I've just realised I forgot to mention it's a non-Compaq drive. Would that be causing the problem, or are non-Compaq drives "stampable"?

Many thanks,

Mark Lidstone

[JohnWRuffo]

Mark:

I could not say for sure if the S.M.A.R.T. code hooks and hangers as well as the bios code the controller may be expecting to see are or are not available. My guess is no.

What does the M&P patch do with the drive?

[Mark Lidstone]

Hi again,

I've not applied it. The machine is in a production environment - it's the only DC in the domain and it's running Exchange so obviously I try and schedule any downtime out of hours.

I will give it a try when I can. If it's a positive result I'll give points.

Many thanks,

Mark Lidstone

[Mark Lidstone]

Hi again,

I've just been reading up on that M&P update you recommended. It mentions that to use the SMART reporting features you need to be running "Compaq Insight Manager". Our server currently has separate utilities (ADU, ACU etc). When I tried running the latest HP utilities it killed the server - complete crash, no bsod, but not even a response from the keyboard, mouse or a ping.

This makes me pretty nervous. Have I missed something? Or what versions of the various tools should I be using?

Many thanks,

Mark Lidstone

[JohnWRuffo]

The M&P patch does not need any O/S drivers. This patch works at the hardware level to correct a threshold problem in older disks. You apply this with the system offline.
The reference to CIM is that these thresholds are not shown.

You do not need IM. If you do not want to run the M&P, don't.

Since you are using a non-compaq / hp drive, this will just be an error message in the log.

No harm / no loss

[Mark Lidstone]

John,

I applied the update.

First of all, the machine refused to boot - there appeared to be some kind of corruption on the disk. The machine had been restarted normally. Thanks to the wonders of the Recovery Console it's now up and running again.

Secondly, the original problem has not been sorted - it still gives the same error. For this reason I am only awarding 2 points.

Many thanks for your time, though,

Mark Lidstone

[artm_1]

Any update on this? I'm facing the same issue on my newly acquired DL380 G2 and some Compaq drives.