Smart Array P420i "could not be authenticated as a genuine HPE drive"

[jdixon]

We have run into an issue a couple of times now with Gen8 servers claiming that drives could not be authenticated as a HPE drive. This is causing us issues beceause it is throwing off our RAID status monitoring.

The problem is we have matching drives that don't cause this warning flag. For example:

• Bay 14 HP EG0450FBDSQ (HPD6) *Not Authenticated*
• Bay 16 HP EG0450FBDSQ (HPD6) *Not Authenticated*
• Bay 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17 HP EG0450FBDSQ  (HPD6) *Authenticated

So how come only two drives out of my 10 drives are an issue?

There are some things to point out:

• Three drives are on Port 2l and two of them are the ones reporting this issue
• Firmware of the P420i is 8.32 with 1024MiB module size and a valid battery 
• This is a Gen8 25 bay server (starting with Gen8 you don't use the separate SAS expander)

[Suman_1978]

Hi,

Try some basic troubleshooting:
1. Switch OFF the server and remove the power cord.
2. Reseat all hard drives.
3. Reseat cables between the controller and drive cage.
4. Update server BIOS and hard drive (EG0450FBDSQ) firmware to the latest.

Version:HPD6(D) (24 Oct 2016)

Problems Fixed:

This firmware reduces the possibility of the controller and drive not properly negotiating link signaling, resulting in the controller not being able to identify a drive attached to a particular port/slot during system boot up. This firmware improves signal quality between the drive and the controller.

Thank You!
I am a HPE employee
_________________________________________
Was the post useful? Click on the white KUDOS! Thumb below.  Kudos is a way of saying thank you to a post.
// Useful Links for ProLiant Servers / Community FAQ / Rules of Participation / Servers Blog //

[jdixon]

I have tried the HPD6(D) firmware update in Windows but it reports:

Update not attempted (or interrupted). All selected devices are either up-to-date or have newer versions installed.

However, in HPE Smart Storage Admin it only reports the firmware version is HPD6 and not (D). The firmware does say: "Customers who already installed firmware version HPD6 do not need to update to HPD6 (D)."

I will have to try reseating the drives after hours.

[mlasidab]

Hi there,

this is not related with the drives but with the caddies/trays revision.

You can downgrade the firmware controller to 6.68/7.02 I think one of those solve the issue.

Also you can change the trays for a newer version. For example 4.0.0.10 solves the problem.

Cheers

[jdixon]

Interesting. Never noticed the caddies having revisions like that. I'm looking at two spare caddies on my desk right now and one says Rev 2.008 and the other says Rev 4.004.

I'm going to have someone go on-stie and look at the revision of the caddies complaining vs the ones not complaining. I'm pretty sure these are valid HPE caddies and not offbrand though, so how come the revisions matter?

[mlasidab]

I can't remember 100% but I think after revision 4.006 (included) that problem will go away.

it is related with the LEDs of the carriers and how they display the information/health status of the drives. So there is nothing (or should not be )  wrong with the drives.

Ask the technician to make some pictures of the drives when working. You will see the LEDs on the trays are not functional.

Hope that helps.

[jdixon]

I will ask the tech this Friday to look at the lights and also when he powers off the server to check the revision printed on the side of the caddies for all the caddies in the system.

I'll be curious what revisions work vs don't work and if we find some that are older than the ones we see causing a problem, if we swap the caddies with other slots does the problem follow the caddies or not.

I will respond back to you Friday afternoon. Thank you!

[mlasidab]

Hi Jdixon,

just out of curiosity, is there any udpate? what did the tech tell you?

Cheers

[jdixon]

Went on-site and all the caddies were the same (4.004). Powered down, reseated all drives, turned back on and no problem so far. So I'm not really sure.

[jdixon]

Problem is back. A reboot clears it for a while but then after a while it comes back up.

[pcTechs]

Like you, i cant ignore "Cry Wolf" amber lights because i need those only in case of a real problem.  We need this fixed. 

My problem is probably different than yours.  There is one drive bay connected to a p822 Raid Controller that exhibits this problem.  An authenticated drive "Drive Authentication Status: OK" in any other bay when moved to 5i:1:5 will now be "Drive Authentication Status: Not Authenticated. Smart Array will not control drive LEDs."  So that rules out the drives themselves and the drive caddies.  A drive in that bay 5 seems to work ok regardless, but cant have "Cry Wolf" lights on my RAID array.

Like you, reboots may change the status for  a while.