whyismynamewrong
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Q: xserve raid midplane(?) troubleshooting help

Hi,

 

I just inherited an XServe RAID with 12 180GB drives. My question is thus:

 

If I put the single RAID controller in the top slot, It recognizes all drives on the left side of the RAID, which is expected

If I put the single RAID controller in the bottom slot, it does not recognize any drives in any slots even if I swap those drives from the left side to the right (to rule out 5 bad drives.

I have two empty sleds that are on the right side of the RAID as well.

 

I am guessing, having never owned one before, that this is likely a problem with the midplane. Is there a way to troubleshoot the midplane? I very quick inspection, didn't reveal anything that was obvious. I plan on doing a more thorough inspection over the weekend.

 

I am also making the assumption that I do not have to have a controller in the top slot for the bottom controller to work since the top controller works without having a controller in the bottom slot.

 

Any help/insight would be appreciated

Xserve, XServe RAID

Posted on Feb 22, 2014 12:54 AM

by whyismynamewrong,Solvedanswer
whyismynamewrong whyismynamewrong
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A:

Update to my thread in case anyone else happens to experience this.

 

Replacing the midplane worked like a charm. Very simple to do as well. Cost me about $45 to order a refurbished one online, and about 10-15 minutes of time to replace it

Posted on Mar 20, 2014 2:04 PM

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Q: xserve raid midplane(?) troubleshooting help

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  • by whyismynamewrong,

    whyismynamewrong whyismynamewrong Feb 22, 2014 11:46 AM in response to whyismynamewrong
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    Feb 22, 2014 11:46 AM in response to whyismynamewrong

    LIttle Update in case it would help someone with more knowledge of this than I:

     

    When the Controller is in the lower position:

    Screen Shot 2014-02-22 at 11.21.50 AM.png

    or

    Screen Shot 2014-02-22 at 11.24.16 AM.png

    which I find interesting since I don't have an upper controller installed and the cooling modules both show as missing even though they exist (though 1 is failed).

     

    If I look at the other tabs:

     

    Info: Shows only Name: XServe RAID and Power State: On

    Arrays & Drives: Shows Not Installed for all drives on that side of the XServe RAID

    Fibre Channel is blank as I don't currently have it connected to my XServe

    Events shows nothing of significance to me other than all disks online

     

    When the controller is in the upper position however:

    Screen Shot 2014-02-22 at 11.34.20 AM.png

    Screen Shot 2014-02-22 at 11.35.03 AM.png

    I am curious as to why the RAID controller shows as present in both slots when it clearly is not however.

     

    Hoping it was just a cable from the midplane to the unit, I swapped cables this morning hoping for a failure, but did not get such failure, so I have ruled out the cable. The Controller seems to work when it is in the top slot, so I think that the controller is likely good as well. So I guess I can sum it up as:

     

    Power supplies: Good x2, shows a green light in either slot, swapped in testing

    Batteries: Good x2; Swapped in testing, Swapped in testing, works in upper slot, does not in lower slot

    Cooling Unit: Good x2; Swapped in testing, works in upper slot, does not in lower slot

    Controller: Good x1; works in upper slot, does not work in lower slot

     

    Which leads me back to the midplane as there isn't much else inside this unit that I can see that could go wrong. Does this sound like an accurate assessment? I ask because I want to be confident I have found the issue prior to ordering a new backplane.

     

    Once again, thanks in advance for any information.

  • by whyismynamewrong,Solvedanswer

    whyismynamewrong whyismynamewrong Mar 20, 2014 2:04 PM in response to whyismynamewrong
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2014 2:04 PM in response to whyismynamewrong

    Update to my thread in case anyone else happens to experience this.

     

    Replacing the midplane worked like a charm. Very simple to do as well. Cost me about $45 to order a refurbished one online, and about 10-15 minutes of time to replace it