LSI MegaRAID dropping RAID0 member disks

G

gaspah

2[H]4U
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May 29, 2007
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Hey there, I've been having this problem with my LSI MegaRAID controller for, well a few years now. If i have a power failure or the such that causes 1 of the member disks to drop out of the array, once the power/connection to this disk is restored no matter what I do (unlike other raid controllers) I simply cannot get that disk readmitted to the array instead I'll have 4 member disks (failed) and 1 disk that should be part of the array but just is recognised as a blank disk.

There's nothing wrong with the data on the disk or the disk itself, but no matter what I do I can't get the array out of 'failed'. I really don't want to go through the hassle of copying 5TB of data over the network yet again. I thought I had resolved this problem nearly a year ago by replacing the sata cables (as this was happening every other day), but today I had something strange happen with my PSU in the second tower that holds the hard drives so the PC booted up without any of the array powered on.

There doesn't seem to be any options in the LSI bootup config and when I try to bootup the windows app previously i was unable to find a way to get it back online but now even after several reboots all i am getting in the windows app is a spinning circle as it is 'connecting' to the array.

Any help would be appreciated as having to reset the array will result in the loss of data (not the entire array but still a chunk of data and I wont actually know what is and isnt missing). most of it is backed up but I'm also having problems with the copying speed of the array that backup is on.. thanks.
 
Perhaps a firmware update can address the issue your having?

What model are you using?
 
Just a few things...

1) LSI model number
2) Model of the drive that doesn't want to be readmitted

3) I had something strange happen with my PSU in the second tower that holds the hard drives so the PC booted up without any of the array powered on.
I'm confused?
 
gaspah said:
... but today I had something strange happen with my PSU in the second tower that holds the hard drives so the PC booted up without any of the array powered on.
Click to expand...

I am also a bit confused by this statement. If I am understanding it correctly perhaps he has had failure in his power supply in such a way that one power rail has died, not a common thing to happen though.
 
No there was no failure with the PSU, it seems to be a 'feature' of this older silverstone PSU that it wont power on during brownouts and wont switch on after one until power has been disconnected from the unit completely after one has been detected. Since the PSU only powers the hard drives the computer powered on without any of the storage array spinning, loading windows from the OS array which is in the first tower. The PSU is fine, there was no power surge and the drive is online perfectly healthy just unconfigured.

The model LSI is different than I thought 3000 series 8-port with 1068E (onboard controller for my HP Z800)

The drive is a WD10EADS

At this point I'd just be happy to leave it offline until i can get some new drives to do a software recovery from the array as the data isn't 'hot'.
 
I have 8 HD103SJ in raid0 for over 2 years already without a single issue.

Seems like your psu isnt doing its job or a faulty cable.
 
no its definitely the controller.. yes there was a problem with the cables but they have been replaced.... but i even went to the effort of swapping the 5 drives from 1 controller (ICH10DO) with the 5 drives from the LSI controller, and suprise suprise only the LSI controller has dropped any drives again... 5 different drives, 5 different cables, same PSU... yet thos drives that fell off the array before on the LSI controller have been flawless on the Intel controller on the same PC.

I'm going to software raid it from now on and save myself the headaches of this shitty LSI crap (the worst of more than 10 raid controllers ive had in my PCs) ...
 
Have you double-triple checked the connector on the controller ? can be a bent pin.

Also, LSI is a great choice for controllers, but they're not destinated to domestic ppl, thats why i put a another heatsink + fan and locked the cables very firm to ensure nothing goes wrong.

sorry for your case :(
 
Sounds like the Controller on the motherboard has become flaky.

If warranty is still current why not contact HP for a replacement?

I would first try to ensure that your firmware is current.

The Z800 series workstations, from what I can tell on HP's websites, come with LSI 9260-8i Raid Controller. Found on this link:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF06a/12454-12454-296719-4270224-4270224-3718645.html?dnr=1

I happen to use the same one but the -4i model and have had zero issues with drives dropping off. I know of at least 4 others, maybe 5 that use a 9260-4i and -8i. No issues at all.

HP does have the latest firmware and drivers posted, give that a try. They recommend installing the latest drivers before doing the firmware.

LSI are anything but Crap. You may have a defective one if the firmware doesn't resolve the issue.
 
Yeah i've tried driver/firmware/raidsoftware updates.

at this point as i said before I'd be happy with software recovery. there just doesn;t seem to be any option to return the disk to the array. Drives have dropped off this controller many times and there's not been anything wrong with the disk. It just seems if the controller initialises without all the member disks it just has a sad and kicks one out.
 
Warranty through HP for replacement?

If it is under warranty you should be able to get support from LSI too to help diagnose the cause.

I'd avoid software raid imho.
 
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