Drive not approved for array

Question

We have a PS5000e that went out of warranty a couple of years ago, and I've set it up to host scratch volumes for our terminal servers. One of the drives failed, so we replaced with the same Hitachi model taht we bought from another vendor because it was no longer available from Dell. Now we're getting the "One or more drives in array are not approved" message.

We should be able to return the drive if we have to, and I guess I would need to contact Dell to find out what kind of replacement drive we can order. The drive appears to be healthy, but it's a hot spare. Can I expect it to work properly, or am I out of luck here?

trnc · Answer

Wow! OK, I understand, but let me ask this - one of the things stressed by Dell reps at demos for EQ and Compellent is that there are a lot of EQs out there that keep on truckin' years after support ends (which may be different than EOL). Does that mean those users have just been lucky enough to not have drives die, or are there other options for keeping the unit alive?

I realize you are a Dell employee. We have a PS6000 in production and support has been great, and we're budgeting for our next PS, but it's a shame to think the 5000 may become a doorstop soon.

trnc · Answer

OK, but that's what I thought I was doing. The 5000 has several Hitachi HUA722050CLA330 drives, so I ordered one of those. But I guess what you're saying is that any drive I buy needs to have been built specifically for use in an EQ?

theflash1932 · Answer

You can shop the Internet for valid drives: www.amazon.com/.../B00GT22UNI

trnc · Answer

No worries. Your answers always have the major benefit of being accurate, so that's really the most important thing. Also, as I look around, I see that there are some drives out there for us.

Thanks again.

trnc · Answer

Argh. OK, thanks to all for the responses.

LM_FE · Answer

Hi there! Is this also the case with the PS6000 product family?

I recieved the same message when replacing two 1TB Dell Equallogic drive with two 2TB Seagate.

The drives display as spares on the equallogic GUI, but with no indicator lights, and do not come online when an aditional drive fails/or is removed.

Thanks

tt.khan.richard · Answer

Is there a way to flash the OEM drive with the Dell Equallogic Custom Firmware Image?

harlan stanley · Answer

We have this same issue, we have many PS6510, PS6000, PS6010, I have purchased the same model drive and will swap the disk drive's motherboard to attempt at using a new disk hardware with the dell's motherboard. I'll try to reply back next week after we get this completed. We enjoy the Equallogic line, And I do recall equallogic sales quoting that they don't leave their hardware behind. I'd imagine many government offices will try and make their EQL gear work for many, many years past the expiration date.

Jcharlery · Answer

So? Did you get through ? I have the same issue. Dell gave me a reference to buy by a marchand the corresponding drive for a PS6100, and we have same issue 'disk not approved'.

Jcharlery · Answer

I tried it and didn't work for me. same error 'not approved'

trnc · Answer

We kept one of our out of warranty EQs for several years and had no trouble finding compatible drives with the approved Dell firmware on ebay. Just make sure they are explicitly marked as coming from an EQ.

Like Donald said, if it isn't Dell approved, forget it.

Ilsemeyer · Answer

Where are the Dell image written or stored? Will it help if the PCB of the bad drive gets unmounted/unscrewed and move it to the brand new exact drive model? Seems like a logical thing to do!

Khenikandza · Answer

Faced the same issue today.  Thanks DELL for the 'nice' feature. Worked with NetApp years had no problem with that. The controller set with 2 spares. Is there a way to reduce amount of spare to get rid of the amber light? The controller is not super critical.

badmodofinga · Answer

I found interesting results when I searched google for:'Flash Dell Firmware into Seagate Generic Drives'  I'm not sure if it will help as we have lots of spare drives & haven't tried it.

EqualLogic

Drive not approved for array

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