Dell PowerEdge T430 has stopped detecting the HDD

Maybe this gives more information 

Hello,

It looks like a failed hard drive.  

Uncorrectable medium errors

Unrecoverable medium errors

Did you have it in a Virtual Disk and is that VD accessible?

What RAID level do you have?

Is the array Degraded or Failed?

Unless it is a RAID0 you should be able to access the VD with only one drive missing from the array.

I would recommend to make sure you have a validated backup.

If you don't have one and this is critical information then you may consider a Data Recovery Company.

You can run the built in hardware diagnostics : boot to <F10> LifeCycle controller and run Diagnostics. Note any errors and continue testing. That will test hard drives.

Take a look in the LifeCycle log to see if there are any entries about the failed disk and other disks.

Looks like you have swapped slots and the issue follows the disk.

Have you tried other disk in the slot to confirm the slot is good?

@DELL-Charles R​

Unfortunately, I don't have a backup. From the last screenshot with the errors, it looks like I had a Virtual Disk 1 (VD 1) which is now offline (unless I'm wrong). I had one physical HDD, and after I saw that the system couldn't detect it, I moved it to a different slot. I'll put it back into the original slot and try running the diagnostics you suggested. Does "failed" mean that the drive is physically damaged, and not just a software issue?

That is how we interpret, yes.

LifeCycle Diagnostics didn't detect any issues, except that the disks had been moved. There was even a green check mark next to the HDD. However, Windows still couldn't recognize it. I connected the drive to another PC — it's detected in BIOS and appears in disk management when using a Live Windows environment, showing as a GPT Protective Partition. However, no utility can interact with it to, for example, check for bad sectors. When I try to run a bad sector scan, the program freezes, although I can hear the disk spinning and the read/write head moving. That's the update for now. Do you have any other ideas?

Hello,

What RAID level do you have?

Was this disk a member of the array?

How many drives are in the array?

What RAID controller do you have?

Does the drive show up on the controller and if so how does it report: Ready, Failed, Foreign configuration?

@DELL-Charles R​ 

This particular HDD is not part of the RAID array and, as far as I understand, is just a standalone disk. The controller is a Dell PERC H730. As seen in the screenshot above, the status is 'Foreign'. Where else can I check the disk status more precisely? I can't log in to OMSA

Hello,

all hard drive attached to a PERC must be part of a RAID (if the hard drive is alone then it is a RAID0 with only 1 drive.)

As requested by Charles, please can you provide the information about the original RAID configuration you have? If this disk was not member of the main array, it was a spare disk then?

It was a separate single disk that was used as a logical drive in the system for data storage. Since it cannot be non-RAID, it was therefore a RAID0 and not a spare disk. In other words, it was a RAID0 consisting of this HDD.

Hello,

In that case what you need to do is Import the Foreign configuration.

I'm not familiar with the Sell SAS RAID Storage Manager but check if there is an Import option.

Otherwise reboot to get into the controller BIOS and Import the Foreign there.

PowerEdge: How to Import a Foreign Configuration in the RAID Controller Using the System Setup Menu

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000122457/how-to-import-a-foreign-configuration-in-the-raid-controller-using-the-system-setup-menu

I recently moved a hard drive to the primary slot on my system, and the previous "Foreign" status disappeared. However, I am no longer able to perform the "Import Foreign Configuration" action. I ran another Lifecycle diagnostics test, during which error 2000-0151 initially appeared. After clicking "Retry", the error resolved itself, and now the system sees the physical HDD with a status of "Ready".

I found mixed information online – some sources state that "Ready" status is normal, while others suggest it could mean the drive is problematic. I'm still hoping this drive can be reinitialized or accessed in a way that would allow me to recover the data.

Currently, the system sees the RAID 5 virtual disk VD0 with 3 SSD with no problems, but this particular HDD is only visible as a physical disk with "Ready" status, and not as part of any logical RAID volume like VD1 as it was before.

Is there any way to reinitialize or remap this drive into the RAID configuration without data loss, so that it becomes accessible again at the OS level?

I’ve attached screenshots showing the current disk status and errors for your reference. Apologies for the quality of the screenshots — they were taken under extreme conditions.

Hi,

1. Verify Drive Visibility & Compatibility

• Confirm via the RAID BIOS or Dell OpenManage that the drive is detected but not yet part of the array.
• Since it's marked as Ready, the drive might be out of the array but accessible for import or rebuild.

2. Attempt to Reimport or Reconfigure the Drive

• Use Dell OpenManage Storage Manager or the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) interface to:
  • See if the drive is marked as “Foreign”: Sometimes, after a move, disks are marked as Foreign, which requires importing.
  • Since you've mentioned "Import Foreign" is not available, it suggests that the foreign config might not be detected, or the controller doesn't recognize it anymore.
• In the RAID BIOS Utility (Ctrl+R during boot):
  • Check if the drive is listed as Foreign, Available, or Unassigned.
  • If the import option is missing:
    • It might indicate the controller or firmware cannot recognize the foreign config, or the disk integrity is compromised.
  • Alternatively:
    • If the drive genuinely does not have a foreign config but is just not part of the array, you might be able to add it as a new physical disk for a rebuild, but this risks data loss if it’s not an exact clone.

3. Reinitialization/Remapping options

• Without losing data:
  Unfortunately, RAID controllers typically rebuild disks into arrays without data loss only if the disk has a compatible and intact filesystem/config.

  • You could attempt to add the drive back into the RAID 5 array via the controller's management tools, but this is risky:
    • If the drive has lost its RAID metadata or if the controller cannot recognize it as part of the array, adding it may lead to data loss.

• Clone or Backup First:

  • Before proceeding with rebuilds or reinitialization, backup critical data from other disks or systems if possible.