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5 Posts

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December 27th, 2024 16:09

Configuration problem with PERC H730 controller

Hello there,
I've bought a refurbished Dell PowerEdge R730, and this is my first experience with servers. I'm trying to configure the RAID controller, PERC H730 Mini, but I haven't had any success – neither through the Lifecycle Controller nor directly in the configuration menu using Ctrl+R.

The issue is that I can't change the RAID level. When I click on the level field, no drop-down menu appears. From what I’ve seen in tutorials, the level field should have a blue background when active, but that's not happening.

Does anyone know how to activate the menu? If it's not active, could this indicate a problem with the controller?

Thank you for your time – I appreciate any help.

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5 Posts

December 31st, 2024 17:57

Thanks for the help. As a new server user, I didn't realize RAID doesn't support mixing SSD and HDD. Now I know, and everything's working fine now.

Moderator

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9.4K Posts

December 27th, 2024 20:56

Lagaffegaston,

 

Would you be able to show some screenshots of what you are seeing on the Virtual Disk page, the Physical Disk page, as well as what you are seeing when you try to configure it? Also, would you confirm a couple of things for me?

What raid level are you trying to configure?

How many physical drives do you have?

Did these drives come with the server, if not what are their part numbers?

Do you have any other Virtual Disks already configured?

 

Let me know and we can go from there. 

 

 

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5 Posts

December 29th, 2024 17:41

@DELL-Chris H ​ 

Thanks for your response! Here are the screenshots and the things you requested.

Screenshot 1 shows what I'm seeing when I open the PERC configuration file using Ctrl+R.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/0mc2.png

Screenshot 2 shows what I'm seeing when I try to create a new virtual disk. RAID 0 is the only available option, and clicking it doesn't do anything.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/qbit.png

Screenshot 3 shows what I'm seeing when I open the PERC configuration file in the Lifecycle Controller. RAID 0 is also the only available option here.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/wnh9.png

I bought the server several weeks ago, but I've only been trying to configure it for a couple of days. No drives came with the server, and I've just installed two brand new drives for now (an SSD and an HDD) to install Ubuntu Server using RAID 1.

After that, I will install four more drives – two SSDs and two HDDs – to set up the learning management system Chamilo on each SSD for two different projects, using RAID 1.

Screenshots 4 and 5 show the part numbers of both installed drives.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/3hpf.png

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/5fzh.png

And finally, Screenshot 6 shows the PERC firmware. It seems all the firmware is up to date.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/52/54gu.png

Thanks for your help!

(edited)

Moderator

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2.8K Posts

December 30th, 2024 07:15

Hi,

Please try to perform repurposing the server due to it bought as second hand. 

 

  • Restart your server and press F10 during the boot process to enter the Lifecycle Controller.
  • In the Lifecycle Controller, go to Hardware Configuration.
  • Select Repurpose or Retire System from the menu.
  • Choose the components you want to clear, such as BIOS, iDRAC, PERC, or disks.
  • Confirm your selections. Be aware that this operation is permanent and cannot be undone.
  • Confirm the warnings and proceed with the operation.
  • The system will reboot and perform the necessary erase/cleanup jobs.
  • After the process completes, the system will power off. Wait a few minutes before reconnecting to the iDRAC or powering on the system again

Also you can perform default for BIOS settings. 

 

Hope that helps!

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5 Posts

December 30th, 2024 16:49

Hi,

Thank you for your help.

I reset the BIOS and the hardware cache. Now, the entire list of different RAID levels is visible, but as you can see in the screenshot below, only level 0 is active. None of the other levels can be selected.

https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=24/01/40sa.png

In the Configuration Utility (Ctrl + R), nothing has changed. It remains the same as shown in screenshot 2 from my previous post.

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