Secure Erase & Failed drives

Hello,

At first I'm not sure those SSDs are compatible with your R820. I recommend to you some below steps. Please try out

Sometimes, just restarting the server can help reset the drives. you can try to reboot a few times.

Then try to import foreign disks: boot into the RAID controller utility (usually by pressing Ctrl+R).

Find the option to manage foreign configurations and try re-importing it.

If the Secure Erase can’t be undone and you have important data on the drives, you might want to look into professional data recovery services.

As a last resort, you can try re-initializing the drives. Just a heads-up, this will wipe everything off them, but it should make them usable again.

 And please take a look also this blog Dell PowerEdge R730 PERC RAID online reconfiguration - KIERI SOLUTIONS

Hope that helps!

At first I'm not sure those SSDs are compatible with your R820. I recommend to you some below steps. Please try out

• I've been using them for years in my 720/820s, so they are fine.
• It wasn't until I used the Secure Erase function that they started showing up as Failed in RAID config tool

Sometimes, just restarting the server can help reset the drives. you can try to reboot a few times.

• have done that multiple times, still showing as Failed

Then try to import foreign disks: boot into the RAID controller utility (usually by pressing Ctrl+R).

Find the option to manage foreign configurations and try re-importing it.

• That option is no longer available as the drives are showing as Failed

If the Secure Erase can’t be undone and you have important data on the drives, you might want to look into professional data recovery services.

• Don't care about the data. 

As a last resort, you can try re-initializing the drives. Just a heads-up, this will wipe everything off them, but it should make them usable again.

• How? 
  
• That is my question - no options in RAID config as they showing as Failed.

the top two drives, which are working, are the same exact as the next two drives which I used Secure Erase on and show up as Failed now.

Hi,

Then the RAID BIOS does not allow you to do this because the disks appear as failed. You say that these SSDs are working fine. According to what you said, if the disks are not faulty, the RAID config on them may remain and appear faulty on the new server. In this case, you can completely clean the disks on the old server where they worked and try.

You can try cleaning it with the following commands from Windows cmd that come to my mind.

diskpart
list disk
select disk X
clean (or clean all)
exit

@DELL-Erman O​

These are SAS 2.5" drives. 

I don't have any Windows machines to connect them to that have SAS connectors.  Just Dell PowerEdge servers that require me use RAID Config first before allowing OS access to them.

Hello,

Could you post an image to the label on the drive showing the Dell part number (DP/N) and I can check if they are validated for the R820?

Third party drives may or may not work as Dell has not validated or support them.

I don't know a way to bring back a drive that is failed.

Try running the embedded diagnostic and check if they pass or fail:

Boot to  F11 on Dell Splash screen, selecting  Boot Manager -> System Utilities -> Launch Dell Diagnostics.  Note any messages and continue testing.

I believe you can also do extended testing on the drives. You'll need to use the arrow keys to get to the extended testing to execute. I don't have it in front of me so this is going from memory.

@DELL-Charles R​ I don't think you are understanding the question. 

The drives are fine. I took them from a working power edge.

The ones I used Secure Erase on are showing Failed in RAID config after that action. 

The ones I used Foreign Import are working fine. Added to volume in RAID config and being used after bootup.

The Secure Erase function has done something to the drives to put them in Failed status.  I need to know what and how to resolve. 

Hello,

The Secure Erase feature on an R820 can potentially put SSD drives in a failed state due to several reasons.

One possible reason is that the Secure Erase process might have encountered an error or interruption during the erasure, leading to data corruption or drive malfunction.

Additionally, the Secure Erase feature might not be fully compatible with certain SSD models or firmware versions, causing unexpected behavior or failure. It is essential to ensure that the Secure Erase feature is used correctly and that the SSD drives are validated and supported by the system to avoid such issues.