ML6000 Missing Usable Slots

Question

Hey all, I have an odd issue. I finally have gotten this old ML6000 working, but noticed that I was missing some of the usable slots on the configuration. It has the basic 41slot license, but I only have 30 usable storage slots, 36 including the I/E bay. I understand that the bottom 5 slots are unusable, as the sled cannot get that low, but I have the bottom 10 slots showing as Unusable.
I've tried deleting the old partition, and recreating it, but when it asks for how many slots to put into the partition, it has 30 as the max, instead of 35.
I have attached a picture of the Library Configuration from the web gui, showing that two bottom rows are not usable.
In the end, if I have to made due with 30, instead of 35, it's not the end of the world. I'm just curious on why that is, and if it's easily fixable.
Thanks very much.

DELL-Joey C · Accepted Answer

Hi,

In Dell’s official User’s Guide (hosted at dl.dell.com), the capacity notes explicitly state “slot counts … do not include five inaccessible slots in the bottom row” (not ten) Ref: Page 19 https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_powervault/powervault-ml6000_user's%20guide_en-us.pdf.

There are Dell-origin tech sheets and user-manual copies (widely mirrored on third‑party sites) that contain the note “ten inaccessible slots in the bottom two rows.” Those scans do look legitimate (they appear to be older Dell PDFs).

What I recommend if you need an official Dell technical support answer ask for an Engineering Note / Field Notice / Release Note clarifying slot inaccessibility by firmware family and mechanical revision (robot model 1 vs 2), and whether picker safety margins changed across revisions.

DELL-Erman O · Answer

Hi,

According to Dell’s official documentation, the bottom ten slots of any ML6000 configuration are always permanently inaccessible. They appear in the UI but are grayed out and cannot be licensed or used in any partition.

Dell manual states explicitly:

“The slot counts in this document and in the Web client and operator panel screens do not include the ten inaccessible slots in the bottom two rows of any library configuration.”

the bottom 10 slots cannot be enabled or licensed.
This is a hard mechanical limitation documented by Dell. So your library is working normally.

You’re not losing capacity this is how the ML6000 is designed.

Hope that helps!

IBowser · Answer

Thank you very much for the reply. I understand this is really just nitpicking, but I'm just curious if I'm doing something wrong.

Can you please specify where it says 10 inaccessible slots? All documentation that I've found, on Dell's website, for the ML6000 line, says that it does not include the bottom 5 slots in any configuration, not ten. It also lists the capacity of the ML6010 CM as 41. How can it be 41 if the bottom 10 slots are inaccessible? That only leaves 5 columns of 6 storage and 6 I/E Station slots, or 36 capacity. If just the bottom 5 slots are inaccessible, that is 5 columns of 7, and 6 I/E Station slots, equaling 41 total.

Was this a change in a firmware update? To lock out the bottom 10 slots, instead of the bottom 5?

Thank you very much.

(Edit - Added a screenshot from the Dell PowerVault ML6000 User's Guide from the Dell website)

IBowser · Answer

My idea as a test was to see if a firmware update dropped out the bottom 10 slots, vs bottom 5, perhaps due to repeated issues of sled crashes when going to the second lowest row. I therefore downgraded the library firmware to 590G, from 710G.

No joy. Old firmware 590G still shows the bottom 10 slots inaccessible, instead of the manual stated 5. At this point, I am unsure of the reasoning (it very well could be a difference in robot sled models as stated above), but it's not a big deal for me. This was more of a curiosity. At this point, I'm going to accept that it's a part difference, or something unknown. If I learn anything else regarding this, I will reply here for posterity.

Big thanks for the prompt replies of Dell-Joey C and Dell-Erman O. Ya'll were awesome, and I really appreciate what you do for the Community. Thanks again for all of your insight.

joebehen · Answer

@DELL-Joey C​ Hi,    In Dell’s official User’s Guide (hosted at dl.dell.com), the capacity notes explicitly state 'slot counts … do not include five inaccessible slots in the bottom row' (not ten) Ref: Page 19 https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_powervault/powervault-ml6000_user's%20guide_en-us.pdf.    There are Dell-origin tech sheets and user-manual copies (widely mirrored on third‑party sites) that contain the note 'ten inaccessible slots in the bottom two rows.' Those scans do look legitimate (they appear to be older Dell PDFs).   What I recommend if you need an official Dell technical support answer ask for an Engineering Note / Field Notice / Release Note clarifying slot inaccessibility by firmware family and mechanical revision (robot model 1 vs 2), and whether picker safety margins changed across revisions.   I have the same question because I’ve run into a very similar situation with an older library setup. Even though the license should allow more slots, the system only shows a smaller number as usable when creating or configuring a partition. Like you mentioned, I also understand that a few bottom slots can be inaccessible due to the sled limits, but seeing more slots marked as unusable than expected is confusing. I’ve also tried recreating partitions and checking the configuration through the web interface, but the maximum number of selectable slots still seems capped lower than what the license suggests. It makes me wonder if this is a firmware limitation, a calibration issue with the library, or something related to how the slots are being detected. I’d be really interested to hear if anyone has found a clear explanation or fix for this.

IBowser · Answer

@joebehen​ I suspect it's either as @DELL-Joey C says, that it's a difference between robot sled models from different libraries, or my theory that it was a firmware update. My theory is that early models with early firmware had full access to the 41 slots. When accessing the second lowest row, the sled robot may be very close to the bottom plate of the library. It being that close, they may have had more common sled crashes, either from misalignment, or perhaps debris in the bottom of the library, that the sled could run into. They may have updated the firmware to lock out the bottom 10 slots, instead of the normal bottom 5, as a way to prevent continued issues that could cause serious damage to the library sled, but not require expensive redesigns and parts changes. That's just my theory anyway. I went back to firmware 590G as a test, but it still has the bottom 10 slots inaccessible. However, I seem to remember the OG 320G firmware I had on this unit had only the bottom 5 slots inaccessible.

PowerVault

ML6000 Missing Usable Slots

Was this post helpful?