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3711
January 24th, 2021 20:00
Disabling writes to flash as the flash part has gone bad
Hello,
We have a DELL PowerEdge R730, and yesterday after an update our server restarted but our services did not start. When I checked the server there was an error message in BIOS:
"Disabling writes to flash as the flash part has gone bad.
Please contact technical support to resolve this issue.
Please press 'Y' to continue."
Does anybody know what does it mean by "flash part"?
I've updated the firmware, but the error is still showing.
Is it bad to click 'Y' and continue using using the server?
Thanks in advance.
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Dell-Stephane T
4 Operator
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3.7K Posts
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January 25th, 2021 07:00
Hi,
Are you using freeBSD OS?
You can use the Yes option to continue but i've checked with L3 that this error means that PERC card need to be replaced.
You can contact your local support to perform this action.
I remain at your disposal
Best regards,
Dell-Stephane T
4 Operator
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3.7K Posts
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January 25th, 2021 02:00
Hi,
To avoid any data lost, I'll collect some information and will back to you soon.
Regards,
Daziest
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January 27th, 2021 23:00
Hi Stéphane,
Thank you for replying.
We're using MS Server 2012 R2 OS,.
I will contact our local support as you suggested.
Best Regards,
Bat-Erdene
BriFar
29 Posts
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September 15th, 2021 00:00
Hi Stephanie,
we are using FreeBSD and have encountered this issue 2 times already.
We are going to apply the latest firmware update before proceeding with replacing the controller.
I am curious as to why you mentioned freebsd specifically, is there something we need to do to avoid this?
thanks in advance
DELL-Marco B
Moderator
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September 15th, 2021 02:00
Hello,
In the case of FreeBSD the driver may be the cause of this error, hence a prior update in this case.
Thanks
Marco
Richard B.
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May 24th, 2025 16:00
@DELL-Marco B we are in fact using FreeBSD (pfsense) and are now on the second RAID controller for this R630. Immediately after installing the new card, we did update the firmware using the Lifecycle Controller. Is there a solution for this problem? When replacing the current controller with a new one, will it fail again? Thanks a lot in advance! Richard
DELL-Young E
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May 25th, 2025 22:26
Hello, so as you might be aware I'm afraid
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/windows-server-2012-r2-end-of-support
Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 reaching end of support - Microsoft Lifecycle | Microsoft Learn
You server is quite outdated too. If the PECR failed, I'm assuming it failed because of the age. I also doubt that a specific OS can resolve the issue.
Respectfully,
(edited)
mauzilla
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August 18th, 2025 15:22
@Richard B. Same story, PFSENSE (R630), 1 flash failed. Were you able to resolve this?
mauzilla
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August 18th, 2025 15:24
@DELL-Marco B @DELL-Young E - there seems to be a running trend here in this thread, can you please elaborate what is happening with FreeBSD specifically on these units?
mauzilla
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August 18th, 2025 15:25
@BriFar Were you ever able to figure out what the issue was?
DELL-Chris H
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August 18th, 2025 16:08
Mauzilla,
The reason being is that while the error is not OS-specific, it has been observed more frequently with FreeBSD-based systems, possibly due to driver interactions
The root cause is hardware degradation, most commonly in the RAID controller's flash, so the recommended action is to replace the affected hardware, typically the PERC controller.
Let me know if this helps.
Richard B.
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August 18th, 2025 16:23
@mauzilla did replace the PERC again (now on the third one for this R630). Let‘s see how long this one lasts:)
(edited)