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576
August 25th, 2023 14:52
r620 won't detect harddrives.
Goal: Detect hard drives so I can reinstall OS
Dell Server experience: New to this.
Got it without a RAID controller. Ordered H710 online and installed it on the system. It fails to see the 4 installed hard drives. I see errors about drive mismatch etc in the logs. HDs work because it has ESXi installed on it and will boot to the log in screen if I let it. The credential I was given doesn't work so I want to wipe it.
I"ve reset the iDRAC, upgraded the RAID controller firmware (I think) without any luck. The Service Tag is in the images below.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Dell Server experience: New to this.
Got it without a RAID controller. Ordered H710 online and installed it on the system. It fails to see the 4 installed hard drives. I see errors about drive mismatch etc in the logs. HDs work because it has ESXi installed on it and will boot to the log in screen if I let it. The credential I was given doesn't work so I want to wipe it.
I"ve reset the iDRAC, upgraded the RAID controller firmware (I think) without any luck. The Service Tag is in the images below.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
No Events found!
DELL-Chris H
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August 25th, 2023 19:12
Jack Chirac,
Would you confirm a couple things for me? Are you aware if the server was previously equipped with a hardware raid controller, or if this is the first time one has been installed?
I ask because if this is the first time a hardware controller is being installed it likely won't have the backplane cabled correctly for it. When you added the controller, did you add any cabling to the server?
Now if you havent had a hardware controller installed previously, and didn't change any cabling, then you will likely need one of the following cables.
If you have the 4 drive backplane you would need cable - WVF6J
If you have the 8 drive backplane you would need cable - TK2VY
Let me know what you see, and if this helps.
DELL-Joey C
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July 11th, 2025 01:32
Hi,
I can't find YC7N1 listed as a part, could you confirm the part number. PD91Y is the onboard SAS cable which is used for the onboard S110. You would need as Chris mentioned DPN # WVF6J for the 4 HDD backplane to be connected to the port next to the H710 Mini card. You can refer to the cabling guide here: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/poweredge-r620/r620systemownersmanual-v1/removing-the-hard-drive-backplane?guid=guid-c7106e1d-7f5a-40a3-a557-1f5db69e5a9e&lang=en-us Figure 2. Cabling Diagram—2.5 Inch (x4) Systems.
The 3 cables are listed in Figure 2. Cabling Diagram—2.5 Inch (x4) Systems as below and the connection would go with reference to this guide https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/poweredge-r620/r620systemownersmanual-v1/system-board-connectors?guid=guid-d4894de8-1313-4cfd-a9dd-69f4390de089&lang=en-us:
b. backplane signal cable >> 41. J_BP_SIG0 Backplane signal connector 0
c. backplane power cable >> 33. J_BP1 Backplane power connector
e. SAS A cable >> 22. J_SASX8 SATA connector
Jack Chirac
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August 25th, 2023 22:33
@DELL-Chris H Thanks for the quick response.
From what I understand, the server didn't ship with a Raid controller. I did use the Service Tag to check the items it was shipped with and this is what I see.
Part Number: K1P73
Description: SRV,DRVR,SAS,PERC S110,R620
So that throws me off a bit. Am thinking the S110 is a Raid controller but I could be wrong.
When I installed the RAID controller H710, I didn't install a cable because there's already a cable running from the backplane to the controller connector on the motherboard. You can see it in the picture below. Are you suggesting I need to change this cable (pictured below) with (WVF6J)? Mine has the 4 drive backplane.
Edit: Out of curiosity, if I choose to upgrade from the current 4 bay to 8 bay, will the following kit work with my R620?
Dell KVGG1 PowerEdge 2.5" 8-Bay Backplane with Cables 0KVGG1 69-4. Direct link to Kit.
Appreciate your help on this.
Jack
(edited)
Origin3k
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August 27th, 2023 13:52
This server ships as a "diskless" one. Which means not RAID Controler, Backplane, Cables and so on. The config was for ESXi and most likely connect to a MD3 or similar 6Gbit direct Attached SAS SAN.
s
A s110 is the Software RAID aka Fake/Chipset raid. Im not sure whats needed to convert it back to a HW raid one.
Regards,
Joerg
Jack Chirac
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August 27th, 2023 16:53
@Origin3k Thanks for the explanation on what the s110 is. I already got a hardware RAID controller. H710. The plan is to buy the cable suggested or upgrade to an 8 bay if the upgrade I posted above works.
Regards
Jack.
suiren
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July 10th, 2025 23:16
Hello, I just found this thread and I recently got the same server at work. I bought a compatible drive from WaterPanther for this server, and I also have the H710 Mini. It's a backplane with 4 bays, and I replaced the original SAS cable (0PD91Y) with a 0YC7N1 cable. However, I can't get the drive to be detected.
When the drive is connected to bays 0 and 1, the green LED lights up, but when I plug it into bays 3 and 4, there's no light at all. I saw mention of a WVF6J cable, but I don't understand how everything is supposed to be connected.
There are three cables on the backplane—what is the correct combination, and how should they be connected?
It would be great if someone could make a diagram on the photos already shared or even a video. Thanks for your time!