Sun StorageTek 2655

[gatekeep]

Hi,

I recently aquired a good working StorageTek 2655 from a company throwing out hardware. The unit is filled with 250GB HDD's and I'd like to swap out some for higher-capacity disks. But I have run into a problem where when I swap out the disks the controller in the unit reports an error "Reserved blocks on ATA disks cannot be discovered" and the drive remains unusable.

I have come to learn after research that the disks in the storage tray not only carry a disk signature somewhere (which is my question), but are also tied to their caddies (there is an SATA to FC LSI converter board).

My question is this: I know at this point that the firmware isn't radically different, infact from what I can tell its pretty much (in this case anyway) stock Maxtor firmware. However, in order to replace the disk i need to effectively duplicate the signature on the disk, so my question is to anyone out there: Does anyone know where the disk signature is placed for one of these disks?

I found lots of what appeared to be signature and other data at the end of the disk (about 8MB of the end of the disk, mostly prefixed with DSREGION and other data directly relating to the StorageTek tray and the LSI converter).

Any pointers to where the disk signature data (or anything else that would be helpful) would be much appreciated, otherwise I will use the unit as is.

[dmarques]

I'm not sure if this is the case, but some drives use 520 Bytes per sector instead of 512, and the extra 8 bytes are used to store some internal info.
That might be the case.

[gatekeep]

So realistically, the only way would be to do a sector-by-sector clone to replace disks, upgrading capacity would be near to impossible?

[dmarques]

If that is the case, you'll have to find a way to convert your drives into 520 bytes per sector.

[gatekeep]

So after a few days of research I have found infact the the unit uses 512 bytes per sector. However, the trick is the unit also requires the disks to be signed and have a 40MB region at the end of the disk called a "DACStor Region (or DSREGION)".

However, this is all moot (aside from the DACStor Region). Simply accessing the StorageTek controllers and forcing them to run in drive unsigned mode was enough to allow any disk (of any size) to be loaded in regardless of configuration. Note that this will likely violate any support agreements.

The trick is to access the vxWorks serial console (at least on my FlexLine 210 it might be different between controllers and firmware versions), and tell the array to set the "driveSignMode" variable to 0.

This is accomplished on the fly by doing:

Code:

-> driveSignMode=0

However, the same can be accomplished on each boot by using the application scripts editor "VKI_EDIT_OPTIONS".

Code:

-> VKI_EDIT_OPTIONS

EDIT APPLICATION SCRIPTS (disabled)
Enter ‘I’ to insert statement; ‘D’ to delete statement;
‘C’ to clear all options; + to enable debug options; ‘Q’ to quit i <enter>
Enter statement to insert (exit insert mode with newline only):
driveSignMode=0<enter>
<enter>

EDIT APPLICATION SCRIPTS (disabled)
1) driveSignMode=0
Enter ‘I’ to insert statement; ‘D’ to delete statement;
‘C’ to clear all options; + to enable debug options; ‘Q’ to quit + <enter>

EDIT APPLICATION SCRIPTS (enabled)
1) driveSignMode=0
Enter ‘I’ to insert statement; ‘D’ to delete statement;
‘C’ to clear all options; + to enable debug options; ‘Q’ to quit q <enter>
Commit changes to NVSRAM (y/n) y <enter>
->

After "driveSignMode" is set to 0 it will allow any inserted disk to be assigned as usable (proper Sun disks or third-party "uncertified" disks). You either need to use "sysWipeZero" to reset the entire disk subsystem configuration to cause a new DACStor Region to be written to all disks you will insert into the array -or- manually force the controller to write a new DACStor Region on the specific disks (isp cfgWipe1,0x<devnum> [Note this write won't happen till either a controller reboot or the disk is removed and reinserted.])

You can get the <devnum> by executing cfgPhyList. This will list all the detected and available devices in the array.

[dmarques]

Ok.
Nice you've found it.

[tulo14]

I have a old Flexline 210 that had a drive go bad. I purchased a replacement, but the storage system is telling me that the drive is uncertified. This thread seems to be on track for the fix. Can I run the commands from the SANtricity interface?

[dmarques]

How many drives does your storage has ?

[tulo14]

55 250GB Drives. Around 11TB usable.

[tulo14]

How do I access the vxWorks console. I used putty to access the logon through the IP address, but it has been so long that I go in that way I do not know the user name / password.

[mtexter]

Sorry to necro, but this is a great thread for anyone working on LSI logic, Storagetek, Engenio, IBM DS, or Dell MD storage systems that all run this same firmware.

The VxWorks login/password combo changes based on firmware revision. The most common prior to about 2012 was 6.X, for which there is no login, only a password - infiniti

Starting with 7.X, the login is shellUsr, password wy3oo&w4 (same keystrokes, just move your home row up and to the left.)

In the newer versions of 7.X (7.4 and up maybe?) and 8.X, they changed it again to shellUsr password - DF4m/2> (yes, that's a forward slash, a 2, and a greater than symbol to end that one.)

All case sensitive obviously.

Hope it helps someone!

[G33k_B0y]

Thanks @gatekeep and @mtexter for all your work. This is the only forum that I can find that has any useful information on this subject. You information has been most helpful. I have also found some more useful information in the documents found here: ftp://ftp.kernel.ee/pub/IBM/LSI/

I recently acquired a used Dell MD3000 array. I also have several Seagate 160GB and WD 2TB drives I would like to use in the array. AFIAK they are all Dell original drives, but only the Seagate 160GB drives are recognized. The WD 2TB drives are listed as Incompatible (Uncertified). Also in the serial console I get an error when inserting the "Uncertified" drive:

Code:

12/27/15-03:34:16 (GMT) (ssmSpin): WARN:  Drive 0x1000b will be marked incompatible as DSM detected error: 5

Thanks to this thread I have been able to log into vxWorks and do some digging.
Version:

Code:

==============================================
Title:     Disk Array Controller
           Copyright 2005-2011 LSI Logic Corporation, All Rights Reserved.

Name:      RC
Version:   07.35.39.64
Date:      08/16/2011
Time:      14:24:17 CDT
Models:    1331 1332 1333
Manager:   devmgr.v1035api01.Manager
==============================================


I have logged into both controllers and run VKI_EDIT_OPTIONS and set driveSignMode=0. It reapplies everytime the controller reboots; however it does not seem to have any effect.
After setting driveSignMode=0 I have tried to execute both "dsmWipe 0x1000b,1" and dsmWipeAll. but both return:

Code:

-> dsmWipe 0x1000b,1
value = 12/27/15-04:21:14 (GMT) (tShellRem1): NOTE:  DsmIOException Line 2905 File dsmDriveMgr.cc
0 = 0x0
->


I have noticed that there are quite a few symbol changes between FW 6.x and FW 7.x including the dsmWipe commands listed above. I wonder if the driveSignMode is no longer a valid symbol? If that is the case, would anyone know a new method for disabling the drive signature requirement? I have also considered trying to downgrade the firmware in the controllers, but I'm not sure if this is possible.

Thanks