Newbie : Problem with Disk drives on HDS AMS2100

[amer]

Hello Guru's,

Firstly, apologize for my bad English and also for my poor knowledge on HDD's

Here's my problem:
We recently bought an used HDS SAN AMS2100 with 15 SAS 300GB HDD's.
One of the HDD was already defective, so we decided to buy a new one.
So we buy the same reference than the defective one (Seagate ST3300656SS), we mounted it on the caddy and test it on the Ams2100.
Result : the drive is not recognized by the SAN ("I30400 HDU spin up failed(Unit-00,HDU-14)" message.). We have tested succesfully this drive on a Dell Server with SAS controller...
As we are stubborn and thought that there is a specific firmware on the drive to be recognized bye the SAN, we then bought the exact HDS part on a broker web site (utltratec). We received an Hitachi Disk (HUS154530VLS300) with the caddy and try it on our SAN : Same result : it does not work (the message is slightly different : "I30500 HDU read capacity failed(Unit-00,HDU-13)") !!!

I precise that we also test the SAN unit by switching working disks from units to other units : it's ok.

I believe that we encounter a kind of protection in the SAN that check some firmware data, but i'm not sure !

What i would like to try is to dump all the firmware data from one working disk and load it in the same model (Hitachi or Seagate : we have both the two) that does not work.
Do you think it's a good idea ?
Is it possible ? and if yes, what kind of software/hardware i need to achieve this ?

every help will be very appreciated

[BlackST]

1) it's a really bad idea to fiddle with the firmware
2) either you must use specialized equipment like PC3000 UDMA (10.000 Eur) or have (unlikely) the firmware package, the drive has to be recertified prior to use, and this is not a DIY thing.
3) instead of trying to replace the drive alone, get a complete original spare replacement drive + caddy. It MUST work. P.s. Hdu was different in the two tests !

[amer]

1) it's a really bad idea to fiddle with the firmware
2) either you must use specialized equipment like PC3000 UDMA (10.000 Eur) or have (unlikely) the firmware package, the drive has to be recertified prior to use, and this is not a DIY thing.
3) instead of trying to replace the drive alone, get a complete original spare replacement drive + caddy. It MUST work. P.s. Hdu was different in the two tests !

Thanks BlackST for your reply.

1) Well, I do not want to fiddle, but there is not a lot of choices....
2) This is really the very bad new. I was thinking that it exists some free or less expensive software that can to dump/load firmware from disk drives...
3) This is the first choice we made. But do you know how much is a 300GB SAS drive "certified" by HDS ? more than 2000$ as we talk about an original Hitachi UltraStar or Seagate Drive who cost 150/200$ ...

P.s. "Hdu was different in the two tests" : well, it was the same test but we change the unit to be sure that the problem was not about a HDU concern...

Another idea ???

[BlackST]

Nothing within your budget, I'm afraid. Even if you ask me, you probably want to pay a very special part from "niche" market at the price of a desktop drive. Simply impossible.
Plan A : configure with 1 less drive and live with it
Plan B : find the exact part at an affordable price
Plan C : try to find someone who can make the drive work with the SAN at a decent price (I call myself out because I'm too far and completely busy at the moment).
I don't see anything else that's safe.

[DR-Kiev]

We recently bought an used HDS SAN AMS2100 with 15 SAS 300GB HDD's.
One of the HDD was already defective, so we decided to buy a new one.

I don't get why you just don't want to change the defective drive by warranty?
HDS should send you drive with correct fw , if the problem in this.

[BlackST]

The SAN was bought used ! Maybe that's why.

[amer]

Thanks all,

DR-Kiev, as mentionned by BlackST, we effectively bought an USED and OUT OF SUPPORT Hds SAN.

Cost to reactivate HDS Support on this product is to much expensive, especially regarding the price we bought this San !

BlackST, Plan A is running by default
Plan B : when buying this we think that it work with our SAN, but it doesn't !
Plan C : well, seems to be very difficult to find this kind of expertise !

you probably want to pay a very special part from "niche" market at the price of a desktop drive. Simply impossible.

Here is what i would like to understand. Is there really a difference between an original hds compliant Seagate ST3300656SS drive and an originale Seagate ST3300656SS drive (except the firmware of course) ?

And to conclude, what about playing the following Plan D
- I take the PCB from the deffective HDS Original Drive (considering that PCB is perhaps ok, and HDA is dead)
- I put it on a running (but not recognized) Drive
- Of course, the two drives have the same model number

[BlackST]

Plan D 90 % won't work , but if you don't mind screwing the pcb / hda you can try. Note : It is not impossible to find the expertise you need, it's just a matter of budget. Beside me, there are a lot of people who trade special parts or work with these equipments, but keep in mind that this is a 'take or leave' market.

[amer]

Plan D 90 % won't work , but if you don't mind screwing the pcb / hda you can try. Note : It is not impossible to find the expertise you need, it's just a matter of budget. Beside me, there are a lot of people who trade special parts or work with these equipments, but keep in mind that this is a 'take or leave' market.

Thanks a lot for your advices.

Ok for plan D, that let me 10%... Just looking for the good screwdriver and i give you feed back !

What about the expected budget ? This could interrest us. All we want is to have at least 2 or 3 working HDDs:
- One to replace the defective one (which will be declared as spare drive into the SAN)
- One or two as spare drive for future needs.

[amer]

Well,

Plan D has been tested and... It's a flop

Return to Plan A.