Is there a way to install refurbished scsi disk into hardware array
based on dell perc 4di controller ? The problem is that refurbished
drives have no  serial numbers and controller needs these to recognize
drive and assign it a role.

---

Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 08 Feb 2006 11:36 PST

Howdy zebrus-ga,

What are the make (brand) and model of the refurbed drives?  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by zebrus-ga on 09 Feb 2006 03:42 PST

it seems that only 73GB refurbished disks are not recognized by
controller's bios. Perc is reporting 0 capacity on each of 6 disks.
Brand unfotunatelly is unknown, information found on the label says:
SCA/LVD U320
73GB 15,000 RPM
P/N OEM73LC-15
S/N 718057315158
OEM
Factory Recertified

Same drives, but with 36GB capacity, refurbished too, work pretty good.

Perc info:
Firmware version = 516A
Bios version = H418
adapter type = perc 4e/Si

---

Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 09 Feb 2006 15:07 PST

Howdy zebrus-ga,

You might have Seagate Cheetah ST373453LC drives.
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/1,1081,549,00.html

Not only should they work with the Dell PERC 4Di SCSI controller, it appears
these are the drives that Dell uses with the 4Di in some of their servers.

Perhaps you could find someone with a SCSI card that you try these drives on
to see if they are defective or strangely formatted, etc.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by zebrus-ga on 22 Feb 2006 06:14 PST

thanx a lot, your comments did help - all drives all up and running

---

Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 22 Feb 2006 13:17 PST

Howdy zebrus-ga,

Did you want me to post my comment as an answer for your question?  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by zebrus-ga on 23 Feb 2006 01:07 PST

yes, please do

Howdy zebrus-ga,

Appreciate you accepting this as the answer to your quetion.

My research indicates your drives are Seagate Cheetah ST373453LC drives. Here
is the Seagate product information for those drives.
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/1,1081,549,00.html

"...
Model Number: ST373453LC
Capacity: 73 GB
Speed: 15K rpm
Seek time: 3.6 ms avg
Interface: Ultra320 SCSI
..."

Not only should they work with the Dell PERC 4Di SCSI controller, it appears
these are the drives that Dell uses with the 4Di in some of their servers.
http://www.scsistuff.com/specs/specs1750.html

"Released by Dell in April 2003, the PowerEdge 1750 is a replacement for the
PowerEdge 1650."

Perhaps you could find someone with a SCSI card that you try these drives on
to see if they are defective or strangely formatted, etc.

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Google search on: OEM73LC-15
://www.google.com/search?q=OEM73LC-15

Google search on: Dell perc 4di drives 60..80
://www.google.com/search?q=Dell+perc+4di+drives+60..80

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

If you put the drives in the system, cable them correctly and boot,
you should be able to enter the PERC4 utility. From there, you can
select the drives and add them to the array (or create a new array).
The controller will write any information necessary to the drives so
it can track the drive and its data in the array.

A refurbished drive should be like new. Meaning, it's formatted, been
tested and known to be a good drive. If your drive isn't being
recognized by the controller, you probably have a bad drive. Does the
BIOS see the drives?

-JtB

Sounds to me like you either have defective hard disks (most probable)
or a defective RAID card (least probable). I used to test Dell servers
for many years. Am very familiar with their HDs and RAID controllers.
I've never seen the issue you're noting.

The DI notation, means "dual channel, integrated". (In your
"clarification" you noted the RAID controller as SI, which is
single-channel, integrated) Thus your using the onboard controller. If
you open your box, remove the RAID "key" and DIMM (single DIMM,
separate from the main system memory). That will force your system to
run only as SCSI, so you can try out denco-ga's suggestion: "Perhaps
you could find someone with a SCSI card that you try these drives on
to see if they are defective or strangely formatted, etc.". If this
works, and you can see the drives OK in SCSI mode, then you've got a
bad RAID controller. Unfortunately, becuase it's onboard it will mean
a new motherboard.

-JtB