Users Guide

Conditions Actions
NOTE: If a Reset Conguration action is performed in
CMC while pinned cache is present, the cache will be
cleared and the data will not be recoverable.
NOTE: Unresolved pinned cache can occur if a virtual
drive goes oine for any reason while there is
uncommitted cache data in memory.
NOTE: When pinned cache is present, the controller
failover feature will not occur. Pinned cache must be
addressed before controller failover is allowed.
• Clear the pinned cache through CMC.
NOTE: Clearing pinned cache means that the pinned data
is lost.
During a Shared PERC rmware ash, virtual drive transitions to
write-through until chassis is recycled.
Allow the chassis reset to complete after the rmware ash.
Virtual drives permanently transition to write-through when the
Hardware failure occurs.
If hardware failure occurs, contact Dell technical support. For more
information, see the Getting help.
In the event of a rmware mismatch, in the dual fault tolerant
Shared PERC 8 congurations, if one controller has write-through
capability and the other does not, virtual drives on the controller
with write-through capability reverts to write-through.
Update the rmware such that both cards are running the latest
supported versions available.
NOTE: Ensure that you download the updated rmware
and driver version available at Dell.com/support/home.
NOTE: Virtual drives congured with forced write-back caching are not transitioned to write-through in the above conditions.
Shared PERC 8 card boots into safe mode
In the event of some failure conditions encountered at boot, Shared PERC 8 boots with restricted capability in safe mode without user
intervention. In such a condition Shared PERC 8 reports all congured disk drives as Foreign to the management application. The Dell
Chassis Management Controller (CMC) displays events generated by the Shared PERC 8 card indicating the reason for booting into safe
mode. The following table details the conditions and the corresponding event notications that are reported to the CMC.
Table 7. Conditions and the corresponding event
notications reported to the CMC
Category Event Reported To the CMC Description of the Failure Corrective Action
Pinned Cache
Controller cache pinned for
missing or offline VDs: %s
The Shared PERC 8 card
preserves dirty cache for a virtual
disk that transitioned to oine or
was deleted due to missing
physical disks.
You can restore the preserved
cache to the virtual disk once the
original drives are reinserted and the
foreign conguration is imported.
SAS Discovery
Controller booted to safe mode
due to critical errors Critical
Error during boot - On-board
expander FW or mfg image is
corrupted - reflash image
This issue occurs if expanders are
not detected.
Reseat the expanders, and connect
the cables.
Critical Error during boot -
NVDATA image is invalid -
reflash NVDATA image
The NVData image is invalid. Contact Dell Technical Support. For
more information, seeGetting help.
Controller is in
safe mode event
RAID Controller in Chassis Slot
X has entered safe mode with
limited functionality due to
Controller booted to safe mode
due to critical errorsRAID
A controller enters safe mode for
the following reasons:
• Incorrect cable congurations
• Controllers with a Fault
Tolerant cable
See the images in the Installation
section to connect the cables
correctly.
58 Troubleshooting