Strange RAID Controller issue

[Samwell]

Hi

 

I'm using an ancient Dell Perc 5i in a server I have and I'm having a weird issue with it. There is a single RAID 5 array with 5 disks. If I leave all disks connected and boot normally, Server 2012 R2 will boot but then stop responding after it's loaded to the desktop (I can still move the cursor around but that's about it). If I turn off the computer and disconnect the drives (unplug the two drive connectors on the top of the RAID card but leave it plugged in with it's battery etc.) then boot up again, the computer will be back to normal, responding well etc. However if I connect the drives as normal and boot into safe mode, the computer works as it should and I can access all the data on my array perfectly OK. I don't understand why that is. I'd have thought if the RAID controller was causing issues, the only way to fix it would be by removing it - well I don't need to remove it, just disconnect the drives. So if it's the drives then I'd need to disconnect the drives - well I don't, in safe mode it's OK. 

 

Since all the important data is backed up, my next step was going to be to wipe the array and create a new one, but if possible I'd prefer to avoid doing this (I don't even know if that'd solve my problem). It's got what I believe is the latest firmware on it - 7.2.2 I think (It's 7. something) It's running 7.0.1. I don't know if it's the LSI firmware or Dell (The latest Dell F/W I can find is 5. something so I presume it's LSI). I usually use OMSA to check over things. The battery was being a tad weird a few days ago, it said it was in a none-critical state and it was charging. After fiddling around with it, the software reports that it's good (has a green triangle) and it's state is 'ready'. 

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 is the only OS on it (installing XenServer will be my next job but it'll probably be summer before I do that). It was working fine until yesterday I think. I haven't installed anything on it for about a month, although there were 2 or 3 Windows Updates on it yesterday and the day before. What I can't understand is why the drives being connected cause Windows to hang in normal mode but not in Safe mode. I'd guess it's some software that Safe mode doesn't load but I can't think what because I haven't installed anything new on it. One thing that is different between normal and safe mode is in normal mode there are notifications that pop up when I log in from some Dell software yelling at me that the drives aren't certified (ie. they aren't from Dell) and they don't appear on safe mode (yet I can still access the disks). These notifications have always happened though, since I first installed the RAID card and it's software.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks and merry christmas!!

[Electronics Wizardy]

It feels like you have a bad drive or two that are causing problmes. Id check the smart data on all of them. 

 

Id probably get a new raid card(and server if it came with it). Those servers are very old and run hot.

 

 

[Samwell]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

It feels like you have a bad drive or two that are causing problmes. Id check the smart data on all of them. 

 

Id probably get a new raid card(and server if it came with it). Those servers are very old and run hot.

 

 

The SMART data on 4 of them is good and the one that isn't, I think was caused by me (so it's not actually bad, I just caused the error to trigger and now it won't go away). I guess maybe because the RAID controller sees it as bad, it's doing something. but they've been running fine for over a month. What I don't understand is why it's OK in Safe mode but not booting normally.

 

Yeah you're right about that. Unfortunately I'm pretty stingy (maybe that comes with being a teen who tries to save as much as I can) so I don't really want to splash the cash on new bits. The server is parts from old gaming rigs, it's not server parts. Any suggestions on a decent, inexpensive RAID controller? (I know the ones wroth buying are £100+ but maybe there's one I haven't found). 

[Electronics Wizardy]

31 minutes ago, Samwell said:

The SMART data on 4 of them is good and the one that isn't, I think was caused by me (so it's not actually bad, I just caused the error to trigger and now it won't go away). I guess maybe because the RAID controller sees it as bad, it's doing something. but they've been running fine for over a month. What I don't understand is why it's OK in Safe mode but not booting normally.

 

Yeah you're right about that. Unfortunately I'm pretty stingy (maybe that comes with being a teen who tries to save as much as I can) so I don't really want to splash the cash on new bits. The server is parts from old gaming rigs, it's not server parts. Any suggestions on a decent, inexpensive RAID controller? (I know the ones wroth buying are £100+ but maybe there's one I haven't found). 

The difference between safe mode and normal is that safe mode doesn't load most drivers, so the raid card drivers aren't loaded, and probably won't be there to cause the issue.

 

What system are you running? Id run all the drives off the mobo if you can. Otherwise a perc 6i should be very cheap and a dell h700 is about 100 dollars.

[Samwell]

14 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The difference between safe mode and normal is that safe mode doesn't load most drivers, so the raid card drivers aren't loaded, and probably won't be there to cause the issue.

 

What system are you running? Id run all the drives off the mobo if you can. Otherwise a perc 6i should be very cheap and a dell h700 is about 100 dollars.

Ok but I'd have thought the computer would need drivers to talk to the RAID card. Anyway I created a new array and it worked out ok (I wanted to create a smaller one anyway), I removes the 'unsafe'' disk. Also I noticed while watching task manager, clamwin AV sucked up all the RAM a bit after logging in. Got rid of it and it seems happy now, I suspect that had something to do with the issue also.

 

I think I'll get a Perc6i. Uses less power and is a bit newer than my old faithful 5i. Also RAID 6 is a plus.

 

I think the issue is sorted now but we'll see in the next few days. Thanks for your input