2

I'm trying to build a new box with

  • an Intel DQ670W Motherboard (8GB RAM + i5/2500)
  • an HP SmartArray P410/512 RAID controller (with battery)
  • 2x WD10EALX 1TB SATA drives

I'm falling at (almost) the first hurdle. It boots the BIOS, and the SmartArray detects and shows the drives when it starts and goes into ORCA (the ROM BIOS Raid Management tool)

The ORCA Utility reports the two drives correctly and allows me to select a logical disk as a RAID 1+0 disk of 985GB.

BUT - when I hit ENTER to create the logical disk, I immediately get

==Configuration Error==
A fatal error has occurred.
Command: 51h
SCSI Status: 0000h
Command Status: 0004h

Pressing ESC just takes me back.

I've tried:

  • other known-good SATA disks (also detected properly by ORCA)
  • using different cables
  • using the other microSATA slot

All with the same result - and I'm stumped.

The microSATA fan-out cables are pukka HP ones - not cheapy ones off eBay.

Am at a loss... can anyone shed any light on what's wrong?

Thanks folks.

1
  • Command 51 ix XPWRITE, which is a Disk_Data ^= Buffer_Data command. Many cheaper disks do not support onboard XOR, and will fail (Status 4h = Hardware Failure). I'm not sure if the P410 should simulate the command or not. I've used P4xx controllers wtih WDC's RE drives and they work (though with lousy performance); the RE drives are step up from the Blue drives you've got. Have you tried updating the firmware yet?
    – Chris S
    Jun 29, 2011 at 17:30

2 Answers 2

1

What is the setting on the "Battery Cache Override" selection in the ORCA? Try switching that on/off to see if that has any impact on your ability to create the logical drive.

Can you try configuring one drive as a RAID 0 to test the process? Depending on the OS you plan to use, you may be able to work with the HP utility once the OS is bootable. That may also give you an opportunity to update the firmware.

I don't recall if HP SmartStart CDs are bootable on non-HP hardware, but there is a small (80MB) bootable HP Smart Array - Array Configuration Utility CD available that provides a GUI to manage the controller.

Try those options...

1
  • Bingo. The HP Smart Array ACU Bootable CD allowed creation of the logical array and it all sprang into life. Thanks ewwhite!
    – CrayFishUK
    Jul 5, 2011 at 16:07
1

HP controllers want HP drives, in general. There are ways to get SOME basic drives to work but others don't. Some nicer drives work for some people but often the performance suffers or the controller looks for some feature of the SMART bios that isn't there and freaks out.

You might also look into getting the newest BIOS for the SmartArray card, to see if that helps. But I'd bet on it not working at all unless you get HP drives.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .