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From: Fred Bloggs on 23 Sep 2009 05:55
In article <2kotm.65620$1s6.5367(a)twister2.libero.it>, Marco De Vitis
<starless(a)spin.it> writes

>Its LCD panel, its serial port and a related Windows application

RAIDman

> (the
>latter two according to the manual, as I didn't have a way to check
>myself) are only used for a few configuration options like alarms etc.

RAIDman lets you setup new arrays, view array status, and diagnose and
recover failed arrays.

>By the way, the only error shown in the LCD panel is about a fan
>receiving low current.
>
>How on earth is that thing actually configured??

RAIDman would be best. Borrow a Windows laptop or something. A Google
search should find it; it's also known as UltraRAIDman. Be cautious
when using it; it's easy to blow away all the data without warning with
a single click if you don't fully understand what you are doing.

Or you can use the serial port on the back of the array and talk to it
via minicom on Linux or Hyperterminal on Windows.

Those Raidtec units are now rather old and have not been supported for
years. We have one in service at a remote site; the LCD panel failed
ages ago so any interaction has to be via the serial interface or
RAIDman.

Make sure all the fans on the back are working. The strip of green LEDs
along the top front edge indicate status - the first eight LEDs indicate
fan status (out if the fan has failed), and the last one indicates power
supply status - if flashing, one of the hot-swap power supplies has
failed.

The rear fans are Papst model 612 NGHH. They are straightforward to
swap out.

--
Fred Bloggs
From: Fred Bloggs on 23 Sep 2009 06:27
In article <ar5edgAUCfuKFwS$@none.invalid>, Fred Bloggs
<fred(a)none.invalid> writes

Corrections (dug through some old documents):

* there are six rear fans, not eight, with corresponding front panel
LEDs. The seventh LED indicates PSU status.

* the RS232 serial port for talking to the RAID from a PC is SER2. You
should find that SER1 is blanked off. SER3 and 4, if fitted, are RS485
and used for attaching additional expansion enclosures.

--
Fred Bloggs
From: Fred Bloggs on 23 Sep 2009 06:35
In article <bXqtm.66852$9f6.80684(a)twister1.libero.it>, Marco De Vitis
<starless(a)spin.it> writes

>Then, when trying to reinitialize the thing (mk2fs etc.), things got
>even worse, and it seemed to "lock" during access attempts, starting to
>emit a sort "beep - beep" sound alert which, of course, the manual does
>not mention at all :-P.

It means there is a fault: either the enclosure is too hot, or a fan,
drive or PSU has failed. To find out which, look at the LEDs, the LCD
panel or talk to the unit with RAIDman or via the serial port.

If it's a drive failure, a red LED should illuminate on the front of the
appropriate drive carrier (RAIDtec refer to those as "shuttles".) Each
drive has three LEDs; the green LED is power, yellow is disk activity,
and red is failed.

The alarm can be silenced using one of the buttons on the LCD panel,
from memory there is a "book" icon which changes to a ! on an alarm.
Pressing the button below that should silence the alarm and display the
error log.

--
Fred Bloggs
From: Marco De Vitis on 23 Sep 2009 16:53
Il 23-09-2009 12:35, Fred Bloggs ha scritto:

> In article <bXqtm.66852$9f6.80684(a)twister1.libero.it>, Marco De Vitis
> <starless(a)spin.it> writes
>
>> Then, when trying to reinitialize the thing (mk2fs etc.), things got
>> even worse, and it seemed to "lock" during access attempts, starting to
>> emit a sort "beep - beep" sound alert which, of course, the manual does
>> not mention at all :-P.
>
> It means there is a fault: either the enclosure is too hot, or a fan,
> drive or PSU has failed. To find out which, look at the LEDs, the LCD
> panel or talk to the unit with RAIDman or via the serial port.

Thanks Fred, but this is not the case.
As I wrote, I have the manual (thanks Google, actually), and all you are
telling is clearly described there... it just does not apply to my
situation.

All drives are OK, according to their LEDs.
The LCD panel only repeatedly shows a warning about a fan, telling that
its current is low. And the corresponding fan led flashes. And it emits
a continuous long "beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" when this error appears
(unless I manually disable the beeper alarm).
Actually, I visually checked all fans and they all work. Maybe this is a
false alarm, or maybe a fan is really slower than normal, but anyway
this is not a problem for heat: 4 disk bays are empty, and the unit is
in a very cold (and noisy) server room. This same error might have been
already there for months without anyone ever noticing.

The sound I described above when the unit locks, instead, is different:
it's an intermittent "beep - beep... beep - beep... beep - beep...", and
it CANNOT be silenced from the LCD panel menu. And the LCD or LEDs do
not show any error.

--
Ciao,
Marco.
From: Marco De Vitis on 23 Sep 2009 17:05
Il 23-09-2009 11:55, Fred Bloggs ha scritto:

> RAIDman lets you setup new arrays, view array status, and diagnose and
> recover failed arrays.

Are you *really* sure that RAIDman can do this?
The manual doesn't tell anything about it, it only talks about the same
simple operations which can also be done using the LCD display.

> RAIDman would be best. Borrow a Windows laptop or something. A Google
> search should find it; it's also known as UltraRAIDman. Be cautious

I searched around a bit and can't find it yet... I'd be grateful if you
have it handy and can send it to me somehow (www.yousendit.com or else).

> Or you can use the serial port on the back of the array and talk to it
> via minicom on Linux or Hyperterminal on Windows.

Again, are you sure RAID management operations can be done this way? IT
would be enough for me, but the manual only talks about the same basic
operations so I didn't even try.

Thanks.

--
Ciao,
Marco.
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