Running the Read Link Status Diagnostics

1

Select the storage array from the , and select Advanced >> Troubleshooting >> Run Diagnostics >> Physical Disk Channels.

RAID Controller Module

A list of the RAID controller modules for the storage array.

RAID Controller Module A and RAID controller module B appear.

Channel

A list of the channels for the selected RAID controller module.

Available Devices on Selected Channel

A list of all the devices on the selected channel. Devices can include disk physical disks, RAID controller modules, and EMMs.

The devices appear in channel order, and within each channel they are sorted according to the position of the device within the RAID controller module.
Devices to Include in this Diagnostics A list of devices selected from the Available Devices on Selected Channel list to include in the diagnostics testing.

Timeout (minutes)

The amount of time to wait for a response from the device during the diagnostics test.
2
 To view error count data for the selected devices, click Run.

3

Interpret the results to determine where problematic components or storage arrays are located. For more information, see Interpreting the Results.

Using the Advanced Settings

Error counts are calculated on the following settings: test data pattern, test iterations per device, and error counts per device.

Important: This option establishes new error counts for all devices currently  on the channel.

1

Click Advanced Settings.

2

Select the test data pattern type. You can either select a fixed type, and type in the hexadecimal value, or you can select to use a pseudo-random test data pattern type.

3

Enter the number of times that you want the test to iterate. The default value is 5. The minimum number of test iterations that you can make is 1, and the maximum number of test iterations is 9.

4

Enter the number of error counts per device that you will accept during the diagnostics. The default value is 2. The minimum number of error counts that you can specify during the diagnostics is 1, and the maximum number of error counts is 9.

5

Click OK.
4
 To retrieve the current error counts, click Run.

Interpreting the Results

Analysis of the Physical Disk Channel Diagnostics results is based on the principle that the channel immediately "downstream" of the problematic device should see the largest number of error counts. The process involves obtaining the error count for every selected device, and then identifying any large increases in the error counts.

If you are unable to determine which device is problematic, save your results, and forward them to a Customer and Technical Support representative.

1

Open the Physical Disk Channel Diagnostics dialog.

2

Look at the data in the Physical Disk Channel Diagnostics Results dialog, and identify any unusual increase in the I/O timeouts, channel-level resets, or other error counts.

3

Click Close. If you are unable to determine which device is problematic, save your results, and forward them to a Customer and Technical Support representative.

Saving Diagnostics Results

For further troubleshooting assistance, save the read link status results, and forward them to a Customer and Technical Support representative for assistance.

1

Click Save As.

2

Select a directory, and type the file name of your choice in the File name text box. You do not need to specify a file extension.

3

Click Save.

A comma-delimited file containing the physical disk channel diagnostic results is saved.