Battery Nearing Expiration

What Caused the Problem?

A battery is nearing the end of its useful life. The Recovery Guru Details area provides specific information you will need as you follow the recovery steps.

Caution: Electrostatic charges can damage sensitive components. Always use proper antistatic protection when handling components. Touching components without using a proper ground may damage the equipment.

Important Notes

Contact your technical support representative if you do not have a replacement battery available.
The purpose of the battery is to preserve cached data in the event of a power failure.
Refer to the Smart battery field in the Details area to determine if this battery is SBD (Smart Battery Data)-capable.
- If the Smart battery field is no, then write caching will be automatically suspended when the battery reaches its expiration date (if previously enabled). Write caching will be reinstated (if applicable for each virtual disk) once you replace the battery and the replacement battery is charged to a sufficient level to support cached data in the event of a power failure.
- If the Smart battery field is yes, then write caching will not be affected when the battery reaches its expiration date provided that it can still hold sufficient charge to preserve cached data in the event of a power failure. If the battery can NOT hold sufficient charge to preserve cached data, then 1) write caching will be disabled and 2) a Battery Replacement Required problem will be reported in the Summary area.
To see how many days remain until replacement is required, click the Change Battery Settings link from the Tools tab, and then select the battery that is listed in the Details area.
The battery replacement procedure varies depending on the type of storage array you have. Some batteries are directly accessible while some batteries are inside the RAID controller module which require you to remove the RAID controller module first before servicing the battery. Consult the appropriate hardware manual if you need details on locating and replacing the battery.
A Battery Nearing Expiration problem may still occur if you do not reset the battery age after you replace the battery. Make sure you reset the battery age for the replacement battery (see Recovery Steps below).
You have the following options for resolving this problem (more details will be provided in the Recovery Steps):
- Replace the battery now and assume the risk of losing cached data as outlined in the caution, below. As long as you have the replacement battery readily accessible, the replacement procedure should take less than a minute to complete.
- Replace the battery during your next scheduled downtime (maintenance period). If you choose this option, you do not need to continue with the Recovery Steps, but the storage array will 1) remain in a Needs Attention condition, 2) continue to display this problem in the Recovery Guru Summary area, and 3) continue to log MEL event every 24 hours.
- Wait until the battery reaches its expiration date before you replace it. If you choose this option, you do not need to continue with the Recovery Steps, but the storage array will 1) remain in a Needs Attention condition, 2) continue to display this problem in the Recovery Guru Summary area, and 3) continue to log MEL event every 24 hours.

Caution: Risk of Data Loss. If you remove a battery while it is in a Battery Nearing Expiration state and write caching is enabled on a virtual disk, you risk the chance of losing cached data if power to the storage array fails. If power fails before the storage array can detect the removed battery and write all cached data to the disks, you will lose cached data. Typically, it takes approximately 2 minutes to write all cached data (with a maximum of 10 minutes).

Recovery Steps

Refer to the 'Component requiring service' field in the Details area to determine which Recovery Steps you need to complete.

If...	Then...
The component requiring service is the battery	Go to "Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery."
The component requiring service is the RAID controller module that contains the battery	Go to "Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a RAID Controller Module."

Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery

If...

Then...

You wish to wait until the next scheduled maintenance period (downtime) to replace the battery

You wish to wait until the battery reaches its expiration date

You do not need to continue with the Recovery Steps.

You wish to replace the batter now, assuming the risk of losing cached data

Have a replacement battery readily available so that the replacement will take as little time as possible.

Go to step 2.

Remove the affected battery.

Note: The Service Action Allowed status in the Details area is always NO for this problem because the component is not yet expired or failed. In this situation, it is acceptable to remove the component even though the Service Action Allowed is NO.

Insert the new battery securely into place.

Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).

From the Tools tab, click the Change Battery Settings link.

Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero.

Notes:

The time it takes to fully charge the battery depends on the model of the battery and its current state. While it is charging, the battery will report a Charging status. Consult the appropriate hardware manual for your model.
If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged. Depending on the model of your storage array, write caching may not be reinstated until the initial Learn Cycle is complete.

Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a RAID Controller Module

If...	Then...
Your storage array has one RAID controller module	Go to "Procedure for Storage Arrays with One RAID Controller Module."
Your storage array has two RAID controller modules	Go to "Procedure for Storage Arrays with Two RAID Controller Modules."

Procedure for Storage Arrays with One RAID Controller Module

1	Stop all I/O from all hosts to this storage array. When the Cache Active LED on the RAID controller module is no longer active (up to 5 minutes), proceed to step 2. Caution: Risk of Data Loss. You must wait for the Cache Active LED to stop blinking to ensure that all cache has been written to the physical disks in the storage array.
2	Click the Save As button in the Recovery Guru dialog to save the remaining steps to a file. These steps may no longer be accessible from the Recovery Guru dialog after you complete step 3.
3	Remove the RAID controller module module that contains the affected battery.
4	Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.
5	Insert the RAID controller module module (containing the new battery) securely into place.
6	Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).
7	From the Tools tab, click the Change Battery Settings link.
8	Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero. Notes: The time it takes to fully charge the battery depends on the model of the battery and its current state. While it is charging, the battery will report a Charging status. Consult the appropriate hardware manual for your model. If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged. Depending on the model of your storage array, write caching may not be reinstated until the initial Learn Cycle is complete.
9	Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Procedure for Storage Arrays with Two RAID Controller Modules

If there are any hosts connected to this storage array that are NOT running a host-based, multi-path failover driver, stop I/O to the storage array from each of these hosts.

Place the affected RAID controller module offline.

a	From the Support tab, click the Manage RAID Controller Modules link, and then click the Place RAID Controller Module Online of Offline link.
b	Select the affected RAID controller module, then select Place RAID controller module offline.
c	Click the OK button.

Click the Save As button in the Recovery Guru dialog to save the remaining steps to a file. These steps may no longer be accessible from the Recovery Guru dialog after you complete step 4.

Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru.

There should be an Offline RAID Controller Module problem reported in the Summary area.

Follow the Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps, until you have removed the RAID controller module. After you have removed the RAID controller module, do not continue with the Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery steps until you are instructed to do so later in this procedure.

Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery.

Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.

Complete the remaining Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps.

Once you have completed the Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps, go to step 8.

Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).

From the Tools tab, click the Change Battery Settings link.

Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero.

Notes:

The time it takes to fully charge the battery depends on the model of the battery and its current state. While it is charging, the battery will report a Charging status. Consult the appropriate hardware manual for your model.
If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged. Write caching will be reinstated once the initial Learn Cycle is complete.

Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. The failure should no longer appear in the Summary area. If the failure appears again, contact your technical support representative.

Note: Additional information on this issue may be available. Please visit the Dell support website at support.dell.com and select your product model. Choose "troubleshooting" as your tool option, then search by this procedure title.