Battery Replacement Required

What Caused the Problem?

This problem can occur in the following situations:

A battery can no longer hold enough charge to preserve cached data in case of a power failure.
You inserted a replacement battery that is not compatible with this storage array.
There is a failure in the battery causing the charge level gauge to incorrectly operate.

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. Therefore, you should replace the battery as soon as possible.
Write caching for all virtual disks has been automatically suspended (if previously enabled). Write caching will be reinstated (if applicable for each virtual disk) once you replace the battery and the replacement battery is fully charged and has completed the first Learn Cycle.
The batteries on this storage array are integrated into the RAID controller module. You will need to remove the RAID controller module to insert or re-seat a battery.

Recovery Steps

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

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 When the Cache Active LED on the RAID controller module is no longer active (up to 5 minutes), proceed to step 2.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.

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.

Remove the RAID controller module module that contains the affected battery.

Replace the affected battery with a new battery.

Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.

Insert the RAID controller module module (containing the new battery) securely into place.

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.
The battery will 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.

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

If...	Then...
The Battery Settings dialog displays the Replacement information (including the Reset button)	The RAID controller module uses age information, in addition to charge level monitoring to determine the health of the battery. Go to step 8.
The Battery Settings dialog does NOT display the Replacement information (rather it displays only Learn Cycle information)	The RAID controller module does NOT use age information, but rather uses only charge level monitoring to determine the health of the battery. Go to step 10.

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

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

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 the affected battery with a new battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.

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.
The battery will 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.

Complete the remaining Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps.

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

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

If...	Then...
The Battery Settings dialog displays the Replacement information (including the Reset button)	The RAID controller module uses age information, in addition to charge level monitoring to determine the health of the battery. Go to step 10.
The Battery Settings dialog does NOT display the Replacement information (rather it displays only Learn Cycle information)	The RAID controller module does NOT use age information, but rather uses only charge level monitoring to determine the health of the battery. Go to step 12.

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

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

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.