Failed Battery

What Caused the Problem?

The battery in the RAID controller module has failed. The Recovery Guru Details area provides specific information you will need as you follow the Recovery Steps.

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

Important Notes

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.
The batteries on this storage array are integrated into the RAID controller module: thus you will need to remove the RAID controller module to replace a failed battery.
Virtual disk write caching and cache mirroring will be automatically suspended until the battery is replaced and the battery is fully charged.
If using DHCP configuration on the RAID controller module, before you insert a new RAID controller module into the storage array if needed first update the DHCP server so that it will associate the new RAID controller module's hardware Ethernet (MAC) address with the IP address previously assigned to the removed RAID controller module.

Recovery Steps

If...	Then...
Your storage array has one controller	Go to "Procedure for Storage Arrays with One Controller."
Your storage array has two controllers	Ensure that multipath failover driver is installed and running on all attached hosts. Go to "Procedure for Storage Arrays with Two Controllers."

Procedure for Storage Arrays with One Controller

1	Stop all I/O to this storage array.
2	Turn off power to all power supply/cooling fan modules in the tray containing the failed battery.
3	Remove the RAID controller module that contains the failed battery. Refer to the Summary tab to view which management method you are using to manage this storage array. If using DHCP configuration on the RAID controller module, before you insert a new RAID controller module into the storage array if needed first update the DHCP server so that it will associate the new RAID controller module's hardware Ethernet (MAC) address with the IP address previously assigned to the removed RAID controller module.
4	Replace the failed battery with a new battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.
5	Insert the RAID controller module (containing the new battery) securely into place.
6	Turn on power to all power supply/cooling fan modules in the tray. Wait until all drives have completed the spin-up process, and then go to step 7.
7	From the Tools tab, click the Reset Battery Age link.
8	Set the battery age to zero by clicking Reset for the RAID controller module containing the new battery. Note: Depending on the state of the battery, it can take up to 7 hours to become fully charged. During this time, the battery will report a Charging status.
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 Controllers

1	Contact Dell technical support to obtain a replacement battery.
2	From the Support tab, click the Manage RAID controller modules link.
3	Click the Place RAID controller module online or offline link.
4	Place the affected RAID controller module Offline.
5	Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru. There should be an Offline RAID controller module problem reported in the Summary area.
6	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.
7	Replace the failed battery with a new battery. Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.
8	From the Tools tab, click the Reset Battery Age link. Set the battery age to zero by clicking Reset for the RAID controller module containing the new battery. Complete the rest of the Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps. Once you have completed the Offline RAID Controller Module Recovery Steps, go to step 9. Note: Depending on the state of the battery, it can take up to 7 hours to become fully charged. During this time, the battery will report a Charging status.
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.

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.