Error "previous configuration are gone" when booting Security Analytics appliance

Products

• Security Analytics

Issue/Introduction

The following message is displayed during the boot process on a Dell Security Analytics appliance.

"All of the disks from your previous configuration are gone. If this is an unexpected message, then please power off your system and check your cables to ensure all disks are present. Press any key to continue, or 'C' to load the configuration utility."





 

Cause

Several things can cause this to happen:

1. This is a brand new installation and the cables connecting to the external storage are not wired to the correct ports.
2. The RAID adapter has failed.
3. The SAS cables are malfunctioning.

With the command "dslogdump | grep -i hard" you can define which adapter is giving issue.

2016-02-29 10:10:10+08 Warning        Hardware   DISK_STATUS     Adapter X; seqNum: 0x00008abc; Event Description: Previous configuration completely missing at boot;



 

Resolution

If the symptoms match #1 above,  SSH into the SA as root user and run the command "megacli -cfgclr -aX".

Note: X specifies the PERC5/i adapter ID. If adapter 2 is having issue, you will be using -a2 for the command.

If this was a previously working appliance and it is now suddenly displaying these messages, check all cable connections (SAS and power).  Power down the appliance and all external storages if needed (power down head unit first and then power down the storage units.)  Wait for a few seconds and then power the storage units back up and after about 1 minute, power on the head unit and see if the error has gone away.

If the problem persists, please call Blue Coat technical support for further assistance.