Sun StorEdge 3310/3510/3511/3320: Resolving Data Unavailability issues due to different default Cylinder/Head/Sector settings after firmware upgrade.

Asset ID:	1-72-1009497.1
Update Date:	2013-08-12
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 1009497.1 : Sun StorEdge 3310/3510/3511/3320: Resolving Data Unavailability issues due to different default Cylinder/Head/Sector settings after firmware upgrade.

Applies to:

Sun Storage 3511 SATA Array - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Storage 3310 Array - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Storage 3320 SCSI Array - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Storage 3510 FC Array - Version Not Applicable and later
All Platforms

Symptoms

The Array Firmware 4.1x upgrade instructions state that some settings are not restored after the upgrade, they have to be manually restored. One such setting is the cylinder/head/sector values. The default settings for cylinder/head/sector for 4.1x are different from the default in the 3.2x firmware.
The default settings in the 3.2x firmware are as follows:-

Cylinder = Variable
Head = Variable
Sector = Variable

The defaults in the 4.1x firmware are as follows:
Cylinder < 65535
Head = 64
Sector = variable

Changes

If a Logical Drive was created with the default settings in 3.2x firmware or settings different from the 4.1x default, and then the Array is upgraded to 4.1x, it will lead to data unavailability issues. This document explains how to resolve this.

Cause

See <Document ID 1000672.1>

Solution

Resolution
To access data after upgrading the array firmware, change the cylinder/head/sector settings to what it was set prior to the firmware upgrade.
For example: if the settings were:

Cylinder = Variable
Head = Variable
Sector = Variable

then, change the settings to the above.
This will allow access to the data.

We can stop here and choose to keep the C/H/S settings and always remember the same and ensure that they remain the same. However,it is highly recommended that we change the C/H/S settings to the 4.x default.

Do this as follows:

1. Take a backup of the data.

2. Change the settings to the 4.1x firmware default:
Cylinder < 65535
Head = 64
Sector = variable

3. In the Solaris operating environment, run the format utility.

format -e (expert mode)
Select the disk to be labelled.
Select the "type" option
Choose "0" to autoconfigure
Say "no" to the question "use format.dat ?"
Say "yes" to the question "use SCSI-2 inquiry ?"
Label the disk.

This enables the host to reconfigure the size of the disk appropriately and re-label the disk with the current firmware revision level.

4. Once that is done, restore the data from backup.

5. Now you can access the data using the default setting of 4.x firmware.

Additional Information

<Document ID 1000672.1> Documents Incorrectly State Cylinder/Head/Sector Configuration for Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 Arrays - May Render Filesystems Unrecoverable...

<Document: 1006040.1> Sun StorEdge 3x10 Array: newfs fails with Error on "minimum cylinders per group"

Product
Sun StorageTek 3511 SATA Array
Sun StorageTek 3510 FC Array
Sun StorageTek 3320 SCSI Array
Sun StorageTek 3310/3510/3511 Firmware 4.11 Upgrade
Sun StorageTek 3310 SCSI Array

cylinder, head, sector, 3510, 3310, 3511, 3320, default, upgrade, 4.11, 4.13, 4.15, 3.27, 3.25
Previously Published As
85526

Change History
Date: 2006-05-04
User Name: 111868
Action: Approved
Comment: checked keywords
checked TM - corrected
checked expiry date
checked audience
publishing
Version: 4
Date: 2006-05-04

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