Hey Everyone!

I have a very odd issue with my new drive enclosure from Fantec, the SRC-4240X07.

 

Short background: My Unraid server is running for 2 years without a problem, the components stayed the same over the years. I only added some hard drives from time to time. Everything was in a tower case, but now I ran out of space for new drives.

I decided to buy the 19” rack case Fantec SRC-4240X07, because it can store 24 drives and is really cheap (half the price if you compare it to a similar SuperMicro).

 

Now I moved the whole system to the Fantec case and some of my drives aren't recognized (they don't even spin up). I checked if they are recognized in the BIOS and from the SAS controller, so it is not a problem of Unraid or something like that. Only drives in certain slots of the chassis aren't spinning up.

 

I think I already broke it down to a problem with the case or the SAS backplate or something like that. I tested with different SAS cables and I swapped the drives.

I tested the whole system, every slot after another with the same HDD to make sure the problem isn’t caused by the power supply, the different drives or something like that. I always used the same SAS port on the controller and the same SAS cable (I reconnected the SAS cable to every row of the backplate for the test). So everything after the backplate stays the same.

 

Please see the result attached, nearly half the slots of the case don't work.

Now comes the odd part, I did the same test again with the same hardware and the same procedure. I only swapped the HDD to a SSD.

Again, please see the attached screenshot for the result, but now there are 4 more slots which don't work.

I tried these new defective slots again with the HDD -> they worked. Again with the SSD -> they don't work.

 

If I'm not missing anything, my problem is dependent on the used slot of the case and the drive?

 

If I put all my 9 drives (2 cache SSDs and 7 HDDs) in "good" slots everything works fine and without a problem. Even after a few restarts, every drive gets recognized.

Maybe there could be cold soldering spots, a mating issue betwenn the backplate and the drives or something like that.

I'm really out of ideas now, can somebody explain this kind of behaviour? Maybe with a solution? *hoping*

I already sent a support request to Fantec, but they haven't replied yet.

 

Thanks to everybody in advance!

 

System components:

Fantec SRC-4240X07

SAS Cable: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B017CO6L8Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SAS-SATA Reverse Breakout Cabel: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B013G4EQOM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SAS HBA Card: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01M2AC40Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1

HDDs: Seagate IronWolf 8TB

Power Supply: Corsair HX850

Mainboard: ASROCK Z87 Extreme9

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K

RAM: 32GB DDR3 Corsair
 

 

 

Seems backplane issue, does any difference result between reverse cable（onboard) and SAS cable (HBA).

 

I would suggest you try either one in each time, i.e. onboard only and HBA only.

 

I further check FANTEC SRC-4240X07 spec. 24 bays should provide by 2 backplane, so pls try don't mix HBA and onboard in same BP first.

Edited April 10, 20197 yr by Benson

Thanks for the tips.

 

It makes no difference between onboard and SAS. The recognized drives stay the same.

 

I only tried with one cable already (SAS and SATA) and the recognized disks (which were connected over the one cabel) stayed the same.

Just curious are you using both sas and sata drives? my R710 requires that if i mix drives slot 0 and 1 require sas drives then any other combination will work in the other slots not sure about your situation this may not apply

 

No, just SATA drives

Well, I solved it now.

This case is cheaply produced. The drive sleds don't reach far enough into the slot to always contact to the plug.

I now bent the front of the sleds slightly outwards to allow a deeper insertion of the sleds. Now all the drives are working in all slots without a problem.

Some guy on Amazon had a similar problem and suggested this, so this is a problem of the whole case series.

 

At the end you get what you pay: A cheap case with massiv flaws, but it works with some modifications.

So. seems blackplane were bend ( may be relate thin PCB ), thats why most middle row got problem. Funny.

 

FYR, I seldem push in disk by sled ( because I want feel any abnormal to avoid make damage to blackplane and disk ), only pull out would use sled.

Edited April 12, 20197 yr by Benson

I don't think the backplane itself bent, it's screwed in 5 times per row and near the connectors. I think there are wrong mechanical tolerances, the middle column has a really tight fit, but the outer columns get in a lot easier.