Battery Nearing Expiration

What Caused the Problem?

A battery is nearing the end of its useful life. 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

 Caution: Risk of Data Loss. If you remove a battery while it is in a Battery Nearing Expiration state and write caching is enabled on a logical drive, you risk the chance of losing cached data if power to the storage subsystem fails. If power fails before the storage subsystem can detect the removed battery and write all cached data to the disks, you will lose cached data. Typically, it takes approximately 2 minutes to write all cached data (with a maximum of 10 minutes).

Recovery Steps

Refer to the 'Component requiring service' field in the Details area to determine which Recovery Steps you need to complete.

If... Then...
The component requiring service is the battery Go to "Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery."
The component requiring service is the controller that contains the battery Go to "Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a Controller."

Recovery Steps for a Directly-Accessible Battery

1
If... Then...
You wish to ensure that no write cache will be lost in the event of a power failure Note: If you have a large number of logical drives on this storage subsystem, this step may take a long time to complete, and you may want to consider a different option.

Perform the following steps for each logical drive in the storage subsystem:

a Highlight the logical drive.
b Click Logical Drive >> Change >> Cache Settings.
c Record the current status of the Enable Write Caching checkbox. This will aid in restoring the write caching to the original settings later.
d Un-check the Enable Write Caching checkbox if it is selected.
e Go to step 2.
You wish to assume the risk of losing cached data Have a replacement battery readily available so that the replacement will take as little time as possible.

Go to step 2.

2 Remove the affected battery.

Note: The Service Action Allowed status in the Details area is always NO for this problem because the component is not yet expired or failed. In this situation, it is acceptable to remove the component even though the Service Action Allowed is NO.

3 Insert the new battery securely into place.
4 Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).
5 Select the Storage Subsystem >> Change >> Battery Settings menu option.
6 Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero.

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.
  • If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged.  Depending on the model of your storage subsystem, write caching may not be reinstated until the initial Learn Cycle is complete.
7
If... Then...
You disabled write caching in step 1 Use the information you recorded in step1 and the following steps to enable write caching on all logical drives that had it previously enabled.
a Highlight the logical drive.
b Click Logical Drive >> Change >> Cache Settings.
c Click the Enable Write Caching checkbox.

Go to step 8.

You did not disable write caching in step 1 Go to step 8.
8 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.

Recovery Steps for a Battery Inside a Controller

If... Then...
Your storage subsystem has one controller Go to "Procedure for Storage Subsystems with One Controller."
Your storage subsystem has two controllers Go to "Procedure for Storage Subsystems with Two Controllers."

Procedure for Storage Subsystems with One Controller

1 Stop all I/O from all hosts to this storage subsystem.  When the Cache Active LED on the controller 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 drives in the storage subsystem.

2 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.
3 Remove the controller canister that contains the affected battery.
4 Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery. 

Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.

5 Insert the controller canister (containing the new battery) securely into place.  After the controller appears in the Physical View of the AMW, go to step 6.
6 Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).
7 Select the Storage Subsystem >> Change >> Battery Settings menu option.
8 Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero.

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.
  • If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged.  Depending on the model of your storage subsystem, write caching may not be reinstated until the initial Learn Cycle is complete.
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 Subsystems with Two Controllers

1 If there are any hosts connected to this storage subsystem that are NOT running a host-based, multi-path failover driver, stop I/O to the storage subsystem from each of these hosts.
2 Place the affected controller offline.
a Select the controller in the physical view of the Subsystem Management Window.
b Select Advanced >> Recovery >> Set Controller >> Offline.
c Complete the instructions in the dialog, then select Yes.
3 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.
4 Click the Recheck button to rerun the Recovery Guru.

There should be an Offline Controller problem reported in the Summary area.

5 Follow the Offline Controller Recovery Steps, until you have removed the controller. After you have removed the controller, do not continue with the Offline Controller Recovery steps until you are instructed to do so later in this procedure.
6 Replace affected battery with a new replacement battery. 

Refer to your hardware documentation for the battery replacement procedure.

7 Complete the remaining Offline Controller Recovery Steps.

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

8 Record the installation date (today's date) and the new replacement date (according to the battery's warranty).
9 Select the Storage Subsystem >> Change >> Battery Settings menu option.
10 Select the battery you just replaced, and then click Reset to set the affected battery's age to zero.

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.
  • If the battery is SBD-capable (the Smart battery field in the Details area is YES), then the battery will also start an initial Learn Cycle once the battery is fully charged.  Write caching will be reinstated once the initial Learn Cycle is complete.
11 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.