Cisco UCS C220 M4S FlexFlash Controller Replacement

[joshua.krugjohann]

Hi,

I have a project in which I am upgrading 3 Cisco C220 M4S's to ESXi 6.7 (PID: UCS-SP-C220M4-A1). 

One of the hosts seems to have a bad FlexFlash controller in it.  I've not worked on M4's much, but in my research, it's been suggested in at least one place that M4's don't have field replaceable FlexFlash Controllers but rather need the whole motherboard replaced. 

Can anyone confirm this?

I've included screenshots of the server hardware fault on the server in question from UCS Manager in case anyone wanted to see it, but i think this is more of a hardware question than troubleshooting at this point.

Thanks in advance, any help is greatly appreciated.

[Kirk J]

You are correct.

The SD card slots (and related controller chipset) are part of system board in the 220 m4s.

Assuming you have attempted:

• power drain
• reset CMOS settings
• reset FX3/flexflash controller
• HUU upgrade

Kirk...

[joshua.krugjohann]

Hi Kirk, thank you for the confirmation.  By the screenshots above, does this seem to indicate the FlexFlash controller itself is bad, or that I should simply replace the SD cards?  I can provide more screenshots if needed.

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

The error is saying the actual flexflash controller is not responding..

Kirk...

[joshua.krugjohann]

Understood, thanks again Kirk

[SR13]

I am facing the same issue in our environment. But not able to find the PID of the flexflash controller card.

Is it motherboard fault or individual card for 220 M4? If individual part then what is the PID to order RMA? I do not see the part ID in the logs. Appreciated quick help.

[Kirk J]

The flex flash cards (SD cards) do have separate PIDs.  The flex flash controller is integrated into the system board, and can't be individually replaced without replacing the whole system board.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[SR13]

Thank you for the quick turnaround Kirk.

Based on our environment and failure log below, i guess it is flexflash controller. Can you please confirm.

If you need any other info, i can share. attached the CIMC screenshot.

%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %group physical-drives
+has-error: Yes
+error: 
physical-drive-count: 0
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %group virtual-drives
+has-error: Yes
+error: 
virtual-drive-count: 0
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %group operational-profile
+has-error: Yes
+error: 
+signature: 00000000000000000000000000000000
+operating-mode: configure
+read-err-count-slot1-threshold: 0
+write-err-count-slot1-threshold: 0
+read-err-count-slot2-threshold: 0
+write-err-count-slot2-threshold: 0
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-1" %group general
+physical-drive-status: missing
+card-type: NA
+card-err:  
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-1" %group diagnostics
+rd-error-count: 0
+wr-error-count: 0
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-1" %group detail
+slot-number: SLOT-1
+physical-drive-id: 1
+bus: NA
+serial-number: NA
+manufacturer-id: 0
+oem-id: NA
+product-name: NA
+product-revision: NA
+manufacturing-date: NA
+write-enabled: false
+block-size: 512 bytes
+capacity: 0 MB
+password-protected: false
+card-mode: NA
+health: NA
+card-status: NA
+sync-mode: NA
+dirty-partition-map: NA
+stale-partition-map: NA
+rd-error-threshold: 0
+rd-error-count: 0
+wr-error-threshold: 0
+wr-error-count: 0
+partition-count: 0
+drives-enabled: 
+signature: 00000000000000000000000000000000
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-2" %group general
+physical-drive-status: missing
+card-type: NA
+card-err:  
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-2" %group diagnostics
+rd-error-count: 0
+wr-error-count: 0
%controller "FlexFlash-0" %type "FlexFlash" %physical-drive "SLOT-2" %group detail
+slot-number: SLOT-2
+physical-drive-id: 2
+bus: NA
+serial-number: NA
+manufacturer-id: 0
+oem-id: NA
+product-name: NA
+product-revision: NA
+manufacturing-date: NA
+write-enabled: false
+block-size: 512 bytes
+capacity: 0 MB
+password-protected: false
+card-mode: NA
+health: NA
+card-status: NA
+sync-mode: NA
+dirty-partition-map: NA
+stale-partition-map: NA
+rd-error-threshold: 0
+rd-error-count: 0
+wr-error-threshold: 0
+wr-error-count: 0
+partition-count: 0
+drives-enabled: 
+sign

Flex Flash card

 controller: FlexFlash-0

 controller-type: FlexFlash

 raid-support: yes

 product-name: Cisco FlexFlash

 controller-name: FX3S

 firmware-package-build: 1.3.2 build 176

 vendor: Cypress

 operating-mode: configure

 configured-mode: mirror

 internal-state: Failed

 controller-status: No SDCards Available In Slots

 cards-manageable: No

 startup-firmware-version: 1.3.2 build 176

 controller-type: FlexFlash

 controller-type: FlexFlash

 controller-type: FlexFlash

 signature: 00000000000000000000000000000000

 operating-mode: configure

 read-err-count-slot1-threshold: 0

 write-err-count-slot1-threshold: 0

 read-err-count-slot2-threshold: 0

write-err-count-slot2-threshold: 0