HPE 3PAR Error Codes: checkhealth and Disk Troubleshooting

When a 3PAR array starts emailing error alerts, the instinct is to fix the specific error — but an isolated alert only shows a narrow slice of what is happening. The right move is to run checkhealth first to get a full picture of hardware, software, and configuration issues, then drill into the specific problem. This guide, based on a practical 3PAR troubleshooting reference, walks through checkhealth, degraded disk diagnosis, cage loop offline errors, PSU replacement, and how to prioritize issues by severity.

Start with checkhealth

Log into the array via SSH with admin credentials and run:

checkhealth -detail -svc

The -svc and -detail flags give a more detailed output covering components, software, and configuration. Use this as the baseline before chasing any individual alert.

Degraded vs Failed Disks

A "degraded" disk does not necessarily mean the disk has failed. There are 40+ reasons a disk can go degraded — including a failed node that makes all disks sharing its path appear degraded (which can produce 40+ alarming messages at once). Diagnose with:

showed -failed -degraded

Common causes: a disk that is physically missing (but may be fine if still seated), or a missing A/B port that points to a cage or node error. A fully failed disk has already had its data evacuated from normal space to spare space, and the array will move data from used to spare space in preparation for replacement.

Cage Loop Offline Errors

Each disk cage has two connections — left port (A) and right port (B). If either goes offline you get a cage loop offline error, which can be caused by a failed cable, the port itself, the whole cage, or the node. First determine whether the node or the cage caused the outage: an amber LED on the node or cage port shows the failure point. Then inspect with:

showcage -d
showport

These commands show which cage ports and node ports are involved (for example, cage0/cage1 plugged into ports 1:2:1, 1:2:2, 0:2:1, 0:2:2 of type disk).

Other Common Issues

• Host port CRC errors: these are external errors from the connected host or upstream switch — rarely a 3PAR problem. Investigate the host identified by the port in the alert, then re-run checkhealth.
• PSU replacement: confirm the fault via the amber LED, power off and unplug the faulty PSU, swap it, power on, and verify with showcage -d cage0.

Severity Ranking

On a 1–3 scale (1 = severe): a failed node is the most critical because it needs real expertise (and secondary-market nodes need careful configuration); a failed cage is mid-level; a failed disk is the most straightforward to replace. For more storage content, see our HPE 3PAR 8400 configuration principles, the NetApp ONTAP network best practices, and Dell PowerStore best practices.

原文链接：https://mglobalservices.com/3par-error-codes-troubleshooting-guide/