Help! mass storage error! please help

Question

i was getting frequent crashes in FCP with a Xserve RAID hooked up via fiber channel card for media storage. i'd get the spinning beach ball and would have to do a manual shut down, approx every 20 minutes.
i did a complete erase and install of both system software and final cut pro software. still had problems.
i did the apple hardware test and got the following error code - MASS STORAGE: 2 STF/2/3: SLOT-3, Channel: 1, ID:0, LUN:
i got this error code ONLY when the RAID was hooked up, otherwise everything passed the test. the RAID mounts fine and in the RAID admin tools, everything gets a green light.
since i am under a deadline and don't have a lot of time to troubleshoot, i rented another G5, bought a new fiber channel card with new cables, and hooked it up to the RAID.
i am still getting the same error. again, the RAID array appears on the desktop, and the RAID admin tools finds everything ok - the fiber channel link ups, etc., check out ok.
i really need to sort this out ASAP!! if anyone has any suggestions for me, i'd be most grateful - thank you

Answer 1

Hey Kappy,
I haven't seen that specific error before (prob since I hardly ever do apple hardware tests), but the spinning beach ball and the restarting does sound very familiar.
If you've been getting this on both machines, my first guess is going to be a failing drive, since that can easily cause beachballs and hangs. Usually errors come up in RAID Admin, but I've personally had at least 5 times where a drive spazzes and there's no error at all to warn you (and of course applecare wont replace a drive or do anything about it til it happens, and you're screwed with performance until then) Possible things to do to troubleshoot:
1) Play a video clip in FCP and loop it. Meanwhile, check the raid's blue LED activity lights and see if any of them are out of sync (not blinking in tandem with the rest) If so, chances are that's your problem drive. If the machine starts to spazz, from what i've seen, if its a drive problem, that one drive's LED will stay solid while the others blink seldomely, which means that drive is working overtime to keep up, but can't.
2) Run drive conditioning from RAID Admin (I believe its only available under version 1.5). This will run for a while and is a great way to force the array to reveal any errors or failures in any of the drives. If you have a problem drive, this will be the best way to force it to turn yellow or red.
For time constraints/deadlines, once you find out what the problem drive is and if the blue light is acting very erradically, drive conditioning will usually trigger the yellow or red light immidately (to where you can call apple and get it replaced under applecare). If you cant wait that long, pull the drive while its still green, and the raid will run in a degraded state (but your performance will be about back to normal). Just make sure and realize that you're not protected in Raid 5 anymore at that point. Even though, this has saved me in deadlines when I had a busted drive and couldn't play back a single stream of DV.
As a seperate comment, going out on a limb and speculating (So dont hold me to it), if it was a drive issue, judging by your error, I would guess it's drive 3.
NOTE: Always have a backup