UltraBay 4D / UltraBay 4 Power or Communication Problems

Written By:
Dave Kelsey
Last Edited:

If your UltraBay 4D or UltraBay 4 isn't powering up correctly, has a blinking power LED, disconnecting drives during imaging, or unable to be detected by the system or Tableau Firmware Update (https://www.opentext.com/products/tableau-download-center#tfu), its power or data connectors could need to be re-seated. Check that the two flat black SATA power connectors and the USB3 cable connector are secure. Sometimes shipping or relocating systems can compromise these connections. Open up the left panel of FRED and carefully re-seat them. Below are the ports to check.

The potential points that could be responsible for poor UltraBay power in a FRED system are shown below:

1. Connection at Power Supply.
2 & 3. Imaging Shelf.
4. Connection to the UltraBay.

Be sure to re-seat connections 1 - 3 if re-seating at the UltraBay alone doesn't help. Another thing to try is to remove the Imaging Shelf connector (2 & 3) from the middle and plug the power supply cable directly into the SATA power splitter.


Another thing to check is that the Imaging Shelf is not rubbing on the UltraBay's power cabling when you close it. If the shelf is coming in contact with the power cable or splitter, the power connections will be compromised. This can cause recurring issues if not routed to avoid it. The best way to accomplish this is to carefully ZIP tie the power splitter to the FRED chassis as shown in the picture below. This simple modification effectively routes the cabling out of the way so that the UltraBay's power connections are no longer interfered with.


If you need help getting inside FRED, see the article at https://digitalintelligence.com/support/knowledgebase/6-fred-systems/docs/96-how-to-remove-the-side-panel-from-a-fred-or-fred-dx

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