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Switching to LSI 2308 SAS Controller from normal SATA ports with DrivePool


Sonicmojo

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All,

This week I am finally considering activating the LSI 2308 SAS controller that I have on both of my file servers and wanted to understand how to get this working with Drivepool (and scanner).

Ever since I have owned my two Supermicro X10SL7-F server boards - I have only used the standard SATA ports for drive usage. Seems to have worked just fine but I would like to move to the SAS controller on these boards for (hopefully) more stability and (hopefully) even a performance boost if possible.

My understanding is that this controller should ideally be in "IT Mode" in order for it to allow the connected disks to act like JBOD - so I plan to flash the firmware on it later today. Assuming that works fine - I would then install the latest LSI driver during my server install and then move to reconnecting my three drives for Drivepool.

Can anyone walk me through the basics of getting Drivepool to play nice with the LSI? My big concern lies with my existing pool. In a perfect world - I want to simply disconnect the drives - get the LSI up and running - reconnect the drives to the LSI, install Drivepool on the server and have it "see" the old pool and have it work as if nothing had changed.

As opposed to backing up all the data to another server, building a whole new pool, transferring the data back in etc and wait who know how long for the pool to be back to normal.

Appreciate any info from the field on how to do this right.

Cheers

Sonic 

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You posted elsewhere, and since you addressed Chris there specifically I'll let him answer that one.  But since you also asked here, I'll reply.  :) 

Yes, the adapter should be flashed with IT mode firmware.  That ensures it isn't running in RAID mode, but rather runs in HBA mode (JBOD scenario).  Depending on your controller, you may have to flash it's BIOS at the same time - check the firmware package to see what's in it.

Drivepool truly doesn't care what kind of controller the drives are connected to (card vs motherboard).  All it cares about is seeing the hidden pool folder in the root of the drives, and that all drives in the original pool are available to it when you re-install and run it the first time, so it can auto-detect them and re-create the pool.

All you have to do, is make sure the drives are *not* formatted or re-initialized when they are re-connected.  If possible set them up with the same drive letters (or mount points).

You mentioned in your other post you were considering upgrading/reinstalling on a new OS.  The same applies there, except you wouldn't have Drivepool installed yet so don't need to disable the service.  When Drivepool is done detecting the hidden pool folders and re-building the pool, you'll have to re-do it's configuration.  Whether you do that by hand, or copy over the old config is up to you.  You can find info on the config file for Drivepool here.

 

So to confirm your steps (without OS upgrade):

  1. Stop and disable the Drivepool service
  2. Shut down the system & disconnect pool drives
  3. Boot system and flash controller cards
  4. Test controller with spare drive (if available)
  5. Shut down and reconnect old pool drives
  6. Boot and verify drives are working, and re-assign letters/mount points
  7. Re-enable Drivepool service, and start it.
  8. Run Drivepool and check to see if the pool is there again.

It should be nearly instantaneous, since Drivepool doesn't have to do anything with the data.

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Jaga,

Much appreciated! Sounds like it should be relatively painless. And thanks for the "configuration" tip - I knew I forgot something.

I tried to take a look at the SAS controller about an hour ago - and now I have a different problem. I cannot even get into the SAS ROM/utility since it does not display when I boot the box. I found out I need to switch the SATA config in the BIOS to "RAID" instead of ACPI - which now makes me super nervous that I will not be able to get back into the server with the drives connected via normal SATA.

Is it even possible to somehow switch into "RAID" mode just long enough to examine/flash the firmware and then switch back to ACPI so I can complete a few tasks on the existing server before I ditch it?

Thoughts?

Sonic.

 

 

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This post goes over how to flash that controller in pretty good detail, it may be helpful.  The person who did it used the UEFI shell to accomplish the flash (I just did the same with my 9201-16e - it works well).

The P20 firmware is stable - the CRC issues they had with the early 20.00.00.00 versions has been fixed, so go ahead and use it if you like.  20.00.07.00 is the latest.  Be sure to use the files in the IT/UEFI folder from the package when inside the UEFI shell.

You might still need to boot into the controller's BIOS with CTRL-C (RAID or not), to get the address of the controller for the flash.  After flashing you should be able to use CTRL-C to get into the BIOS and check/configure it if necessary.  Definitely disconnect the pool drives for the whole process, just to be sure.

As a reference, I started looking at this topic for different flash procedures on that chip.

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1 minute ago, Jaga said:

This post goes over how to flash that controller in pretty good detail, it may be helpful.  The person who did it used the UEFI shell to accomplish the flash (I just did the same with my 9201-16e - it works well).

The P20 firmware is stable - the CRC issues they had with the early 20.00.00.00 versions has been fixed, so go ahead and use it if you like.  20.00.07.00 is the latest.  Be sure to use the files in the IT/UEFI folder from the package when inside the UEFI shell.

I do -not- think you'll have to worry at all about changing to RAID mode to flash from the UEFI shell, so just skip that entirely.  After flashing you should be able to use CTRL-C to get into the BIOS and check/configure it if necessary.  Definitely disconnect the pool drives for the whole process, just to be sure.

I read that post - but since I cannot see the actual controller before trying the update (CTRL-C does nothing) I cannot get the last 9 digits of the SAS address. I may have to open the box and see if there is a sticker somewhere with the address.

Sonic

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Yep - I edited my post (probably while you were reading) since I saw that step in the procedure.  Might be something extra required due to being an on-board chip vs an add-in card.  You can always disconnect the drives, switch to RAID mode, then reboot again and see if it lets you in.

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So I just got my SAS controller (Dell H310 flashed to IT mode). It works but it does not pass SMART to scanner. I have looked but could not find it. Isn't there a setting I should change in Scanner?

Edit: Never mind, found it. Scanner -> Settings -> Advanced Settings & Troubleshooting -> Cinfiguration Properities -> DirectIO- check Unsafe (which does not sound scary at all!)

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2 hours ago, Umfriend said:

So I just got my SAS controller (Dell H310 flashed to IT mode). It works but it does not pass SMART to scanner. I have looked but could not find it. Isn't there a setting I should change in Scanner?

Edit: Never mind, found it. Scanner -> Settings -> Advanced Settings & Troubleshooting -> Cinfiguration Properities -> DirectIO- check Unsafe (which does not sound scary at all!)

Thanks for this - I am certain I would have been right back here asking about this!

Cheers

Sonic.

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7 hours ago, Umfriend said:

So I just got my SAS controller (Dell H310 flashed to IT mode). It works but it does not pass SMART to scanner. I have looked but could not find it. Isn't there a setting I should change in Scanner?

Edit: Never mind, found it. Scanner -> Settings -> Advanced Settings & Troubleshooting -> Cinfiguration Properities -> DirectIO- check Unsafe (which does not sound scary at all!)

I just went through finding this myself a few days ago.  Glad you were able to get it sorted!  :) 

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Just now, Jaga said:

How's your controller flash going Sonic?

For the past few days I have been dealing with some frustrating SMBv1 issues with one of my key apps (Desktop Central) which is a critical part of the existing server (and the new one). I had to get some very odd issues straightened around first as I am planning on moving this DS install from this old box to the new one (which is really the same box). 

Now that I have solved the issue - I can get back to the hardware fun. But as noted - I am treading very slowly here to ensure I do not compromise my existing pool or render this box "unstartable" but switching the SATA modes etc. I need to bench this box first, remove the existing pool drives and then pop in a spare to get this SAS controller going. That will most likely happen on Saturday.

I will report back with either success or failure!

Sonic.

 

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On 8/9/2018 at 3:18 AM, Umfriend said:

Edit: Never mind, found it. Scanner -> Settings -> Advanced Settings & Troubleshooting -> Cinfiguration Properities -> DirectIO- check Unsafe (which does not sound scary at all!)

It's meant to sound scary.  It uses methods that have been known to cause issues in some configurations.  So .... to play it safe, we don't use them by default. 

So it's definitely an "At your own risk" option.   

But in most cases, it doesn't cause issues. But ... again, we'd rather play it safe when it comes to your data/drives! 

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The way I understood Scanner's Unsafe DirectIO to work, was that it only uses it to poll SMART info.  From that perspective, it wouldn't mess with data on any of the drives it sees, and at worst case could force a BSOD (on the few controllers it doesn't work with) which conceivably *could* corrupt drive data IF Windows was in the process of writing or flushing the write buffers.

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Advanced_Settings#Legacy

I don't see a per-controller or per-drive setting for it.

Overall chance in most cases to produce lasting damage = miniscule, in my opinion.  You'd know rather quickly if you tested it (without any writing going on to the drive(s)), and avoid any potential harm.

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On 8/11/2018 at 11:50 AM, Umfriend said:

OK. So would it be possible to set that parameter by controller or disk? Or is safe I/O tried first and only upon failure would deadly violent I/O be tried?

Not currently, but it is something that we've talked about recently, actually.  

At least, maybe expose it in the disk settings (either the "unsafe" option, or the specific methods, like in the Direct IO Test tool), but only if the "advanced settings" option is enabled. 

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