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DrivePool showing incorrect serial numbers using sil 3114 Pci card


AMCross

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This is actually a very interesting issue.

 

According to the testing that I've been doing with the SiL3132 (3.0 Gb/s SATA II) card, it seems like the Si drivers do not respond properly to the Disk IDENTIFY and the SMART querying command that we're using. I bet this is what you're seeing.

 

The StableBit Scanner tries multiple ways of communicating with the disk and the only one that goes through on some of these Si controllers is what's called the SMART_RCV_DRIVE_DATA (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff566204(v=vs.85).aspx).

 

Unfortunately, the controller driver seems to only be able to query the drive connected to the first port, regardless of where we're sending the command.

 

This means that all the drives connected to a single Si controller will identify as the same drive. I've also verified this with other software that uses SMART_RCV_DRIVE_DATA, and it too is seeing the same problem, so it doesn't look like we're doing anything wrong on this end.

 

I think this is the problem that you're seeing.

 

Now the question is, why was this working before?

 

I've setup a test rig with a few Si3132 cards and have just discovered that WMI and the very basic storage device descriptor (which both provide far less detailed data about the drive) actually return the correct model / serial number for drives on those cards.

 

So the answer is to somehow detect this condition and avoid using the invalid IDENTIFY and SMART data, when dealing with these broken Si drivers.

 

I'm working on this right now and a fix should be out in the next build of the StableBit Scanner.

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Ok, I've put in a fix and it looks like it's working over here.

 

Try this build and let me know if that fixes the S/N problem.

 

Download:

It may take a few minutes for the new S/N data to funnel down to DrivePool.

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alex

 

this whs 2011 version fixed the incorrect duplicated serial number :-)

 

BUT

 

 

the ones which were correct that are connected using the onboard sata ports are now showing as 20 odd digit numbers instead of the correct serial numbers

 

 

thanks adrian

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I've done some more testing with the SiL based cards and have posted a updated builds (2914 / 2915 BETA), along with some other fixes and features.

 

Download:

http://stablebit.com/Scanner/Download

 

These builds will use the VID hardware identifier of the controller and the driver name in order to decide when to apply the SiL workaround. The VID that I've put in is 1095.

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Hi, My first post here.

 

I'm quite impressed with DrivePool & Scanner functionality (especially when compared to Storage Spaces!)

 

1/

I'm seeing this serial number duplication problem on a system with three Sil3132 SATA cards; - each card appears to just grab its; first drive's serial number. I'm using DrivePool 2.0.0.420 & Scanner 2.4.0.2928.  Should the fix mentioned in earler posts also handle this (3132) card?

 

2/

EMail notification suggestion; - Could you add description as to which machine is sending the email (eg sender name) and also, include serial number (or other unique drive identifier)?

 

3/

Question, The appearance and behaviour of the DrivePool & SCanner GUIs is quite neat/slick.  What software is used for these apps?

 

Cheers, Pete

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Monty,

 

We're glad to hear that you like them! :)

 

  1. The above fix should apply to the 3132 card as well. 
  2. The email should list the computer in question, in the body of the email at least, But the serial number or some other unique identifier is a good idea.
  3. Glad that you like them. As for the UI, you'd have to ask Alex.
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1/

My mistake; - The system has three Sil3114 SATA cards each of is displaying wrong serial numbers.  (ie each card is reporting the same serial number for each of the four drives connected to it but the serial number shown is different from card to card). 

 

The PnP info from cards the is: Ven 1095, Dev 3114, SubSys 3114 & Rev 02.

 

2/

You're right!  The machine name is showing in the body of each email.  However, can drive idenitifcation info be added to the notifications?

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1/

My mistake; - The system has three Sil3114 SATA cards each of is displaying wrong serial numbers.  (ie each card is reporting the same serial number for each of the four drives connected to it but the serial number shown is different from card to card). 

 

The PnP info from cards the is: Ven 1095, Dev 3114, SubSys 3114 & Rev 02.

 

2/

You're right!  The machine name is showing in the body of each email.  However, can drive idenitifcation info be added to the notifications?

  1. Hmm, I'm looking at the code and it's checking for VID_1095 and whether the driver name starts with Si. I just checked my inventory and I actually have this card in-house. I'll plug it in tomorrow and try to reproduce this issue.

     

  2. A notifications overhaul is on the way. There are a number of things that people have been requesting, including what you've suggested. Other popular requests are to better control overheating emails to prevent getting too many of them at a time, SMS support, naming multiple sites support. All of this is coming to the StableBit Scanner 2.5.

     

  3. Thank you for the compliment.  :)

     

    Both product are running on WPF and .NET 4.0. The StableBit Scanner 2.X uses mostly Telerik controls (a 3rd party provider) StableBit DrivePool 2.X uses all custom controls written here (and some standard built-in WPF controls), and all of this running on a custom interprocess communications system to synchronize the UI with the Service.

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Monty,

 

I've done some testing with the SiL 3114 using the latest drivers and RAID firmware available here: http://www.siliconimage.com/support/

 

I've posted my standard StableBit Scanner compatibility report here:

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/237-sil3114-sata-controller-chip/

 

For me, the card was displaying the correct serial number on all ports, but SMART data was only available on the first port. I couldn't get the BASE firmware flashed. The Windows and DOS flash utility both failed.

 

Do you know what firmware you're using, and make sure that you're on the latest driver.

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Alex,

Sorry about the delay getting back to you, the system with the Sil3114 cards died and I ended up replacing the motherboard and SATA cards with PCIe SATA cards which solved the duplicated disk serial number problem of the Sil3114 cards.

 

PS The firmware on the Sil3114 cards was version 5.5 running under Server 2012 patched up to date with standard Microsoft drivers.

 

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drashna,

 

I changed from a GigaByte GA-K8NF-9 motherboard with three Sil3114 SATA-PCI cards to a Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-D3H motherboard with a Sil3132 2 port SATA-PCIe card and a nameless generic 4 port SATA-PCIe card which I think is a based on a Marvell 88SE9230 controller (unfortunately it's got a cooler glued onto top of it!) for a total of 14 SATA ports.
 

 

 

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At the risk of resurrecting an old thread, I just purchased and installed DrivePool and Scanner yesterday, and am having this issue on my Server 2012 R2 Essentials system, using 3 Super Micro SAT2-MV8 controller cards (Marvell Hercules-2 based, according to Super Micro's website). Device manager identifies the controllers as Sonnet Tempo Gen 2 SATA PCI-X adapters, driver version 4.2.0.0 (5/11/2010).  The SMART data displayed shows only repeats of 3 different drive models and serial numbers, which based on reading this thread I would assume to be the first drive on each card.

 

I moved from HD Sentinel to Scanner due to its DrivePool integration, but it's worth noting that Sentinel did interpret SMART data correctly for each drive - with one issue. The serial numbers had a series of transposed characters, so for example if the serial number was 12345678, Sentinel displayed the serial number as 21436587, transposing each series of 2 characters.

 

Is the SMART data, other than the drive information, still reliable, given the issues I am having? Scanner indicates that one of my drives is likely to suffer a mechanical failure soon, and although I have moved everything off of it, I want to be sure that it's identifying the correct drive.

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You did, thank you - I actually posted in this thread at the same time I submitted the ticket, not thinking I would receive a response anywhere near that quickly. I was able to confirm the issues with the drive on another system after pulling it, and although Scanner was showing the incorrect serial in the program interface, it did provide me with an identifiable serial number in the email alerts that were sent. So the alerts are correct, just with the same character transposition as Sentinel, and the drive number/path in the Scanner interface is correct. I chalk it up to my using controller cards that have relatively spotty driver support on any modern OS. 

 

Either way, Scanner did alert me of the problem in time for me to move the data off of the drive - and the drive did wind up failing - so it's already more than justified its cost.  :D

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Well, we try to get to tickets first, actually. And for the most part, I try to get to posts here frequently (but it's not as much of a priority, so if it's important, the contact site is what you should use).

 

As for the drive, I'm sorry to hear that the drive failed, as that is never a pleasant experience. But I'm glad to hear that StableBit Scanner has already proven it's worth!

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"At the risk of resurrecting an old thread, I just purchased and installed DrivePool and Scanner yesterday, and am having this issue on my Server 2012 R2 Essentials system, using 3 Super Micro SAT2-MV8 controller cards (Marvell Hercules-2 based, according to Super Micro's website). Device manager identifies the controllers as Sonnet Tempo Gen 2 SATA PCI-X adapters, driver version 4.2.0.0 (5/11/2010).  The SMART data displayed shows only repeats of 3 different drive models and serial numbers, which based on reading this thread I would assume to be the first drive on each card.

 

I moved from HD Sentinel to Scanner due to its DrivePool integration, but it's worth noting that Sentinel did interpret SMART data correctly for each drive - with one issue. The serial numbers had a series of transposed characters, so for example if the serial number was 12345678, Sentinel displayed the serial number as 21436587, transposing each series of 2 characters.

 

Is the SMART data, other than the drive information, still reliable, given the issues I am having? Scanner indicates that one of my drives is likely to suffer a mechanical failure soon, and although I have moved everything off of it, I want to be sure that it's identifying the correct drive."

 

I am also sorry for resurrecting this old thread, BUT it is PRECISELY (including the transposed character pairs) the EXACT same issue I have been having for quite some time. I am using the same controller cards with the same drivers and comparing results with HD Sentinel Pro as well. The above description by SGRX is so identical to my problem, it could have been written by me. This is why I quoted it in its entirety. So far, it doesn't seem to have caused problems with DP or Scanner, but I am concerned about upgrading and other issues that may surface in the future.
 
It has been a few years since this was posted, and I wish I had been more active in this Forum in time past. I am still using DrivePool 1.x (about to upgrade) with Scanner 2.5.3062, and I am still, as of this posting, having this issue.  I was wondering if a solution to SGRX's problem was ever found? The referred-to support ticket mentioned in this thread was never published here.
 
Screen shot showing this issue attached
 
Thanks everyone,
Gary
 

post-5460-0-90174700-1505842848_thumb.png

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