9211-8i + HP SAS Expander = no Drives?

[asb2106]

I have a dell r710 dual x5650 72gb ram, been running a few VMs on it off a couple 1tb drives with great luck so far.

Wanted to expand the storage so i picked up an external case to run some HDD adapters, installed 12 known working 4TB drives, and wired them from an LSI 9211-8i with dual links to ports 8&9 of HP SAS expander. Then off every other port Ive tried using known working sas to sata breakout cables to the drives. The drives have their own power now, but it was on before the server was turned on.

The drives are not recognized.

When ran through the HP SAS i was led to belive it would be a ghost and the drives would transpire through right on the LSI card. The HP card lights up all over, ive tried it in various 8x slots.. to no avail. And if im not mistaken, all it really needs from the PCIe is power.

Is their anything I have overlooked? Any help would be really appreciated

 

[kdragon75]

Is the SAS expanded sata compatible? You need to at least list the model numbers of the SAS expander

 

[asb2106]

The HP SAS Expander is based on the PMC Sierra PM8005 SAS-2 chip. That is the name of it, I dont know of a specific model number of it, Ill check on it.
The LSI is flashed to the latest IT version

 

[Chris Moore]

If it is the SAS1 24 PORT expander that is common on eBay, it is not compatible with drives larger than 2TB.

Please note that forum rules require your post contains hardware details.

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[asb2106]

Its an SAS2, or atleast was labeled as one when purchased. Not Looking promising. I was hoping it was something simple i had missed, seems not.

Ill just grab another 9211-8i. gonna see better performance anyways

 

[kdragon75]

Lots of info here.

 

[asb2106]

Lots of info here.

Thank you I appreciate the link. That was the reading that led me to grab one. Everything I can see on my card it looks like the right one. Hooking the drives directly to the 9211 works for now, I might do some more research and hope to get lucky, but i did order another 9211 already as well :D

 

[kdragon75]

Yeah you can't go wrong with the LSI 2008 cards.

 

[Chris Moore]

Its an SAS2, or atleast was labeled as one when purchased.

What does it look like? Give some model numbers or photos. The person selling it could say whatever they want. Doesn't make it true.

 

[Chris Moore]

Ill just grab another 9211-8i. gonna see better performance anyways

Not really. A good SAS expander and all the disks on one controller works better than two controllers. I have tried it both ways.

Is this the kind of card you bought:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/487738-001...rofile-Expander-Raid-Card-4XCord/161696131154

 

[Chris Moore]

The drives are not recognized.

Updated Forum Rules 4/11/17
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-4-11-17.45124/

 

[asb2106]

Not really. A good SAS expander and all the disks on one controller works better than two controllers. I have tried it both ways.

Is this the kind of card you bought:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/487738-001...rofile-Expander-Raid-Card-4XCord/161696131154

468406 is the card I got. Its 6 for sas 3 for sata. It was 80 bucks or so.

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[asb2106]

Updated Forum Rules 4/11/17
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-4-11-17.45124/

??

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[Chris Moore]

468406 is the card I got. Its 6 for sas 3 for sata. It was 80 bucks or so.

This is not worth $80. If you paid more than $18, you were robbed. Send it back for a refund.

Also, it isn't going to work for 4TB drives. If you could post some information about the other hardware you are using, I could make a suggestion of something that would work.

 

[Johnnie Black]

That HP expander works fine with >2TB drives.

 

[Chris Moore]

That HP expander works fine with >2TB drives.

It dependson the firmware version


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[Johnnie Black]

It dependson the firmware version

Firmware upgrade results in upgraded SAS/SATA speeds from 3Gbps/1.5Gbps to 6Gbps/3Gbps respectively for expanders running firmware older than 1.52, they still work with larger disks even width an older firmware, though for performance and compatibility reasons you want to use 1.52 or newer.

 

[asb2106]

Thank you guys for the clarification. There was many variables here that I need to test out. I will update any findings I come across, and thank everyone for their assistance.