ASM1166 on TrueNAS Scale 22.02-RC.2

[5had3z]

Hi Everyone,

I spun up a new Scale system and tried to use a Silverstone ECS06 (https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=973&area=en) (ASM1166 Controller) for additional SATA drives and it doesn't "just work". I'm wondering how to debug this or if it will work at all. In the comment thread of the product page, a Silverstone rep says ASM1166 should just do so with the standard linux AHCI driver.

I can't see the card with lspci or any disks with fdisk -l, all the drives on the motherboard's sata controller are fine and I have a 6-wide pool, but in the future I want to double the pool and this card has the 6 SATA connectors that I need to do so.

The rest of the system is follows:
MSI B560M PRO-VDH WIFI
WD Green SN350 (boot)
G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB
Intel Core i5 11400
6x 8TB WD Red Pro

Thanks,

 

[jgreco]

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

In the last year or two, we've had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use port multipliers, and use cheap SATA controllers only after extensive research. SATA controllers and SATA...

www.truenas.com

It likely won't work, certainly is guaranteed to not work well. Don't try. Get a proper LSI HBA.

 

[Ericloewe]

It should also be noted that this low-end card with a dubious controller is more expensive than some LSI HBAs from reputable sellers of used hardware. I can't imagine a scenario where this thing is the right choice.

 

[5had3z]

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

In the last year or two, we've had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use port multipliers, and use cheap SATA controllers only after extensive research. SATA controllers and SATA...

www.truenas.com

It likely won't work, certainly is guaranteed to not work well. Don't try. Get a proper LSI HBA.

It should also be noted that this low-end card with a dubious controller is more expensive than some LSI HBAs from reputable sellers of used hardware. I can't imagine a scenario where this thing is the right choice.

Thanks everyone, I'll try to find a second hand LSI then, I thought this one might've been alright as it doesn't have a multiplier or anything, literally just the ASM1166 (Uses PCI-E 3.0x2 interface for the proper bandwidht), this was just bought at the same time as the rest of the hardware for convenience.

 

[jgreco]

The problem with these things tends to be that the drivers can be dodgy, immature, or just not quite all there. Sometimes they actually do work fine, but in those cases, people are generally not here asking about why it doesn't work. It's a self-sorting issue. I have nothing against cheap hardware; it's why I came to FreeBSD in the first place, from the world of Sun Microsystems, IBM RT, VAX, etc., where owning a real computer was capital-P Pricey.

 

[5had3z]

The problem with these things tends to be that the drivers can be dodgy, immature, or just not quite all there. Sometimes they actually do work fine, but in those cases, people are generally not here asking about why it doesn't work. It's a self-sorting issue. I have nothing against cheap hardware; it's why I came to FreeBSD in the first place, from the world of Sun Microsystems, IBM RT, VAX, etc., where owning a real computer was capital-P Pricey.

Something like this would be more approprate?

Fujitsu 9211-8I FW:P20 IT Mode ZFS FreeNAS unRAID+8087 to 4x SATA Cable AU | eBay

We keep our promises that we will provide you with the best solution within 24 hours.

www.ebay.com.au

 

[jgreco]

Yup. No specific endorsement of the seller. The price may be a little high. Here in the US, unflashed cards run about $30-40 USD in small qty. There's some moderate value in getting it crossflashed by someone else, so I'd say the price on the card you listed seems a bit inflated. But it's hard to know what's right for your local market.

 

[Ericloewe]

Don't forget those are Dollarydoos, the exchange rate is not favorable.

 

[5had3z]

Just FYI to any lurkers in the future and bring closure to this post, I bought that model of HBA card and plugged in and worked straight away, plug and play with no issues.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Hi Everyone,

I spun up a new Scale system and tried to use a Silverstone ECS06 (https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=973&area=en) (ASM1166 Controller) for additional SATA drives and it doesn't "just work". I'm wondering how to debug this or if it will work at all. In the comment thread of the product page, a Silverstone rep says ASM1166 should just do so with the standard linux AHCI driver.

I can't see the card with lspci or any disks with fdisk -l, all the drives on the motherboard's sata controller are fine and I have a 6-wide pool, but in the future I want to double the pool and this card has the 6 SATA connectors that I need to do so.

The rest of the system is follows:
MSI B560M PRO-VDH WIFI
WD Green SN350 (boot)
G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB
Intel Core i5 11400
6x 8TB WD Red Pro

Thanks,

Did you get it to work, or did it end on a landfill?

 

[jgreco]

model of HBA card

Side note: this is not an "HBA card."

 

[jgreco]

Did you get it to work, or did it end on a landfill?

When these don't work, they often end up in the landfill. High markup brands like Silverstone are sometimes the target of knockoff cards; I personally would think the ASM1166 would be likely to ""work"", but one of the reasons we do not recommend SATA cards is because of problems like this. It is recommended that you look at an HBA card instead.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

I'm beginning to read (and understand) the writing on the wall. I'll go find a HBA card. Thanks for the clarification!