Dell 12Gbps HBA

[lime1]

Hello,

I have not been able to find information about the Dell 12Gbps HBA card (part number 2PHG9, which to my understanding is NOT a HBA330) and its use in TrueNAS core installations on the forum or on the web. On this link:

https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/Dell-PowerEdge-12Gbps-SAS-HBA.pdf

Its stated that this card is indeed a LSI SAS 3008 (which in turn probably, as I understand it, is a Broadcom 9300) with dell FW. Ive gotten the impression that the 3008 is fine for TrueNAS but since I dont have the LSI/Broadcom firmware, do I need to reflash it? Its currently running Dells fw version 16.17.01.00.

What I primarily want is some input from someone running it in production as TrueNAS on my rig (otherwise a Dell R740) will not boot with a "root mount waiting for cam" error, also referencing the mrsas driver (although this might be related to the PERC H730P Adapter that runs the intended boot disks, in HBA mode).

I've tried on two separate (identical) R740s, each with HBA 3 cards (also disabled single cards), and they'll boot the installer fine if I disable all the PCI-slots for the SAS HBA cards (and then I can install TrueNAS on the H730 card) but if the HBAs are active, it wont boot (not when its installed either). These boxes were running another ZFS based storage OS before so they should work. No JBODs connected either, so no drives available on the cards.

Thanks for reading!

 

[dxun]

Hello,

I have not been able to find information about the Dell 12Gbps HBA card (part number 2PHG9, which to my understanding is NOT a HBA330) and its use in TrueNAS core installations on the forum or on the web. On this link:

https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/Dell-PowerEdge-12Gbps-SAS-HBA.pdf

Its stated that this card is indeed a LSI SAS 3008 (which in turn probably, as I understand it, is a Broadcom 9300) with dell FW. Ive gotten the impression that the 3008 is fine for TrueNAS but since I dont have the LSI/Broadcom firmware, do I need to reflash it? Its currently running Dells fw version 16.17.01.00.

What I primarily want is some input from someone running it in production as TrueNAS on my rig (otherwise a Dell R740) will not boot with a "root mount waiting for cam" error, also referencing the mrsas driver (although this might be related to the PERC H730P Adapter that runs the intended boot disks, in HBA mode).

I've tried on two separate (identical) R740s, each with HBA 3 cards (also disabled single cards), and they'll boot the installer fine if I disable all the PCI-slots for the SAS HBA cards (and then I can install TrueNAS on the H730 card) but if the HBAs are active, it wont boot (not when its installed either). These boxes were running another ZFS based storage OS before so they should work. No JBODs connected either, so no drives available on the cards.

Thanks for reading!

If you want to be absolutely, I think most people around here will suggest flashing the card to IT mode using stock LSI firmware, if at all possible - with some cards this is possible but some are absolutely not going to work (at least, the way to make them work isn't currently known).

It's hard to say whether the current Dell FW is a RAID firmware exposing a (quasi)-HBA mode or is it a true IT (initiatior-target) firmware. You'll want the latter with ZFS due to the excellent support for it. That is not to say that a particular card in this or that mode won't work but you won't have the guarantee provided the existing body of testing a experience with LSI hardware and IT firmware .

Having looked recently into the H330 and its variants, I have to say I am not 100% sure if your particular part is cross-flashable to LSI IT firmware or not - I am using this excellent thread as a guide and I can't find mention of your Dell part. I would recommend going through it with a fine-toothed comb and finding solid evidence that this procedure can be applied to your card. Tread carefully - you can brick your card if the procedure isn't applicable to that model. If in any doubt, I'd register on that forum and ask the question on the thread.

 

[jgreco]

See the article at

What's all the noise about HBAs, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with, a server. RAID controllers typically aggregate several disks into a Virtual Disk abstraction of some sort...

www.truenas.com

In short, yes, it appears to be a 3008-based card. This is not, in itself, sufficient. It should be crossflashed to LSI IT mode, because the LSI driver works hand-in-hand with the LSI firmware, like a partnership.

I do notice that the Dell firmware appears from its number to be a LATER firmware revision of some sort. The previous firmware version seems to be 15.17.09.07, so it's possible that the ".17." is a Dell-customized variant, in which case perhaps 16.17.01.00 is just a modified version of the 16.00.01.00 code you're supposed to be running. That might mean that it is perfectly acceptable.

Also, the

PERC H730P Adapter

is known to be a LSI 3108 RAID controller, and should not be used with FreeNAS/TrueNAS, especially not for data disks. It does not have an "HBA mode" except perhaps in some Dell marketing dweeb's imagination. A zebra that has had its white stripes painted black is not the same thing as a black horse, even if you call it a black horse. To qualify as an HBA for FreeNAS/TrueNAS purposes, it must NOT be running MFI or MRSAS firmware, and must be happy to speak to the FreeBSD mpr or mps driver running appropriate IT firmware.

Dell's attempts at integrating the PERCs into the system tend to lead to weird complications. I'm sorry I don't know what to tell you about your system not booting, so I'm just focusing on the things you need to know about the TrueNAS side here.

 

[lime1]

Thank you both for replying!

I ended up ordering a couple of real LSI SAS9300-8e cards just to see if the CAM error goes away with those (I assume it will as its clearly related to the HBA cards - it boots without them). On the link provided above, the T93GD card (which as I understand it, is the low profile variant of 2PHG9 that I want to use) is indeed listed as a 9300 that is running IT mode. The ones I have were recommended to me for running a Nexenta based ZFS storage system and did so with no issues. Stepping away from Nexenta and going un-supported, I would rather just go with the recommendation which (as I understand it) is SAS9300 for 12G but it remains to be seen if it resolves the issue.

A final question would be about the H730s in the boxes. I'm completely aware they are RAID cards and not recommended for TrueNAS usage. I intend to use them as boot drives only (just to start TrueNAS OS from them). Any thoughts on this? They are configured in HBA mode just to get the drives for the boot-pool visible with no RAID0 hassle. If there is a reason not to boot from these, the other option would be to order H330s or HBA330s and cross-flash those to LSI as per above post. The proprietary cabling in the R740 will not allow me to use a standard PCI internal card, so stuck with the small form factor slot if I want to use the internal back plane. I could off course re-build that but would rather not.

So basically, boot-pool on JBOD via LSI SAS9300-8e or boot-pool on H730 on internal back plane?