Flashed H310 to IT But FreeNAS Shows Single Disk

matt11601

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System
Dell PowerEdge T30
Dell H310 (two 8TB HD connected)
FreeNAS Version 11.1-U6

Hello everyone, was hoping to get some help. I just flashed the Dell H310 card using these instructions. The process, from what I can tell, was successful. My system boots without any RAID BIOS notifications and without errors. However, FreeNAS lists a single disk (da0) with 16TB instead of two separate 8TB disks. It appears the card is running RAID 0.

I read this thread by Stilez and did not see any major errors on my end, but clearly I'm doing something wrong. I will have not have access to the hardware for another week, but want to investigate some solutions. My knowledge in RAID cards is a beginner level, so I'm going to ask some dumb questions for the sake of not missing the obvious.

My questions are:
1) Does this mean the card is still in IR mode? (I did not learn about the list command for sas2flash which could have answered this question until I left the hardware, but will check).
2) Is it possible it's in IT mode, but still requires changes to FreeNAS settings?
3) Is there a particular way to connect drives to the H310?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 

Chris Moore

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with 16TB instead of two separate 8TB disks. It appears the card is running RAID 0.
That is not the way it should be. You probably need to go through the process and flash the card again. Disks out.
My questions are:
1) Does this mean the card is still in IR mode?
Certainly.
2) Is it possible it's in IT mode, but still requires changes to FreeNAS settings?
No.
3) Is there a particular way to connect drives to the H310?
Depends on the specifics of your hardware. I am not familiar with the Dell PowerEdge T30, but you probably just need forward breakout cables from the card to the drives.

Drive Cables: Mini SAS to 4-SATA SFF-8087 Multi-Lane Forward Breakout Internal Cable - - US $12.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/371681252206
 

Chris Moore

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Evertb1

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Is it possible it's in IT mode, but still requires changes to FreeNAS settings?
I used the same instructions to flash a H310 succesfully. But I also flashed the LSI BIOS to the card so I am able to enter the Config Utility with CTRL+C. Not really needed but I wanted it. Anyway, if you enter the config utility it shows you the Firm Ware revison the card is running (20.00.07.00-IT in my case) so you dont have any doubts. In the comment section of the instructions you used, is a comment of one ChromeCapone that shows how to flash the BIOS. Worked like a charm for me. Though I copied the rom file to the root of the bootable usb stick so I did not need to navigate to the folder (don't forget to alter the command if you run UEFI).
 

matt11601

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@Chris Moore Thanks for the responses. I'll check out Stilez's guide again.

@Evertb1 Do you enter the BIOS routinely? From my understanding the BIOS is not needed, but I will certainly flash it if it helps with troubleshooting.

Of note, I do have SSH access to the system and "camcontrol devlist" does not show the new HD so I'm confident the card is still in IR mode. I'll report back.
 

Evertb1

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Do you enter the BIOS routinely? From my understanding the BIOS is not needed, but I will certainly flash it if it helps with troubleshooting.
If you use the HBA just to connect your FreeNAS storage drives you don't need the bios. I used the card for some time in a system with a failed SATA controller and needed to set the boot sequence of the connected drives. Otherwise I would not have thought of it.
 
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matt11601

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If you use the HBA just to connect your FreeNAS storage drives you don't need the bios. I used the card for some time in a system with a failed SATA controller and needed to set the boot sequence of the connected drives. Otherwise I would not have thought of it.

Ahh I see. Got it.
 

matt11601

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It's been a long delay, but I finally revisited this card.

I successfully flashed the H310 to IT mode using the guide by Stilez For confirmation, I used the command "LSI-P20-sas2flash.efi -c 0-list" and see IT at the end of "Firmware Product ID." And to be even more sure, I flashed the boot ROM successfully which also states IT mode after entering the HBA BIOS with ctrl-c.

I'm confident the card was flashed successfully, but now my problem is no drives are listed. I have two 3.5" 8TB drives connected by breakout cables. No drives are listed in the HBA BIOS under "SAS Topology" or during FreeNAS boot up. Running "camcontrol devlist" in the shell does not show additional drives as well.

My questions now are:
1) Could the problem still be a bad flash? I've read several posts/threads about H310 cards requiring several flash attempts. But I have not seen people re-attempt flashing when all steps appear to be successful.
2) Is the next step to try different breakout cables? This seems strange to me because my original problem (as stated in the title of this post) was a single disk was shown using the same exact cables.

One note, I did not flash a new SAS address because, from my understanding, the card will work with whatever is assigned. If it matters, the only major change to the system is an upgrade to 11.2. No hardware has changed.

Thanks again for any guidance you can offer.
 

Chris Moore

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I'm confident the card was flashed successfully, but now my problem is no drives are listed. I have two 3.5" 8TB drives connected by breakout cables.
What kind of drives are they?
Is the next step to try different breakout cables?
No.
One note, I did not flash a new SAS address because, from my understanding, the card will work with whatever is assigned.
You should put the original address back in the card. The instructions should have included saving that information and putting it back. It does need an address in there. It is like a MAC address in a network card. It can't work properly without some address being in there even if you make one up, but you really shouldn't make it up to avoid an address collision with another device.

I have a feeling that the 3.3 volt power issue may be the root cause. Please respond to my questions above.
 

matt11601

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What kind of drives are they?

8 TB WD. I believe I shucked them from an external enclosure.
IMAG0272.jpg

You should put the original address back in the card.

Done

Additional information
I also tried a 1 TB Seagate Barracude (only drive connected to H310) and this was not detected as well. The drive did spin up however.
IMAG0273.jpg


Here are screenshots of the H310 BIOS in case it helps
IMAG0274.jpg

IMAG0275.jpg

IMAG0276.jpg
 

Chris Moore

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There is likely to be two issues here.
8 TB WD. I believe I shucked them from an external enclosure.
First, look at this video with regard to the power issue with these drives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W3-uOl4ruc&t
I also tried a 1 TB Seagate Barracude (only drive connected to H310) and this was not detected as well. The drive did spin up however.
That Seagate drive should work though, so you might try checking the connection between the forward breakout cable and the SAS controller.

Wait... What cable did you buy to connect between the SAS controller and the drives?
 

matt11601

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There is likely to be two issues here.

First, look at this video with regard to the power issue with these drives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W3-uOl4ruc&t

I'll check that out

That Seagate drive should work though, so you might try checking the connection between the forward breakout cable and the SAS controller.

Exactly, I found this to be strange which makes me think it's related to my system or cables. Interestingly, the drives were detected with the same hardware which, I know I keep saying this, was the original reason I posted this thread. The computer was located off site so, I guess, anything could have happened. But now it's in my home.

Wait... What cable did you buy to connect between the SAS controller and the drives?

I have this cable: https://amzn.to/2ALd2La

Thank you very much @Chris Moore for all your assistance. It's much appreciated.
 

Chris Moore

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The product page: https://www.amazon.com/SFF-8087-36-Pin-7-Pin-Splitter-Adapter/dp/B07K6L5R9G

This appears to be the correct kind of cable. There is a similar looking cable that is often called a "Reverse Breakout" which will not work properly.

I suppose that you could try going through the process of flashing the card again, but I wouldn't expect you could go into the card menu if the firmware wasn't loaded properly.
I have had a card (once) that overheated and subsequently would not detect drives, so it is a slim possibility that they sent you a bad card. Do you have another breakout cable to test with? I would suspect a bad cable before a bad card. You should also be able to test the drive on a regular SATA port, if you have not already, to verify that the drive is working.
 

matt11601

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Do you have another breakout cable to test with? I would suspect a bad cable before a bad card.

I do not, but am going to buy another one.

I suppose that you could try going through the process of flashing the card again, but I wouldn't expect you could go into the card menu if the firmware wasn't loaded properly.

Agreed. I reflashed with P20 and got the following output (picture attached). Nothing looks abnormal to me, but just including in case I'm missing the obvious.

IMAG0278.jpg


You should also be able to test the drive on a regular SATA port, if you have not already, to verify that the drive is working.

For now, I have abandoned using the two 8TB WD white drives and will be testing the H310 with that 1TB Barracuda. This drive was detected in my server BIOS with a regular SATA connection to the motherboard. Once I get this drive working with the H310, then I'll revisit the 8TB drives and see if the 3.3V is an issue.

I went into the motherboard BIOS just to confirm nothing looked strange. The PowerEdge T30 does have a RAID option (under a SATA ports heading), but it's set to AHCI. The H310 is also detected in the PCI slot and is listed as "mass storage."

If a new cable does not work, what would the next step be? Finding a different power supply to test with? Or getting a new card? I wish I had another system to test on, but unfortunately I do not.
 
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matt11601

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I have some updates for those interested and to help people going forward.

I ordered a new SAS cable and have one of two 8 TB drives showing up in the H310 BIOS. Looks like a major source of my problems was the cable which is odd since it worked previously.

The final issue now is getting the second 8TB drive to work. I unplugged all drives except the one that does not spin up. I tried every combination of SATA ports to the motherboard and SATA power cables without luck. Either the drive is dead or it's the 3.3V issue for WD White label drives as mentioned above.

Taking a step back, my original reason for this post was FreeNAS showing a single 16TB drive due to improper flashing of the H310 card. For this to happen, the original SAS cable was working and both 8TB drives were spinning up. After returning to this issue a few weeks ago, I've discovered the SAS cable went bad and one of two 8TB drives spin up which is unusual and worries me more than anything else. Perhaps a power surge occurred? I did get a few notifications of FreeNAS rebooting improperly since I originally posted. Either way, my hardware issues may be bigger than I realize, but I have not seen anything else odd.

Will report back on the 8TB drive. Thanks for the all the help.
 

matt11601

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Success. I fixed the 3.3V issue with Kapton tape using the link @Chris Moore posted above and all is well. I had to try different configurations (re-arranging HDs, power connectors, and LSI connections), but finally got it working.

Thank you so much @Chris Moore for all the help. Much appreciated.
 
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