IBM M1115 and LSI 9211-8i IT Drives Somtimes Detected

[crc4430]

** Before you read all this, here is the main question: If I had the wrong type of SAS to SATA breakout cable, would the drives still be detected, but not function correctly, or would I never see drives at all?

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I have an IBM M1115 RAID Controller. It has 8 Seagate SATA drives connected to it using what I assume is a forward breakout cable (SFF-8087 to 4x SATA).

When I power it up without flashing to LSI 9211 firmware, sometimes I see 8 drives in the LSI BIOS (Ctrl + H). Other times, I see 7 drives, with one drive missing, and one drive showing as "Unconfigured Bad". Other times, it boots up seeing 5 JBOD drives, missing 3 other drives.

I also hear one or more disks spinning up and down every 30 seconds or so. Only disks in the center of the NAS spin up and down, those connected to the second SAS port on the controller.
Also, when I try to boot into FreeNAS, I get an error "BTX Halted"...

I flashed the card to the LSI 9211-8i IT firmware. Now instead of Ctrl + H, I can press Ctrl + C to enter the BIOS. When I go into SAS Topology, it says that no drives are detected. However, the system now boots into FreeNAS with no issue.

I tried to flash to the LSI 9211-8i IR firmware, and still there are no drives detected.
I flashed back to the IBM firmware, and it now sees most drives, though they randomlly disappear, and spin up and down.

What could be causing this? Would the wrong type of SAS to SATA cable cause this kind of issue? Maybe I have a "reverse" breakout cable instead of "forward"? Would any drives show up at all if it was the wrong cable?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Ericloewe]

a) There's about a 0% chance you would detect the drives with the wrong cable.

b) Unless you're booting from the M1115, don't bother installing the boot ROM - forget it exists (this applies only to IT mode, which is the mode you should be using anyway).

 

[crc4430]

I wonder why I can see the disks using the default M1115 firmware, but I can see no disks at all using the 9211 IT firmware? If it's not the cable, what could it be?

 

[Ericloewe]

I wonder why I can see the disks using the default M1115 firmware, but I can see no disks at all using the 9211 IT firmware? If it's not the cable, what could it be?

Doesn't FreeNAS see them?

 

[crc4430]

FreeNAS won't boot when the IBM firmware is installed. I get a BTX Halted error. With the LSI firmware, it boots into FreeNAS but doesn't show any drives.

 

[Ericloewe]

What's the rest of the hardware? FreeNAS version?

 

[crc4430]

Its FreeNAS 9.2.1.5. It's a Gigabyte Motherboard, can't remember exact model. I doubt the issue is FreeNAS, as the controller isn't detecting any drives.

 

[Ericloewe]

The exact model would be useful. Is it desktop or server-grade?

In any case, are you flashing the V16 firmware?

 

[crc4430]

I'll get the exact model when i'm home. It's a desktop motherboard. When I plug a few of the drives directly to the motherboard, FreeNAS detects them. When they are plugged into the controller, FreeNAS doesn't detect them.

I am flashing 9211-8i_Package_P19_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows

Using instructions: https://www.syxin.com/2014/03/crossflashing-an-ibm-m1115-raid-controller-to-lsi-firmware/

 

[Ericloewe]

Well, that's V19, you want V16 (it's the version of the driver present in FreeNAS 9.2.1), but I doubt it'll solve the problem.

At this point, I'd guess it's an incompatibility - which is stupid, but we see a few of those regularly - which is exactly why server-grade motherboards are recommended.

By the way, how much RAM is installed?

 

[crc4430]

Ok i'll try to use V16.

I have 16GB of RAM.

 

[crc4430]

The motherboard is Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P

Do you think that's the issue?

 

[cyberjock]

The motherboard is Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P

Do you think that's the issue?

Definitely not on our "most recommended" list being that it is:

1. AMD
2. Not a server-grade board
3. Has all that crap you don't need in a server like onboard audio, gigabyte proprietary crap, etc.
4. Doesn't appear to support ECC from what I saw
5. Realtek NIC

Do I need to keep going?

 

[crc4430]

Yes I understand that it's not a good motherboard, but would it cause the HBA to not detect drives in IT mode, but still detect them using the stock IBM firmware? Why would that be a mobo issue?

 

[cyberjock]

Yes I understand that it's not a good motherboard, but would it cause the HBA to not detect drives in IT mode, but still detect them using the stock IBM firmware? Why would that be a mobo issue?

Because the hardware isn't designed to be a server. Desktops don't usually do HBAs or RAID controllers.

 

[crc4430]

Ok, let me know if this makes sense:

Issue: Disks are not detected when M1115 controller is flashed to LSI V19 IT firmware. Disks do not function well when M1115 stock IBM firmware is flashed.

Summary:
1) Rule out incorrect / bad SAS to SATA cable based on the fact that drives are detected when using stock IBM firmware
2) Rule out the version of the firmware on the HBA because V19 should still detect the disks
3) Suspect motherboard is the issue because it is not server grade

So the solution is to buy a new server grade motherboard?

 

[Ericloewe]

Ok, let me know if this makes sense:

Issue: Disks are not detected when M1115 controller is flashed to LSI V19 IT firmware. Disks do not function well when M1115 stock IBM firmware is flashed.

Summary:
1) Rule out incorrect / bad SAS to SATA cable based on the fact that drives are detected when using stock IBM firmware
2) Rule out the version of the firmware on the HBA because V19 should still detect the disks
3) Suspect motherboard is the issue because it is not server grade

So the solution is to buy a new server grade motherboard?

Ideally, yes, a proper server motherboard is the way to go, regardless of whether this problem can be solved.

In any case, please try V16 and try to boot into FreeNAS. This could also be a defective controller (not common, but not unheard of)

 

[crc4430]

OK I'll try V16 when I get home.

Are there any troubleshooting steps that I can try to see if its a defective controller?

 

[Ericloewe]

It all boils down to seeing if it works in another machine (or this one with appropriate firmware).

Has it worked before? If so, a defect isn't really likely...

 

[crc4430]

I got it from ebay, never tested it in another machine. Will try that as well.