LSI 9240-8i IT flashed controller not detected by FreeNAS

[jconner]

• FreeNAS 8.0.1-BETA3 (AMD64) booting from 2GB USB Verbatim memory stick
• HP N36L Proliant Microserver, AMD Neo CPU, 4GB non-ECC RAM, 200W PSU
• LSI 9211-8i SATAIII/SAS 8-port HBA (IT Firmware, PCIe 8x in PCIe 16x slot)
• Intel GigE CT NIC (PCIe 1x)
• 4x 2TB Samsung 3.5" HD204UI, RAIDz1 (vdev #1)
• 4x 500GB Samsung 2.5" HM500JI, RAIDz1 (vdev #2)
• IcyDock MB994SP-4S 4-in-1 2.5" backplane

All is working fine, apart from disk spin-down as I don't think this is supported by the FreeBSD mps0 driver.

Milhouse, Can you confirm that the LSI 9211-8i card is still working for you and what version of FreeNAS are you running with that card? I purchased the 9240-8i and can't get the cards to be recognized by FreeNAS at all. Also, was it difficult to install the IT firmware? I want to use them in a JBOD configuration and then use ZFS2 in FreeNAS.

Thanks!
Josh

 

[Milhouse]

Milhouse, Can you confirm that the LSI 9211-8i card is still working for you and what version of FreeNAS are you running with that card? I purchased the 9240-8i and can't get the cards to be recognized by FreeNAS at all. Also, was it difficult to install the IT firmware? I want to use them in a JBOD configuration and then use ZFS2 in FreeNAS.

Thanks!
Josh

I confirm the 9211-8i with IT firmware has been working out of the box with all versions of FreeNAS 8, including 8.0.2-RELEASE.

The 9240-8i isn't supported out of the box, and doesn't have IT firmware so not worth keeping. I had a 9240-8i originally, but sent it back and exchanged it for the 9211-8i.

Flashing the IT firmware is pretty easy, just like flashing a BIOS.

 

[jconner]

Thanks Milhouse,
Can you explain a little more what you mean that the 9211-8i works out of the box with FreeNAS 8? Did you have to add the Linux drivers or flash the firmware before the card was operational? I purchased one and trying to install it on a fresh install of 8.0.2 Release but don't see it as the computer boots up. Not sure if it may be a bad card? Or not supported by the motherboard? Any help would be great!

Thanks

 

[Milhouse]

By out of the box, I mean the 9211-8i (once flashed with IT firmware) is detected by FreeNAS 8 without any additional modification. ie., out of the box. No additional drivers, no config changes required. It just works (with IT firmware).

If you're not seeing the controller as the computer boots up - whether the 9211-8i is running IT or IR firmware, it really doesn't matter at this stage - then that's a problem. You should see the controller initialise and detect any attached disks. You could have a bad card, or it may not be supported by your motherboard. What is your motherboard? Is the card firmly seated in it's slot? Have you tried a different PCIe slot? Do you need to configure your BIOS to allow additional boot (RAID) ROMs?

 

[ProtoSD]

Jconner,

Sorry your post was moved because you hijacked the thead.

 

[jconner]

Milhouse,

Thanks for your response.

I've tried other slots. It will only work in the bottom PCIe slot, in the other 2 it won't post at all. My motherboard is an ASUS F1A75-V EVO. I upgraded the BIOS to the most recent. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have to configure the BIOS to accept an additional RAID... When I had the 9240-8i card installed I could see the controller initialise and detect the attached disks as the computer was booting up.

I think I will try it in another motherboard come Monday. I'll keep you posted.

Josh