Older firmware for LSI 9305-16i

[Octopuss]

I have the above mentioned card and after trying three different cables, I am starting to suspect something is not entirely right with it - it just wouldn't recognize any drives connected to it.
I immediatelly flashed the newest firmware to it when I got it (v16), but when I have finally concluded it doesn't work (sort of), I started looking for older versions, only to find out Broadcom only has v16 available.
So, does anyone here have any older version at hand by chance?

 

[mrpasc]

I do not have older firmware at hand, but would recommend to ask at servethehome forums, user „Sleyk“ does have a lot of sbr‘s at hand.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Did you restart the machine and try CTRL-C after the LSI BIOS loaded? The card dynamically detects drives hot-plugged/unplugged, so the card should find them. Ports are 2-3-0-1 starting from the outside if the card is facing down. Ports 0-1 are on controller 0, 2-3 on controller 1, two controllers on one card under a huge heatsink.

 

[artlessknave]

it should just work, HBA's aren't all that complex, since they do one thing. if it doesn't, older firmware isn't likely to help.
if it's not seeing the drives, something is very wrong in the connection chain.

 

[Octopuss]

Did you restart the machine and try CTRL-C after the LSI BIOS loaded? The card dynamically detects drives hot-plugged/unplugged, so the card should find them. Ports are 2-3-0-1 starting from the outside if the card is facing down. Ports 0-1 are on controller 0, 2-3 on controller 1, two controllers on one card under a huge heatsink.

I eventually managed to get to that utility, yes. It doesn't report any connected disk.

And yes, I think the card is a toast for whatever reason, but it's puzzling, because I bought it from a STH member who was the first owner. I guess I'll just mail it back to him to check it out and then work out something.

 

[artlessknave]

because I bought it from a STH member

maybe they had a fake card? the fake cards turn into zombies, partially working but not really working.

exactly which card is it supposed to be? maybe you can post some pics of it? if it looks like a genuine fake, we can add it to the fakes resource.

 

[Octopuss]

LSI 9305-16i. I got it in an original box. No pictures, because I never thought to take any, and I have sent it back today.

 

[Ericloewe]

Are the cables known to be good? Reverse-breakout cables are basically indistinguishable from the forward-breakout cables without electrical testing, so that's an option, too (I remember one forum member even buying one that was mislabeled).

P16.something.10 or .12 firmware is definitely the way to go for SAS93xx cards, for future reference.

 

[Octopuss]

The card looked perfectly fine at first. I just plugged it in my PC and it showed up in device manager, I updated firmware and everything else that could be updated (yes, with 16.x.x.12), and it wasn't until I tried plugging stuff to it when I realized something wasn't right.

I have no idea what reverse breakout or breakout cable means, but I tried these cables:

Mini SAS SFF-8643 to 4 SFF-8482 Cable IDE Power Wire HDD Drive RAID Adapter 1M | eBay

Grafikkarten Sie für Server verwendet, SAS-Festplatte. Wenn die Mini-SAS (SFF-8643) auf Ihre Backplane, dieses Kabel nicht mit ihnen arbeiten. Interne Mini SAS SFF-8643 (4) 29pin SFF-8482 Anschlüsse mit IDE macht.

www.ebay.com

Supermicro kabel SFF-8643 (SAS-HD) -> 4x SATA, reverzní, 55cm | SUNTECH Computer - prodej počítačů, elektroniky a spotřebního materiálu

Supermicro kabel SFF-8643 (SAS-HD) -> 4x SATA, revers, 55cm

www.suntech.cz

Neither of which worked.
The 2nd one is branded and data only, so it couldn't be a cable problem I guess.

 

[artlessknave]

that second link doesn't work. it does say "reverzní" which i wonder might be reverse in whatever language that is. if so, those would never have worked.

https://en.bab.la/dictionary/czech-english/reverzn%C3%AD

those other cables are.....not high quality looking.
"Cable IDE Power Wire" I don't even know what that means.

this tells me that you tried one single set of cables, which didn't work; the other set would never have worked.

you need forward break out cables, which the ones with power should be, but they might also just be garbage.

problaby should post all your hardware, including PSU.

 

[Octopuss]

The link works just fine for me. The link you posted doesn't for me though, lol.
Try this? https://store.supermicro.com/superm...and-55-55-55-55-55cm-cable-cbl-sast-0631.html

So what the heck does reverse and breakout cable mean? I thought there were only two types of cables, one where you plug the power cables from PSU into those and then the entire thing goes into the drive (like I bought from Ebay), and then the one I bought as 2nd where you plug the power cables from PSU directly into a drive (the link in this post).

PSU is irrelevant, it's good enough (much more actually, quite an overkill for a server drawing 120W max), and bottom line is, with the HBA I currently have in the server, everything works like a charm, so it's HBA and/or cable problem.

 

[artlessknave]

breakout cable is just that. it breaks it out from a combined cable.
forward means SAS controller SFF cables to SATA/SAS drives
reverse/backward means SATA/SAS controller individual connections to SAS connector SFF to connect to a backplane.

reverse are usually to use SATA motherboard ports (with either a SATA or SAS controller) with a backplane.
for example, an x9srh motherboard has a SAS controller but uses the connector commonly known as SATA.

forward is to go from a SAS controller directly to drives, or to backplane like supermicros TQs, which are individually connected.

 

[artlessknave]

PSU is irrelevant, it's good enough

the PSU is never irrelevant. we have seen people trying to run 800W hardware on 200W PSU. since you haven't told us either, which is a forum requirement, why should we help you when you wont help us help you? insufficient or power quality PSU can cause exactly the issues you are seeing, some hardware just doesn't work.

 

[Octopuss]

breakout cable is just that. it breaks it out from a combined cable.
forward means SAS controller SFF cables to SATA/SAS drives
reverse/backward means SATA/SAS controller individual connections to SAS connector SFF to connect to a backplane.

reverse are usually to use SATA motherboard ports (with either a SATA or SAS controller) with a backplane.
for example, an x9srh motherboard has a SAS controller but uses the connector commonly known as SATA.

forward is to go from a SAS controller directly to drives, or to backplane like supermicros TQs, which are individually connected.

This must be something extremely specific to SAS, because I have never ever heard about this.

But if this is indeed the whole problem, I am out of luck, because after looking at Ebay listings and various eshops that sell IT stuff, noone ever mentions the type of cable, only what connectors it has. How the hell do I know what to buy then? That's really, really bizarre.

 

[Ericloewe]

This must be something extremely specific to SAS

Indeed it is. More details here.

But if this is indeed the whole problem, I am out of luck, because after looking at Ebay listings and various eshops that sell IT stuff, noone ever mentions the type of cable, only what connectors it has. How the hell do I know what to buy then? That's really, really bizarre.

You're not wrong. You basically have to search for and buy only cables that specifically state whether they're forward or reverse breakout cables. It sucks, but there's not much that can be done.
Fun fact: This comes about because SATA, from which the SAS connectors were derived, handles TX/RX by swapping them on the disk side. SFF-8087 and SFF-8643 are the same on both ends, because expanders exist and it was seen as more practical to do the TX/RX swap inside the cables.
So I guess that reverse-breakout cables are actually not-crossover cables while forward-breakout cables are crossover cables.
Fun!

 

[Octopuss]

So I guess I need to buy one of those overpriced cables I originally ran into that easily cost four times as much as the most? MEH!
Well I will know for sure once I hear back from the guy who sold me the card, but this might be it.

On the other hand, it does not explain why the SAS HDDs didn't even spin up. The power part of the connector is separate from datam isn't it? And that was connected to a molex connector.

 

[artlessknave]

usually, if they don't specify, they are forward, which are the most standard. those cables you linked have specified reverse, just in czech.
the other ones with power are probably the right type of connector. at this point, assuming the card is good, which I rate at decent odds, my guess would be you either got bad cables for the 1 correct set or your PSU is having issues running the drives.

you could try linking some here and we can try to check them...

 

[Octopuss]

I don't think 650W gold+ PSU that can run the server with different HBA would magically not be able to with this one. I said the server draws about 120W, so even if I had the biggest lowest possible wattage junk I could find, it would still have no problems running it.

But let's say the first cable with power connectors from Ebay was the correct type. How can something with just a few wires be made badly so it doesn't work, at least the power part? That makes no sense. And I don't think it was bad, because when I connected it to the SAS HDDs, they clicked quietly, so the power was there.
I don't know, there are way too many mysteries about this.

 

[artlessknave]

I said the server draws about 120W

you said, but as you apparently refuse to post any hardware (if I missed it, please let me know), all we have is hearsay.
when I try to ask questions to clear up the mysteries, you try to Jedi your way out of giving any answers....
"the power supply....is fine"
"the hardware only draws 120w"

the 9305 is going to be ~5-20w on its own. each hard drive is ~10-20W idle, a bit more when spinning up. unless you have an ATOM cpu, most cpus are ~50Widle, motherboards are about 20W or so, any IPMI will be ~10W.
if you have 10 drives, that's already over what you claim your hardware uses, just in drives. most motherboards have 4-8 SATA ports, a primary reason to get a 9305 is because the motherboard doesn't have enough ports, which implies 6-10 drives minimum.
we don't know how many drives you have, we don't know the hardware. diagnosing issues blind is a frustrating waste of everyone's time.

I'm not even saying it's the power supply, I'm saying there isn't enough evidence to rule it out, yet, and that simply *following the rules of the forum* would aid that.

 

[Ericloewe]

most cpus are ~50Widle

That's a bit overstated. Both my systems idle at under 50 W, all things included...