Random reboots with Sil3132 controller

[biozinc]

FreeNAS 8.0 i386 release
Intel D510MO
Startech.com mini PCIe to SATA controller (Sil 3132 chipset)

I've got my FreeNAS box up and running for a few month, and tried to add more hard drives through the mini PCIe to SATA controller. However, this caused the box to randomly reboot. (uptime of 10min to 3hours). This happens even if no hard drive is attached to the Startech controller (i.e. it's just sitting in the slot).

When I remove the controller, everything is back to normal.

I tried to catch an error message by plugging in a monitor and filming the screen :). However, no error messages are displayed before the reboot.

Any ideas on what to do would be appreciated.

 

[BakCompat]

If FN8 is anything like FN 0.7, then the cause of your problem is the Silicon Image chipset itself, which is a crap shoot under BSD. It's a junk chipset that has poor support at best, outside the windows world. As FN8 is still a work in progress and many bugs are being fixed in the beta releases right now prior to the 8.01 release, I'd suggest you chunk the Sil chipset card and replace it with a *hardware* chipset controller instead of a software chipset controller, which just offloads the processing to the cpu. I'd say go with a Promise chipset to keep the costs low, but several others seem quite willing to pay a bit more for an Intel controller in PCIe, without upgrading to a full blown monster from LSI or similar manufacturers, paying several hundred dollars per card. As you have not specified your hardware, I couldn't say much more.

Also, ave you considered running the x64 version instead of the x86 version? Many people seem to report better handling of their boxes on the x64 code.

 

[matthewowen01]

If FN8 is anything like FN 0.7, then the cause of your problem is the Silicon Image chipset itself, which is a crap shoot under BSD. It's a junk chipset that has poor support at best, outside the windows world. As FN8 is still a work in progress and many bugs are being fixed in the beta releases right now prior to the 8.01 release, I'd suggest you chunk the Sil chipset card and replace it with a *hardware* chipset controller instead of a software chipset controller, which just offloads the processing to the cpu. I'd say go with a Promise chipset to keep the costs low, but several others seem quite willing to pay a bit more for an Intel controller in PCIe, without upgrading to a full blown monster from LSI or similar manufacturers, paying several hundred dollars per card. As you have not specified your hardware, I couldn't say much more.

Also, ave you considered running the x64 version instead of the x86 version? Many people seem to report better handling of their boxes on the x64 code.

Please don't start unsubstantiated rumors. The sil3124 worked great under 7.2 and under 8.0

I've never been a fan of startech though. Can you post a link to the apecific card?

 

[biozinc]

Also, ave you considered running the x64 version instead of the x86 version? Many people seem to report better handling of their boxes on the x64 code.

That seems to have done the trick. Years of Windows has gotten me used to the idea that x86 code is more mature than x64. My box seems to have stabilised now. (fingers crossed). Thanks!

Regarding the rather peculiar choice of hardware, I'm building a 3 disk NAS box inside on of these cases. I started with a Intel D510MO board, but wanted to add a third disk. The only way I could have done that internally was the StarTech/SiI card. Here's a link. Not my first choice of vendor, but it's the only thing that would work.

If I had to start over, I'd probably looked for one of those Supermicro Atom boards with 6 SATA ports.

 

[matthewowen01]

That seems to have done the trick. Years of Windows has gotten me used to the idea that x86 code is more mature than x64. My box seems to have stabilised now. (fingers crossed). Thanks!

Regarding the rather peculiar choice of hardware, I'm building a 3 disk NAS box inside on of these cases. I started with a Intel D510MO board, but wanted to add a third disk. The only way I could have done that internally was the StarTech/SiI card. Here's a link. Not my first choice of vendor, but it's the only thing that would work.

If I had to start over, I'd probably looked for one of those Supermicro Atom boards with 6 SATA ports.

those look pretty neat, glad the x64 version is working for you.

 

[BakCompat]

If you wish to go back and look at the problems that users have experiences with Silicon Image chipsets under FN7, you can do so at http://wiki.freenas.org/freenas_users_hardware?s[]=compatibility

Note, that it is "hit or miss". Some work. Some don't. You're welcome to use whatever chipset controller you wish.

Making the switch to x64 alone tends to solve several problems. If not, report back.

Regarding the D510 mobo: I have the same setup. I used a Promise pci card (~$30) to add the extra sata ports needed, as this micro atx board only has 2 sata ports. So, I have 4 drives in total. Two on the Promise card. Two on the native controller. It is currently running the latest version of Sabanda, but I'm moving data off it to upgrade to FN8b4.

I don't see any hardware specs that identify that StarTech controller from their website, so I don't know what chipset it is. As long as it's supported, the brand doesn't matter too much...

 

[biozinc]

@BakCompat: I stubbornly went with a case that doesn't accommodate an expansion card, so the mPCIe was the only option. StarTech's site gives the chipset as Silicon Image Sil3132CNU.

To conclude this issue for anyone who stumbles on this thread in the future:

- Sil3132 may or may not work with FreeNAS.
- Make sure you've tried the x64 build before you give up on it though.

 

[matthewowen01]

To conclude this issue for anyone who stumbles on this thread in the future:

- Sil3132 may or may not work with FreeNAS.

it works, end of story.