Supermicro X11SSL-F and LSI9300-16i IT

[darklordz]

Hi all.
I've several spare HDDs coming from systems upgrades in the past, as follows:

• 8x 3,5" WD Red SATA 6TB HDDs
• 6x 3,5" vendor mixed SATA 2TB HDDs
• 3x 3,5" vendor mixed SATA 1,5TB HDDs
• 2x 3,5" WD SATA 1TB HDDs
• 2x 2,5" vendor mixed SATA 500GB HDDs
• 3x 2,5" vendor mixed SATA 320GB HDDs
• 1x 2,5" WD SATA 640GB HDD
• 1x 2,5" Fujitsu SATA 250GB DDD

So, I'd like to make a hybrid-capacity Truenas system to be used as "disaster recovery hdd space".
I recently bought:

• a refurbished Supermicro X11SSL-F M/B (with the last BIOS/firmware installed)
• 32GB RAM DDR4 (not ECC, but fully working with the M/B),
• CPU Intel XEON E3-1230v6
• new LSI SAS 9300-16i HBA board (2x SAS3008 controllers) based on the last IT firmware version.

The M/B has embedded 6x SATA ports and I'd like to use them for Truenas booting via SSD and connecting several SATA devices.
Moreover I'd like to connect additional SATA HDDs using the LSI controller, by the MiniSAS-SFF8643 cables for SATA-type connections.
The PSU is a modular LC-Power 850W Gold Plus one.
In order to have enough HDD power connections I also bought several HDD-power splitters (4in1) to be connected to each PSU-SATA connector.
I've successfully installed the Truenas OS, but I noticed that the OS didn't see all the disks, so I unfortunately discovered that not all the HDDs are recognized by the SATA onboard controller and the LSI controller, more or less, as follows (some tests):

Using the Supermicro onboard controller (excepting the boot disk)

• If I connect 4x 3,5" 2TB HDDs, I only see 3;
• If I disconect the 4th and connect 2x 2,5", I see all the 5 disks;
• If I connect 4x 3,5" 6TB HDDs, I only see 1;

Using the LSI controller

• If I connect 4x 3,5" 2TB HDDs (using one SFF8643 cable), I only see 3;
• If I connect 4x 3,5" 6TB HDDs, I only see 1;
• If I connect some 3,5" 6TB HDDs using different SFF8643 cables, I max see 3 of them;
• If I connect 4x 3,5" 2TB HDDs (using one SFF8643 cable) and some 3,5" 6TB HDDs (using different SFF8643 cables), I max see 3 of 2TB and 3 of 6TB,

I also tested to:

• remove the power splitters ==> no change
• test another 6SATA ports PCI-e controller ==> no change

I've ordered 1 new SFF8643 different cable just to test if it's a cable related issue, but I don't think so, since the results coming from the onboard SATA controller.

This thing's driving me crazy.
Any suggestion/ideas?

Thanks in advance for your support.

 

[JohnDigital]

I think you could and probably should use a linux live boot disk and have a closer look at each disk in small batches connected to the onboard ports with its own power connector, verifying if they are worth using, or if they even work at all. See a pqmagic type program and make the disks as new. You wont really want to use anything but the largest disks as the pool will be limited to the smallest disk in the pool.

Then once you have your verified stack of known, good, working HDDs, then try again. Use as few power splitters as necessary.