ATA errors with controller passthrough

sdumaresq

New Member
May 14, 2025
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2 on board sata conrtollers passed though to TrueNAS
4 Drives on each controller
1-4 run through these errors on start up
5-8 seem to run fine.
Once the very long startup in complete all drives seem to work.
The drives 3-8 share a bundled cable group, I have heard that cables can sometimes be the problem.

Sep 13 10:07:51 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:07:56 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:07:56 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:02 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:08:07 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:07 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:13 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:08:18 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:42 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (1st FIS failed)
Sep 13 10:08:42 pve kernel: ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 3.0 Gbps
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: reset failed, giving up
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1.00: disable device
 
Uh, onboard controller passthrough. Usually a bad idea and not really suitable for SRV/IO. Try reseating power and ata cables. Are all drives connected on one power supply line or multiple lines?
 
What you did is most likely, that you just pulled out the rug (=SATA controller device) from under the Proxmox's feet (=Kernel).
So in other words:
If you want to pass-through a device, it should be made absolutely clear, that nothing else is still working with it.
And in your case it seems like the moment, that the device gets passed-through, the Proxmox Kernel is wondering where it went. ;-)
 
Uh, onboard controller passthrough. Usually a bad idea and not really suitable for SRV/IO. Try reseating power and ata cables. Are all drives connected on one power supply line or multiple lines?
Single power supply 3 lines, 5-8, 1-2, and 3-4
What you did is most likely, that you just pulled out the rug (=SATA controller device) from under the Proxmox's feet (=Kernel).
So in other words:
If you want to pass-through a device, it should be made absolutely clear, that nothing else is still working with it.
And in your case it seems like the moment, that the device gets passed-through, the Proxmox Kernel is wondering where it went. ;-)
Oh that makes sense. I mess around with a lot of things and must have missed a dependency.

Cheers,
 
2 on board sata conrtollers passed though to TrueNAS
4 Drives on each controller
1-4 run through these errors on start up
5-8 seem to run fine.
Once the very long startup in complete all drives seem to work.
The drives 3-8 share a bundled cable group, I have heard that cables can sometimes be the problem.

Sep 13 10:07:51 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:07:56 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:07:56 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:02 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:08:07 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:07 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:13 pve kernel: ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
Sep 13 10:08:18 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:42 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (1st FIS failed)
Sep 13 10:08:42 pve kernel: ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 3.0 Gbps
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: failed to reset engine (errno=-5)
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: softreset failed
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1: reset failed, giving up
Sep 13 10:08:48 pve kernel: ata1.00: disable device
Passing through the onboard controller isn’t usually recommended, especially for SRV/IO setups. You might want to check the basics first reseat both power and ATA cables. Also, are all your drives sharing a single power rail, or split across multiple ones?