Newbie there ! First issue with my LSI board SAS 9223-8i

[BENETNATH]

Hello,
I've tried to set-up my newly purchased stuff, namely :
xeon server
one 40 gb ssd sata for the proxmox install
4 x 4TB sata drives for data
2 x 128 gb sata ssd for cache

I have only 4 sata slots on my motherboard, so i've bought a lsi sata card to get more sata
I managed to install proxmox easily but when i put my LSI , I can't get my drives to appear.
I have this issue when I type dmesg | grep megaraid :

[ 1.956990] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: BAR:0x1 BAR's base_addr(phys):0x00000000fbe60000 mapped virt_addr:0x00000000b44fd2f2
[ 1.956992] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: Waiting for FW to come to ready state
[ 10.868086] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: FW now in Ready state
[ 10.868089] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: 63 bit DMA mask and 32 bit consistent mask
[ 10.868282] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: requested/available msix 1/1
[ 10.868283] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: current msix/online cpus : (1/16)
[ 10.868284] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: RDPQ mode : (disabled)
[ 10.896099] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: Failed to init firmware
[ 10.896145] megaraid_sas 0000:03:00.0: Failed from megasas_init_fw 6392

EDIT :
lspci -knn | grep 'RAID bus controller'

03:00.0 RAID bus controller [0104]: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID SAS 2008 [Falcon] [1000:0073] (rev 03)


what is the best way to solve this issue ??
Any help appreciated ^^

 

[AKA]

Hi,

Well, how did u configure your RAID?
It sounds like what you wanted was an HBA (Or a RAID-Controller with HBA functionality)

You wanted to do a hardware RAID or just a SATA/SAS Controller?

 

[BENETNATH]

Hi,
I didn't even configure anything as no drive where present.
I tried without any drive, just to have the lsi booting buy it was not working.
I wanted just a large number of SATA, no hardware RAID.
If you have another card, working with proxmox out of the box, I'd be glad!

 

[AKA]

Hi,

i think you misunderstood something about the controller you bought.
Out of the Box, you got a MegaRAID LSI Controller.
That means you can create a RAID with the attached disks.

For example:
4 x 4TB are attached to it.
You create a RAID in the controller itself (During boot in the configuration utility or with megacli on the linux command line).
The created RAID will be "forwarded" to the server as one big device. (RAID 5 would be a device of 12TB size).

What you want is an HBA.
It just takes attached disks and "gives" them to the OS in a RAW format. Not doing any RAID logic. (Most of the Time)

So what you actually want is an LSI 9211-8i with IT Mode
Lucky for you, your existing Card can be flashed to behave like this model.

Take a look here:
https://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/
Note: You have the M1115 Model, but this tutorial works as well for this card.
And be careful with commands, since it can brick your LSI Controller for good.

 

[BENETNATH]

Thanks and indeed, that's exactly what I learnt yesterday.
I need an IT mode to use this card as a SATA provider only.
Sadly, card seems dead, but not due to a flashing.
I'm trying to get a new one.
Is there any similar card that would work directly without flashing and all the uefi pain..?

 

[AKA]

The LSI 9211-8i, as well as the 9210-8i is just fine for that purpose.

I've been using them all over and never experienced any issue.

 

[BENETNATH]

Perfect
Chinese Alixpress clones are fine?

 

[AKA]

I wouldn't buy hardware clones at all.

Just search it on ebay, there's usually a few selling for cheap.