Proxmox Install - HDDs not Detected

[OXIB]

Hi everyone,

I have a Dell Power Edge T610 server that I want to install PROXMOX using ZFS. I have four 1TB hard drives that I want to use, I flashed an H310 card I found to IT mode LSI using this guide

Everything went well, no errors, no issues. I used this guide as the H310 card came from a Dell Precision workstation.

I bought two SFF-8087 cables like these ones and connected them to the backplane of the T610 server and the H310 card.

I removed the Perc 6/i card that was installed on that server. I have also disabled the controller in the BIOS, however, when I try to install PROXMOX and boot from the USB, it doesn't see the drives at all. I installed an SSD connected to the SATA port on the motherboard and that worked fine, I was even able to install proxmox on that ssd as a test.

On the T610 server, I have updated the BIOS, IDRAC and the lifecycle controller to the latest version that dell has. I checked the Dell Perc 6/i integrated firmware and that's up to date (latest version going back to 2015). When I launch the Dell USC, there is no option to change the RAID to HBA or passthrough mode, I tried this before I disabled the controller. Once I disabled the controller and I do a hardware inventory using the USC, it still says RAID integrated 1-1, under the SAS address it show the H310 address, which is right, but under product name, it says Perc 6/i integrated.

Can anybody tell me what am I missing to make this server see the drives so that I can install PROXMOX on four 1TB HDDs using ZFS?

If you need any other info, let me know.

Thanks very much for the help.

 

[sb-jw]

Did you see the Drives in the Controller?

 

[OXIB]

Hi sb-jw,
thanks for the reply. Yes I did, before I disabled the perc 6/i controller I was able to see the four drives no problem.

 

[sb-jw]

Did you see the Drives in the BIOS of the H310, thats my Question

Did you installed the H310 in the Storage Slot or a regular PCIe Port?

 

[OXIB]

Not sure how to see the BIOS of the H310, is this the same as the BIOS for the server?
If yes, then no, I am not able to see the drives there. When the controller is enabled, in the BIOS and the USC on the server, the RAID controller can be enabled and disabled but there is no option to change it from RAID to HBA.
Yes, I installed the H310 in a regular PCIe slot on the motherboard.

 

[sb-jw]

Not sure how to see the BIOS of the H310, is this the same as the BIOS for the server?

No, the Controller has its own. Did you flash BIOS on it after you flashing it to IT Mode?

 

[OXIB]

Oh - I flashed the BIOS on the card as per the guide that I followed on the link I posted in my original post.
How can I check if the BIOS on the card sees the drives?
The thing is when I boot the server, I used to get a message that the configuration for the controller/drives was missing and it gave me the option to go to it and configure it; this was with the Perc 6/i one. Once I removed that card and installed the H310, that option is gone, I no longer get that option.

 

[sb-jw]

How can I check if the BIOS on the card sees the drives?

You will see it, when you boot your Server. If not, then you do not flash the BIOS on the HBA again. It isn't needed to working properly, but will help you to solve such things. You can boot an Live Linux too, to check if the Drives are visible.

Could you take a picture of your Server and the Installation?

 

[OXIB]

You will see it, when you boot your Server. If not, then you do not flash the BIOS on the HBA again. It isn't needed to working properly, but will help you to solve such things. You can boot an Live Linux too, to check if the Drives are visible.

I will take a picture(s) when I get home and upload them. I am not at home right now.
To confirm - you are advising NOT to re-flash the IT mode BIOS to the card again?
If I get a linux boot cd, can i do an lspci command to see if the card is detected on the PCI bus? And also lsbk?
Thanks for your time.

 

[OXIB]

I was just quoting your answer but I did a terrible job at that, lol...
This is what I wrote not in italics:
I will take a picture(s) when I get home and upload them. I am not at home right now.
To confirm - you are advising NOT to re-flash the IT mode BIOS to the card again?
If I get a linux boot cd, can i do an lspci command to see if the card is detected on the PCI bus? And also lsbk?
Thanks for your time.

 

[OXIB]

Hi SB-JW,
I have uploaded the pics of the server when it boots and the output of the sas2flsh.




Why is there two ?? besides SAS2008?
The next pic besides Firmware product ID shouldn't it say IT besides the 0x2213?
If I want to boot from the Hard drives attached to the card I read that you have to enter the following command:
sas2flsh.exe -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom but I get an error when I enter mptsas2.rom.
Do does it look OK what I have done with the card so far?
I think I am missing that BIOS option because when I boot into PROXMOX, I can only see the SSD connected to the sata port on the motherboard and the bootable USB of course but no other drives.

Thanks!