Hello,
I'm building a new FreeNAS server with the following hardware (from ebay):
CSE-847E16-R1K28LPB - chassis (36 hdd bays)
BPN-SAS2-846EL1 - front backplane
BPN-SAS2-826EL1 - rear backplane
X9DRH-iF - mobo
128 GB ECC RAM
LSI 9211-8i
PWS-1K28P-SQ - power supplies
When I connect both backplanes to the two mini-SAS connectors on the LSI 9211-8i I get the following errors from the backplane connected to the second connector:
SCSI sense: UNIT ATTENTION asc:29,0 (Power on, reset, or bus device reset occurred)
I get this error when running "badblocks -ws" on a single HDD connected to the backplane. I also see a brief freeze up of writes, but then it continues without errors. I'm running FreeNAS 9.10.2 U1. I get the error regardless of whether I'm only using one of the backplanes or both at the same time.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Swapping the SAS cables for the front and rare backplanes makes the error show up on the other backplane. It seems the connector on top always works and the one on the bottom is giving me errors.
2. Tried four different PCI-E 8x slots with the same results.
3. Tried another LSI 9211-8i card with the same results.
4. Tried firmware P19 and P20(7) with the same results.
5. Tried an M1015 cossflashed to 9211 IT mode P20(7) with the same results.
6. I tried using different HDD bays on both backplanes and different HDDs with the same results. Smart data looks clean on both HDDs.
7. Now I'm running two LSI 9211-i8 cards with backplanes connected to the first min-SAS connector of each card and it has been running without any errors.
Given that both backplanes work when plugged in to the top port or different cards, I assume backplanes are fine. I did run memtest for a few days with no errors, so memory shouldn't be an issues. I tried 3 different HBA cards, so I'm guessing the fault is not there. I have 2 redundant power supplies with plenty of power, so they are probably not the root cause. I am running out of ideas. I don't have another mobo to swap in and try.
Should a single LSI 9211-8i be able to support both backplanes? Are there any compatibility issues between the LSI and my mobo? I couldn't find anything online. Do you think it is safe to proceed with using two separate LSI cards - one for each backplane? I sort of don't trust it much, because it may just be making the problem less likely to occur, but not fixing it.
Thanks!
I'm building a new FreeNAS server with the following hardware (from ebay):
CSE-847E16-R1K28LPB - chassis (36 hdd bays)
BPN-SAS2-846EL1 - front backplane
BPN-SAS2-826EL1 - rear backplane
X9DRH-iF - mobo
128 GB ECC RAM
LSI 9211-8i
PWS-1K28P-SQ - power supplies
When I connect both backplanes to the two mini-SAS connectors on the LSI 9211-8i I get the following errors from the backplane connected to the second connector:
SCSI sense: UNIT ATTENTION asc:29,0 (Power on, reset, or bus device reset occurred)
I get this error when running "badblocks -ws" on a single HDD connected to the backplane. I also see a brief freeze up of writes, but then it continues without errors. I'm running FreeNAS 9.10.2 U1. I get the error regardless of whether I'm only using one of the backplanes or both at the same time.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Swapping the SAS cables for the front and rare backplanes makes the error show up on the other backplane. It seems the connector on top always works and the one on the bottom is giving me errors.
2. Tried four different PCI-E 8x slots with the same results.
3. Tried another LSI 9211-8i card with the same results.
4. Tried firmware P19 and P20(7) with the same results.
5. Tried an M1015 cossflashed to 9211 IT mode P20(7) with the same results.
6. I tried using different HDD bays on both backplanes and different HDDs with the same results. Smart data looks clean on both HDDs.
7. Now I'm running two LSI 9211-i8 cards with backplanes connected to the first min-SAS connector of each card and it has been running without any errors.
Given that both backplanes work when plugged in to the top port or different cards, I assume backplanes are fine. I did run memtest for a few days with no errors, so memory shouldn't be an issues. I tried 3 different HBA cards, so I'm guessing the fault is not there. I have 2 redundant power supplies with plenty of power, so they are probably not the root cause. I am running out of ideas. I don't have another mobo to swap in and try.
Should a single LSI 9211-8i be able to support both backplanes? Are there any compatibility issues between the LSI and my mobo? I couldn't find anything online. Do you think it is safe to proceed with using two separate LSI cards - one for each backplane? I sort of don't trust it much, because it may just be making the problem less likely to occur, but not fixing it.
Thanks!