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Old 12-19-2014, 09:01 AM   #1
S3TH76
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Unhappy FreeBSD-10.1-RC3-amd64-uefi-DON'T DETECT LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i


I must install a FreeBSD distribution on a server with CPU 3,20 x4core and 8gb DDR3. Storage is on a LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i SAS Controller, 2 HDD SATA3 6Gb/s.

The real problem is that no *Nix-like(I tried Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, FreeBSD, NST) distribution do not detect LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i SAS Controller, SATA HDD's or USB ports, when arrive at HW HDD detection & partitioning step in installation setup.

In server's BIOS SATA Mode is: [AHCI] and in WebBIOS of LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i I let it both drives "Unconfigured, Good".

I work on a Win7 station and can't and don't know how to customize a new distribution of FreeBSD10 that will includes the module-driver for LSI MEGARAID CONTROLLER....

I tried to load a FreeBSD10 VM on my Win7 station, but VM Player says to deactivate TPM (option that is not present in my Win7 station BIOS).

Can anyone help me with a step-by-step Instructions for my problem???

Last edited by S3TH76; 12-19-2014 at 10:05 AM. Reason: It is more acurate.
 
Old 12-19-2014, 03:32 PM   #2
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No idea, but you could search or ask on the mailing list: http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/lis...reebsd-drivers

Or if all else fails contact the developer: https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mfi

But according to the man page your device is supported.

Also, install FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE rather than that RC build.

I'm running DragonFly 4.0-RELEASE which also comes with a version of the mfi driver which is suppoed to support your device.

Last edited by cynwulf; 12-19-2014 at 03:36 PM.
 
Old 01-05-2015, 03:04 AM   #3
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Hi! Happy New Year to all!

I tried your distribution of DragonFly 4.0, I saw that detects both HDD(vn0, vn1, vn2, vn3, vn4) from LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i and I thought that I will configure a virtual drive in LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i BIOS on RAID1, this will work... Well I was wrong. It was detected but when I selected to install DragonfFly4.0 on that RAID1 VirtualDrive it say:

"Command Failed!

Execution of the command /sbin/fdisk -v -f /tmp/new.fdisk mfid0 failed with a return code of 1.

<View Log> <Retry> <Cancel>
<Skip>"
...I looked in Log an this is wrote:

"Installer Started
-------------------
+CReating DFUI connection on ``9999``
+Connecting on ``9999``
,-<<<Executing `/bin/sh /tmp/extract_vars >/tmp/extracted_vars.txt`
`->>>Exist status:0
....
....
...and so on I figured out that Exit status:0 means "Execution terminated normally".

So I will reproduce the warning message that appears 4 times in my log:

`-<<<Executing `/sbin/fdisk -v -f /tmp/new.fdisk mfid0`
fdisk:warning line 1: number of cylinders (36209) may be out-of-range
(must be within 1-1024 for normal BIOS operation, unles the entire disk is dedicated to DragonFly-that was my option)
fdisk error: could not adjust partition to start on head boundary and end on a cylinder boundary.
***************Working on device /dev/mfid0 *******************
->>> Exit status: 1 "

I retryed 2-3 times with same result and finally pressed Skip button... and apeared:

"Information

The disk

mfid0:285148Mb (583983104 sectors)
RAID volume `` is optimal

was formatted."
 
Old 01-06-2015, 04:58 AM   #4
cynwulf
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Honestly: No idea. No experience of RAID or that hardware. I would have to suggest my previous advice of looking at the mailing lists. Ensure you have thoroughly researched your problem before asking. I think it goes without saying that asking questions on Linux forums will not yield the best results for these types of problems. You could also try daemonforums.org - but again: ensure you have thoroughly researched your problem before asking.
 
Old 01-06-2015, 09:47 AM   #5
S3TH76
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About searching solutions....

Well, mr. cynwulf, I'm not the kind that browse the web and subscribe into forums and talk, talk, talk, it's seems futile and a loss of time. So, yeah, imagine that, I searched on the net with google, I searched on freebsd.org, kb.atlantic.com, it.toolbox.com, forum.freebsd.com, and other 2-3 forum sites and yeah even at the producer of the controller LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i site from where I downloaded the module (mfi) for the controller for FreeBSD.

So in theory I know or I have the steps in my bookmarks to follow for make a custom FreeBSD distribution that must include a module-driver for LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i and to load it into kernel of the distribution to function properly.

BUT, always exist a but, I can't do it or I don't know how to do it on a Windoze station.

An another option was to do it via VM(virtual machines) on my win7 but this is not functioning because it's says that I have TPM(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module) activated but I haven't in BIOS of Windoze PC any option with TPM for [ENABLE/DISABLE]. So, I can't run/play any VM.

So, I'm pretty sure that I covered almost all posibilities for me to do that custom distribution of FreeBSD 10.1 with mfi-diver loaded into kernel to detect LSI MEGARAID 9240-4i controller and work with it.

Any suggestion from anyone is welcomed!

Last edited by S3TH76; 01-07-2015 at 02:19 AM. Reason: It. seems that I forgot something to say....
 
Old 01-07-2015, 03:11 AM   #6
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Sometimes using certain hard disk controllers that are fairly new don't sit well with any UNIX distribution. Certain SCSI/SAS based controllers can have issues if they aren't covered in the kernel by the generic driver. In these cases, consulting the Hardware Compatibility List prior to building the system and selecting the operating system is a must-do.

You also could work around this if a module does exist, or doesn't exist by using a temporary supported SCSI, SAS, SATA, or IDE controller card to serve the boot drive separate from the RAID array, and then use (only if a driver isn't available yet) use another supported RAID array controller card. It's not always the solution you want, but it does work.

Regardless of operating system, always check the HCL first before committing the system. Make 100% certain you at least have generic level support, or you may end up performing work-arounds for the system.

Last edited by ReaperX7; 01-07-2015 at 03:12 AM.
 
Old 01-10-2015, 04:10 AM   #7
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FreeBSD 10.1 RELEASE resolved the detection problem but I can't select as filesystem ZFS and make mirror because I "...need 2 or more HDD" as the installer message says. Well, I have already 2 SATA HDD, so why FreeBSD don't let me use ZFS?
 
Old 01-13-2015, 06:53 AM   #8
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I did mention using 10.1-RELEASE rather than the RC in the first reply.

So it seems that the device is now working and the rest is down to configuration. Not much idea on the rest, so you will probably have to read the manual (and you could try the mailing lists or FreeBSD forums after doing so). mfiutil(8) and zfs(8) might be starting points.

I wonder if you know that hardware RAID controllers are not actually recommended or needed with that file system? You would be better off just presenting zfs with two drives attached to a standard controller/interface and then set up your mirroring using zfs. Using a hardware RAID controller you're likely offering a multi disk device instead of two separate drives which why zfs is asking for two disks. It's probably going to be one or the other - though again I'm no expert - and to me using an expensive RAID controller with a software solution, however good, seems pointless.

Last edited by cynwulf; 01-13-2015 at 03:59 PM.
 
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Old 01-15-2015, 02:10 AM   #9
S3TH76
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Hi!

Unfortunatelly I'm not allowed to open the server's case... I will try to find a workaround. Now the FreeBSD 10.1 RELEASE is installed on UFS filesystem so I will read & learn all about mfiutil and zfs as you told me for a future reinstall on ZFS filesystem and mirroring with it. I wonder if RAID Controller and a software RAID (with zfs in my case) is compatible to eachother or douable...


Thank you!
Have a nice day!
 
  


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