Unless I missed it, 9271-8i is not on the list of recommended controller.

Not sure if it can be flashed to IT mode.

RAID controllers are not recommended.

5 minutes ago, ChatNoir said:

RAID controllers are not recommended

Why the raid controllers are not recommended? 

They conflict with Unraid? 

 

9 hours ago, klor said:

Why the raid controllers are not recommended?

To work properly Unraid requires direct access to the drive (like most software base NAS OS).

RAID controllers do not allow that as they act as a abstraction layer between the hardware and the software.

 

Even JBOD mode have downsides. That's why the recommandations are for regular SATA controllers or HBAs in IT mode.

@JorgeB, it might be relevant to add a word on the first post on that ? That could be used as an easy reference in the future.

5 hours ago, ChatNoir said:

To work properly Unraid requires direct access to the drive (like most software base NAS OS).

RAID controllers do not allow that as they act as a abstraction layer between the hardware and the software.

So I should go with LSI 9211-8i in IT mode. 

 

Just one thing I remember, that my Areca raid card had the option to set pass through mode for each drive attached.

So the OS has direct access to the drive attached to Areca raid card with pass through mode. 

 

Likely I will stick with LSI 9211-8i, but still curious if the pass through mode in Areca cards are something similar like IT mode in LSI. 

2 hours ago, klor said:

So the OS has direct access to the drive attached to Areca raid card with pass through mode. 

"direct access" can have different meanings to different companies. It may be equivalent to IT on some, but not others. The issue is without testing your specific card and settings it's tough to make recommendations, so the safe thing is to specify HBA IT only.

 

It's entirely possible to think everything is fine until you replace the controller and find your partitions no longer align, and come up invalid. We see that scenario fairly regularly.

 

Slight serial number modifications are common as well, so Unraid loses track of which disk is assigned to which slot, causing needless stress as a new config is needed to put them in their slots and tell Unraid everything is fine, go about your business with these new serial numbers.

31 minutes ago, JonathanM said:

Slight serial number modifications are common as well, so Unraid loses track of which disk is assigned to which slot, causing needless stress as a new config is needed to put them in their slots and tell Unraid everything is fine, go about your business with these new serial numbers.

Yes, these are common symptoms for external USB devices, so I can imagine this for some raid cards, too. 

 

Thank you for for the detailed explanation, I learned a lot again. Thanks!

 

So I go with LSI 9211-8i using IT mode.

 

Can I boot up from disks connected to LSI 9211-8i?

Are the disks shown in the BIOS, UEFI or appears just within the card settings?

 

(I know Unraid boots from flash drive, but I need universal hw configuration, which can be used for multiple purposes, if needed later)

 

18 minutes ago, klor said:

Can I boot up from disks connected to LSI 9211-8i?

Yes, as long as there's a BIOS installed, it's optional.

19 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Yes, as long as there's a BIOS installed, it's optional.

Optional means flashable, so user can flash missing BIOS anytime later? 

Yep.

Deffo learnt a lot in the past few weeks. I have a great little 8bay nas setup using the 560m chip but I kinda wish you could turn off some of the usb3 lanes and take to pcie. as that would probably give an extra x4lanes in total. Its just silly to have to choose between an m2 slot or utilising pcie slot.

 

It also seems bizare that a i9 has same cpu pcie lanes as an i3 cpu.

 

Any future server build would be using any of the Z590/Z690 type motherboards with more pcie lanes or use a xeon suitable board with even more lanes.

Edited October 11, 20223 yr by dopeytree

On 6/6/2022 at 9:37 AM, ChatNoir said:

This is exactly what is recommended against. It uses a JMB575 port multiplier that is known for bad performance. Since you would be using that on a single 2.0 lane, I would guess that is would be even worse.

 

On the very same page you linked, I saw options for only ASM1166 or ASM1061 on a x1. You should go with that.

https://www.amazon.com/MZHOU-Profile-Bracket-Support-Devices/dp/B097RBLM9G/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=MZHOU%2BPCIe%2BSATA%2BCard&qid=1654493546&sr=8-3&th=1

 

I got the MZHOU card you linked, but sadly it doesn't work. It's not even detected by my motherboard, I think. Can't find it anywhere in the bios. I upgraded my entire server (which I was planning to do anyway), so I got a new motherboard, but this one doesn't detect it either... The led on the card does light up showing one drive is connected to it, but I can't see anything in the bios or in Unraid. Am I mistaking that these cards are plug and play? Do I need to change some bios setting or something?

5 minutes ago, Aemstel said:

It's not even detected by my motherboard,

It's plug and play, could be a bad controller or some board compatibility issue.

2 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

It's plug and play, could be a bad controller or some board compatibility issue.

 

Thanks. I guess I'll send it back then and try a JMB controller.

25 minutes ago, Aemstel said:

 

I got the MZHOU card you linked

Just to clarify, I did not try that card myself, my answer is purely based on what is indicated on the Amazon page. I edited the original post to reflect that.

 

It might be a defective part or you might be limited in the number of PCIe lanes available on your system.

What is plugged in your motherboard ?

1 hour ago, ChatNoir said:

Just to clarify, I did not try that card myself, my answer is purely based on what is indicated on the Amazon page. I edited the original post to reflect that.

 

It might be a defective part or you might be limited in the number of PCIe lanes available on your system.

What is plugged in your motherboard ?

 

In the PCIe slots you mean? Nothing, just the MZHOU card. I'm using iGPU.

 

Planning to try this one now: https://www.delock.com/produkt/90395/merkmale.html

 

edit: changed my mind and ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/BEYIMEI-Controller-Expansion-Non-Raid-Converter/dp/B098QMGMF3/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=ASM1166&qid=1633703772&sr=8-6&th=1

 

When I've tried it, I'll report back here to say if it works.

Edited October 17, 20223 yr by Aemstel

Yes, the BEYIMEI controller works! Disk is clearing now

That disk clear looks like it's going to take ages. Can I use the array while it's doing this?

 

Update: for anyone considering getting this controller, be aware that it has a very bright blue LED that sometimes starts flashing. I think it happens when the drives are spun down.

Edited October 27, 20223 yr by Aemstel

53 minutes ago, Aemstel said:

That disk clear looks like it's going to take ages. Can I use the array while it's doing this?

Yes, the clearing should only affect the new drive.

10 minutes ago, ChatNoir said:

Yes, the clearing should only affect the new drive.

Perfect, thank you.

For all the guys looking to find out why the h*** there newly bought ASM1166 based PCIe-SATA expansion card is not even recognized in there PCs - i have a small but very helpful tip for you: There is a compatibility problem between cards with this chip working on an old firmware version and Intel 6xx chipsets.

 

If you got hands on a device that may seem to fall under this problem, try to do the following to get rid of the old firmware and update to the new one:

- install the card in a PC which detects the card correctly

- google for "Asmedia ASM-2116/116x Sata 6G Controller Firmware Version NC"

- download the firmware flash package

- flash the firmware according to the manual included.

- put the card back into your mb where you initially wanted it to run

- voila.

 

As an example: I recently bought a generic ASM1166 based card from Amazon (several sellers sell exactly this (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08L8ZSKXW/) card with old firmware, some with the updated fw). B660 chipset mainboard said no to the card. Put it into my old Ryzen RIG, flashed the card with this generic? ASM1166 fw, now it works flawless in combination with B660 / Proxmox passthrough to Unraid VM without any errors for 3 days now.

 

Notice for all power saving friends (e.g. @mgutt): I did a "powertop --auto-tune", which also activated several power saving features on pcie and sata links. But this is the first card, beside some power hungry LSI raid cards, where I issued that command and nothing breaks afterwards. Until now, I can highly recommend this model for expansion, expecially for working very energy-efficient. Mind the fact that the card is only using PCIe x1.

 

Hope this may help someone in need.

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by da_stingo
text somehow missing / affected chipset edited

10 minutes ago, da_stingo said:

Notice for all power saving friends (e.g. @mgutt): I did a "powertop --auto-tune", which also activated several power saving features on pcie and sata links.

Wow, very interesting find!

On 10/29/2022 at 10:31 PM, da_stingo said:

For all the guys looking to find out why the h*** there newly bought ASM1166 based PCIe-SATA expansion card is not even recognized in there PCs - i have a small but very helpful tip for you: There is a compatibility problem between cards with this chip working on an old firmware version and Intel 6xx chipsets.

 

If you got hands on a device that may seem to fall under this problem, try to do the following to get rid of the old firmware and update to the new one:

- install the card in a PC which detects the card correctly

- google for "Asmedia ASM-2116/116x Sata 6G Controller Firmware Version NC"

- download the firmware flash package

- flash the firmware according to the manual included.

- put the card back into your mb where you initially wanted it to run

- voila.

 

As an example: I recently bought a generic ASM1166 based card from Amazon (several sellers sell exactly this (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08L8ZSKXW/) card with old firmware, some with the updated fw). B660 chipset mainboard said no to the card. Put it into my old Ryzen RIG, flashed the card with this generic? ASM1166 fw, now it works flawless in combination with B660 / Proxmox passthrough to Unraid VM without any errors for 3 days now.

 

Notice for all power saving friends (e.g. @mgutt): I did a "powertop --auto-tune", which also activated several power saving features on pcie and sata links. But this is the first card, beside some power hungry LSI raid cards, where I issued that command and nothing breaks afterwards. Until now, I can highly recommend this model for expansion, expecially for working very energy-efficient. Mind the fact that the card is only using PCIe x1.

 

Hope this may help someone in need.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all,

 

That was exactly my problem.

The card finally works.

 

BEYIMEI PCI-E 4X zu 6-Port SATA3.0 Erweiterungskarte,6 Gbit/s SATA 3.0 PCIe-Karte,PCIe zu SATA-Controller-Erweiterungskarte (ASM1166)

 

Thank you for the effort.

 

Word of warning, if you get one of those m2 5 port adapters like this:


...make sure you get one with a heatsink. I've been having issues with my array after have finally traced it back to the chip overheating and causing weird issues. I looked online and plenty have heatsinks included now but mine did not.

I'm planning to swap from HP H220 (LSI 9205i IT mode) and move to ASM1166 6xSATA card (https://pl.aliexpress.com/i/4001034338141.html) I assume moving array from old controller to new isn't going to be straight forward?

Edited November 9, 20223 yr by cpu

8 minutes ago, cpu said:

I assume moving array from old controller to new isn't going to be straight forward?

Should be plug and play.

Once it'll arrive I'll post info here for sake of anyone going that way to reduce power consumption -> HBA to ASM1166.