Recommended controllers for Unraid

[Taleoo]

Hello guys ! I built my setup recently on a ASRock H310CM-DVS with an i5 8400T.

The MB doesn't have any NVME support and i wanted to add a cache drive to my setup so i bought this while following the recommended controller: https://www.cdiscount.com/informatique/composants-informatiques/carte-d-extension-pcie3-0-x4-a-2-ports-m-2-b-key-c/f-1071311-sod4714229560738.html (Asmedia 1164).

Problem is it's compatible with NVME B_key and not regular M. I got a Crucial P3 plus for cache and i also need at least 2 additional SATA ports for my drives. Do you have a recommendation, i'll return the card i bought.

Thanks !

[JorgeB]

1 hour ago, Taleoo said:

Problem is it's compatible with NVME B_key and not regular

Yep, ASM1164 is a SATA controller, I think it will be difficult to get 2 SATA ports + NVMe in the same card, don't remember ever seeing anything like that.

[Taleoo]

26 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Yep, ASM1164 is a SATA controller, I think it will be difficult to get 2 SATA ports + NVMe in the same card, don't remember ever seeing anything like that.

Okay so it's better to get a SATA card with one of the recommended controllers on my PCIEx4 slot and a PCIEx16 card for an NVME slot?

Thanks

 

EDIT : Maybe something like that PCIe-NVME paired with a JMB585 card like this : JMB585 card NVME ?

Edited April 11 by Taleoo

[JorgeB]

33 minutes ago, Taleoo said:

DIT : Maybe something like that PCIe-NVME

Note that this requires PCIe bifurcation support by the board (x4/x4/x4/x4), if that's is supported it's a good option

[Taleoo]

Yeah i checked and i don't have bifurcation, so one PCIeX16 > NVME and one PCIeX8 > SATA then. Thanks for the answers !

[dopeytree]

Here's some m.2 adapters with a built in pcie switch chip.

This enables motherboards that DO NOT SUPPORT Bifurcation to read from multiple NVMe drives on a single adapter PCIe adapter.

 

PCIe adapter to 4x NVMe's 

 

qnap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-QM2-4P-384-interface-adapter-Internal/dp/B07LF4GRNZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1LIMHRDKZKCXQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sTL9NYHfQf2TErkKffg4qEdDKO68rn5-YZqjmI5bYtimupCISx7wgyhmyrFVguDplz5fYe-o-gXKcEcXBqOFNlw7E7TXYb79XLUmnTaPzGsTqLgv8ow7RZwsXo_h6PGHIp2ZdTyCwZSckOeoIfkPlj_bAhC7Y3Hs975-8lnLCCcO2xpwNQspvG8sJ2kihhzImffdSMkMGg2wRWpM2DB-gFgfwvYv5BobQIpuTve9grE.4rth76vcdUAhGRwlfZJ8RCahLhpnfJP3r4C-_jtrRvA&dib_tag=se&keywords=qnap+m.2&qid=1712924912&sprefix=qnap+m.2%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7e5a2de-8759-4da3-993c-d11b6e3d217f

 

sabrent https://www.amazon.co.uk/SABRENT-4-Drive-NVMe-Adapter-PC-P3X4/dp/B0BRYQH443/ref=pd_ci_mcx_pspc_dp_d_2_t_2?pd_rd_w=JAWoo&content-id=amzn1.sym.8db49f41-2d78-4c1c-bc3b-fb9e44b9efb4&pf_rd_p=8db49f41-2d78-4c1c-bc3b-fb9e44b9efb4&pf_rd_r=WKN6PNTZQJ51C8VWG5P8&pd_rd_wg=AZVYk&pd_rd_r=cc357dcf-7d21-4321-aaa6-3b6097336b8c&pd_rd_i=B0BRYQH443

 

 

Edited April 12 by dopeytree

[methanoid]

On 11/16/2022 at 2:18 PM, cpu said:

I bought "Die-Wu ASM1166 6 port SATA PCIEx2 adapter from aliexpress" it has red heatsink and red SATA ports on back of card.

In mean time ordered ECS06 just in case and to be honest it's not always an easy task to upgrade this ASM1166.

Even with SilverStone I had couple failes when software didn't recognize my card properly, found out that I already had latest firmware on ECS06 but flashed in anyway - if there are any problems just start flashing software once again until it'll say "It can take some time to detect devices - please be patient".

So let's dive into Die-Wu -> it was not recognized (used same software that came with ECS06) - and firmware was outdated from 2019, but I managed to flash it without any major issues - now it has same firmware (you can check this on POST screen).

 

where did you get the firmware and flasher to update the ASM1166 - I have this one https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005225401697.html but it doesnt like me using Powertop --autotune so maybe new firmware will help??

[methanoid]

On 3/31/2024 at 2:44 PM, eicar said:

I have a question about the ASMedia chipset ASM1061 for PCIe 2.0 x1 to dual SATA at 500 MB/s each, which is perfect for SATA SSDs at (almost) full speed:

https://www.asmedia.com.tw/product/77BYq58SX3HyepH7/58dYQ8bxZ4UR9wG5

 

No... it is not.. PCIE 2.0 x1 means a total of 500MB/s bandwidth split over 2 ports.. so fine for HDDs but will bottleneck SSDs. 

 

PCIE 1.0 250MB/s/lane

PCIE 2.0 500MB/s/lane

PCIE 3.0 1000MB/s/lane (appx)

[methanoid]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:46 AM, Georg2U said:

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Works AND allows you to run powertop --auto-tune and get better power saving?

 

EDIT: Was able to flash my identical card using the Silverstone sourced firmware... have enabled power saving and will wait and see if I lose a random HDD again from the array 

Edited April 25 by methanoid

[timbuckiii]

Hello! First of all, I just want to thank @JorgeB and the other mods for how much useful info you have posted over the years! Your advice has me most of the way there, but I have a question before I pull the trigger on one of these two controllers:
- Internal 5 Port Non-Raid Sata III 6GB/S M.2 B+M Key Adapter Card for Desktop PC Support SSD and HDD. Jmb585 Chipset

- Internal 5 Port Non-Raid Sata III 6GB/S PCI-E X4 Controller Card for Desktop PC Support SSD and HDD with Low Profile Bracket. Jmb585 Chipset

 

AFAICT, the main difference is that one uses an M.2 port and the other uses a PCI-E X4 slot. I have both available on the ASRock PRO Z790 PRO RS WiFi. However, I don't know what the pros and cons are of using an M.2 vs a traditional PCI-E slot. I'm aware that M.2 is just a form factor that can work with PCI-E, but figure there may still be other important considerations like heat dissipation due to size difference, for example.

 

Any info you can provide to help me decide between the two would be appreciated!

 

Also, I apologize if I missed this advice elsewhere in this thread. I did search beforehand but it's possible I missed it.

Edited April 29 by timbuckiii
corrected reference to M.2 form factor

[JorgeB]

1 hour ago, timbuckiii said:

However, I don't know what the pros and cons are of using an M.2 vs a traditional PCI-E slot. I'm aware that M.2 is just a form factor that can work with PCI-E

I would use whatever slot you think you will miss less in the future, they should both perform identically, and these chips run pretty cool, so there shouldn't be any temp issues with either one.

[Nedry]

On 4/29/2024 at 12:51 PM, timbuckiii said:

Hello! First of all, I just want to thank @JorgeB and the other mods for how much useful info you have posted over the years! Your advice has me most of the way there, but I have a question before I pull the trigger on one of these two controllers:

 

- Internal 5 Port Non-Raid Sata III 6GB/S PCI-E X4 Controller Card for Desktop PC Support SSD and HDD with Low Profile Bracket. Jmb585 Chipset

 

 

 

FWIW, I bought the 2-port version of that IO CREST card (with the JMB582) earlier this year and it has worked flawlessly. I only needed to add a couple of drives, and it seemed prudent to pick the solution that would only use my x1 slot and leave my remaining x4 and x16 for something more substantial in the future. It also generates less heat and uses less power than an HBA. Whole process was as close to plug-and-play as you could ever hope for.

[Gegga]

On 11/11/2022 at 6:30 PM, floori said:

So I tried multiple cards of exactly this model (BEYIMEI PCI-E 4X to 6-Port) and another one from MZHOU (also sold on Amazon; quite sure it's the same card). All cards have the ASM1166 chip and I was getting them to replace two hbas on an Intel Z690 motherboard.

 

I've tried to upgrade the firmware on a total of 4 different workstations, including 2 Ryzen builds (1gen and 3gen on Asus motherboards) and two Intel ones (x99s and z97s MSI motherboards) to no avail. In my case, the firmware flashing tool just did not recognize any of those cards.

For anyone with similar problem - unlucky with no card showing up in windows flash tool. I have managed to fix my MZHOU ASM1166 x4 pcie card with the help of a DOS tool I found here

 

The DOS flash tool supplied for the Lycom PE-156 can also be used to force a newer firmware for the MZHOU. The process I used:

Create bootable DOS usb stick, I used Rufus with FreeDOS.

Extract the zip to your usb stick, I recommend simplifying the folder name, like extract all to ASM1166 folder.

Then when booted to DOS just cd your folder and skip the instruction and Autoexec.bat file and just run the command "116upd /U 11050000.ROM". This flashed fine.

Finally I used the Silverstone program in Windows to flash the newer ROM since now the card was visible. It's possible I could have added the Silverstone ROM already in the DOS flash directly, not sure.

 

It's too early to say that my problems with the card is over, I've had a lot of CRC erros, but now I feel more hopeful. After all, ASM1166 is a great chipset when working correctly both speed and power consumption wise. Best of luck and I hope someone struggling like me find this info helpful.

 

ASM1166-SPI-Flash-Update-SOP-A10.zip

[Ronan C]

Hello everyone!

 

I am having problems with my new Western Red 8 TB drive, when i attach the disk to sata2 port on my motherboard, after power on the server the sata link goes from 3 gbps to 1.5 gbps and goes unstable, keep in loop and sata erros, i changed the cables, cleaned up and still nothing.

 

The curious is that i put the HGST disk back to sata2 (parity 2) no sata erros occours, i started to think the problem is with the new western red disk.

 

But the strangething two, is that i did 3 pre clears on this disk connected with my Sata 6 pci-e controller, and no erros!

 

I dont know what is happen, but i am starting to order this PCI, does any one bought this one? works fine with unraid with all the functions and SMART?

 

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006831663542.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.9.530akposkposG8&algo_pvid=9dbe5d65-0107-4341-8fba-e29493f0ae0c&algo_exp_id=9dbe5d65-0107-4341-8fba-e29493f0ae0c-4&pdp_npi=4%40dis!BRL!208.74!208.74!!!280.00!280.00!%402101cff817157177911287093e5ea5!12000038444470176!sea!BR!139168152!&curPageLogUid=pexjHbj1jAu0&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A

 

thanks in advance!!!

[JorgeB]

Are you using any powersaving tools?

[Napoleon]

Are there any HBA cards for 12+ drives that support a lower C state than C3?

I've got an LSI card 2 port and an expander. Would a 4 port card and getting rid of the expander use less power?