kunfuezion - drives not being detected


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Thanks so much Hoopster. I was able to flash it to FW 20.0.07.0-IT using megarec/sas2flsh method. However, Unraid isn't finding my SAS drives in unassigned devices. I have 2 3TB SAS HDD's. Maybe the cables are bad/unsupported? I'm using these.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010CMW6S4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

 

Found another thread on the above talking about issues with these...

 

 

Attached is my diagnostic file. Do you see anything there I'm missing? I have 3 other SATA drives already connected and setup in the array. An old 3TB for parity, 1TB storage and 250GB for cache. The plan is to use one of the new SAS's as my new parity drive, moving the others to storage and adding to the pool as needed. End game is a simple file server/NextCloud/some remote access/sandbox VM's. For now I just want to get this new array stood up.

tower-syslog-20210131-1541.zip

 

Don't know how I can test the cable, and I have to order everything online as there's no local microcenter/parts stores around. 

Edited by kunfuezion
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On 1/31/2021 at 9:50 AM, kunfuezion said:

Don't know how I can test the cable, and I have to order everything online as there's no local microcenter/parts stores around. 

You need a forward breakout cable to go from the HBA to the drives.  Reverse cables look exactly the same and are usually used to connect to backplanes or disk shelves.  Unless it says in the description which direction they are, there is no way to tell.  It could very well be that you have a reverse breakout cable, although reading further down it does say it works with the IBM M1015 which is essentially what you have. 

 

Here is a cable (different design than the one you linked) that specifically says in the description in several places that it is a forward cable from SFF-8087 to four SFF-8482.

 

I have SATA drives so I connected to the Dell H310 with a different cable, but, again, I specifically looked for a forward breakout cable.

 

If you have a cable with the wrong direction, attached drives will not appear in unRAID (or even the BIOS).

Edited by Hoopster
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1 hour ago, theruck said:

if a drive is spinning it is hard to move with hand due to the momentum effect of spinning motor

That made me cringe. The load you are putting on the bearings doing that could exceed what the drive is rated to handle. It's just not a good idea to move a running disk drive, it's pretty easy to induce errors.

 

Paper towel cardboard tube makes a decent way to somewhat isolate what you are listening to.

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@doron I have two white label WD3001FYYG drives. The 1TB Seagate and other WD 3TB drive are SATA and connected directly to my MB to integrated SATA ports. I'm trying to repurpose an old desktop (HP 8200 Elite CMT). I'm thinking the problem might be w/ my PSU, it's an OEM 300w. 

 

Going to remove all drives and try just one of the SAS drives and the unraid usb boot. I'm also looking into your link above. Thanks!

 

*edit - I have seen this post before. I'm weary of removing the pin manually, would rather use something like the kapton tape method.. what local stores carry it? Can't find at any HD or Lowes-types places (in stock).

 

In addition, your thread talks about hacking the SATA adapters, but these are SAS. I'm using a forward breakout cable mentioned above. The connector doesn't expose the pins, instead it's all enclosed in plastic. I don't see how I could tape or break/remove pin3 on the cable. I'd have to either do it on the drive itself, or buy an adapter. 

Edited by kunfuezion
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7 hours ago, kunfuezion said:

@doron I have two white label WD3001FYYG drives. The 1TB Seagate and other WD 3TB drive are SATA and connected directly to my MB to integrated SATA ports. I'm trying to repurpose an old desktop (HP 8200 Elite CMT). I'm thinking the problem might be w/ my PSU, it's an OEM 300w. 

That makes sense - not in terms of power (HDDs draw surprisingly less power that people think), but in terms of the dreaded 3.3v issue.

 

Quote

I'm weary of removing the pin manually, would rather use something like the kapton tape method.. what local stores carry it? Can't find at any HD or Lowes-types places (in stock).

Local to where? 🙂 Any decent electronics store should have them, or you can buy online (and wait, I know).

 

Quote

In addition, your thread talks about hacking the SATA adapters, but these are SAS.

No it does not. It specifically addresses SAS drives (this is where I experienced the issue, and this is where I had to perform the hack).

 

Quote

I'm using a forward breakout cable mentioned above. The connector doesn't expose the pins, instead it's all enclosed in plastic. I don't see how I could tape or break/remove pin3 on the cable. I'd have to either do it on the drive itself, or buy an adapter. 

No. Let's take one step back. (I assume you're using the Cable Matters cable mentioned above - if not, please point to the one you are using.) 

 

The SAS connector (that goes to the drive) has two parts / sections: Data and power. The data part is the narrower one, and the power is the wider one. 

In your breakout cable, the data part goes to the SFF8087. We're not touching that. The power part splits (5 colored leads) into a SATA-style male power connector. I presume(!) you have connected that one to your PSU SATA power feeds. This is the part we're "playing" with, this is where the naughty pin is.

My recommendation would be to manipulate this end (again, the far end of the 5-color-leads, male SATA power). I'd first test on just one of them, to see if it in fact solves the problem; worst case, if you seriously mess it up, you broke just one of the four ports. You have two drives so you're still good 🙂

 

If you have kapton tape you can cut a narrow piece and place it over pin 3. If not, you can try gently breaking pin 3.

Either way, if this works, you have a good path forward.

 

EDIT:

1. I think if you'd just cut off the orange lead, you'd achieve the same result without messing with pins. I believe the orange wire carries the 3.3v. Never tried it though. Want to sacrifice one of the ports to test that? 🙂

2. Or, you can use a power adapter such as this, which just doesn't feed 3.3v to begin with.

 

Edited by doron
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