First, let me link a previous post I made. Mind you I'm a complete noob, though have followed the technology of UnRaid for several years. Finally getting around to building a server. 

 

Right now, I'm running the following: 
Intel i5 10400 CPU @ 2.90GHz Processor
Asus Prime B560-Plus Motherboard
2 sticks of Crucial 8 GB 2666 MHz RAM for 16 GB total 
An assortment of SAS drives used that I have (about 24 or 30 TB)
A SATA drive 256gb or 1 TB from MicroCenter planning to use as a cache drive
Samsung Flash Drive 1100 (32 GB) for my boot drive of UnRaid

 

I plan to use this server for media (TV and Movies), backups of my computer (MacBook Pro) and backup my photos and videos from my phone. At the moment it'll be used for backing up via Time Machine and backing up photos and videos from my phone. 

 

To start out, I previously had tried booting into UnRaid and then setting it up. The user root for whatever reason wasn't going through. I also had wanted to use the GUI boot mode, as I have my server hooked up to a monitor. One of the things that is stumping me is I cannot get Boot\CSM (Compatibility Support Module) to enable. It's greyed out once I select it in my motherboard bios settings and doesn't allow me to launch CSM (shows as disabled). My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that I need this enabled to help run UnRaid.  I also have photos as well.

 

In EZ Mode, my motherboard shows the specs, speeds, etc of course. Running BIOS version 1203. It shows as boot priority of the Samsung flash drive (see photos).  I'm wondering also if I need to try and disable the iGPU from the processor or even get a super cheap GPU for my build. I was hoping to wait on this as I don't see myself transcoding in the near future, going to use it for personal use not for friends or sharing to anybody. I also have read about how in the UnRaid flash drive the labeling of the EFI vs EFI- folder and that making an impact. 

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks. 
 

@jrd680 Is there a folder named EFI- on the flash drive.

If so, try to rename it EFI without the trailing -

That did it. Now it's not recognizing the other SAS connected drives, just my 1 TB drive I'm using for parity. 

8 minutes ago, jrd680 said:

Now it's not recognizing the other SAS connected drives, just my 1 TB drive I'm using for parity. 

How are those SAS drives connected ?

Your diagnostics could provide more information.

unraid-6.9.1.txt

 

Here are my diagnostics 

 

tower-diagnostics-20220120-1723.zip

unraid-6.9.1.txt

 

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Comet Lake-S 6c Host Bridge/DRAM Controller [8086:9b53] (rev 03)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
    Kernel driver in use: skl_uncore
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation CometLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] [8086:9bc8] (rev 03)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Video
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
    Kernel modules: i915
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 xHCI Host Controller [8086:43ed] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
    Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:14.2 RAM memory [0500]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H Shared SRAM [8086:43ef] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
00:15.0 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H Serial IO I2C Controller #0 [8086:43e8] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H Management Engine Interface [8086:43e0] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
00:17.0 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:43d2] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - SATA
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
    Kernel driver in use: ahci
    Kernel modules: ahci
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H PCI Express Root Port #5 [8086:43bc] (rev 11)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H PCI Express Root Port #9 [8086:43b0] (rev 11)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:4387] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:f0c8] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Sound
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:87fb]
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H SMBus Controller [8086:43a3] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
    Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
    Kernel modules: i2c_i801
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H SPI Controller [8086:43a4] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8694]
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (14) I219-V [8086:15fa] (rev 11)
    DeviceName: Onboard - Ethernet
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8672]
    Kernel driver in use: e1000e
    Kernel modules: e1000e
 

4 minutes ago, jrd680 said:

Here are my diagnostics 

Its does not look like you have a sas hba only sata. You cannot connect sas drives to sata ports.

Its does not look like you have a sas hba only sata. You cannot connect sas drives to sata ports.

I feel like a moron, what do I do? Can I buy a SAS HBA only SATA?


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Yes you can buy a Sas hba, you can connect connect both sas and sata to a sas hba.

 

Needs to be running in IT mode firmware.

 

Have a look at this post for lsi hbas

 

 

1 hour ago, jrd680 said:

Can I buy a SAS HBA only SATA?

Here is the one I use; Dell H310 with IT firmware.  In this mode it is a clone of the LSI 9211-8i HBA.  It is not clear from the listing (although pictures imply it) but it appears to include the forward breakout cables needed to connect up to 8 SATA drives to the SAS HBA.

 

This particular model is PCIe 2.0 but that is plenty of bandwidth in an x8 slot for 8 HDDs.

 

As mentioned in the linked post above, there are several good LSI-based options including PCIe 3.0 models.

Edited January 21, 20224 yr by Hoopster

Thanks all, should I message the eBay seller Art of Server asking for recommendations with my motherboard etc.? Also, if I switch from SAS to SATA drives I'm hoping to use the same HBA card preferably. 

On 1/20/2022 at 10:57 PM, jrd680 said:

should I message the eBay seller Art of Server asking for recommendations with my motherboard

Generally, the choice of SAS/SATA HBA is not motherboard dependent other than which version of PCIe is supported and does it have a PCIe slot in which the chosen card will fit.  The LSI cards recommended in the post linked by SimonF usually specify an x8 electrical (x16 physical) slot.  Some of the other recommendations which support fewer drives are good in an x4 slot or even x1 for only 2 drives.

Edited January 22, 20224 yr by Hoopster

What about the CSM not enabling? That’s bothersome and I’d rather use integrated graphics on the CPU then have to install a graphics card.


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8 minutes ago, jrd680 said:

I’d rather use integrated graphics on the CPU then have to install a graphics card.

Are you not able to enable the iGPU?  CSM should not affect that.  CSM is usually a consideration when attempting to boot in legacy mode on a UEFI board.  Each board can be a bit different in that regard.

 

UnRAID can be booted in both legacy mode (EFI- folder name) or UEFI (EFI folder name) but sometimes the Linux kernel in a particular version of unRAID plays better in one mode or the other.  I had a board a few years ago that booted fine in legacy mode with every version of unRAID up to 6.5.0 then it would hang on boot.  Switching it to UEFI solved the problem and I have been booting both my unRAID servers in UEFI ever since.

 

Both my servers use the iGPU for Plex and HandBrake hardware transcoding.

I had to boot in UEFI mode in the previous version of UnRaid. Maybe I’ll try booting in legacy mode to see if it works. Any way to enable iGPU using UEFI mode?


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1 hour ago, jrd680 said:

I had to boot in UEFI mode in the previous version of UnRaid. Maybe I’ll try booting in legacy mode to see if it works. Any way to enable iGPU using UEFI mode?


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Are you loading the i915 driver rc1 does not load by default. rc2 does. installing intel gou top plugin will also load tne i915.

Edited January 22, 20224 yr by SimonF

3 hours ago, jrd680 said:

enable iGPU

Enabling the iGPU usually requires setting Onboard/iGFX/iGPU (or whatever the BIOS/UEFI calls it) as the Primary Graphics Adapter and setting the iGPU to be always enabled even if a PCIe video card is installed.  This setting is often called Multimonitor.  This varies by BIOS.  Usually, you know you have done this correctly if a dev/dri folder is present with the right contents after booting unRAID.

 

 

The process for loading the i915 drivers is dependent upon the version of unRAID you are using.