Hi, i have a few questions about this card.

 

I Just got it and im trying to make it work now. I use the PCI x16 slot and i also deactivated the INT13 on the bios setup.

 

Now im looking to downgrade the bios from .21 to .15 see if that works. So far it's been around 10 mins and im still stuck at the "Loading Operating System" screen

 

 

Any ideas or suggestions??

 

DO i need to put some drivrs somewhere in the pendrive? Im i missing something??

Tried on the x4 slot, nothing, same deal.

 

 

Im trying to downgrade the sas card bios from .21 to .15 as sugested here and i can't acces the bios.

 

I have the USB drive ready. Do i need to reboot the server as usual?  f10 / f12 doesn't do anything.

 

I go straight to a initializing controller screen and then get stuck on a black screen with a blinking cursor.

 

How can i downgrade to .15?  im lost here

 

 

Which step are you up to. You have to. Reate the dos usb and boot to that. Make sure the mobo is set to boot to usb and no other hdds are connected. Set the hdd to ide so that you can boot to the us.

 

Josh

By no other Hdds you mean that i have to disconnect all the data / parity / cache drives?

 

I already have the bootable usb drive with the .15 driver

 

so what now? disconect all the drives, set the mobo bios to ide instead ahci?

 

 

Anyone else? Im still stuck on the black screen, blinking cursor.

 

 

By no other Hdds you mean that i have to disconnect all the data / parity / cache drives?

 

I already have the bootable usb drive with the .15 driver

 

so what now? disconect all the drives, set the mobo bios to ide instead ahci?

 

 

Sorry haven't been on here for a while but i"ll try and help you get this sorted.

 

Yes. The supermicro only boots in ide mode. When in ahci mode with .21 it uses too much option rom so freezes. Ide allows it to boot through so it can then boot the usb.

 

Josj

So i just need to switch back to IDE instead of AHCI and should be all ok?? Can i just get in the bios and switch back to IDE instead of AHCI?  or do i need to take some extra steps??

 

Whats the diference etween this 2 options?  Should i expect less write or read speed?

 

 

Ide is generally worse than ahci. The super micro won't boot.21 in ahci. So you need to set the bios to ide so that it will boot to the usb with the .15 firmware. Flash to the .15 firmware and them with that firmware you can reset the bios to ahci.

 

You can leave it on .21 with ide and it should boot but I think it will be slower and you will lose smart reports.

 

Josh

 

 

Ide is generally worse than ahci. The super micro won't boot.21 in ahci. So you need to set the bios to ide so that it will boot to the usb with the .15 firmware. Flash to the .15 firmware and them with that firmware you can reset the bios to ahci.

 

You can leave it on .21 with ide and it should boot but I think it will be slower and you will lose smart reports.

 

Josh

 

Ok, i set up the bios to IDE, boot with the card on and flashed to .15n.

 

Then reboot and switch the bios back to AHCI.

 

Seems to be working fine on the 4x slot, if i put the card on the 16x slot i get stuck at the black scree & blinking cursor.

 

So 4x slot is it?  Would make any diference if i have the card on the 16x since the card is 4x interface?

 

Did you make it work on the 16x slot?

 

Ill preclear some disk now and see how that goes for speed and SMART report.

 

Ill report back when im finished with that

Just Kidding, doesn't work with 2 drives attached to the sas card.

 

I can see the HDD's in the card bios and both are detected, i get the light activity in the card and all that, but i get stuck at the same black screen.

 

I tried the 4x slot and the 16x slot.

 

Also with INT13 enabled & disabled, same result. Stuck at the black screen "_" blinking cursor.

 

Does anyone have any idea what is the problem here??

 

 

Any tips / pointers would be really appreciated.