It's time to expand my server and to go along with my other Supermicro aoc-sas2lp-mv8 i bought another one.

 

I've read a bit about firmware issues and booting up, but my first one was just plug and play so i thought these were old issues. I installed it and attached 2 hard drives to it and when i boot the screens progress nicely....firstly it shows both controllers....then it shows all 8 HDDs on 1 controller and 2 HDDs on the 2nd (new) controller....then it just sits there with a prompt asking for ctrl+m for bios setup or spacebar to continue...

 

sadly this is where it stops working. I cannot do either, but the computer hasn't frozen...i can still do ctrl+alt+del or use ipmi to reboot the host. (it's a super micro X9SCM-F mobo). On the screen it states it's running firmware 4.0.18

 

i've installed it physically below my original controller in the other x8 PCI slot.

 

Do you think it could be a firmware issue? i've found a good thread on here to guide me in flashing it, but wanted to double check there isn't something simple i have to do to prepare for this new controller? Does the mobo bios need changing at all?

 

cheers

 

 

 

 

The motherboard BIOS doesn't need to be changed, but you likely have to flash the new controller's BIOS.

 

I don't have these cards, so can't provide specifics on doing so ... but one caution I'd take:  unplug your other card; and all drives -- then do the update;  and then put the other controller back in and plug in all your drives.    That ensures there's NO chance of accidentally modifying the other card and/or any of the drives.

 

I have 2 of these cards running on my UnRAID server without issue. As gary mentioned, it's important to make sure the 2 cards are running at the same firmware, and his recommendation is the best way to go. I didn't have to do anything else on the motherboard for these, and have actually just migrated them from one cpu/mb to another and did nothing other than physically move the cards over.

 

I believe both of my cards are running the 1808 firmware which was the latest (I think the number is correct).

Ok guys, thanks..

 

I'll doing the flashing in my ordinary windows pc one at a time to be safe I think. I've noticed there is a new firmware as of Jan 2014.

I doubt you have to flash any firmware on the card itself.  The latest firmware for this card came out in 2010.  But I kinda remember having to go into the BIOS of the card to change a setting.  I forgot what it was.

I doubt you have to flash any firmware on the card itself.  The latest firmware for this card came out in 2010.  But I kinda remember having to go into the BIOS of the card to change a setting.  I forgot what it was.

 

Even though the cards firmware is old I know at least one of my cards shipped with an earlier firmware rev (1800 instead of 1808 I think) and I had to flash it. (I bought my 2nd card early last year).

 

As for the BIOS setting I think you are supposed to disable INT13. I havent' done this on either of my cards and have never had an issue, but recently came across this  recommendation again in an old thread and plan to make the suggested change. I don't know what it's supposed to do for you though.

Found this old thread from Rajahal, Sata Controller Cards

 

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

 

Requirements: PCIe x4 or faster slot (PCIe x16 works fine on most motherboards)

 

Cables:

  -To connect the card directly to a hard drive or SATA drive cage, you need Forward Breakout Cables (4 ports per cable), such as these.

  -To connect the card directly to a miniSAS backplane such as those used in the Norco 4220 and 4224 cases, you need miniSAS cables (4 ports per cable) such as these.

  -When searching for these cables, search for the phrase '8087' and you'll find plenty of them.  Beware that the Reverse Breakout Cables are only used in Norco cases, they DO NOT work with these SASLP cards.

 

Where to get them: Superbiiz (generally cheaper), Newegg

 

Special Instructions:

First off, always disable the INT13 function on these cards.  During boot, hold ctrl-m at the appropriate time (the screen that lists all the drive's serial numbers), then go to the second BIOS menu and disable INT13.  If you have more than one of these cards, you need to do this for each card (they share the same BIOS menu, so just select the second controller and disable INT13 for that one as well).

 

Newer versions of this card come with a BIOS version ending in .21; this version introduces some RAID functionality to the card that can interfere with the motherboard's ability to boot from unRAID.  If you are having trouble booting into unRAID with one or more of the SASLP cards installed, you have two options:

 

1) Modify the firmware using a built-in utility to disable the RAID functionality. Here's how: Disabling RAID from AOC-SASLP-MV8 firmware .21 (thanks to TheWombat for posting this tutorial!)

 

2) Downgrade the card's firmware to the BIOS version ending in .15.  Here's how (thanks to joshpond for this tutorial):

 

http://thepcspy.com/read/bootable_usb_flash_drive/

1) Download the HP USB Flash Drive format tool

2) Extract

3) Run the exe file to install HP tool

4) Insert USB (will delete data)

5) Open HP USB tool

6) Format, select USB drive, FAT (quick is fine) Create DOS start-up disk, select files

7) Select/browse to the extracted folder and there is a DOS files folder

Download the .15 firmware from here.

9) Extract firmware .15 to usb

USB is now ready to boot off (select HDD on motherboard)

Boot off USB, at prompt type:

smc-n.bat

Set mobo to AHCI and it all works fine.

thanks again for the extra info...I didn't have enit13 disabled, and could only get into the bios of the cards by taking the new card out. I've disabled this now and noted it's on firmware 4.0.0.1800

 

I've noticed on ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/driver/SAS/Marvell/MV8/SAS2/Firmware/ they are up to 4.0.0.1812 as of 15/01/2014, so will update both cards.

 

i've got a spare PC to do that and i'll upgrade both individually with no HDDs attached.

 

here goes..... eek!

 

 

Well it worked!

 

Interestingly enough the new card was on the newer firmware of 1812. So i'm not sure if having them both on the same firmware fixed it or disabling enit13....but at least it's working.

 

All ready for 64bit beta 4 now.

 

Thanks again all!

If INT13 is enabled your bios might try to boot from a drive connected to the controller.  When INT13 is disabled you don't have to worry about drives added to the controller suddenly becoming your boot device due to "HELPFUL" bios's.