Hey all,

 

Just got a SAS2LP recently to start my first unRAID build, and I cannot get it working. Whenever it is plugged into the motherboard (with drives attached or not), the computer hangs during the POST (goes to a screen with a solitary flashing underscore) and hangs there indefinitely. I can't get to the BIOS, it just hangs at that screen. I've tested it in my fully functioning main rig as well, with the same issue.

 

I have no idea what's going on, new to all this. Bad card?

The flashing cursor indicates it's trying to boot from some device other than your USB flash drive.  I suspect it's trying to boot from the add-in card (the SAS2LP).

 

I think you can just go into the card's BIOS and disable the option ROM is disabled.    But in several threads on this forum about this card the users needed to reflash the BIOS, so you may need to do that as well.    Read through these 2 threads and you should find the solution that will work for you:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=27129.0

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29052.0

 

Check the BIOS first, however => if you can simply disable the card's bootable BIOS option that should resolve this with no problem.

 

 

 

The flashing cursor indicates it's trying to boot from some device other than your USB flash drive.  I suspect it's trying to boot from the add-in card (the SAS2LP).

 

I think you can just go into the card's BIOS and disable the option ROM is disabled.    But in several threads on this forum about this card the users needed to reflash the BIOS, so you may need to do that as well.    Read through these 2 threads and you should find the solution that will work for you:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=27129.0

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29052.0

 

Check the BIOS first, however => if you can simply disable the card's bootable BIOS option that should resolve this with no problem.

 

You said "go into the card's BIOS..." Do you mean motherboard, or actually enter the BIOS for the SAS2LP (if possible). If it's the latter, I'm afraid I don't know how to do that. Mobo-wise, I've disabled everything I can that seems to even remotely concern itself with booting from the SAS2LP. To no avail, though. Also, to reiterate, I can't even enter the BIOS with the card plugged in, so I can't do any card-specific BIOS editing. I just have to disable what I can.

 

I tried re-flashing the firmware on my SAS2LP, but was unable to get it to work. Again, cannot do anything enter-BIOS-related with the card in. I booted to the DOS USB with the firmware on it without the card in, then I stuck it in and tried the update. I got an error; 000000000 or something similar.

Alt-m during the BIOS POST should get you into the card's BIOS.  According to what I've read about this card, all you should have to do is disable Int-13 in the card's BIOS, although several folks also re-flashed the card's firmware with good results.

 

I'd try disabling Int-13, and then, if that still doesn't do the trick, re-flash the firmware.

 

This is a good thread to read through regarding that card:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29052.0

Alt-m during the BIOS POST should get you into the card's BIOS.  According to what I've read about this card, all you should have to do is disable Int-13 in the card's BIOS, although several folks also re-flashed the card's firmware with good results.

 

I'd try disabling Int-13, and then, if that still doesn't do the trick, re-flash the firmware.

 

This is a good thread to read through regarding that card:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29052.0

 

Again, I cannot get to that point. I get no prompts to "Alt-M" into the card's BIOS. I get the first splash screen for the POST, then before it transitions to the second screen (something about checking for eSATA drives) I get the blinking underscore. I hit Alt-M furiously as soon as I hit the power button, but no change.

 

The same thing happens when I plug the card into my main rig. First splash of POST, then blinking underscore.

I think you need to reflash the firmware on the card as several folks did in the thread I noted earlier ... although I'm a bit surprised, as there are a LOT of folks on this forum using that card.

 

Hopefully somebody who has one will chime in with any special things they did to make it work.

 

I'm really surprised the card's BIOS won't respond, however.    Look very carefully in your motherboard's BIOS to see if there are any options regarding booting from add-on cards.

 

I think you need to reflash the firmware on the card as several folks did in the thread I noted earlier ... although I'm a bit surprised, as there are a LOT of folks on this forum using that card.

 

Hopefully somebody who has one will chime in with any special things they did to make it work.

 

I'm really surprised the card's BIOS won't respond, however.    Look very carefully in your motherboard's BIOS to see if there are any options regarding booting from add-on cards.

 

Again, I cannot reflash the firmware because I cannot get past the first POST screen. I booted into the DOS disk containing the firmware upgrade without the SAS2LP in, then I plugged it in while the computer was running and still in DOS, and then tried to flash the firmware. It failed with an error code of 00000000, give or take a few zeroes.

 

Here are my motherboard BIOS options (Phoenix; cleared the CMOS prior to installing everything):

 

ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES:

Hard disk boot priority (USB-HDD0: San Disk Cruzer Fit 1.27 is first, followed by 2. Bootable add-in cards; cannot change or remove bootable add-in cards)

Network boot priority

CPU internal cache - enabled

Quick power on self test - enabled

First boot device - hard disk (the 790i sees USB drives not as removable drives, but HDD drives)

Second boot device - disabled

Third boot device - disabled

Boot other device - disabled

Boot up numlock status - on

Security option - setup

APIC mode - enabled

MPS version control for OS - 1.4

Full screen logo show - disabled

 

I've managed to fix the issue of questionably being able to boot from USB to definitely being able to boot from USB (as mentioned earlier, the 790i sees the USB drive as an HDD drive, which I find odd) but still no luck. I still get the flashing underscore after POST whenever the SAS2LP is connected.

 

I've noticed one of the "LED indicators" is red, but I can't figure out what that means. Holding the card "right side up" (so you can read the barcodes and majority of the writing on the card) with the bracket on the left and the SAS ports on the right, there are  two groups of 8 LED's. The LED in question is 7th from the left, and the text accompanying it reads "R25FLT1 <two arrows> D2". I can't find a manual for the SAS2LP to see if it means anything.

... I booted into the DOS disk containing the firmware upgrade without the SAS2LP in, then I plugged it in while the computer was running ...

 

Ouch !!  NEVER, EVER hot-plug a PCI or PCIe device !!  That alone could have destroyed your card (or caused an issue with your motherboard)    Hopefully you got by with it, but it's decidedly NOT a good idea.

 

Does the behavior you've mentioned vary based on whether or not any drives are plugged into the SAS2LP ?

 

... I booted into the DOS disk containing the firmware upgrade without the SAS2LP in, then I plugged it in while the computer was running ...

 

Ouch !!  NEVER, EVER hot-plug a PCI or PCIe device !!  That alone could have destroyed your card (or caused an issue with your motherboard)    Hopefully you got by with it, but it's decidedly NOT a good idea.

 

Does the behavior you've mentioned vary based on whether or not any drives are plugged into the SAS2LP ?

 

The hot-plugging has had almost no effect on the card: it stubbornly refuses to work afterwards just as it did before.

 

The behaviour does not change when drives are plugged into the SAS2LP or not.

Sounds like the following possibilities:

 

(a)  The card is simply not compatible with your motherboard; or

(b)  The card is defective

 

One final thing to try:  If you have multiple x8 or x16 slots, try using a different one.

 

Sounds like the following possibilities:

 

(a)  The card is simply not compatible with your motherboard; or

(b)  The card is defective

 

One final thing to try:  If you have multiple x8 or x16 slots, try using a different one.

 

I'm leaning towards B. As I've said, I've tried it in my main rig with a much more recent motherboard (ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3) and it produced the same issue. Seems odd that both motherboards would coincidentally be incompatible.

 

I've got two x16 slots available and tried each one; no luck.

 

Currently emailing with Supermicro customer support, so we'll see what comes.

I missed that you'd also tried it in a different board -- that definitely tends to indicate it's a defective card.

 

Supermicro seems to agree. They've prompted me to begin the RMA process.

Hello everyone,

 

I've finally got some kind of resolution to this mess. I RMA'd the card initially, sending it back to NCIX rather than Supermicro (NCIX offered free return shipping),  and it was on back order when I RMA'd. It took about 4 weeks, all told, to receive my replacement. Then I was in the process of actually setting up, fine-tuning, and transferring everything over to my server, so it took me a while to get around to checking it. I finally tossed it in my server to see, and voila: still doesn't work. I tried to troubleshoot, sticking it in an LGA1150/G3258-run HTPC upstairs and... it worked! I haven't tried it in my LGA1155 main rig, but I don't plan to. Perhaps the issue is that the SAS2LP just doesn't work with my LGA775 motherboard currently in my computer?

 

The solution now seems to be "update the motherboard/CPU." I'd always planned to upgrade to a G3258 and an adequate server motherboard, but I don't have the money for that (though I don't have the money for any upgrades, but unfortunately my motherboard SATA ports are saturated so I need this SAS card). I'm looking at the G3258 (or G3220 or G3240, pending price) and, essentially, the cheapest LGA1150 motherboard I can grab that will do the job.

 

Does anyone have any good recommendations on a low-level LGA1150 motherboard? I'm looking for at least one PCI-e slot and ~6 onboard SATA ports. That should tide me over for a while. More importantly, though, it needs to work with the SAS2LP. Or is LGA1150 cool with the SAS2LP, by and large? I'm in Canada, but I'll be cruising through the US mid-April and passing a bunch of Micro Centers, so that's where I plan to go. Going to hope for some open box/marked down motherboards.

 

EDIT: The motherboard that was tested with the SAS2LP was a Gigabyte GA-B85M-HD3. It's pretty cheap, and has what I want, so I'll probably look at this one. Still want other suggestions, though.

I've not heard of any LGA 1150 boards that wouldn't work with the SAS2LP, but that doesn't, of course mean there aren't any.    The "safest" thing to do is to buy a board that uses the same B85 chipset as your "upstairs" PC that you confirmed it works with.    As you noted, the GA-B85M-HD3 is pretty inexpensive, so perhaps just picking up another one of those is the best choice.

 

 

 

Agreed. Keeping an eye out for that one, as well as the ASRock H97M Pro4. It has two PCI-e x16 slots, so that's another 8 drives with another SAS2LP card. Means I can add another SAS2LP card without having to upgrade the motherboard again.

That's a very nice board -- I used it to build a system for a friend a few months ago and was very impressed with the quality for such an inexpensive board.

 

I've got "soft confirmation" as well that it works with the SAS2LP (noticed another forum where someone said it worked out of the box). So that's promising. Guess I'll wait to see what deals present themselves.

Interesting mini-update:

 

Figuring that I would spend ~$50 on a motherboard, I jumped at the chance to pick up an Asus Z87-Pro refurbished motherboard. It's LGA1150, has 8x SATA 6GB/s ports, and 3x PCI-e x16 slots. Decent! Won't have to upgrade my motherboard for quite some time, now.

 

For those interested: Asus Z87-Pro for $49.97

Excellent deal => I've built several systems using that exact board in the past ... but paid a LOT more than $50 for it 

Well, after much ado, I can finally put the nail in this coffin.

 

Upgraded the motherboard from an old LGA775 to an LGA1150 ASUS Z87 Pro, and the SAS2LP works like a charm now. Threw in a G3258 as well. Only hiccup was that the BIOS was old enough that it didn't recognize the G3258, but I used ASUS' USB BIOS Flashback -- a ridiculously nifty thing -- to flash the BIOS right quick and get everything up and running.

 

unRAID handled the switch magnificently. Love this OS more and more every day.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help.

ASUS's BIOS Flashback is indeed a VERY nifty feature.    For those that don't have this, or know about it, it's a feature that allows you to update the BIOS on a board WITHOUT a CPU installed 

 

Completely eliminates the "Catch-22" of having a board that only supports your nice new CPU with a BIOS version that's newer than the one currently on the board.  In the past, that required finding a supported CPU; installing it; doing the BIOS upgrade; and then replacing the CPU with your new one.