ASRock E3C224D4I-14S mobo

[mgsvr]

Hello guys,

 

I bought a E3C224D4I-14S and a Xeon E31231v3 couple days ago. I only need this Unraid to store my media files and as a Plex server with 2-3 streams.

 

1) For the E3C224D4I-14S mobo, do I need to flash the LSI to "IT mode" for Unraid? Is it better to use the Intel SAS controller for Parity + 3 drives. Then LSI SAS controller for the rest of the drives?

 

2) The latest BIOS for this board is 3.20. Is there any known conflict of this BIOS and Unraid?

 

Thank you

[EdgarWallace]

I don't know how far you came so here is what I experienced:

 

1.) not needed, I have 8 disc drives attached to the LSI controller (connector 15 & 21, see manual and pic's attached)

2.) no, all is running well including plugins, Docker and VM's (Mac OS X El Capitan, Ubuntu Server 14.04, Windows 10)

 

My issue is: I was trying to attach 2 more drives to the build-in controller (manual is saying: Intel® C224 : 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s (from mini SAS connector), 2 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s, Support RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and Intel® Rapid). These two drives should show up at the UEFI screen but they are not. Let's see what the support will reply...

[justinkas]

I am going to be doing a new build with this AsRock E3C224D4I-14S MB and wanted to put 7 data drives, 1 parity drive, and 4 cache ssd's in brtfs. Is it necessary to flash the onboard LSI sas controller to IT in order to connect the 8 drives for unraid to properly see them? Can the 4 ssd's be put on the remaining sata connectors on the MB? Suggestions would be most appreciated for the obtaining the best, smoothest amd fastest drive connections with unraid? Thanks in advance...

 

PS... I have read most of the threads here especially PhreshJive's setup in a U-NAS 800 case, I noticed that he did flash to IT however I have heard that others have just plugged their sata drives right into the sas to 4 sata breakout cables without issue so I'm confused especially about this.

[EdgarWallace]

Have you seen my reply to mgsvr on the same question? Have a look I answered it already.

 

I was using a different cable, having now the setup that I want:

• 8x spinner disc drives attached to the LSI controller using the mini SAS connector no. 15 & 21
  
• 2x SSD’s attached the C224 controller that can handle 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s. I am using port 0 & 1 attached to the mini SAS connector no. 13
  
• 1x external connection attached to one of the  2 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s ports

 

Remark: Everything that is attached to the LSI controller will not be seen in the UEFI overview!!

[justinkas]

Thanks for the quick response....sorry for the duplication. So no flashing to IT required, just mini sas to 4 sata breakout cables on the LSI ports and c224 port and all will be well using sata drives if I understand you right? Just dont want to mess with any flashing if at all possible.Also, did you flash your bios for the MB to the newest version at all? Do you know what the difference would have been in the flashing of LSI to IT would have been? Any performance differences during your investigation? Thanks again I really appreciate it!

[EdgarWallace]

Yes you summarized it well. No flashing required.

 

My board came with version 3.20 already. This came out June 24th, so also here nothing was needed from my side.

 

The downside of the board is the the fans are not controlled by the nct6776 chip. They are controlled by the BMC. So unless you get the raw values to use with ipmitool you can't control them. See more details here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=39238.0. I have the Silverstone DS380 and even with the modifications (also described in the forum here) my disc drives are running usually at about 30-35°C.

[justinkas]

Thanks for all the great advice Did you have to use extenders from the power supply to the MB? Not sure which power supply you were using (I was planning on a Athena 500w AP-U1ATX50, which does barely fit according to another build), but wanted to know exactly what power connectors and/or extenders that I might need to purchase ahead of time for first time success?

[EdgarWallace]

Justinkas, you can read my journey here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42585.0

I am using the SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W. Great PSU but you have to modify the case (however no extenders needed).

[boxtor]

If you do decide to flash the IPMI and LSI, be sure to understand the instructions thoroughly.    IIRC, there was some outdated information with updating the IPMI.

[justinkas]

Would there be any speed or other benefits to flashing LSI to IT mode versus just leaving the LSI controller set in its default raid mode? If anyone knows the answer to this I would appreciate it, as I'm almost done with my build and excited to share the story and pics soon. While it has been said that everything works in both configurations, I just wanted to know if there were any benefits in using the LSI in raid mode vs IT mode? Thanks in advance.