$80 - Intel RS2WC080 RAID Controller SAS/SATA MD2 6GB/s PCIe 2.0x8 New Retail Bo


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Sorry for the cross post from LSI IT/IR thread but I ran into an issue while flashing my RS2WC080 to IT FW.  I thought I saw an error after executing the 3.bat command but not positive.  Anyway, when I tried to execute 5IT.bat, I got an error saying chip was in reset state mode (is this from 3.bat?).  Not sure how to proceed?  Should I try to execute 3.bat again?

 

C:\LSIMEGA\SAS2FLSH.EXE -l Flashlog.txt -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom

Advanced Mode Set

 

Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2008(B2) 

 

Executing Operation: Flash Firmware Image

 

Firmware Image has a Valid Checksum.

 

Firmware Image compatible with Controller.

 

Valid NVDATA Image found.

 

NVDATA Device ID and Chip Revision match verified.

Valid Initialization Image verified.

Valid BootLoader Image verified.

 

Chip is in RESET state. Attempting Host Boot...

ERROR: Firmware Host Boot Failed !

Due to error remaining commands will not be executed.

Unable to Process Commands.

Exiting SAS2Flash.

 

Edit: As jwegman notes below, a reboot is required between steps 2 and 3 (as well as 3 and 5) on these cards.  After a bit of drama, two cards flashed successfully.

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On each of the 4 RS2WC080's that I've flashed, I had needed to REBOOT prior to 3.bat working correctly (and yes, this needs to complete correctly before proceeding with the other steps).

 

yeah, thanks.  I was using the guide in the LSI thread and missed this edit in your earlier post.  Thanks again for all of the info you've been sharing on the Intel stuff.  I may end up needing a new case after all and the stuff you posted from Ebay is gold!  ;)

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Ever since I ventured into the $69 Xeon CPU E5-2670 rabbit hole this past week, I've been trolling ebay for NIB surplus Intel server components.  I encountered one seller who appears to have a metric $hit ton of surplus Intel stock.  While they advertise pretty high prices, on their auctions they've been accepting what I consider reasonable offers.

 

Per this posts topic, they have http://www.ebay.com/itm/201389073881 listed for $240.00 with $10 shipping, however I offered $70 which they accepted (with $10 shipping, so $80 all in).  This is new in box RETAIL package.  Shipping fedex ground from them in New Hampshire to me in MN was 3 days.

 

I just bought a second RS2WC080 from them, also from an accepted $70 offer +shipping...

 

YMMV,

Jake

Since this is NIB, assume it has bracket(s).  Does it include cables also?

 

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Ever since I ventured into the $69 Xeon CPU E5-2670 rabbit hole this past week, I've been trolling ebay for NIB surplus Intel server components.  I encountered one seller who appears to have a metric $hit ton of surplus Intel stock.  While they advertise pretty high prices, on their auctions they've been accepting what I consider reasonable offers.

 

Per this posts topic, they have http://www.ebay.com/itm/201389073881 listed for $240.00 with $10 shipping, however I offered $70 which they accepted (with $10 shipping, so $80 all in).  This is new in box RETAIL package.  Shipping fedex ground from them in New Hampshire to me in MN was 3 days.

 

I just bought a second RS2WC080 from them, also from an accepted $70 offer +shipping...

 

YMMV,

Jake

Since this is NIB, assume it has bracket(s).  Does it include cables also?

 

Yes, in addition to the standard height bracket, it contains the low profile bracket.  And it also includes (2) minisas -> 4xsata & 1xspgio cables.  I haven't bothered to measure the length as I haven't used any of them (I'm only using minisas -> minisas cables in my systems), but from eyeballing them (they are still twist tied bundled up), they are perhaps .50 meters?

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Any point for getting one of these for a low power system?  I know in raid 5 mode these things suck 15 watts and need to be actively cooled, i dont know what they draw when in IT mode.  I wouldnt mind running all my drives off of one card instead of a hodgepodge on board and pci-e cards, but my system only draws 35 watts right now and this card costs more than the mobo...

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Got this controller for 80 bucks, total :). Followed the excellent instructions but of course I had to make it more complicated than it needed to be.  For those of us who are not that familiar with UEFI shells, that utility maps all drives it finds & then shows that map.  I kept thinking I had to mount one of the drives I was seeing, but of course it had already done so.  It took me almost an hour to figure out that typing fs0: would take my to my USB drives' root directory.  :o. Without that snafu, the whole process (including) downloading was about 35 minutes.  I used a home built PC with a MSI motherboard running Win 8.1.  Have not put the controller in my unRAID server yet, but soon.

 

 

 

edit: 2 APR 16  Well I outsmarted myself by half.  :'(  Got this excellent PCIe 2.0 x16 controller & put it into my old PCIe 2.0 x8 motherboard.  This should be arriving Monday. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

They should cross flash with the LSI IT FW just fine just like the 8port RS2WC080.  The only downside is that they are 4port.

 

If you are using an E5 Xeon board (such as the Intel s2600's), you may want to consider the Intel RMS25KB080.  Note that these are BIOS locked and will *only* work with a supported Intel E5 xeon server board (such as the Intel s2600 family).  These use the LSI 2308 chip instead of the LSI 2208 used on the RS2WC080.  I paid $40 ea for them, and they crossflashed as LSI 9205-8e's very easily.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-RMS25KB080-OEM-SG35828-Integrated-PCIe-RAID-Module-New-Bulk-Packaging-/182094011933

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They should cross flash with the LSI IT FW just fine just like the 8port RS2WC080.  The only downside is that they are 4port.

 

If you are using an E5 Xeon board (such as the Intel s2600's), you may want to consider the Intel RMS25KB080.  Note that these are BIOS locked and will *only* work with a supported Intel E5 xeon server board (such as the Intel s2600 family).  These use the LSI 2308 chip instead of the LSI 2208 used on the RS2WC080.  I paid $40 ea for them, and they crossflashed as LSI 9205-8e's very easily.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-RMS25KB080-OEM-SG35828-Integrated-PCIe-RAID-Module-New-Bulk-Packaging-/182094011933

 

Jake,

Follow-up question. The P4216IP4L unit I bought came with RMS25CB080 mezzanine card. Which is 2208 and to my knowledge can't be cross flashed. They have a ton of  RMS25JB080 (appear to be -310 from the pic).

 

Do you know if these can be installed on the IOM mezzanine slot? My other thought is to get the JB and swap out the CB and sell it.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

 

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...I'm not sure about the RMS25CB080 card.  It's more of a hardware RAID controller that supports battery backup etc...  Upon doing a quick search here I find that the LSI 9265-8i uses the SAS2208, however I hadn't found anyone claiming success with cross flashing it.  I took a quick peak at the Intel FW update .zip package, and it doesn't use the typical LSI sas2flash tool that the RMS25JB080/RMS25KB080 cards use, so it may not be as simple as those cards which are done with two commands (I've repeatedly switched between the Intel and LSI firmwares using these two commands):

 

Using this guys blog as a basis: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/my-experience-with-cross-flashing-intel-integrated-raid-module-rms25kb040-with-it-mode-firmware.20895/

 

To erase:

sas2flash -o -e 6

 

To flash:

sas2flash -o -f {fw.bin} -b {bios.bin}

 

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...I'm not sure about the RMS25CB080 card.  It's more of a hardware RAID controller that supports battery backup etc...  Upon doing a quick search here I find that the LSI 9265-8i uses the SAS2208, however I hadn't found anyone claiming success with cross flashing it.  I took a quick peak at the Intel FW update .zip package, and it doesn't use the typical LSI sas2flash tool that the RMS25JB080/RMS25KB080 cards use, so it may not be as simple as those cards which are done with two commands (I've repeatedly switched between the Intel and LSI firmwares using these two commands):

 

Using this guys blog as a basis: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/my-experience-with-cross-flashing-intel-integrated-raid-module-rms25kb040-with-it-mode-firmware.20895/

 

To erase:

sas2flash -o -e 6

 

To flash:

sas2flash -o -f {fw.bin} -b {bios.bin}

True. I've not come across anything on cross flashing 2108 & 2208 based cards to IT mode. They are  HW RAID only.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

moot point as they are all gone...but yes.  These are sataIII and gen2 cards, so more bandwidth in total over AOC-SASLP-MV8.  Some asshole bought 100 in one shot and drained the supply...

 

damn!!!!

 

Don't worry he will resale for a higher price.

 

Looks like they aren't coming back :(

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You certainly could to that, however I created a P20/ on my USB stick and copied the following files to it:

 

Installer_P20_for_UEFI/sas2flash_efi_ebc_rel/sas2flash.efi
9211-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows/Firmware/HBA_9211_8i_IT/2118it.bin
9211-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows/sasbios_rel/mptbios.txt
9211-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows/sasbios_rel/mptsas2.rom

 

Then I booted to the UEFI shell, I navigate into the fs0: device's /P20/ directory manually executed the sas2flash.efi directly with the parameters found in the 5i.bat and 6.bat files (I didn't actually modify or use those two bat files with the sas2flash.efi program)...

 

Note, that specifying the mptsas2.rom on the flash command is entirely optional.  People who use this card with unRAID may want to omit it to speed up boot times so you don't have to wait for that bios to init and stuff (which can take ~10 seconds?).

 

i got the RS2WC040 and follow your cheat sheet, i was confused since i got an EFI bios but got that solved, anyhow i believe everything flash, but do i confirm? I did not put the bios back in.

 

Thanks

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Does anybody know what the max drive size this controller will take?  I'm using 3TB drives now & would like to upgrade to 4TB (which I can afford).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not sure on max size but I'm using a 4TB for my parity disk in my dual RS2WC080 configuration.

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Does anybody know what the max drive size this controller will take?  I'm using 3TB drives now & would like to upgrade to 4TB (which I can afford).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not sure on max size but I'm using a 4TB for my parity disk in my dual RS2WC080 configuration.

 

Yep.  I bought this, which is preclearing now.  :)

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