Losing existing drives/controller when adding new drive/controller...ideas?

[ksignorini]

My server currently has 12 drives connected. Six (6) use the on-board SATA controller and the other six (6) are connected to three (3) PEXESAT3221 PCIe SATA controllers. Everything works great!

 

Now I've decided to add a fourth PEXESAT3221 controller and another drive. When I plug the controller in and boot (no drives attached) the server recognizes the BIOS of each card, with the "empty" one stating that no drives are attached. The server boots and all the existing drives work fine. However, when I attach a new drive (my 13th drive) to the new card, that card's BIOS shows the new drive but two (2) of the existing drives--in fact, what appears to be the last controller card in the PCIe chain, no longer get recognized by the computer!

 

That is to say, where the boot messages use to say (using pseudo messages for clarity):

 

New Card: No drives attached.

Previous Card 1: 2 drives attached.

Previous Card 2: 2 drives attached.

Previous Card 3: 2 drives attached.

 

It now says:

 

New Card: 1 drive attached (because I just attached my one new drive).

Previous Card 1: 2 drives attached.

Previous Card 2: 2 drives attached.

 

But Card 3 is completely missing. The computer no longer recognizes that it's plugged in. And remember, this is all pre-unRAID boot, simply BIOS messages.

 

Does anyone know if this is maybe a limitation of the PEXESAT3221 or if it might have something to do with my mobo BIOS? Or maybe something else entirely?

 

I'm completely at a loss on this one.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by ksignorini
Clearer topic title.

[Frank1940]

I would start by reading your MB manual very carefully as the PCI express slots are sometimes configured in some odd ways.  PCI EX1 slots are sometimes not quite what they seem as they can be paired with the X16 slots.  You might also want to check for BIOS upgrades and read the change notes to see it there are any clues there.  

 

If I were you, I would being looking at the LSI based cards as they typically have 8 SATA ports on the card.  You can read a earlier thread today about this here:

      https://forums.unraid.net/topic/74045-best-way-to-add-more-sata-ports-to-unraid-build/

 

 

PS--- I have had problems using PEXESAT3221 cards in the past.  There is no way to know if the same manufacturer made those as made yours as generic as these cards are.  

[ksignorini]

Interesting.

 

I'm looking at pics of an LSI SAS 9211-8i (looks like others are, too) but I can't figure out how all 8 drives plug into this thing. Regular SATA cables?

[Frank1940]

You need a cable like this:

 

         https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBYS2U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Note that this is often called a forward breakout cable.  There are other configurations depending on what the actual use is. 

[ksignorini]

Thanks!