Lien1454 Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Hi, I'm looking for a Sata PCI Express card to expand my array. One that will just work with Unraid without having to mess around with custom bios. I don't need it for anything special other than adding more drives. Also preferably something that is not expensive. Thank you. Quote Link to comment
Hoopster Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 2 hours ago, Lien1454 said: Hi, I'm looking for a Sata PCI Express card to expand my array. One that will just work with Unraid without having to mess around with custom bios. I don't need it for anything special other than adding more drives. Also preferably something that is not expensive. Thank you. Any LSI Host Bus Adapter based on the LSI SAS2008/2308/3008 chipset are the recommended SATA/SAS PCIe cards. You can find them inexpensively on eBay but avoid Chinese knock offs. I have the Dell H310 (LSI 9211-8i clone) in my server. Eight additional SATA ports for $30 Commonly used cards are: LSI 9211-8i (PCIe 2.0) LSI 9207-8i (PCIe 3.0) LSI 9300-8i (PCIe 3.0) Dell H200/H310 (PCIe 2.0) IBM M1015 (PCIe 2.0) Flash the card to IT mode without the BIOS. Many cards can be found on eBay pre-flashed for $50-$60 f you don't want to deal with that 2 Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 9 hours ago, Hoopster said: Any LSI Host Bus Adapter based on the LSI SAS2008/2308/3008 chipset are the recommended SATA/SAS PCIe cards. You can find them inexpensively on eBay but avoid Chinese knock offs. I have the Dell H310 (LSI 9211-8i clone) in my server. Eight additional SATA ports for $30 Commonly used cards are: LSI 9211-8i (PCIe 2.0) LSI 9207-8i (PCIe 3.0) LSI 9300-8i (PCIe 3.0) Dell H200/H310 (PCIe 2.0) IBM M1015 (PCIe 2.0) Flash the card to IT mode without the BIOS. Many cards can be found on eBay pre-flashed for $50-$60 f you don't want to deal with that Excellent. The Dell h310 looks a good cheap option. I've seen a few of those on Ebay but none of them are stating flashing in IT mode. Do these Dell h310 cards need to be flashed and if so can you please advise on how to do that? Also I'd want to purchase cables that give the maximum connectors to link up, upto 8 drives. What break out cables are needed ? Thank you for your help. Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 50 minutes ago, Lien1454 said: Do these Dell h310 cards need to be flashed and if so can you please advise on how to do that? https://wiki.unraid.net/Crossflashing_Controllers#LSI_MegaRAID_with_SAS2008_chipsets 51 minutes ago, Lien1454 said: What break out cables are needed ? SFF-8087 to SATA forward breakout cables 1 Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 1 hour ago, johnnie.black said: https://wiki.unraid.net/Crossflashing_Controllers#LSI_MegaRAID_with_SAS2008_chipsets SFF-8087 to SATA forward breakout cables Thanks Just so I dont brick the Dell h310. Is it the file on this link I use ? http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.msg259006#msg259006 Thanks Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Yes, the latest one Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 11 minutes ago, johnnie.black said: Yes, the latest one Great thanks 👍 Then in unraid the card will just work or is there any console stuff that needs to be done as my server is already been running a while. Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 It's plug and play Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 10 minutes ago, johnnie.black said: It's plug and play Ok thank you. Looked at files and seem easy enough. For cables 2 of these would do the trick. There cheap but work well from the reviews. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mini-SAS-VANDESAIL-Internal-SAS-Breakout-Cable/dp/B01HZFUMY6/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550489622&sr=8-1-fkmr0&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=SFF-8087%2Bto%2BSATA%2Bforward&th=1&psc=1 Thanks Quote Link to comment
Hoopster Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 6 hours ago, Lien1454 said: Excellent. The Dell h310 looks a good cheap option. I've seen a few of those on Ebay but none of them are stating flashing in IT mode. Do these Dell h310 cards need to be flashed and if so can you please advise on how to do that? Also I'd want to purchase cables that give the maximum connectors to link up, upto 8 drives. What break out cables are needed ? Thank you for your help. Here is an H310 already flashed to latest firmware in IT mode. There are others. In some systems, the Dell H310 will not boot unless you put tape on pins pins 5-6. I had to do this. Make sure you get forward (not reverse) breakout cables like these which I bought for my Dell H310. You can find instructions for flashing the card to IT firmware in this very long thread. Somewhere in there are some instructions by Fireball3 with details step-by-by step and batch files used for cross-flashing to IT mode. If you choose to do it yourself, make sure you are cross flashing to 20,00,07.00 frmware. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Hoopster said: Here is an H310 already flashed to latest firmware in IT mode. There are others. In some systems, the Dell H310 will not boot unless you put tape on pins pins 5-6. I had to do this. Make sure you get forward (not reverse) breakout cables like these which I bought for my Dell H310. You can find instructions for flashing the card to IT firmware in this very long thread. Somewhere in there are some instructions by Fireball3 with details step-by-by step and batch files used for cross-flashing to IT mode. If you choose to do it yourself, make sure you are cross flashing to 20,00,07.00 frmware. Pins 5,6 of the pci connector that goes into the motherboard or somewhere on the board itself? Thanks EDIT: Found this. Included for anyone else reading this thread in the future.... Edited February 18, 2019 by Lien1454 Quote Link to comment
Hoopster Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 1 minute ago, Lien1454 said: Pins 5,6 of the pci connector that goes into the motherboard Yes, but only on one side. There are posts about it in these forums. And here is the step-by-step instruction post.: Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 2 minutes ago, Hoopster said: Yes, but only on one side. There are posts about it in these forums. And here is the step-by-step instruction post.: I read that it seems to effect boards only when inserted into the Graphics card PCI-E lane. Did you use the card in yours? Thanks Quote Link to comment
Hoopster Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 1 minute ago, Lien1454 said: I read that it seems to effect boards only when inserted into the Graphics card PCI-E lane. Did you use the card in yours? Thanks Yes, because my MB is a Mini-ITX with only one x16 PCIe slot. Quote Link to comment
blaine07 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Sorry not trying to impose on your thread OP but since several knowledgeable SATA CARD people are in one place...I recently flashed my 9240-8i to 9211 and this is what I ended up with for firmware revision but I don’t feel that is newest version?Any one know if version seen in pic supports 2+ tb HDDS or am I going to have to attempt to figure out, all over again, what’s required to upgrade firmware again?Sigh LOL— I had horrible time getting it to 9211 from 9240. Any help or advice would be awesome!Thanks! Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 16 minutes ago, blaine07 said: I don’t feel that is newest version? Latest is 20.00.07.00, but pretty sure p15 supports >2TB disks, so likely not needed, but a firmware update is much easier than crossflashing Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 (edited) 49 minutes ago, blaine07 said: Sorry not trying to impose on your thread OP but since several knowledgeable SATA CARD people are in one place... I recently flashed my 9240-8i to 9211 and this is what I ended up with for firmware revision but I don’t feel that is newest version? Any one know if version seen in pic supports 2+ tb HDDS or am I going to have to attempt to figure out, all over again, what’s required to upgrade firmware again? Sigh LOL— I had horrible time getting it to 9211 from 9240. Any help or advice would be awesome! Thanks! Oh lord. I've got my card coming tomorrow. I've downloaded the latest version I can find which is this one.... Update on 17.04.2017, v4 <--- this is the latest, use this one! Firmware is still P20.00.07.00 Corrections for EFI environment. Untested due to missing hardware. Post your experience in the forum. https://www.mediafire.com/?py9c1w5u56xytw2 Hoping this is the latest one and that the upgrade will be ok. I have an asus board. Edited February 18, 2019 by Lien1454 Quote Link to comment
blaine07 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Yeah, that’s my problem; when I flashed can’t remember if I did it through UEFI or exactly how. Was a miracle I pulled it off; way beyond my skill set lol. I understood what I was trying to accomplish but... LOLThank you folks Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Just now, blaine07 said: Yeah, that’s my problem; when I flashed can’t remember if I did it through UEFI or exactly how. Was a miracle I pulled it off; way beyond my skill set lol. I understood what I was trying to accomplish but... LOL Thank you folks OK so there are no tips you can pass my way then before I start ? Quote Link to comment
blaine07 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 OK so there are no tips you can pass my way then before I start ? I certainly hope you have better luck than myself at it bud... if I HAD to give advice... set aside 10X the amount of time you’ll think you need/guides say LOL Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Took me under 10 minutes to crossflash my last H310, if you have a Windows PC you can use it instead of boot flash drive, no problems with UEFI. Quote Link to comment
blaine07 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Took me under 10 minutes to crossflash my last H310, if you have a Windows PC you can use it instead of boot flash drive, no problems with UEFI.Is their a specific guide your referencing or you recommend or used? Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 1 minute ago, blaine07 said: Is their a specific guide your referencing or you recommend or used? It's linked above. Quote Link to comment
blaine07 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 It's linked above.Apologies. Thanks mate! Quote Link to comment
Lien1454 Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 I've not been inside my server for a while and it uses sas to connect to the HDDs. I got mixed up with the cables as I needed a breakout cable last time to connect the motherboard sata connectors to the HDDs. So because the Dell card uses Mini sas and also the front of my server connects using sas. I've ordered the wrong cables which I will need to return. The image is the connector that goes to one of the bays on my server for the HDDs. Am I correct in that this connector is mini sas? And I would need a mini sas to mini sas cable. And it does not have to be forward cable? Thanks Quote Link to comment
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