I'm running 6.3.5.....mostly because I hit a brick wall w/ a 6.5.3 upgrade attempt last year.  Back then, I learned the SAT2-MV8 had compatibility issues with the kernel.  

 

IS anyone successfully using the SAT2-MV8 (PCI-X) controllers in their 6.6.x system?  Don't wanna go down that rabbit hole again if it's still a hopeless effort.  

 

Thanks!

I have not seen anything to suggest that the Marvell chip issues have been resolved.  I would suggest that you have a look at the LSI based solutions.  There are a lot of them available on E-bay (both new and used) for less than $100US.  Used server pulls are usually genuine LSI parts.  (Some will require crossflashing but many vendors will provide boards with this already done.)  With new boards you do have to be a bit more careful and there are some counterfeit chips/boards from China.  Vet vendors carefully and don't be targeting the lowest price.  

Edited April 25, 20197 yr by Frank1940

12 hours ago, johnny121b said:

I learned the SAT2-MV8 had compatibility issues with the kernel.  

SAT2-MV8 works fine for me with at least 6.5.3, it does have compatibility issues with newer devices, both HDDs and SSD.

I don't believe any incompatibility exists between the controller and my drives.  Since last year's attempted update, three of my drives have been upgraded to 8Tb models- without issue.  Out of curiosity, is there a specific reason you're still at 6.5.3?  I (do) notice that my current 6.3.5 only tells me that 6.5.3 is available for update......wondering why it doesn't say 6.6.7; coincidence or is it some line in the sand, for reasons I'm not aware-of?

6 minutes ago, johnny121b said:

I don't believe any incompatibility exists between the controller and my drives.

It might be a combination of both, newer drives with newer kernel.

 

6 minutes ago, johnny121b said:

Out of curiosity, is there a specific reason you're still at 6.5.3? 

It was the last release I used on that server, has since been unused, but it should work the same with v6.6 and v6.7 since the sata_mv driver used has been unchanged as far as I know.

10 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

It might be a combination of both, newer drives with newer kernel.

Seems like a big step backwards (producing a kernel that only works with older/smaller drives), but I [am] inclined to believe the issue exists; not between controller <-> drive but between O/S <-> drive.....or between O/S <-> controller.  That is, until your reassurance.  

1 hour ago, johnny121b said:

Seems like a big step backwards (producing a kernel that only works with older/smaller drives)

I suspect it's not the kernel per se, it's likely a problem with an unmaintained driver with newer kernel, FYI the controller still works with Unraid v6.8rc which is based on Linux 5.0.x, though like mentioned it doesn't work with some devices, mostly newer ones.