Question MegaRAID Storage Manager fail

[Steltek]

So is this going to be your backup device or your storage/backup device? I have an UnRAID server. It's made up of an old Dell i5-2500, 8GB of RAM and 4 hard drives. 1 drive acts as a parity drive while the other 3 make up the array. It's simple to set up, easy to use and access on all my other devices. No special hardware unless I need more SATA ports. When I need more storage I can just add a drive to the array. There's a whole lot of stuff you can do with it but I just use it as a NAS.

Yeah, old hardware is great for this. Especially if you can get something that will hold a lot of drives.

 

[ch33zw1z]

When I do my setup, I'll be doing it as much as a project to exercise my mental faculties as anything else. The potential of Proxmox virtual containers running virtual machines seems fascinating, at least to me.

However, it sounds like for simplicity then a RAID 1 mirror may be what you want. However, do remember, that no version of RAID is in any way suitable for use as a substitute for proper backups (especially if you are depending on Microsoft to do your RAID for you -- just look at how Windows 11 is turning out). I mean, you could take a chance, but 30TB of music is a major investment to possibly have to replace.

So, you still need to puzzle out a backup option. If you have good Internet, a cloud backup might work. And, though I've never used it, Backblaze advertises a single computer backup for $9/mo or $99 a year. I'm sure someone here will chime in as to whether it is worth a subscription or not.

Very important, and often overlooked advice. Raid is not a backup!

@boondocks - I’m a music junky but in no way is my collection as big as yours. 30TB is a huge amount of music . You ever try plex?

 

[boondocks]

Very important, and often overlooked advice. Raid is not a backup!

@boondocks - I’m a music junky but in no way is my collection as big as yours. 30TB is a huge amount of music . You ever try plex?

Actually my ripped surround music collection, is now (just checked) is north of 34TB. That is primarily .iso files. Does not include ripped or hi rez stereo files. I also have several 6 ft tall disc racks, and several smaller ones. Somewhere north of 2000 discs.
I'm 74 years old and have been collecting surround music, and building my own pc's for many years.

I don't do plex. My playback/storage device is the pc, although I own 3 Oppo's (one is jailbroke), a Sony (spare for ripping SACD) and an old Samsung.

I use PowerDVD Ultra for most playback, JRiver for some. Foobar for DVDA/SACD playback although JRiver will play SACD .iso.

I have an Atmos 5.1.4 setup with an Onkyo TX-RZ50 and a second AVR running the 4 top speakers. (I did have 7.1.4 but that's another story)

To address some other questions (cram it all in here, lol)

My current backup strategy is to have identical folders on multiple drives, (with Quick Access listings in the File Manager) and a second pc with a copy of everything. So I'm manually copying to multiple folders and a second pc. (I could automate this somewhat of course, but I would rather mirror some of the drives and go RAID 0)

I also have a collection of surround BD's on smaller drives archived, boxed up and sitting in a cabinet in the pc/audio room.

I have a CaseLabs Merlin case with 2 pedestals. The top pedestal has a mount for three HDD cages, each cage holds 4 drives. Plus I have mounted a few SSD's there as well. I have an NVMe drive on the mobo for boot/C: drive. The only SATA mobo port I use is for a BD burner/ripper.
All HDD drives are SATA NAS or Enterprise drives. Current capacity on the main rig is about 150TB.
I of course have more than just music in storage, and duplicated as well.
--------------------------------
Just really puzzled why neither MSM or LSA is working for me as they should. Can't log in to MSM and LSA gives me no options other than one to upgrade firmware (card is running the latest firmware).

Sorry for long post.

 

[In2Photos]

So where are all of your current files stored? On the same PC you use for playback?

 

[boondocks]

So where are all of your current files stored? On the same PC you use for playback?

I explained it all above.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I explained it all above.

Kinda. I’m still not 100% on how you structure your data + backups. Not that you really need to explain it to me, lol. We all have our preferences and ways of doing things.

Based on your use case, I would definitely check out the TrueNAS ZFS option, as ZFS will ensure data integrity. This option is recommended to use ECC & buffered memory capable systems, but I’ve seen articles saying it’s not necessary.

The unraid option mentioned is another very popular choice among users with large amounts of data to store.

But if you’re going to go the windows route, and the card is flashed to IT mode, it might be worth checking out if you can flash it back to the original mode. Maybe there’s where MSM is struggling to see the adapter. Kudos to @Steltek for bringing this up. When I was setting up my own truenas setup, this was one of the topics that came up. Turned out, truenas could use my hbu without mods

Personally, I don’t keep ISO’s of music disc’s. Just FLAC files. Neither here nor there tho

 

[boondocks]

Well the thread has certainly drifted from my intent, and I'll take some responsibility for that.
I only have one goal here: to get either MSM or LSA functioning and usable, not advice on what others would do.
What I currently do has no bearing on that.

 

[manly]

Yeah as mentioned on page 1, he should flash the HBA to IR mode. Assuming that resolves the issue, RAID-6 should be okay for a low-throughput application (audio playback).

 

[boondocks]

Yeah as mentioned on page 1, he should flash the HBA to IR mode. Assuming that resolves the issue, RAID-6 should be okay for a low-throughput application (audio playback).

How will that resolve the issue with the software exactly? I just want MSM or LSA working. Thanks.
I want to configure RAID through one or the other softwares, to be clear.

 

[manly]

How will that resolve the issue with the software exactly? I just want MSM or LSA working. Thanks.
I want to configure RAID through one or the other softwares, to be clear.

As Steltek suggested could be the issue, if the card is in IT mode, none of the RAID features are available.
We aren't certain this is the problem, but it seems logical (HBA is detected, and you can see the drives).

 

[ch33zw1z]

Iirc, MSM or LSI storage manager in the OS is just talking to the adapter.

If IT firmware is installed, then it’s JBOD and MSM doesn’t see any raid arrays because there is none

IR firmware enables the hardware RAID on the card, which allows you to config arrays.

MSM / LSI / Avago, whatever they’re called now, are not software RAID managers, this software just interacts with the adapter.

So it makes sense, if you know the card is running IT firmware, that the software can’t “see” an array, and won’t allow you to config any either.

 

[boondocks]

As Steltek suggested could be the issue, if the card is in IT mode, none of the RAID features are available.
We aren't certain this is the problem, but it seems logical (HBA is detected, and you can see the drives).

So essentially you're saying if the card is flashed to a different mode, then that will enable software to manage RAID? I thought that HBA mode would allow software to manage the discs?

 

[boondocks]

So the concensus is I need to flash the card's firmware. I'm not sure where to start on that, though I know there are utilities to do so.

That makes no sense to me. If the drives are being presented to the OS, then the software to manage the drives should work (MSM/LSA)

 

[manly]

So essentially you're saying if the card is flashed to a different mode, then that will enable software to manage RAID? I thought that HBA mode would allow software to manage the discs?

That's the hypothesis, but you'll have to find out for yourself. This may require some CLI learning, as flashing appears to use a command-line program. (I would start by installing StorCLI to learn a few commands; you don't have to use it when everything is working properly. But StorCLI can interrogate the card for information.)

Flashing firmware and BIOS on LSI SAS HBAs

Flashing firmware and BIOS on LSI SAS HBAs

www.broadcom.com

If I'm reading that correctly, flashing from IT to IR mode will require a DOS environment. Good luck.

 

[boondocks]

I see no firmwares on the Broadcom site confirming they are any different, other than earlier versions, of what the card has now, which is the latest version.
So if there is some other firmware I'm unable to find, please do show me.

 

[In2Photos]

Well the thread has certainly drifted from my intent, and I'll take some responsibility for that.
I only have one goal here: to get either MSM or LSA functioning and usable, not advice on what others would do.
What I currently do has no bearing on that.

Noted, good luck getting it going, I'm not versed on your card so I'll bow out now.

 

[manly]

Sorry, we aren't that familiar with the 9400-16i. Apparently there isn't a separate IR firmware. So perhaps our guess wasn't quite right.

I skimmed through this thread, and it seems somewhat informative (but not relevant to your question):

HBA Card Firmware

Hello guys, So, i recently got LSI 9400-16i and i went to download the firmware for updating it. When extracting the firmware package, i see the following: For the main firmware, i guess the Mixed Profile is for those who want to run SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + NVMe (U.2) and the SAS_SATA...

www.truenas.com

Needless to say, Avago Broadcom makes it somewhat complicated, and their terse documentation doesn't help.

Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.

If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.

 

[Steltek]

You

Sorry, we aren't that familiar with the 9400-16i. Apparently there isn't a separate IR firmware. So perhaps our guess wasn't quite right.

I skimmed through this thread, and it seems somewhat informative (but not relevant to your question):

HBA Card Firmware

Hello guys, So, i recently got LSI 9400-16i and i went to download the firmware for updating it. When extracting the firmware package, i see the following: For the main firmware, i guess the Mixed Profile is for those who want to run SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + NVMe (U.2) and the SAS_SATA...

www.truenas.com

Needless to say, Avago Broadcom makes it somewhat complicated, and their terse documentation doesn't help.

Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.

If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.

You beat me to it.

Reading the product manual it is clear they are two different products.

@boondocks, what you have is the HBA card that doesn't have ANY RAID features at all. It is basically the equivalent of a PCIe controller card - nothing more, nothing else. Albeit a controller card that supports SAS, SATA, and NVMe drives.

It appears prior models could be flashed to and from IT or IR mode. This model is different and doesn't support that.

So, at this point, you either use Storage Spaces to establish a RAID drive pool or you have to return the card and get the correct one.

 

[boondocks]

Sorry, we aren't that familiar with the 9400-16i. Apparently there isn't a separate IR firmware. So perhaps our guess wasn't quite right.

I skimmed through this thread, and it seems somewhat informative (but not relevant to your question):

HBA Card Firmware

Hello guys, So, i recently got LSI 9400-16i and i went to download the firmware for updating it. When extracting the firmware package, i see the following: For the main firmware, i guess the Mixed Profile is for those who want to run SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + NVMe (U.2) and the SAS_SATA...

www.truenas.com

Needless to say, Avago Broadcom makes it somewhat complicated, and their terse documentation doesn't help.

Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.

If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.

Yes. That's why I thought either the MSM or LSA software would do the job, as that's what is (was) supported by Broadcom. I believe LSA is still updated, actually , so it's a shame it's not working for me.

Unfortunately since my card is considered a Legacy card, Broadcom's stated stance is no support, other than archived drivers and firmware.
There are Windows programs that will do intelligent copies and monitor drives for changes, and I guess at this point that's what I'm left with. I'm not going to futz with Windows Storage Spaces.

This is the only tri-mode card I've owned and other than performing how well it functions with my mobo and Windows, lack of good software sucks.

So...moving on. I've wasted too many hours on this and time is at a premium for this old guy.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and ideas.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.

If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.

!

 

[Steltek]

!

Yeah, LSI didn't use to separate their products into non-RAID and RAID sub-models. There was just a single model that you had to flash to either IT or IR mode.

Apparently, they did have separate sub-models with that particular product, though. Took us a while to figure it out.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Yeah, LSI didn't use to separate their products into non-RAID and RAID sub-models. There was just a single model that you had to flash to either IT or IR mode.

Apparently, they did have separate sub-models with that particular product, though. Took us a while to figure it out.

Yep, seems yourself and manly were digging into it last night same time I was. Servethehome and truenas had a few threads that leads to the conclusion that this card is built for software raid setups.

OP can go with the JBOD or software RAID.

I’d still flash it to the latest firmware before using it.

 

[boondocks]

Yep, seems yourself and manly were digging into it last night same time I was. Servethehome and truenas had a few threads that leads to the conclusion that this card is built for software raid setups.

OP can go with the JBOD or software RAID.

I’d still flash it to the latest firmware before using it.

It has the latest firmware, came that way fortunately.