topic Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working. in Disk Enclosures

Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:03:31 GMT

HI,

I am using HP smart arrays for a long period of time.

No doubt it is one of the fastest controllers on market.

I've got 2 servers - P212 256+BBWC and P410 +512 FBWC.

I've start using them from latest s771 HP servers, then it was s1366 dual and single socket servers.

Now i am looking for Sandy/Ivy Bridge.

I’ve got new desktop H77 MB with 3 PCI-e 8x slots (to make first tests before making full upgrade).

Immediately there was a problem.

This problem appear on Every Sandy/Ivy bridge platform:

Without controller everything is working fine. But when I install controller,

- MB boots ( i see CPU and mem info ... )

- then there is Raid initialization, it takes 20-30 seconds completes with message - 2 Disk found. (At this moment of time I can access Raid Bios and make any changes).

- But, right after initialization, system goes in to reboot.

At this moment of time I thought it was MB problem (desktop...)

Right now i already test H77, Z77, X79 chipsets - no luck.

Today I’ve test my last hope - dual s2011 based on Intel C602 chipset.

Same problem :(

I’ve already contact with all MB support teams…

This forum is my last hope.

Maybe someone got same problem…

P.S. Both Controllers perfectly works in s771, dual/single s1366 and even AMD AM2 motherboards – all this platforms got PCI-E in south bridge, unlike Sandy/Ivy bridge platform.

With best regards,

Andrey.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

rnijs — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:55:49 GMT

Did you already find a solution to this issue? I have the same problem.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:47:05 GMT

Hi,

No :(

But I’ve continue searching.

Right now I am using Gigabyte - s2011.

AND P400 is working! So it is much better.

But P410 and P212 doesn't.

So, write now I am waiting answer from Gigabyte.

I'll make a post if there will be any helpful information.

Andrey.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

rnijs — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:52:04 GMT

Hi,

I also contacted the Motherboard supplier (AS ROCK) last week, but no return yet. When I have, I post it too...

My Motherboard is AS Rock X79 Extreme 9 (RAID included, but called a fake raid) and so not possible to use on a ESXi 5 server.

I also wanted to contact HP Support, but my serial number is not accepted (Nice!)

Ronny

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

seyed76 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:04:53 GMT

Hi everyone, did you try the new firmware 5.70 ?

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=329290&prodSeriesId=1157687&swItem=MTX-601169bc8ce241e7b817df269c&mode=5

I have a Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI and 5x3 TB WD Red HDDs and wanted to buy a P410/512 BBWC or FBWC. I hope it will be compatible with my mobo :/

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:24:02 GMT

Hi,

Yes,

Currently I am using 5.70 (B) for both controllers. Mainly because of "Fixed an issue where a disk of size >2TB could be incorrectly marked as failed."

Got this problems 2 times on Raid 0, luckily without data lost.

But as I understand there is 5.70(D) already.

That is very strange, because usually HP email me when new firmware resized.

Nothing about fixing capability issues, but anyway…

I’ll test new FW next week and post results ASAP.

Andrey.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

seyed76 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:32:49 GMT

oh ok new one is 5.70(D).

Could anyone try this new firmware ASAP I need to buy a RAID 5 capable card :(

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:46:44 GMT

Hi,

I've got 2 Workstations with ES Xeon s2011 8Core CPU.

I've made some aditional ivestigation (main qustions was - information about correct Intel VT-d support)

And i found very interesting document - "Intel Xeon Processor E5 Family Specification Update"

There are a lot of errors/bugs/problems with Xeon E5 and PCIe compability.

Most interesting:

BT125. PCI Express* Capability Structure Not Fully Implemented
Problem: According to the PCIe* Base Specification, “The PCI Express Capability structure is
required for all PCI Express device functions.” Due to this erratum, some PCI Express
Capabilities Fields were not implemented (“Device Capability,” “Device Status” and
“Device Control”) for CPUBUS[0], Device 5, Function 2, reads to these fields will return
zero.
Implication: Software that depends on the PCI Express Capability Structure fields Device Capability,
Device Status and/or Device Control will not operate properly.
Workaround: None identified.

BT126. The PCIe* Receiver Lanes Surge Protection Circuit May Intermittently
Cause a False Receive Detection on Some PCIe Devices
Problem: The processor implements a surge protection circuit on the PCIe receiver lanes. Due to
this erratum, during platform power-on some PCIe devices may trigger the surge
protection circuit causing a false receive detect. If this unexpected detection occurs
before the processor's PCIe lane termination impedances are enabled and the resulting
PCIe device link training enters the link training Polling.Active state, the PCIe device
may incorrectly transition into the Polling.Compliance state.
Implication: After platform power-on, some PCIe devices may not exit from the compliance state
causing the link to fail to train or the link may train to a degraded width.
Workaround: A BIOS change has been identified and may be implemented as a workaround for this
erratum.

BT173. PCIe* TPH Attributes May Result in Unpredictable System Behavior
Problem: TPH (Transactions Processing Hints) are optional aids to optimize internal processing of
PCIe transactions. Due to this erratum, certain transactions with TPH attributes may be
misdirected, resulting in unpredictable system behavior.
Implication: Use of the TPH feature may affect system stability.
Workaround: A BIOS code change has been identified and may be implemented as a workaround for
this erratum.

BT221. PCIe* RO May Result in a System Hang or Unpredictable System
Behavior
Problem: PCIe RO (Relaxed Ordering) is not supported on this processor. Due to this erratum,
enabling RO or, equivalently, not disabling RO throughout the Integrated I/O logic may
lead to unpredictable system behavior or a system hang.
Implication: Enabling RO for any port or channel may lead to system instability.
Workaround: A BIOS code change has been identified and may be implemented as a workaround for
this erratum.

And one of perfomance issues:

BT160. Enabling Opportunistic Self-Refresh and Pkg C2 State Can Severely
Degrade PCIe* Bandwidth
Problem: Due to this erratum, enabling opportunistic self-refresh can lead to the memory
controller over-aggressively transitioning DRAM to self-refresh mode when the
processor is in Pkg C2 state.
Implication: The PCIe interface peak bandwidth can be degraded by as much as 90%.
Workaround: A BIOS code change has been identified and may be implemented as a workaround for
this erratum.

Luckcly most of them can be fixed using bios update.

The question is - Is this update implemented to your MB bios.

P.S. Original linck

http://www.intel.co.uk/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/specification-updates/xeon-e5-family-spec-update.pdf

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

seyed76 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:55 GMT

The point is that I have an Intel Core i3 3220T and not a Xeon CPU.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:34:40 GMT

I don't think this is just the Xeon problem.

Seems it is about new iCore PCI-e architecture.

Found same document about Mobile iCore CPUs - same errors.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 13:16:19 GMT

5.70(D) not working :(

I've got lsi 9260-4i and ... It is working perfectly!!! :(

LSI got perfect tool for ESXi, heatsink is a little bit bigger.

But seems it is 5-10% slower and it has no Flash back memory like P212/P410.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

nicolas_x — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:07:09 GMT

Hi,

I'm experiencing exactly the same problem.

Gigabyte ga 77x - ud5h bios f15p (latest beta)
Processeur : core i7 3770

Smart array P 421 (updated to the latest 2.33 firmware)

I can boot if i disable boot from sas and it works fine but when i'm trying to boot from my smart array the computer hang after sas initalization.

No clue from gigabyte as far as now is concerned.

Ps works perfectly with ibm M1015 and ibm M5014 (lsi rebranded card)

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

ouafnico31 — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:44:29 GMT

Hello

Have you find a solution ? I've got the same problem on 1155 socket motherboard, and i3-322OT...

Raid card is SmartArray P212 with 6.40B firmware.

Re: Smart Array P212, P410 & Sandy/Ivy bridge platform, Not Working.

andryrus — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 13:37:56 GMT

Hi,

No.

P222, P422 - Same problem.

So finaly I move to AMD Platform (Opteron G34) - and everething works perfecrly!!!

P.S. P400, E200 and LSI works with Intel platrforms (1156. 1155, 1150, 2011).