HP Smart Array P212 does not show up in BIOS

[Paul K Peterson]

We have installed a HP Smart Array P212 into a Proliant ML110 G6 (which is the card for this unit) We installed Linux on the drives which can see the sata drives attached to the card. But when we try to boot we receive a message that says boot fails and it appears the bios does not see the card or drives attached to the card (also suse linux indicates bios does not reflect drive although it can see it directly). Is there some firmware update for this? Shouldn't in the Boot Order in Bios, the Raid drive be listed as a boot option. I went also into the Raid configuration utility but do not see anything that makes the logical drive as a boot controller or something like that. I have also used the HP ACU but do not see an option at all. I need this running as soon as possible so any help is appreciated. Thanks

[Ali]

Hi Pual,

If HP Smart array P212 controller is recognised in HP ACU and you were able to create raid then the issue could be related to the controller driver.

SUSE does not have HP Smart array controller driver integrated into OS and you need to provide driver during installation

I'm not sure about the SUSE Linux OS version that you have
providing link for Driver Diskette for HP ProLiant Smart Array Controller (x86/AMD32) for SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 10 (x86)

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3984625&swItem=MTX-50a01b12141b4d078929682f30&prodNameId=3984626&swEnvOID=2065&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=3

You may download the driver Diskette from HP website and provide during installation.

Other facts :
1. Hope you have connected the hard drives to smart array controller using 487734-B21 cable.
2. ML110 G6 comes with B110i integrated SATA Raid controller so you need to set it up on compatible mode as you are not using that controller and its raid functionality.
3. system bios and P212 controller firmware is latest.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,
Aftab

[Sudhakar Subramaniam]

In this server model the P212 controller requires a cable kit.

The data comunication is not via I/O bus on the system board.

Need to get the cable kit and install it on the server:

Description: SAS HDD cable

Description: SAS LED cable

[Sudhakar Subramaniam]

The below are the part numbers


SAS HDD cable 576925-001
SAS LED cable 576926-001

[Sudhakar Subramaniam]

Aso check for the firmware revision.
If the firmware is 2.74 or below you will have this issue.

[Paul K Peterson]

The part number that HP told me I needed was this P/N 487734-B21. The cables attach fine and as I said I can see the drives in the ACU utility and I can see them in Suse Linux, Suse loads the cciss drivers automatically, I can create a partition etc. When I do a fdisk -l everything shows properly. So I don't think it is a driver issue when I get the boot failed, it looks like the bios cannot find a drive. Is there a firmware update for this card, does anyone know and is it necessary to update the bios in the ML 110 G6 (Dec 09 model)? Any and all help appreciated.

[Paul K Peterson]

Also how do I update the firmware on this P212 array card

[Ali]

Hi Paul,

System BIOS - System ROM
Version: 2010.09.06 (30 Sep 2010)
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3984625&swItem=MTX-ec28a33d64674acdbfabbe845c&prodNameId=3984626&swEnvOID=2065&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=3

Installation:
The SCEXE components are self-extracting executable files. The SCEXE file unpacks itself, flashes the ROM, and cleans up.

To flash a ROM:
Download the file to the target server.

Smart array P212 Controller firmware
Type: Firmware - Storage Controller
Version: 3.52 (13 Oct 2010)
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3984625&prodNameId=3984626&swEnvOID=2065&swLang=13&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-0a3ad21cebc4426ba025b49ce1
Installation:


To update firmware from Linux operating system on target server:

Login as root. (You must be root in order to apply the ROM update.)
Place the Smart Component in a temporary directory.
From the same directory, run the Smart Component. For example: ./CPXXXXXX.scexe
Follow the directions given by the Smart Component.
Reboot your system if you would like the update to take effect immediately.

try the Latest SUSE Linux Driver diskette from HP during installation as similar issue I had on another flavor of Linux has been fixed by software diskette.

thanks,
Aftab