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Re: DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

 
JimTonic
Advisor

DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

We got 2 DL160 G6 Hot-Plug-Model and had them happily working with the internal B110i SATA RAID controller running a dual disk raid 0 mirror.

 

We decided to switch to hardware raid and ordered 2 brand new 462834-B21 P212/256 controllers which have 1 internal as well as 1 external SAS connector (internal (SFF-8087)/1 external (Mini-SAS SFF-8088)).

 

After installing the controller into the external facing pci slot we disconnected the backplane SAS connector from the
motherboard (B110i) and connected it to the SFF-8087 on the P212.

 

We disabled SATA 1 controller in BIOS and enabled SATA 2 controller.

 

We tried other bios SATA1/SATA2 settings as well but the ORCA prompt from the P212 never shows up and consequently no disks are detected.

 

No beep sound or other error messages during boot.

 

"Funny" thing: we replaced the P212 with a P410 (2 port external SATA only) connected the backplane again to the motherboard B110i connector and the P410 orca did show up.

 

We waded through tons of posts, quickspecs and pdfs unable to find a precise description on how to "wire" the P212 in a DL160 G6.

 

Something must be obviously wrong. Same behavior on both servers.

 

Any ideas and hints?

 

Thanks a lot

Jim

4 REPLIES 4
KatzSmile
Occasional Visitor

Re: DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

I have the similar issue with Highpoint RocketRAID 4520

DL160 G6/G8 issue with HighPoint RocketRAID 4520 SAS/SATA controller compatibility

 

Looks like PCIe x8 devices support is crappy on DL160 servers

Mark Matthews
Respected Contributor

Re: DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

Hi Jim,

Just found the following...

 

The selection of the HP Smart Array P212 Controller for internal and external connectivity, will require the use of the Full Length Full Height PCI-E x16 slot.



I know you're not intending to use the external connector on the P212 but it might be that the server only supports the P212 in the slot mentioned above.

Thanks,

Mark...


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JimTonic
Advisor

Re: DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

Tanks Mark!

 

As a matter of fact it is not possible to use the other pci slot.

 

Take a look at the picture attached.

 

Slot 1 (red rectangle) is not possible because even without bracelets the (P212) card will not fit because of the "metal bridge".

 

Slot/region 3 (yellow rectangle) is impossible because of the dimms.

 

So I ended up at slot 2 (blue rectangle) without needing the external connector/interface, but as stated in the first post not working.

 

Same beaviour in 2 identical servers.

 

When using P410 (no internal SAS interface, only 2 dual external SAS) instead of P212 the orca/bios P410 prompt shows up on boot immediately.

 

Hmmm?

JimTonic
Advisor

Re: DL160 G6 and P212, controller not detected

Looks like the built in sata backplane 570079-001 is not compatible/usable with P212.

 


Found some information in this older posting:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-ML-DL-SL/SATA-cable-from-Smart-Array-P212-to-4-port-back-plane/td-p/4754463

 

I wonder if the mentioned  512181-B21 is the way to go.

 

Partsurfer shows it as:

 

Product Number : 512181-B21  Description :

HP 4 HARD DRIVE HOT PLUG BACKPLANE G6 KIT

 

 

However part # 570079-001 is not found (anymore).

 

I tried to compare them via google/image search but this is not very reliable.

 

I wonder if anyone is running DL160 G6 with P212 and could check/lookup the actually working partnumbers for backplane/cable kit?

 

Thanks