Cannot configure SmartArray e208I-P SR GEN10 on HP MicroServer GEN10

[sugita01]

you will have to boot from hpe ssa and choose to boot from usb:configure array

once you configure it properly, you will be able to use the server properly 

otherwise, if the server has a funny array config, it will be sluggish, slow with lots of disk activity that doesnt make any sense

[DanielL1]

**bleep**ty firmware again. Don't upgrade the controller to 1.65. I upgraded from 1.60 to 1.65. Server firmware is still ZA10A360.

I upgraded, because HPE claims to have fixed an issue with recognizing the controller on POST. In fact they didn't fix it, it occurs with 1.65:

Problems Fixed:

System might stop responding at POST and fail to load an OS. This issue is more likely to occur if System BIOS version is 1.40 or later. However, systems running older BIOS versions could experience this issue also. (https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=1009955119&swItemId=MTX_d7def6a2a6e34ebb9ae5750ccd&swEnvOid=4184#tab3)

The controller is definitely no qulaity product. Don't use in enterprises or pay a lot of money for fast replacement or another testing server.

###EDIT###

I contacted HPE support and am trying to get in touch with an engineer. I hope HPE can get it finally fixed for everyone.

[DanielL1]

I was on UEFI. The controller is working with legacy mode in version 1.65. I've downgraded to 1.60 and can now use UEFI with controller version 1.60 and Server Firmware version ZA10A360 again...

This helped (I wouldn't have tried Legacy boot without that thread...): https://community.hpe.com/t5/ProLiant-Servers-Netservers/RAID-erstellen-HPE-Microserver-Gen10-HPE-Smartarray-e208i-p/m-p/7001253/highlight/false

[SplatMan]

This server and controller is just a nightmare that "keeps on giving". If you haven't bought the server or the controller yet: DONT! Firmware for both is buggy as hell, and unless your time is free and you enjoy new but defunct IT gear you will be happier with ... just about anything else.

I have a Gen10 server (several actually) and the e208i-p RAID controller card.

Latest firmwares for the server and the RAID card doesn't work. The RAID card will only work in Legacy mode and only with CSM disabled (so if booting from USB sticks they better be legacy too). So if you are already the unfortunate owner of this combo and you havent updated firmwares yet: DON'T. Latest versions as suggested by HP doesn't working. The controller shows up in the BIOS in UEFI mode, but attempting to configure the device using the menu system will just exit you to the first page of the BIOS system without explanation (all menu items for the controller does this). And that is if the controller shows up at all.

After reading the forums here, I hoped to downgrade the card to firmware version 1.60 since people have had success with that. That version is not available for download anymore (thanks HP), but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

After countless hours I managed to install Windows 10 on the box in order to run HPE Smart Storage Administrator (HPE SSA) for Windows 64-bit under Legacy mode. I managed to get the software running, and attempted to reconfigure the controller. I expected to build a new configuration in the tool and the reboot the machine, because obviously you can't change the config while running an OS on the same IO subsystem. All fair ... except this approach is impossible. You cant configure anything in the tool without it beeing applied immediatly. So any change that affects the controller will promptly bluescreen the machine with no prior warning. There is no way to build up the config and then apply the changes collectively at the end.

Since the Offline version of HPE SSA doesn't work either, because the card is simply not recognized, this leaves me with virtually no place to go. Other than perhaps starting over with a Linux distro, hoping that will fare better.

The quality of the system BIOS/UEFI, the software, and the controller firmware is abysmal. Amazing, considering how many hours HP has spent making it hard to download these... You have to be "registered" as a customer and your device registered by the serial number to be "entitled" to... get fixes to the broken hardware you paid good money for.

[SplatMan]

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@Jimmy Vance wrote:

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The ISO image does contain the proper directory structure to boot UEFI, did you use the included USB Key utility to create a bootable USB drive?

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The UEFI environment seems to only have drivers for a few file systems. This means that a USB key with NTFS will be unable to boot. Which is a giant blunder because 1.) the driver is easy to add to the UEFI firmware so its really sloppy that it hasn't been added, and 2.) Microsoft uses NTFS as the default file system for bootable USB images, so Microsofts default images can't boot on this server.

To successfully boot with UEFI on this server you have to use HP's proprietary images, or build them yourself using a supported file system such as FAT32. Or manually add the file system driver to the embedded UEFI environment, but that's not a natural or easy thing to do for most customers.

[DanielL1]

Thanks for testing. I feel your pain. That card is a shame. I guess we can only access the propritary data on the disks with another card. So I hope the card does not break... I have a second MicroServer Gen10 as a backup server with software RAID. At least on this server I am independent of HPs *****.

[Jimmy Vance]

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@SplatMan wrote:

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@Jimmy Vance wrote:

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The ISO image does contain the proper directory structure to boot UEFI, did you use the included USB Key utility to create a bootable USB drive?

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The UEFI environment seems to only have drivers for a few file systems. This means that a USB key with NTFS will be unable to boot. Which is a giant blunder because 1.) the driver is easy to add to the UEFI firmware so its really sloppy that it hasn't been added, and 2.) Microsoft uses NTFS as the default file system for bootable USB images, so Microsofts default images can't boot on this server.

To successfully boot with UEFI on this server you have to use HP's proprietary images, or build them yourself using a supported file system such as FAT32. Or manually add the file system driver to the embedded UEFI environment, but that's not a natural or easy thing to do for most customers.

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My comment displayed here needs to be in the proper context. Versions 3.25  and older of offline SSA will boot both BIOS and UEFI systems.. The later versions of SSA are designed only to work with UEFI based systems and are not created using the USB key utility. The latest versions are created by just copying the contents over to a FAT32 formated USB key.  Read the installation instructions on the download pages tab. 

All versions of the e208 firmware including 1.60 are avalable to download, click the revisions history tab to get to the older versions.  I currently don't have access to a Gen10 Microserver to look at, I do know they are different to work with than a standard ProLiant server

The SSA usitlity is just for creating and managing the array configurations, it doen't contain any drivers.

The 

[Jimmy Vance]

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@DanielL1 wrote:

That card is a shame. I guess we can only access the propritary data on the disks with another card. 

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I've never ran across any manufactures hardware based RAID controller that doesn't use some type of proprietry way of handling the RAID functions.   The data can be read by any of the other HPE Smart Array models in the same family.  The RAID information is stored in what is known as the RIS area on each disk in the array, it is not stored in teh controller itself.  In the event of a card failure, all that is required is installing a new card, or moving the array to another server with a like model controller

[DanielL1]

Jimmy, do you think we are stupid?!? We can read the docs and are not. According to the docs I am running a fully supported system. BUT ONLY ACCORDING TO THE DOCS! Do you get it? Stupid is recommending things from the docs!

Again, according to the docs, I'm running a fully supported budget system. Do you really think I will buy other more performant hardware if my card fails? Other hardware that's supposed to be supported by the docs?!? The docs??? Hell no!

Do you know what ***** it is if you upgrade a live system to a firmware that doesn't work but should according to the docs? Honestly, get a hand on the server and the card and test them! Test which firmware versions are working with UEFI or legacy BIOS. That helps us. Telling us ***** from the docs does not.

[Jimmy Vance]

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@DanielL1 wrote:

Jimmy, do you think we are stupid?!? We can read the docs and are not. According to the docs I am running a fully supported system. BUT ONLY ACCORDING TO THE DOCS! Do you get it? Stupid is recommending things from the docs!

Again, according to the docs, I'm running a fully supported budget system. Do you really think I will buy other more performant hardware if my card fails? Other hardware that's supposed to be supported by the docs?!? The docs??? Hell no!

Do you know what ***** it is if you upgrade a live system to a firmware that doesn't work but should according to the docs? Honestly, get a hand on the server and the card and test them! Test which firmware versions are working with UEFI or legacy BIOS. That helps us. Telling us ***** from the docs does not.

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Sorry that my trying to assist has upset you. I tried explaining some differences in the versions of offline SSA and how to make them work. I didn't just say read the docs, just made reference to the installation instructions on the download page as they are different for the various versions of offline SSA.  Good luck with resolving your issues.