Do I have a bad HBA card?

[CaffeineMan]

I got a server from work, I installed an SSD and Proxmox. Everything worked.

I swapped out the Raid card for an HBA card.

When I did I get 4 beeps on the boot and nothing. (all beeps are the same length so manual was no help) No bios boot screen.

To test:

• I swapped the video card and HBA slots. Still did not work.
• I pulled out the HBA card and it boots.
• I put the Raid card back in and it works.
  I suspect a bios change is needed but I am not sure.

What I have:

• MOBO: BC206C https://www.bcmcom.com/bcm_product_BC206C.html
• Bios is American Megatrends 2.14.1219 and the bios has a title of Aptio (never saw that before). Bios update does not seem to be available.
• HBA Card (Not working) IBM M5110 8 Port 6 Gbps PCI-E SAS/SATA IT MODE FW20 LSI 9207-8I https://www.ebay.com/itm/185237225098 <- This is the one I want to work.
• RAID card (working): LSI 9260-4i Broadcom /LSI MegaRAID SAS 2108 [Liberator] (rev 05)
• Video card: Quadro k420.

 

[SamirD]

If your system bios isn't updated, I would try that first. Sounds like the hba isn't able to get initialized and is hanging the boot up somewhere. This is the type of problem you'd get all the time back in the old days and sometimes stuff was just not compatible.

 

[CaffeineMan]

If your system bios isn't updated, I would try that first. Sounds like the hba isn't able to get initialized and is hanging the boot up somewhere. This is the type of problem you'd get all the time back in the old days and sometimes stuff was just not compatible.

https://www.bcmcom.com/bcm_search_results.asp?Product_ID=BC206C&level1=1&level2=&asd=^54 the site does not have a Bios for it any more any ideas?

 

[SamirD]

https://www.bcmcom.com/bcm_search_results.asp?Product_ID=BC206C&level1=1&level2=&asd=^54 the site does not have a Bios for it any more any ideas?

Hmmm...I would try the card in another system. If it works there, it's just an incompatibility I'm afraid. There may even be a setting in the hba bios that you need to change from the other system to get it to work, so will be useful for diagnosis for sure.

 

[CaffeineMan]

I was thinking about that, I dropped the card in my main box. When I powered up the drive (I used external power) it temporarily shut off my PC then froze Diskpart until I shut off the drive.
I tried a different drive with the same results.

Device manager saw the sas but as a different model then flashed or the IBM model, I will list tonight if I have time.
I did not see a SAS splash screen. My bios did not give me an option to boot to the drive running on the SAS.

I will find a drive I know works and try it one last time (I ran out of time).

 

[CaffeineMan]

Update
The card shows in windows Device manager as an LSI Adapter, SAS2 2308 Mustang. Instead of the IBM M5110 8 Port 6 Gbps PCI-E SAS/SATA IT MODE OR the firmware p20 LSI 9207-8I
I put the SSD on a sata to USB and it shows right away. (so I know the drive is good)
I put the PC to sleep removed the USB and add the SSD to the SAS and it shows the drive but I am not allowed to click on it. (File explorer is hanging). Disk Management is hanging.
Going to try a reboot.
Rebooted and the drive shows correctly but my win explorer keeps hanging. Alt Ctrl doesn't work.
Windows Explorer is unresponsive, task manager nothing Windows is working. (chrome is still working)
I Unplugged the drive and got back Windows, plugged the drive back in and I am trying to copy a 5 gb file to it. After a minute of nothing, I will walk away and let the PC run. Now the file is reporting as transferring at 355 KB/s and looks frozen. Leaving again.

Posting and going to work somewhere else.

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[hity645]

Card firmware flashed incorrectly? Corrupted firmware? Try flashing it yourself.

 

[CaffeineMan]

Card firmware flashed incorrectly? Corrupted firmware? Try flashing it yourself.

It's why I paid a few extra dollars so I would not need to flash, trying to save a bit of time during the busy season. Guess I better learn how and flash.

 

[Nicklebon]

It is fairly common to flash rebranded cards with OEM firmware. The description of the ebay link plainly says that has been done. Of course it also says the card is new and a new card should not have been reflashed ... meh details lol. I would suggest running this by the STH folks. The folks over there tend be more server hardware oriented vs the gamer types here.

 

[CaffeineMan]

It is fairly common to flash rebranded cards with OEM firmware. The description of the ebay link plainly says that has been done. Of course it also says the card is new and a new card should not have been reflashed ... meh details lol. I would suggest running this by the STH folks. The folks over there tend be more server hardware oriented vs the gamer types here.

STH? Serve the home? https://www.servethehome.com/

 

[Nicklebon]

^^^ Yes