HP Smart Array p410 + SuperMicro X9SCM-F - boot in a loop

D

DieTa

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
114
Hey guys,

for my new fileserver, I bought the following hardware:

- SuperMicro X9SCM-F Board
- Intel Xeon E3-1230
- 16GB ECC RAM (4x4GB Kingston DDR3-1333)
- HP Smart Array p410 w/ 512MB + BBU
- HP SAS Expander (green)

I just received the RAID controller 2 days ago and tried to enter the setup. What I get is the initialization message:

"Slot 0 HP Smart Array P410 Initializing \\\"

But I don't get any message how to enter the setup (F8 - I know), once this message is off the screen, the system does a reboot.

What I've tried so far:
- tried every of the PCIe x8/x4 slots
- disabled EVERY single (and all together) components on the board (NICs (BOOT ROMs), Serial Port, onboard Storage)
- removed all other cards
- SuperMicro BIOS update to the latest version

But I had no luck. Yesterday, my HP SAS Expander (green) arrived and luckily this one works very well with my "old" LSI/Intel SASUC8i (IT Firmware), so I was able to install Debian on 2x 640GB WD Caviar Blue HDs in RAID1.

Of course - I would love to use the HP RAID controller, but I've the bad feeling that it's incompatible with my board - or am I wrong? Maybe one of you give me a hint. Don't get me wrong, I can live with mdadm, but HW RAID would be "nicer". :)

Many thanks in advance!

Ciao
Dennis
 
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Did you try disabling the ROM for the PCI-e slot the P410 is in? You won't be able to boot off it or enter it's BIOS but can just to all your management from within the OS.
 
I've disabled the NIC BOOT ROMs, but I'm not sure we're talking about the same honestly :)
 
@lovemyram4x4
I've read the PDF file (not at home right now) of the board manual again and I believe you're talking about this:

PCI-E Slot 4, 5, 6, & 7 OPROM
Use this feature to enable or disable PCI slot Option ROMs. The options are Disabled and Enabled.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried to disable them - I will try in the afternoon when I'm home and report :) Many thanks for highlighting!
 
Hi,

I've spend some hours last night playing around with the board and both controllers. Here's a workaround how to get this combination to work*:

- Put a card with Boot ROM (in my case my LSI controller) into the topmost slot (7)
- Don't put the HP p410 into any slot of the board
- Boot into the BIOS and under "PCI/PCIe" settings, set the Option ROM to "Disabled"
- Save & shut the system down
- Remove the Boot ROM card from slot 7 and put in the HP p410 into this slot
- (I've put the LSI card into Slot 6 (the one below), with enabled Boot ROM - Reason: I want an external card that runs HW RAID1 (flashed it to IR Firmware))
- Boot the system

You will NOT see ANY message from the HP controller when booting! That is because you've configured the PCIe slot ROM option to disabled - and that is exactly what we wanted.

Install the desired OS onto your system HD which HAS TO BE connected to onboard or another controller (in my case the LSI). It is NOT POSSIBLE to boot off the HP p410 here!

I wanted to go the Debian way, but the cciss drivers are only available for 32bit (does not make much sense on a 16GB RAM machine) OR for RHEL (CentOS) & SUSE Enterprise Server. The other option is Windows. I went for a test with Windows Server 2008 R2 (Trial).

Then you should install the Updates (what a hassle ;)) and get the software & drivers from HPs website. I've connected one HD to my SAS Expander, which is connected to the HP p410 with 2x SFF-8087 cables. The drive appeared :)

hp410.PNG


Sorry - was set to German (my native language) :) But I guess you get the idea..

I will test my 6x Hitachi drives tomorrow or tonight and post some results here - if that's wanted.

Not sure if I will go this way, because my Linux flavour is Debian and not an rpm-based CentOS (which ist the best "alternative"), so honestly, not sure I will keep the controller in the system. Maybe I will flash my LSI controller back to IT/JBOD Firmware and run a software RAID on the LSI/HP SAS Expander. Don't like to jump on the Windows bandwagon :)

Hope this helps someone who wants to do the same!

Ciao
Dennis
 
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Wich BIOS version, i have the same setup just need the CPU so i'm where not happy when i read this :/
 
I will add 2 things that I've seen with Supermicro systems in general that may or may not be of benefit to you.

1) don't set the retry reboot feature to enabled. This caused me a form of looping on several occasions.

2) In the pci or north/south bridge configuration section set the force x8 option. This is called different things on different Supermicro boards but essentially you don't want to use the "AUTO" option. When I use auto I don't get to access rom's of some add-in pcie cards.
 
Hi vr.,

many thanks for this ideas - but this also does not help :( The HP Smart Array Initialization... pops up and then it says "0 drives found" (true - no connected this moment) and before it displays anything like "Press F8 to enter Setup", the system reboots.
 
Hi DieTa,
have you solved your issue ?

My experience with P410 controller tell me that P410 is a very strange controller.

With firmware 3.66B I can have controller to boot normally (even with SAS/SATA HD connected), but when i've updated it to 5.12, i have to disable pciexpress boot rom becouse it will go into an infinite boot loop.

With SAS EXPANDER connected, both 3.66 and 5.12 go to infinite boot loop.

I'm waiting for a X9SCM-F then i will try some other firmware, hoping to find one that let me use the P410 with boot rom enabled.

Let me know you experience .......
 
DON'T UPDATE TO LATEST BIOS
the lastede bios blocks somthing so ESXi 5.0 can't see the p410 controller.
I had to downgrade to BIOS version x9scm1.630 I order to install ESXi 5.0

NOTE: latest firmware for p410(3.66) and expander(2.08) do work :)
 
I really wish I had found this thread before I bought a P410 off ebay. I am using the same motherboard and I am not sure the bios revision on it because super micro's bios interface sucks.

I did get the P410 firmware updated in another machine and got the array built. However the machine just boot loops after the P410 detects its 1 logical drive.

I don't want to boot from the P410.

My setup is
X9SCM
P410 with 4 Scorpio Black 500GB HDs in RAID 0+1
I want to boot from a 40GB SSD running ESXi 5.0

Help!?
 
candrea said:
Hi DieTa,

My experience with P410 controller tell me that P410 is a very strange controller.

With firmware 3.66B I can have controller to boot normally (even with SAS/SATA HD connected), but when i've updated it to 5.12, i have to disable pciexpress boot rom becouse it will go into an infinite boot loop.

With SAS EXPANDER connected, both 3.66 and 5.12 go to infinite boot loop.

I'm waiting for a X9SCM-F then i will try some other firmware, hoping to find one that let me use the P410 with boot rom enabled.

Let me know you experience .......
Click to expand...


I am using Intel S3420GPLX board with HP P410, but am having the same issue with HP P410 firmware. It works fine on 3.66B, the booting process will get stuck with newer firmware (blank screen on boot, not even rebooting).

However, plugging the P410 with newer firmware to my desktop board (Gigabyte EP45-DS3P), i can see the RAID boot screen.
 
I finally got it up and running.

had to roll the motherboard back to 1.630

had to roll the p410 back to 3.66

Seems that everything is working.

What a cluster!
 
Just want to bump this thread since I have the same SuperMicro X9SCM-F with the HP P410 and the HP SAS expander. It was initially doing the repeating boot loop until I disabled the option rom on the P410. Now the system boots from a motherboard sata port and I can manage the disks/arrays using the windows HP tool for the card. But I only did this to verify I could get all working. My plan was to setup an allin1 using ESXI 5.1

Any one who had these problems got any updates on getting the latest bios rev on motherboard working with latest HP rom bios? If not, is it possible to downgrade the rom version on the P410 and the motherboard ? Any gotchas involved? Any advise appreciated thanks.
 
All these problems are exactly why I always recommend people stay far, far away from any HP P4xx controller IF NOT INSTALLED IN AN HP SERVER
 
I stay away from HP 4 series controllers EVEN IF they are in a Proliant :)
 
I understand the sentiment regarding the HP P410 controller, but since I already had it I want to use it. However I also have a Highpoint 2680 which I could use in its place.
Just want to see if those who have the same equipment have any tips on getting it working correctly before I switch to something else. :(
 
howamidifferent said:
I understand the sentiment regarding the HP P410 controller, but since I already had it I want to use it. However I also have a Highpoint 2680 which I could use in its place.
Just want to see if those who have the same equipment have any tips on getting it working correctly before I switch to something else. :(
Click to expand...

not all motherboard are supported by P410 :),

my old ASUS AMD AM2 works perfectly where can load P410 option ROM correctly.

my new Gigabyte 990FXA works partially, need to disable onboard SATA and option ROM loading is failed, I can manage via HP cli or GUI.,this is lame on gigabye BIOS... this happens the samething with LSI card too...:|, stay away with gigabyte mobo...

HP N40L work perfectly with P410 :D...

try to disable onboard SATA at first
 
Just noticed there was a new firmware for the HP P410 version 5.70 released Sept 4th 2012.
I installed this and re-enabled the boot rom option. Endless boot loop again. So disabled the boot rom option once more. As I said earlier I can configure the disks/arrays using windows tools from HP but not having access at the rom level is a PITA.

Also installed ESXi 5.1 but this doesnt see the P410 either... Nothing ever goes to plan does it? :)
 
howamidifferent said:
Just noticed there was a new firmware for the HP P410 version 5.70 released Sept 4th 2012.
I installed this and re-enabled the boot rom option. Endless boot loop again. So disabled the boot rom option once more. As I said earlier I can configure the disks/arrays using windows tools from HP but not having access at the rom level is a PITA.

Also installed ESXi 5.1 but this doesnt see the P410 either... Nothing ever goes to plan does it? :)
Click to expand...

instal esxi image from HP... no fooling around to make P410 status shown up on esxi health monitor.
or...
you can instal HP vib package from HP depot...

I picked an easy way to install esxi 5.0 at that time....everything showing up... :)
the issue is.. how do you manage your RAID array? booting to other OS :) live CD... or using HP bootable CD...
 
cantalup said:
instal esxi image from HP... no fooling around to make P410 status shown up on esxi health monitor.
or...
you can instal HP vib package from HP depot...

I picked an easy way to install esxi 5.0 at that time....everything showing up... :)
the issue is.. how do you manage your RAID array? booting to other OS :) live CD... or using HP bootable CD...
Click to expand...

Hi I'm a total newbie to ESXi and I've googled HP vib package and came up with a HP page offering lots of ESXi related stuff. No idea what I need to get this going or how to install it.

Any chance you could link to the correct packages or install for this setup and a quick 2 or 3 line install guide? :eek:

EDIT: Ok I found the correct vib pack for the HP P410 under VMware 5.1 for firmware 5.70.
Its called hpsa-5.0.0-697362.zip.
Inside is scsi-hpsa-5.0.0-28OEM.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib .
All good. Now since I have VMWare installed on a USB key, can anyone advise me how to install/include this vib to get it to recognise the HP P410?

Any help appreciated. Just thinking maybe this question might be better asked in the HP P410 vmware thread...
 
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howamidifferent said:
Hi I'm a total newbie to ESXi and I've googled HP vib package and came up with a HP page offering lots of ESXi related stuff. No idea what I need to get this going or how to install it.

Any chance you could link to the correct packages or install for this setup and a quick 2 or 3 line install guide? :eek:

EDIT: Ok I found the correct vib pack for the HP P410 under VMware 5.1 for firmware 5.70.
Its called hpsa-5.0.0-697362.zip.
Inside is scsi-hpsa-5.0.0-28OEM.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib .
All good. Now since I have VMWare installed on a USB key, can anyone advise me how to install/include this vib to get it to recognise the HP P410?

Any help appreciated. Just thinking maybe this question might be better asked in the HP P410 vmware thread...
Click to expand...

the easy way, install vmware image from HP -> http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/software/vmware/esxi-image.html
vSphere 5.1 Sept 2012<-- download this ISO image.

OR..
to instal HP Vib using free esxi, you can search on the net..
you can try -> http://www.chriscolotti.us/vmware/vsphere/how-to-patch-vsphere-5-esxi-without-update-manager/
enable ssh on esxi, copy to local esxi via winscp, login via ssh, and run esxcli ....

-----------
you can look on http://vibsdepot.hp.com/ too, if you want to instal manually...
"HP ESXi 5.0 Utilities bundle - ESXCLI utilities such as HPBOOTCFG (boot order configuration),HPONCFG (remote iLO configuration) and HPACUCLI (Smart Array reporting and configuration)"....
you need HPACUCLI fot RAID configuration under esxi. for version 5.0, not 5.1..., should work on 5.1 , my guessing
 
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Cheers for that cantalup! Very much appreciated. :D

I'll install later tonight and hopefully I'll have a happy tale in the morning. ;)
 
Call me stupid but even with hours of googling I came across loads of command line examples but not one example or direction on how to get to a command line!!! :(

How or where do I type these commands, every example assumes one has access to the this command line so excuse my obvious stupidity here. Total ESXi virgin.:confused::confused:
 
Thanks for the link but I had found and tried that. It didn't work for me ( at least under ESXi 5.1 ).

I'll try it again later this evening to rule out any mistake on my part.
 
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1017910

Enabling and Accessing Tech Support Mode

To enable local or remote TSM from the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI):

At the DCUI of the ESXi host, press F2 and provide credentials when prompted. Press F2 again to proceed.
Scroll to Troubleshooting Options and press Enter. This opens the Troubleshooting Mode Options wizard.
To enable local TSM allowing users to log into the virtual console of the ESXi host.

In ESXi 5.x, select Enable ESXi Shell and press Enter. The right-hand panel mode should now indicate ESXi Shell is Enabled.
In ESXi 4.1, select Local Tech Support and press Enter. The right-hand panel mode should now indicate the Local TSM is Enabled.

To enable remote TSM allowing users to log in via SSH on the virtual console of the ESXi host.

In ESXi 5.x, select Enable SSH and press Enter.The right-hand panel mode should now indicate the "SSH is Enabled".
In ESXi 4.1, select Remote Tech Support (SSH) and press Enter. The right-hand panel mode should now indicate the "Remote TSM (SSH) is Enabled".

Optionally, if you want to configure the timeout for TSM:

In ESXi 5.x, select Modify ESXi Shell timeout and press Enter. Input the desired timeout value in minutes and press Enter.
In ESXi 4.1, select Modify Tech Support timeout and press Enter. Input the desired timeout value in minutes and press Enter.

Press Esc three times to return to the main DCUI screen.


To enable local or remote TSM from the vSphere Client:

Select the host and click the Configuration tab.
Click Security Profile > Properties.

In ESXi 5.x, select SSH or ESXi Shell and click Options.
In ESXi 4.1, select Local Tech Support or Remote Tech Support (SSH) and click Options.

Choose the desired startup policy and click Start, then click OK.
Verify that the daemon selected in step 3 shows as running in the Services Properties window


To access the remote TSM:

Open an SSH client.
Specify the IP address or domain name of the ESX host.

Notes:
Directions may vary depending on what SSH client you are using. For more information, consult vendor documentation and support.
By default, SSH works on TCP port 22.

Provide credentials when prompted.

--------------------------------------
you can enable cmdline access directly from esxi console or via vsphere client.

once enable, you can use putty (as ssh client) to connect to you esxi box.
putty can be downloaed at http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty-0.62-installer.exe
 
Cantalup, a million thanks for this. Very much appreciated.

I know my current knowledge of ESXi is currently dismal but thats one of the reasons I want to go this route to learn. Once I get the box up and running I will dive right it but I need to get to that point where all hardware is shown first.

Kudos to you for taking the time to help. :D
 
as I remember.....

install P410 vib, and HP ESXi 5.0 Utilities bundle vib from HP depot

to copy your vibs to your esxi box, use winscp ( assuming ssh connection/daemon/servies is already enabled)

you need http://vibsdepot.hp.com/hpq/jun2012/esxi-5x-vibs/hpacucli/
or
no need to messing around with bilindly install utility bundle-> http://vibsdepot.hp.com/hpq/jun2012/esxi-5x-bundles/hp-HPUtil-esxi5.0-bundle-1.2-29.zip

Install P410 vib first!! and VERIFY tha esxi see your P410!! before installing utility bundles or hpacucli vib

here is some example on hpacucli command:
http://www.datadisk.co.uk/html_docs/redhat/hpacucli.htm

-----------------------------
the easy way is buy licensing and using their/VMWare product(https://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/update-manager.html ) very easy to use heheh, just cost $$$
there is no such an easy way on free esxi :(....
 
I have a P410 in a SuperMicro X8SAX with similiar issues. I upgraded from a P400 which did not have these problems. P410 is on 5.70 F/W.

Twaeking boot rom on the PCI slots did not help. The card works but no boot option to config via BIOS. I boot from the HP Smart Start CD to enter the HP Array Config Utility when I needed to configure/maintain the card/arrays. 8.70 is the last flavor of Smart Start HP will provide, they now include this stuff on board on thier G8 servers so I would keep a copy handy before HP nerfs the download.

Smart Start - http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/smartstart/index.html

For health info in ESXi you can install the HP VIB's, but when you don't have the card in a HP server it will fail. You have to edit the descriptior.xml and remove all the platform checks for HP and then repack the VIB. **EDIT - The P410 driver VIB will install no issue, the one that errors is the HP Offline Bundle or CIM provider.

From my ubuntu VM ** ar -r smx.deb descriptor.xml sig.pkcs7 hp-smx-provider **rename the .deb to .vib and install in ESXi.
 
This seems to be the only place where people have had a similar experience to myself so hopefully I can find a solution.

I was running a P410 with 256MB cache on a MSI Z77MA-G45 Z77 motherboard.

Was working fine and then I decided to upgrade it to a 512MB BBWC. That worked and recognised the cache. It was then that I noticed in ACU that the firmware was v3.66 so downloaded and installed firmware 5.70 thinking to fix any future issues with my raid array.

After that it wouldn't boot. I'm assuming that there is a hidden feature in the new firmware that looks for compatible hardware ?

It pauses at the initialisation screen in BIOS and then the PC reboots and ignores the card. Have tried it in another PC with a Gigabyte board as well with the same issue. Unfortunately both boards do not have the feature to turn off a PCIE slot boot that the SuperMicro has. Also tried with the old 256MB cache and also without any cache

I want to get it back to an earlier firmware (3.66 or later) but can't get anything to work.

In Windows the card is recognised in device manager but says the card cannot be started and the firmware upgrade doesn't work.

I've also tried via Fedora linux (Redhat variant) which also recognises the card is installed but when running the firmware upgrade/downgrade it just says "no card updated"

I've also tried booting from the HP Firmware Update CD/DVD and also the HP Smartstart CD and again they recognise the card but won't give an option to run the firmware update (greyed out)

So can anyone thats downgraded the firmware let me know exactly how you did it just in case I've missed something obvious. Thanks.
 
Finally managed to get the downgrade to work by using a spare HP GL380 G5 server at work and got it back to 3.66.

Looks like that's the last version to work on non-HP hardware as even trying 5.06 meant it failed to boot.
 
BeelzebubUK said:
Finally managed to get the downgrade to work by using a spare HP GL380 G5 server at work and got it back to 3.66.

Looks like that's the last version to work on non-HP hardware as even trying 5.06 meant it failed to boot.
Click to expand...

Correctamundo. In a way the newer firmware is doing people a favor in not allowing it to operate correctly on most non-HP motherboards, because the performance is dreadful, even with a BBU that enables writeback cache. Only reason I've kept a P411 around was to upgrade HP Expanders.
 
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Check my HP P410 on ASUS AM2 motherboard.
on mine, is version is 5.14, works charmingly and can enter ORCA (pressing F8 during initialization) without issue.
 
Anyone have some advice for downgrading the firmware? I just received a new/refurb P410 and have been unable to get any of the firmware CDs/USB sticks to work. Appears the card came with the latest firmware and will not work on my SM board. Was hoping to take it back to 3.66 and try that. No luck so far.
 
I've been rocking the X9SCM-F board for 3 months using 3 x 1.5TB drive on a HP P410 512mb raid controller in RAID5. Everything was good until Newegg sold me 3 Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive for $115 each. :D

:mad::mad::mad: Now I'm stuck in a boot loop with no end in site...:mad::mad::mad:

The X9SCM-F board was shipped with (2.0b) to support the Xeon E3-1220 V2 Ivy Bridge, So, I can't downgrade the BIOS. The HP P410 would only work in the last 4x PCI-e slot (33) :( But it worked no problems until I wanted to replace the 3 x 1.5TB with 3 x 3TB drives.

HP P410 512mb raid controller with 3.66 firmware wouldn't recognize the 3TB drives. So I googled and found the 6.00 (B) firmware, released 11 Apr 2013. I googled around for firmware problems and didn't find any, So with a few key strokes I managed to put myself in a boot loop.

After the problem occurred, I found this post:
Now what to do... ????

I'm thinking, Finding another system board is cheaper then replacing the raid controller.

Any recommendations?, My Set-up:
2 Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Server Hynix M Model KVR13E9/8HM
1 Intel Xeon E3-1220 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31220V2
1 HP 462864-B21 PCI-Express x8 SAS Smart Array P410/512 BBWC Controller
3 Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
 
No news about the issue with this combination?
I have a P410 controller in my Microserver and I'm tempted to build a more powerful ESXi host and keep my datastores (and the controller)...
 
I made the same mistake of updating to the latest version of the Firmware - Storage Controller version 6.0

I got stuck in an endless boot loop and began working to roll back.

I had to go back all the way down to 3.66. Nothing newer than this would work with this board. :(

I went through all of the firmware versions here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...3931&swEnvOID=4064&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=5


The steps I took on my X9SCL with BIOS 2.0B
- Removed the card.
- Powered up
- Entered BIOS.
- Go to advanced -> PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration
- Change Launch Storage OpROM policy to Do Not Launch.
- Save and then power off.
- Put the card back in.
- Boot to some sort of OS on a backup drive.

I used an old 16 gig SSD and installed Windows 2008 R2 with no key (I hoped to solve it before 30 days went by) just to install the firmware versions to the card.
 
Hello,

I have installed p410 with 8 SATA hdd drive on supermicro motherboard ( X9DRL-3f).
the problem is motherboard did not detect p410 in boot sequences , so even after I have installed CentOS on the logical volume drive , it is not possible to boot from logical drive!

Would you please help me out? any response would appreciated.
p410 firmware is 3.66

Regards
 
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