I bough this on eBay, arrived this morning, has 8 x spinning disks,
courier nearly ruptured himself!
It's quite ancient and I'm struggling to break the RAID down to JBOD,
wonder if it's even possible?
Also struggling to get the BIOS to recognise an SSD I put in slot 1, I thought I had set it up as a physical drive under BIOS control but
apparently not.
Any guidance appreciated, I wonder if I've bought a door-stop...
Is it using the Dell RAID card? It does raids 0,1,5 iirc. You'll have to flash that to "IT mode" in order to get single disk control, which is
fairly easy. Start here for info:
It's quite ancient and I'm struggling to break the RAID down to JBOD,
wonder if it's even possible?
Is it using the Dell RAID card? It does raids 0,1,5 iirc. You'll have to flash that to "IT mode" in order to get single disk control, which is
fairly easy. Start here for info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/6o3f6a/dell_hba_mode_vs_it_mode_what_is_the_difference/
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and
set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may be >using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's an HP >job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and
set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to pull >all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise the
raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert the >second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc >arrays.
On 09/08/2024 in message <0al*7izRz@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo wrote:
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may be
using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's an HP >> job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and
set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to pull >> all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise the
raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert the
second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc
arrays.
I am concerned about bricking the machine if I follow Jaimie's suggestion, although perhaps I would qualify for a nerd badge if it works!
Jeff Gaines wrote:
It's quite ancient and I'm struggling to break the RAID down to JBOD, >>wonder if it's even possible?
In the past the PERC cards didn't support JBOD, not sure whether that's >changed?
On 10 Aug 2024 at 00:19:48 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:
On 09/08/2024 in message <0al*7izRz@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo >>wrote:
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may be >>>using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's an >>>HP
job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and >>>>set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to >>>pull
all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise the >>>raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert the >>>second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc >>>arrays.
I am concerned about bricking the machine if I follow Jaimie's suggestion, >>although perhaps I would qualify for a nerd badge if it works!
Flashing the specific PERC cards mentioned in my 2nd link is very easy
and barely even risks the PERC card itself - which cost peanuts,
although you'd be as well off replacing it with an 8x SAS card anyway if
it did pop. The PERCs aren't very good.
On 10/08/2024 in message <lhnp74FimuaU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 10 Aug 2024 at 00:19:48 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:
On 09/08/2024 in message <0al*7izRz@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo
wrote:
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may be >>>> using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's an >>>> HP
job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and >>>>> set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to
pull
all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise the >>>> raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert the >>>> second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc >>>> arrays.
I am concerned about bricking the machine if I follow Jaimie's suggestion, >>> although perhaps I would qualify for a nerd badge if it works!
Flashing the specific PERC cards mentioned in my 2nd link is very easy
and barely even risks the PERC card itself - which cost peanuts,
although you'd be as well off replacing it with an 8x SAS card anyway if
it did pop. The PERCs aren't very good.
Do you think there is likely to be a drop-in replacement available? I remember a Lenovo where the WiFi broke and it refused to recognise the replacement card because of some sort of internal security.
On 10 Aug 2024 at 08:01:39 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:
On 10/08/2024 in message <lhnp74FimuaU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie >>Vandenbergh wrote:
On 10 Aug 2024 at 00:19:48 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> >>>wrote:
On 09/08/2024 in message <0al*7izRz@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo >>>>wrote:
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may >>>>>be
using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's >>>>>an
HP
job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and >>>>>>set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to >>>>>pull
all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise >>>>>the
raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert >>>>>the
second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc >>>>>arrays.
I am concerned about bricking the machine if I follow Jaimie's >>>>suggestion,
although perhaps I would qualify for a nerd badge if it works!
Flashing the specific PERC cards mentioned in my 2nd link is very easy >>>and barely even risks the PERC card itself - which cost peanuts,
although you'd be as well off replacing it with an 8x SAS card anyway if >>>it did pop. The PERCs aren't very good.
Do you think there is likely to be a drop-in replacement available? I >>remember a Lenovo where the WiFi broke and it refused to recognise the >>replacement card because of some sort of internal security.
I don't know the T320 but I'm verrrry familiar with the R320 (rackmount >version). Those have a dedicated PERC socket which only takes PERCs. But >tossing it (if it's not flashable) and banging in a PCIe LSI SAS
controller is a It Just Works thing; only issue may be the SAS cables to
the drive chassis need replacing with appropriately longer ones.
Cheers - Jaimie
I remember a Lenovo where the WiFi broke and it refused to recognise the replacement card because of some sort of internal security.
On 10/08/2024 in message <lhov99Fo56gU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
On 10 Aug 2024 at 08:01:39 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:
On 10/08/2024 in message <lhnp74FimuaU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
Vandenbergh wrote:
On 10 Aug 2024 at 00:19:48 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> >>>> wrote:
On 09/08/2024 in message <0al*7izRz@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo >>>>> wrote:
I think that's for cards using LSI chips. Some of the older ones may >>>>>> be
using custom silicon which isn't LSI.
(can't remember if mine is a Dell or an HP now, I have a feeling it's >>>>>> an
HP
job. Their newer ones are LSI but the older ones aren't)
The closest you can get otherwise is to go into the RAID firmware and >>>>>>> set each disk up as a 'raid0' of one disk. Which is kinda ugly.
I had to do that. If they're in hotswap bays, one way to do it is to >>>>>> pull
all the disks except one. Then boot into the setup tool, initialise >>>>>> the
raid with the single disc, and shutdown. Pull the first disk, insert >>>>>> the
second, repeat. That way it's never tempted to try to make multi-disc >>>>>> arrays.
I am concerned about bricking the machine if I follow Jaimie's
suggestion,
although perhaps I would qualify for a nerd badge if it works!
Flashing the specific PERC cards mentioned in my 2nd link is very easy >>>> and barely even risks the PERC card itself - which cost peanuts,
although you'd be as well off replacing it with an 8x SAS card anyway if >>>> it did pop. The PERCs aren't very good.
Do you think there is likely to be a drop-in replacement available? I
remember a Lenovo where the WiFi broke and it refused to recognise the
replacement card because of some sort of internal security.
I don't know the T320 but I'm verrrry familiar with the R320 (rackmount
version). Those have a dedicated PERC socket which only takes PERCs. But
tossing it (if it's not flashable) and banging in a PCIe LSI SAS
controller is a It Just Works thing; only issue may be the SAS cables to
the drive chassis need replacing with appropriately longer ones.
Cheers - Jaimie
OK, thanks! Presumably I need one that can support 8 drives (excuse my ignorance)? Any good/bad makes?
According to the manual the rackmount version is a tower version with the feet removed and laid on its side!
According to the manual the rackmount version is a tower version with the >>feet removed and laid on its side!
Ah, the R320 is a 1U server so not a direct 'turn it sideways' rack >conversion.
First check your PERC to see if it's fixable at the firmware level to IT >mode, it'll tell you what model it is on the BIOS RAID config screen you
can get to at bootup if nowhere else.
On 11/08/2024 in message <lhqbrlF69tU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
Vandenbergh wrote:
First check your PERC to see if it's fixable at the firmware level to IT
mode, it'll tell you what model it is on the BIOS RAID config screen you
can get to at bootup if nowhere else.
I did it, I'm a nerd like Jaimie!
Thanks for the guidance and encouragement, it gave me the confidence I
needed :-)
I did it, I'm a nerd like Jaimie!
Booted to FreeDOS and did first bit then to Linux to do second. Only one mistake in that I installed the UEFI boot BIOS, I will go back and put
the BIOS one on.
Massive bonus is that Windows has decided the SSD I fitted to replace
the DVD is bootable now so I installed Windows on it For some reason it
is in ATA mode so I need to look at that.
With the SAS drives (what a mix 250 GB to 1 TB, the seller must have
decided postage was cheaper than recycling) I now just have to pop then
in and set them up and I'm in business.
Thanks for the guidance and encouragement, it gave me the confidence I
needed 🙂
Keep us posted. My son is a pro nerd. He's a field engineer. A couple of
days ago he sent me photos of a DEC Alpha system he was fixing, so this should be no problem!
On 12/08/2024 15:36, Vir Campestris wrote:
Keep us posted. My son is a pro nerd. He's a field engineer. A couple of >>days ago he sent me photos of a DEC Alpha system he was fixing, so this >>should be no problem!
... and he immediately reminded me that if you go to Dell's web site and >enter the service tag it will allow you to download all the relevant
manuals.
Andy
Thanks for the guidance and encouragement, it gave me the confidence I >>needed 🙂
That explains the mystery I had which was why not run them as RAID5. You >don't lose much.
If they are the same size...
Jeff Gaines wrote:
It's quite ancient and I'm struggling to break the RAID down to JBOD, >>wonder if it's even possible?
In the past the PERC cards didn't support JBOD, not sure whether that's >changed?
If you want to give it a go the links Jaimie provided do work - all I
did was to just follow the instructions and my PERC 710 D full size is
now JBOD - RAID optional
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