LSI Logic MegaRAID 9261-8i RAID Controller with iBBU08, CacheCade/Fastpath $450 B.N

[mobilenvidia]

I've given up on finding the Intel version of the SAS2108 of this and the LSI9260-8i

Found this bargain in my endless search.

Buy now is $450.
I paid $410 including postage to NZ
What do you get for this I hear you say?

LSI9261-8i
iBBU08 (the LiPMR version)
And CacheCade/FastPath SW key
And no postage
And declaring for less than its worh to avoid taxes

I'm happy with my purchase.

LSI Logic MegaRAID 9261-8i RAID Controller with iBBU08, CacheCade/Fastpath $450 B.N

 

[Patrick]

Not a bad deal at all. Still 1 left and there is a OBO option.

Also, the iBBU08 is the Li Polymer version of LSI's BBU

 

[mobilenvidia]

Yes I'll be able to do some tests with batteries and differences between them.

I'll end up selling the M5015, with the Adv Feature key at some point to pay for other bad habbits.

 

[bionicbeagle]

Yes I'll be able to do some tests with batteries and differences between them.

I'll end up selling the M5015, with the Adv Feature key at some point to pay for other bad habbits.

Hi,

I also bought a similar card (though just a "9260 4i") from the same buyer. My card currently only appears to support plain CacheCade 2.0, so no write caching which I really would like. Did you upgrade the firmware or something to get CacheCade Pro 2.0 enabled on your card?

Thanks in advance for any information you might have!

 

[mobilenvidia]

You need Firmware 12.12.0-0073 or higher to support CacheCade Pro 2.0, which has read write
Cachecade 1.0 only has Read caching.

But grab the latest Fimrware which supports all cards and Cachecade Pro v2.0

 

[bionicbeagle]

You need Firmware 12.12.0-0073 or higher to support CacheCade Pro 2.0, which has read write
Cachecade 1.0 only has Read caching.

But grab the latest Fimrware which supports all cards and Cachecade Pro v2.0

Excellent, thanks for your response! One final question: did you have to re-enter any license keys to enable the features again? Since I bought this second hand I'm worried that if the firmware upgrade invalidates the existing enabled features for some reason I would not be able to re-enable them again.

I'm also kind of torn about upgrading the firmware, as LSI disabled the Dimmer switch feature for RAID volumes in more recent firmware. Do you know if there is a firmware revision available which only adds CacheCade R/W caching, but does not disable the DS3 feature?

Thanks for the help!

 

[supermacro]

You don't have to re-enter the key for the cachecade function. I'm 99% sure. How do I know, you may ask? Well, I actually tried to get rid of the Cachecade function by flashing the firmware but no matter what I do it just would not go away. Why I wanted to get rid of this is another topic but I called LSI to see if they can get rid of it but no, sir, it will stay forever is what I've been told. You can transfer the Cachecade to another card only once but it had to be registered at LSI's software portal.

 

[mobilenvidia]

As SM says, if the Software keys are in the card already then they stay, no matter what you do.
LSI ship some cards with CacheCade key installed at the factory (they probably solder on the appropriate EEPROM)
This is how review sites get their sample cards, ultimate card to get.

I've flashed my LSI9261 to various FW and the keys stayed intact, I have all the keys built in except CC pro 2.0 which I enable via trial key
BUT I think if your keys are enabed as trial (30days) and you do a factory reset then the trial days left disappear. but just put the key back in and 30 days more.

 

[Patrick]

LSI MegaRAID 9261-8i with cachecade and fastpath and iBBU08 $450 BIN OBO again. The one linked above was sold.

Going to do a main site post on a bunch of options, but that is a good one I'm keeping for the forums since only 1.

 

[mobilenvidia]

Same seller as I got mine from, or is that the one you mentioned as sold.

Cachecade v2 is only via trial key, does come with CacheCade v1 but FP and other features are enabled

 

[bionicbeagle]

Same seller as I got mine from, or is that the one you mentioned as sold.

Cachecade v2 is only via trial key, does come with CacheCade v1 but FP and other features are enabled

I bought mine from the same guy. It's actually in Hong Kong and not New York as listed. However, it only took a few days for me to get the package in Sweden.

Be aware though that the software licenses on these cards don't seem 100% legit. Observing his feedback history it's plain that he buys the base cards on eBay, as well as the BBUs. Typically by making a pretty a low offer to buy or on regular auctions. He then flashes the non-LSI cards and sells them as LSI equivalents. He also seems to be able to enable all the advanced software options, and I assume this is done via some custom flash/tool or whatever. The cards do not show up as licensed in in LSI's database at least, as I found out when I inquired about the CacheCade Pro 2.0 upgrade.

 

[supermacro]

How funny... I actually bought some from the same seller as well Mine was 9260-4i with BBU (36 cycles, LOL) and cachecade. I agree that although the card was enabled with Cachecade but I don't think the license is legit. I think he has one legit license that he enters on all of his 9260 cards...

 

[odditory]

@bionicbeagle: good eye and good info. back in the early days of cross flashing these cheap IBM controllers when only a handful of us were doing it and no how-to's or forum discussions even existed anywhere yet I always figured it would come to this, clowns trying to pass off faked retail LSI cards.

 

[Patrick]

I bought mine from the same guy. It's actually in Hong Kong and not New York as listed. However, it only took a few days for me to get the package in Sweden.

Be aware though that the software licenses on these cards don't seem 100% legit. Observing his feedback history it's plain that he buys the base cards on eBay, as well as the BBUs. Typically by making a pretty a low offer to buy or on regular auctions. He then flashes the non-LSI cards and sells them as LSI equivalents. He also seems to be able to enable all the advanced software options, and I assume this is done via some custom flash/tool or whatever. The cards do not show up as licensed in in LSI's database at least, as I found out when I inquired about the CacheCade Pro 2.0 upgrade.

Wow... that is great information!

 

[mobilenvidia]

The LSI9261 can't be faked as there is no OEM card like it, it's based on the 3Ware 9750-8i layout.

The cards have PCI_ID and SUBSYS numbers that identify them, also very hard to get around, you could with editing NVDT info fooling these 2 codes
But have to do the mod with every FW update, and the later FW have NVDT encoded and it does a MD5 check at flash time also.
I've tried the above my self.

My LSI9261 works very well.

 

[mrkrad]

chinese folks have a keygen

 

[OBasel]

Is it just a text key? I thought these were hardware keys?

 

[mobilenvidia]

Is it just a text key? I thought these were hardware keys?

The LSI9261 hasn't got the Hardware key header so can only take Software keys.