IBM M1015 Experiences

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mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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I don't think it will be that simple

Here's some more info on the subject we did a while back
http://forums.servethehome.com/show...quivalency-Mapping&p=2854&viewfull=1#post2854

Somewhere I did a more in-depth study on the EEPROMS, can't find it right now

I think the SHA security will be the stumbling block.
There is a matching chip on the Controller where I assume a checksum must match to unlock the SW features
 
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cactus

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Jan 25, 2011
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Yeah, so it is more than just a EEPROM. I still would think it is some kind of 1-wire or similar communication protocol.
 

mobilenvidia

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It basically is BUT with SHA security added as well so guys like us don't just by pass it :D

I think the 2 EEPROMS some how communicate and if their contents match a signal is sent to the controller.
I'm not sure how different keys are linked to the controller firmware.

Someone needs to spend $50 on a M1000 key and try it on a M5015/5014 to see if it works
 

Kowalski

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Jan 19, 2013
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I have a quick question before ordering a RAID controller:

Can I have a mix of RAID and non-RAID (JBOD) devices on this card? I want to have my 2 SATA system drives in RAID1 and use the remaining 6 ports for my storage drives to be managed by software RAID. Is this possible/a good idea?

Thanks.
 

mobilenvidia

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I have a quick question before ordering a RAID controller:

Can I have a mix of RAID and non-RAID (JBOD) devices on this card? I want to have my 2 SATA system drives in RAID1 and use the remaining 6 ports for my storage drives to be managed by software RAID. Is this possible/a good idea?

Thanks.
In your case I wound run the card in IR mode, then any non RAID drives are just passed through.
In native M1015 mode (LSI9240), I do believe you can set non RAID drives as JBOD been so long since I used this I can't be certain :)
 

videojaq

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Jan 25, 2013
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hey everyone,

long time lurker, first time poster.
appreciate being able to read all these experiences and tips on the m1015

I've got a question, that either there is on answer anywhere on the interent, or I simply am blind and can not find it.

If I were to flash an m1015 into IT firmware, and have it set for no bios (speedier boot time), am I still able to set the card to stagger the spin-up of the drives?

cheers mates, and thanks for everything.
 

mobilenvidia

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IT firmware = DON'T flash the BIOS, as IT firmware makes the card a dumb HBA (fastest, least amount of layers between OS and drive), the BIOS I think is just ignored, as the firmware just detects the drives attached and shows them to the OS.
There is probably a spin up default thats used, remember these IT mode cards are in 1000's of servers with a gazillion drives attached.

IR Firmware = flash BIOS if you need to set Boot drive and have access to spinup etc, for fast boot and not needing to boot then leave don't flash the BIOS
 

mobilenvidia

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Hmmmm, all of a sudden my new WDC wd4000fyyz drive is completely dissapearing from the M1015.

After boot, and for about 10min after wards all is good then drive just dissapears
MSM this last time also refused to load at all.

Need to do some investigating
Just had a thought, the other day I enabled UEFI ultra fast boot on the ASRock mobo.
Might have been around then the issue started.
I wonder if the SAS2008 UEFI driver is having an issue with ASRock mobo
 

TenzoR

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Mar 30, 2013
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Hey all

Just wanted to see if I'm heading in the right direction in terms of getting my M1015 flashed.

I'm currently trying to use it in a S1200KPR motherboard which should work if the M1015 is in IT mode. However, it seems the card is not. The seller doesn't know which firmware it's on but claim it was working. No reason to not believe him yet since I can see the amber lights on the PCIe card and the heatsink is warm to touch.

What I know/done so far
- Latest Motherboard BIOS is flashed
- BIOS does not see PCIe being occupied
- Disabled Onboard SATA
- Boot in to DOS and ran Megarec -adpList, got nothing back

My next plan is to get a friend or a known motherboard that works with teh M1015 to see if it works. Am I missing anything else before I started spending money?
 

mobilenvidia

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Have you also checked other brand's 4TB drives with M1015?
I've had the drive for for about 6 months now, and it's worked till last week with no issues.
I just need a little time to have diagnoses to narrow the problem down.
I think Mobo issue.

Hey all

Just wanted to see if I'm heading in the right direction in terms of getting my M1015 flashed.

I'm currently trying to use it in a S1200KPR motherboard which should work if the M1015 is in IT mode. However, it seems the card is not. The seller doesn't know which firmware it's on but claim it was working. No reason to not believe him yet since I can see the amber lights on the PCIe card and the heatsink is warm to touch.

What I know/done so far
- Latest Motherboard BIOS is flashed
- BIOS does not see PCIe being occupied
- Disabled Onboard SATA
- Boot in to DOS and ran Megarec -adpList, got nothing back

My next plan is to get a friend or a known motherboard that works with teh M1015 to see if it works. Am I missing anything else before I started spending money?
No heartbeat = no Firmware at all or broken card.

Goto LSI and then LSI9211 under HBA controllers
Grab the Firmware version P15
Also grab the DOS installer.

Unpack DOS installer
Put SAS2LSH on to your bootable DOS disk
Run this with what ever to see if there is a conroller there.

SAS2flash is for HBA controllers
Megarec is for Megaraid controller
So once the M1015 is in HBA (IT or IT) mode then Megarec no longer sees it.

There is a chance you may get the PAL error, in which case you will need to brush up on UEFI boot and EFI version of SAS2flash
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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also
If the card isn't seen, shift the card into the PCIe slot closest to the CPU, or the biggest slot.
Cards don't always get recognised in all slots, as seems to be happening with my ASRock mobo.
 

TenzoR

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Mar 30, 2013
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I've had the drive for for about 6 months now, and it's worked till last week with no issues.
I just need a little time to have diagnoses to narrow the problem down.
I think Mobo issue.


No heartbeat = no Firmware at all or broken card.

Goto LSI and then LSI9211 under HBA controllers
Grab the Firmware version P15
Also grab the DOS installer.

Unpack DOS installer
Put SAS2LSH on to your bootable DOS disk
Run this with what ever to see if there is a conroller there.

SAS2flash is for HBA controllers
Megarec is for Megaraid controller
So once the M1015 is in HBA (IT or IT) mode then Megarec no longer sees it.

There is a chance you may get the PAL error, in which case you will need to brush up on UEFI boot and EFI version of SAS2flash
I got the PAL error. Does this mean the card is most likely in IR mode?

Unfortunately, the S1200KPR is an ITX with only 1 slot. My other computer has one slot only. Unless I find a PCI video card. Even then, I read Gigabyte motherboard is notoriously incompatible.
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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I'm beginning to think, that the PAL error is related to onboard graphics.
Find a board with no onboard graphics (quite hard these days)

I have an old P55 mobo with no video at all = no PAL
New Z77 with video = PAL

The error only occurs with sas2flsh in DOS, not sure why that is as MegaCli and Megarec do work.

Do you have Windows, then the Windows version of sas2flash should work.
You need to run command prompt with Admin privileges.
Then run sas2flash with the commands as you would in DOS and the list of commands are stickied on top of this section.
But if the M1015 has not initialised properly then Windows won't see the device (where DOS and EFI shell it will)
 

TenzoR

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Mar 30, 2013
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I'm beginning to think, that the PAL error is related to onboard graphics.
Find a board with no onboard graphics (quite hard these days)

I have an old P55 mobo with no video at all = no PAL
New Z77 with video = PAL

The error only occurs with sas2flsh in DOS, not sure why that is as MegaCli and Megarec do work.

Do you have Windows, then the Windows version of sas2flash should work.
You need to run command prompt with Admin privileges.
Then run sas2flash with the commands as you would in DOS and the list of commands are stickied on top of this section.
But if the M1015 has not initialised properly then Windows won't see the device (where DOS and EFI shell it will)
Well the card is fully working on a friend's motherboard.

I followed the guide from STH
IBM ServeRAID M1015 Part 4: Cross flashing to a LSI9211-8i in IT or IR modeServeTheHome ? Server and Workstation Reviews
and the UEFI guide from
Flash an IBM M1015 octal sata controller using any modern computer (no more ERROR: Failed to initialize PAL)

The card flashed from IT with no BIOS to IT with BIOS back and forth. Still on my motherboard the amber light is on. While on my friend's board, the heartbeat is flashing.

I did read someone got it to work with S1200KP which is an older revision of the board I have hence I was confident it should work. There's one more thing I have to try is to see if the board is working with a Graphic's card. Maybe the PCI-e itself is damaged..

btw: what else can the amber light mean?
 

TenzoR

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Mar 30, 2013
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After I took some rest and re-looked at the problem. I noticed something odd. I was using an i3 processor where everyone else was using a Xeon processor. I did some reading and noticed the i3 only has 16 PCI Express Lane where as the Xeon has 20 PCI Express Lane.

If the Integrated Graphich Device is using 16 lanes that means the PCI-Express slot has nothing to work with. However, if I get the Xeon processor, theoretically the 4 lanes will be available for the card.

Reference Youtube: Ultimate Windows Home Server Guide Part 1 - Choosing the Right Hardware NCIX Tech Tips - YouTube
 

Lost-Benji

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Jan 21, 2013
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The arse end of the planet
After I took some rest and re-looked at the problem. I noticed something odd. I was using an i3 processor where everyone else was using a Xeon processor. I did some reading and noticed the i3 only has 16 PCI Express Lane where as the Xeon has 20 PCI Express Lane.

If the Integrated Graphich Device is using 16 lanes that means the PCI-Express slot has nothing to work with. However, if I get the Xeon processor, theoretically the 4 lanes will be available for the card.
http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s1200kp/sb/g38894002_s1200kp_tps_r1_1.pdf
Take a look on Table 1 in section 2.1.1, does your CPU fit into this requirement?

The diagram on section 2.1.3 however indicates there should be no reason why the card is not being seen properly. Section 2.3.1 clears any other grey areas.
Might be time to revisit the BIOS and check all settings, especially to do with boot orders, DMI and the IRQ settings.

The extra 4 lanes of a Xeon in this board are wasted. Xeon will just allow the use of ECC RAM.
 
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