This card was installed in a F5 Networks Big-IP 4500 WebAccellerator that I picked up on Ebay for $35 with Free Shipping. It's a headless system but I can get in the serial console and can boot linux from a hard drive installed on the onboard SATA.
There seems to be an issue with the card that when I do a warm reboot from Linux, the card freezes at post saying something to the effect that it is waiting for the card to initialize and the only fix is to cut the power and reboot. (There are no drives currently on the card)
I read somewhere that a newer firmware update fixes it, but I cannot seem to locate it. The 3Ware site seems to have disappeared. There's some reference to LSI and 3Ware merging but then all the stuff takes me to Broadcom's site that does not list the card.
Does anyone know where I can get newer firmware? (This is the card below for reference)
3ware 9550SX-4LP 64-bit/133MHz PCI-X SATA II (3.0Gb/s) Raid Controller Card - Newegg.com
Here's what the actual server looks like in case you are interested.
https://support.f5.com/techdocs/hom...ls/wa5_2/images/WA_front_labeled_halfsize.jpg
The specs are Dual Socket 604 3.2GHz Irwindale Xeons, 8GB DDR2. 2 x PCI-X slots. Cavium Nitrox SSL accellerator (part of the motherboard) The 3 port network module on the front actually shows up in linux as a 4 Port Intel Pro/1000 PT card, so either they removed a jack or it is hidden and I can't get to it yet (can't get the module out). Onboard CF slot and IDE, also 2 onboard Sata if you don't use the RAID card. The seller had removed the drives so I will have to replenish them.
It has bays for 2 additional ethernet modules but I can't seem to find any for sale. The ethernet modules plug into a laptop style PCI-E connector on the edge of the board so I think I may be able to get one of those Laptop to PCI-E x16 cables and hide a card in there if I want.
This device is an OEM dev made by Lanner as a FW-7890.
There seems to be an issue with the card that when I do a warm reboot from Linux, the card freezes at post saying something to the effect that it is waiting for the card to initialize and the only fix is to cut the power and reboot. (There are no drives currently on the card)
I read somewhere that a newer firmware update fixes it, but I cannot seem to locate it. The 3Ware site seems to have disappeared. There's some reference to LSI and 3Ware merging but then all the stuff takes me to Broadcom's site that does not list the card.
Does anyone know where I can get newer firmware? (This is the card below for reference)
3ware 9550SX-4LP 64-bit/133MHz PCI-X SATA II (3.0Gb/s) Raid Controller Card - Newegg.com
Here's what the actual server looks like in case you are interested.
https://support.f5.com/techdocs/hom...ls/wa5_2/images/WA_front_labeled_halfsize.jpg
The specs are Dual Socket 604 3.2GHz Irwindale Xeons, 8GB DDR2. 2 x PCI-X slots. Cavium Nitrox SSL accellerator (part of the motherboard) The 3 port network module on the front actually shows up in linux as a 4 Port Intel Pro/1000 PT card, so either they removed a jack or it is hidden and I can't get to it yet (can't get the module out). Onboard CF slot and IDE, also 2 onboard Sata if you don't use the RAID card. The seller had removed the drives so I will have to replenish them.
It has bays for 2 additional ethernet modules but I can't seem to find any for sale. The ethernet modules plug into a laptop style PCI-E connector on the edge of the board so I think I may be able to get one of those Laptop to PCI-E x16 cables and hide a card in there if I want.
This device is an OEM dev made by Lanner as a FW-7890.
Last edited:
