Can't get Intel RS25SB008 (LSI 2208) to recognize Seagate disks.

[rupertlssmith]

The disks are Seagate ST3300657SS which are supposed to work with this LSI based card. They appear to be formatted to 520 rather 512 bytes per sector. Not new, so they could have been formatted to that from an original format of 512, I don't know.

They are listed as unsupported (Drive: Not Supported), by 'megacli PDList -aALL'.

I tried putting them in JBOD mode, but that would not work either: Configuring JBOD with a LSI 2208 controller — Lucid Solutions

> megacli PDMakeJBOD -PhysDrv[252:1,252:2,252:3,252:4] -a0

Adapter: 0: Failed to change PD state at EnclId-252 SlotId-1.
Exit Code: 0x01

My thinking was to put them in JBOD mode then do a low-level format to 512 bytes per sector. Does anyone know how this can be done?

Here is what PDList outputs for drive 3, for example:

Enclosure Device ID: 252
Slot Number: 3
Enclosure position: N/A
Device Id: 15
WWN: 5000C500472B3778
Sequence Number: 1
Media Error Count: 0
Other Error Count: 0
Predictive Failure Count: 0
Last Predictive Failure Event Seq Number: 0
PD Type: SAS

Raw Size: 0 KB [0x22314357 Sectors]
Non Coerced Size: 0 KB [0x2221825b Sectors]
Coerced Size: 0 KB [0x220b1800 Sectors]
Sector Size: 520
Logical Sector Size: 520
Physical Sector Size: 520
Firmware state: Unconfigured(good), Spun Up
Device Firmware Level: GF0B
Shield Counter: 0
Successful diagnostics completion on : N/A
SAS Address(0): 0x5000c500472b3779
SAS Address(1): 0x0
Connected Port Number: 0(path0)
Inquiry Data: SEAGATE ST3300657SS GF0B6SJ41KJE11324D1
FDE Capable: Not Capable
FDE Enable: Disable
Secured: Unsecured
Locked: Unlocked
Needs EKM Attention: No
Foreign State: None
Device Speed: Unknown
Link Speed: Unknown
Media Type: Hard Disk Device
Drive: Not Supported
Drive Temperature : N/A
PI Eligibility: No
Drive is formatted for PI information: No
PI: No PI
Port-0 :
Port status: Active
Port's Linkspeed: Unknown
Port-1 :
Port status: Active
Port's Linkspeed: Unknown
Drive has flagged a S.M.A.R.T alert : No

 

[rupertlssmith]

No wonder they were cheap, I did not read the advert properly. It says:

"Please note these drives are designed for the Fujitsu Eternus systems and have a different firmware on them to a standard drive."

Any idea how I can flash them back to a normal Seagate firmwire?

 

[vanfawx]

You'll need an HBA in order to reformat these to 512byte/sector. There's a sticky thread in the drives section of the forum (or click the link) that should have all the steps you need.

 

[rupertlssmith]

You'll need an HBA in order to reformat these to 512byte/sector. There's a sticky thread in the drives section of the forum (or click the link) that should have all the steps you need.

Yes, I have an HBA. That is the Intel RS25SB008 card itself. I'm just not sure how I flash the disks if they won't go into JBOD mode and be visibile to the OS in order to flash them?

Although, I read a bit more, and I think they can be flashed with 'megacli' like this:

> megacli -PdFwDownload -PhysDrv[15:0] -f firmware.lod -a0

I will try and get the original firmware from seagate and flash it like this and see if that works.

 

[vanfawx]

When I say HBA, I don't mean a RAID card with JBOD. You'll need something like a LSI 9211 in order to reformat the disks as 512 byte sectors.

 

[rupertlssmith]

When I say HBA, I don't mean a RAID card with JBOD. You'll need something like a LSI 9211 in order to reformat the disks as 512 byte sectors.

Ok, thanks for that. I think the Intel RS25SB008 that I have is pretty much just a rebranded LSI 9211? Except the Intel also has a super capacitor backed memory module.

In fact, I think I have a genuine LSI 9211 too. Any idea how to actually do the reformat with it?

 

[vanfawx]

Nope. LSI 2208 is a RoC (Raid on Chip), the 9211 is based off of the 2008 chip.

 

[rupertlssmith]

Nope. LSI 2208 is a RoC (Raid on Chip), the 9211 is based off of the 2008 chip.

Ok, thanks. I'll check what model/chip I have on the LSI card soon.

 

[rupertlssmith]

Nope. LSI 2208 is a RoC (Raid on Chip), the 9211 is based off of the 2008 chip.

Thanks for this information. The LSI card that I have is a 9240, which is also an RoC, I think? So I've picked up a 9211 4-port model for cheap, seems worth trying. I'll report back on how I get on with it.

 

[vanfawx]

Sounds good! Good luck!

 

[rupertlssmith]

Bugger. The sg_format doesn't seem to be able to change the block size to 512:

# sg_format --format --size=512 /dev/sg2
SEAGATE ST3300657SS GF0B peripheral_type: disk [0x0]
Mode Sense (block descriptor) data, prior to changes:
Number of blocks=573653847 [0x22314357]
Block size=520 [0x208]
MODE SELECT command: Illegal request
try '-v' for more information

The Firmware on these disks is a 'GF0B' version. If bought as standard Seagate disks I think the firmware would be something like '0008'. They obviously have a different firmware put on them by Fujitsu for their particular 520 byte/sector device.

I am wondering if I could attempt to put a '0008' firmware on them? Does anyone know where I can get the original Seagate firmware from?

 

[rupertlssmith]

Might be time to give up on this. But if someone knows where I can get a seagate firmware and how to force flash it to the disks, I will give it a go. Don't mind if I brick them at this stage.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Bugger. The sg_format doesn't seem to be able to change the block size to 512

What happens if you try "sg_sanitize -B"? Needless to say, this performs a destructive overwrite of the whole drive.

 

[rupertlssmith]

What happens if you try "sg_sanitize -B"? Needless to say, this performs a destructive overwrite of the whole drive.

Sanitize failed: Illegal request, invalid opcode

 

[Netwerkz101]

Might be time to give up on this. But if someone knows where I can get a seagate firmware and how to force flash it to the disks, I will give it a go. Don't mind if I brick them at this stage.

Try Dell's version firmware??
Seagate SAS6 ST3300657SS, ST3450857SS and ST3600057SS firmware version ES68. Driver Details | Dell US