Fun with an MD1200/MD1220 & SC200/SC220

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homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
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Glad to hear you're all cool and quiet now.
If you get that arduino serial reset working, please pass the goodness. I'd very much like to implement something similar, if I'm not able to just issue the commands via my unraid terminal. Since no one has chimed in on that front, I'm assuming that's not possible...?
I am not sure how to get that to work via the unraid terminal, i'm also in the same boat... I tried a few commands but nothing is working. I just ordered a serial to USB adapter, so I'll have options... since the direct serial connection is not working, maybe a container or script that can talk through the USB to serial might work. Maybe a container. I would love to keep it part of the unraid host and not have to set up a container or vm somewhere else in the homelab, that would be stupid. I'd rather create an arduino box that just connects and sends the "_shutup 20" commands every so often.

I'll report back if I get any automation working.

the commands i tried on unraid console all came back as "command not found" ... I'm using the built in web ui console. I even tried using the "User Script" app with direct bash access, but again, nothing worked because none of the command are working, i just get "Command Not Found"

using minicom:
sudo apt-get install minicom
apt-get install minicom
minicom -s

using screen:
sudo screen /dev/ttyS0
screen /dev/ttyS0
screen

using cu:
sudo cu -l /dev/ttyS0 -s 38400

everything returns with "command not found" using the unraid built in web console.

its been a few hours and the fans are staying quiet at 20.
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
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the commands i tried on unraid console all came back as "command not found"
Yeah, same here. It seems like the unraid terminal doesn't have serial communications enabled by default, or something. I'm probably not using the correct terminology, but you get my meaning. :)
 

WHBonny

New Member
Feb 19, 2023
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Has anyone been able to come up with anything similar to the md1200 fan control commands for the dell MD3060e/netapp DE6600 60 bay disk shelves? They have the same serial connection and pinout on their controllers (I have the 6gb SAS only versions) and telnet settings are the same as the MD1200/SC200. I can even get a command prompt by entering "c" for admin interface and "c" again for cli. "?" or "help" gets me a list of commands, but there is nothing obvious (to me) that equates to the "_shutup" or "set_speed" commands and those commands themselves do not work, which is unfortunate since this shelf is tolerable at its lowest default speed setting, but occasionally ramps up to a volume that is clearly audible throughout the house even though it is in a room in the basement with a steel exterior door on it. Aside from the noise this is an amazing disk shelf and I would really like to keep using it, but the fans absolutely have to be dealt with somehow.

I have attached a text file with the list of commands that "?" gives.

Along with a lot of other less useful information, "thresholdshow" output includes this:

TempSensor
Overall 00000000
Threshold-ESM 48461E14
Threshold-PS 45431E14
Threshold-DCMA 4E4C1E14
Threshold-DCMB 46441E14
FanTripPoints 44410000
FanTripPoints 4A420000
Fan
Overall 00000000
Fan-0 00000000
Fan-1 00000000
Fan-2 00000000
Fan-3 00000000
 

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Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
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I apologize that this is a bit off-topic, but can anyone direct me to a rail kit that fits the MD1200? I'd love sliding rails, but static are okay as well. I've looked all over, and found lots of options, but can't tell for sure which one(s) fit the MD1200 for sure. The part numbers are all over the map. Maybe lots of them fit, or none. lol
 

MUSTARDTIGER

New Member
Mar 22, 2024
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Howdy! Figured I'd chime in here.

I recently acquired a 4U EqualLogic PS6100 24x3.5" chassis and added 2x 3DJRJ MD1200 6Gbps Controller Modules. I can confirm the controllers not only work with the chassis and report "GreenDress" as the prompt/hostname (as opposed to reddress, bluedress, etc) but also the set_temp spoofing and fan_speed settings work as well.

I was concerned that although my research revealed the modules would work with the chassis, that the fans wouldn't act the same as my MD1200 because the chassis was never available as a PowerVault and so maybe the PSU/fan firmware was different. Thankfully my concerns were unfounded.

Edit: Been a few days and just noticed my PS6100 went from identifying as "MD12xx" in iDRAC to "MD1240" which doesn't appear to have ever been marketed. Fun fact.

Hey! I recently slotted some controllers from my MD1200s into an MD3200 and a PS6210. Unfortunately the PS6210 doesn't want to work - _who shows all the drives and the SCSI link, but lsscsi shows zero drives in the enclosure. Any chance you'd be willing to do an fru_read dump so I can compare it with my version and see if flashing yours makes it start working?
 

MUSTARDTIGER

New Member
Mar 22, 2024
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Good news: on my PS6210, I extracted the FRU data and I was able to write a quick script that parses that output then modifies the magic values in a text file taken from fru_read. As a note, the PS6210 uses the magic "EQ-PIRATES" and 0x84 for the checksum. This worked perfectly.

Bad news: only 12 drives of the 24 show up - I think I'll end up needing the magic values from a PS6100 to make them all show up. Does anyone (@eski?) have one that they can run fru_read on and send me the data from?
 

Genesaika

New Member
Apr 23, 2022
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Im having some issues with my new to me sc200. I have it connected to my trueNAS scale box, a HPE DL360 G7. It has a dell h310 in IT mode for the internal disks. I added an HP h222 HBA in IT mode to connect the sc200. TrueNAS seems to recognize the h200 series HBA and if i let it initialize before i plug in the sc200 it finds the drives, but shows them as 0 bytes. Assuming the firmware needed to be updated i picked up the dell reset cable and found that the firmware is version 1.03, which seems to be the latest version.

im at a loss here, best guesses are the h222 ( 9205-4i4e) cant handle the 12 disks, the h222 is defective, or it doesnt like having two HBA cards.
 

eski

New Member
Jan 10, 2019
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Sorry for my absence! Apparently I never subscribed to the topic, so I haven't been getting notified.

I apologize that this is a bit off-topic, but can anyone direct me to a rail kit that fits the MD1200? I'd love sliding rails, but static are okay as well. I've looked all over, and found lots of options, but can't tell for sure which one(s) fit the MD1200 for sure. The part numbers are all over the map. Maybe lots of them fit, or none. lol
This is an awesome resource for stuff like that, I have it bookmarked: Dell Rail Sizing and Rack Compatibility Matrix
Unfortunately there are no sliding rails for the MD1200, but there are 3 different styles offered depending on your rack fastener hole type and rack depth:

I bought a set off ebay for $40 last year that was identified by these Dell part numbers: 6CJRH 7WJ8N JRJ9P

Good news: on my PS6210, I extracted the FRU data and I was able to write a quick script that parses that output then modifies the magic values in a text file taken from fru_read. As a note, the PS6210 uses the magic "EQ-PIRATES" and 0x84 for the checksum. This worked perfectly.

Bad news: only 12 drives of the 24 show up - I think I'll end up needing the magic values from a PS6100 to make them all show up. Does anyone (@eski?) have one that they can run fru_read on and send me the data from?
GreenDress.106.000 >fru_read 200000000: 01 0a 19 01 00 00 20 bb 01 09 00 95 - Pastebin.com :)

For those of you(and me) that bricked your board through serial errors, I've found a way to unbrick them.


Doing a bit of searching led me to a chinese patent for recovering firmware on LSISAS2x chips. This patent referenced a utility called "xflash.exe". Doing a search on that led me to others using it to reflash an expander from supermicro.

Supermicro publishes the utility here: https://www.supermicro.com/wdl/utility/ExpanderXtools_Lite/Windows/SAS2 Expander/SMC ExpanderXtoolsLite v1.5_Window.zip

There's also a linux version if you go back up in the url there should be a directory listing.

First I tested that it could interface with the emm. The "downloading bootstrap" portion took quite a while. I think that it has to send each byte of the bootstrapBobcat.fw file over that excruciatingly slow debug protocol.

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 get avail

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is not present on board.

Downloading the Bootstrap...........Download Bootstrap Complete.

Expander: SAS2x36


1) SAS2x36 (00000000:00000000)
Then, erase the boot region:

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 -l logfile.txt erase fw 0

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is already present on board

Expander: SAS2x36


..Pre-Validation of image is successful.

You are about to erase firmware Boot region.
Are you sure you want to erase Firmware Boot Region?(y/n):y

Erasing Region...........................Erase Successful.
and finally, download the firmware file to the boot region (0):

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 -l logfile.txt down fw ..\MD12_106.bin 0

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is already present on board

Expander: SAS2x36


   Expander Validation: Passed
              Checksum: Failed
Target Firmware Region: 00
       Current Version: 255.255.255.255
   Replacement Version: 00.00.63.00
      Image Validation: Passed

Warning: Pre-Validation of image has failed.
Are you sure to download file to expander?(y/n):y

Downloading File..........................................................Download Complete.

Post-validating.......................................Post-Validation of image is successful.

Download Successful.
I'm assuming my pre-validation checksum failed because I had slightly patched my firmware. After rebooting the emm, I was able to get the normal devil prompt over serial.
@Avery3R - You, sir, are an absolute legend. I have 3, THREE bricked MD12 EMMs. I just tested with one and it worked. Can I please buy you a coffee?
 
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Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
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Welcome back @eski! Thanks for the info, very helpful. :)
If you have any info about serial comms directly from the unraid console, I'm sure @homelab_james and I would love to hear about it! lol
 

eski

New Member
Jan 10, 2019
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I'm running my "MD1240" through a SAS-to-MiniSAS cable into a Dell 12Gbps External HBA on an R630 running Proxmox 8.1, so unfortunately I don't have any insight into Unraid. :(

To communicate with the EMMs I have a PCI-slot DB9 converter that I use with the serial COM headers on my desktop PC. I just use the Dell "rescue cable" Fohdeesha suggests in the first page of this thread when I need to access the EMMs. "_shutup" works to keep them quiet indefinitely (except post-reboots, of course).
 

logixworx

New Member
Apr 15, 2024
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I have two Sc220's and four r620s. I've looked at the sc220 manual and around the internet on how I would chain these in various configurations - i'm still confused as to how many cards i'll need, with how many SAS ports each . The sc220 manual shows a dual IPC connection is needed on a four port SAS card if only connecting one or two sc220 to two servers, but in other illustrations on the net no IPC connection is needed in the same configuration. Which is correct and is a 4 port low profile card required to do this? Which card would I neeed?

1716606234462.png

1716606333606.jpeg

1716606359666.png
 

oldfett

#iwork4dell
Jul 20, 2016
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I have two Sc220's and four r620s. I've looked at the sc220 manual and around the internet on how I would chain these in various configurations - i'm still confused as to how many cards i'll need, with how many SAS ports each . The sc220 manual shows a dual IPC connection is needed on a four port SAS card if only connecting one or two sc220 to two servers, but in other illustrations on the net no IPC connection is needed in the same configuration. Which is correct and is a 4 port low profile card required to do this? Which card would I neeed?
Storage Center (the SC in SC220 and SC8000) is a storage appliance and not just a server. So it is special in that both controllers can access the same drives acting as a single entity. The IPC connections are there so that the two controllers can talk. You will not have IPC in your setup (assuming you just want this as DAS storage and your not coding up your own HA storage).

Also unfortunately the SC220's are missing split mode switches found in their MD family of enclosure peers. You could maybe replace those cards (to the left of drive slot 0), I'm not sure if it is further disabled in firmware or not. So without these each enclosure can only be connected to a single server, either redundantly or not depending on if you are using SAS or SATA drives.

So for card you need a SAS HBA, your options are pretty broad depending on what you want and if you already have cables. You would only need a 4 port card if you wanted a single server connected to both enclosures (redundant paths with SAS) without any daisy chaining. Otherwise a 2 port SAS card is more than enough.

Be mindful if you get a SAS card out of a Storage Center. They have a special configuration set on them. ArtOfServer has a great YouTube video on this.
 

ArakniD

New Member
Jun 26, 2020
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Also unfortunately the SC220's are missing split mode switches found in their MD family of enclosure peers. You could maybe replace those cards (to the left of drive slot 0), I'm not sure if it is further disabled in firmware or not. So without these each enclosure can only be connected to a single server, either redundantly or not depending on if you are using SAS or SATA drives.

So for card you need a SAS HBA, your options are pretty broad depending on what you want and if you already have cables. You would only need a 4 port card if you wanted a single server connected to both enclosures (redundant paths with SAS) without any daisy chaining. Otherwise a 2 port SAS card is more than enough.
I have dual servers connected to pair of SC220 controllers in a single rack. seems to work fine?

Each R620/630 has two low profile 2 port cards (4 ports total) with a connection down to two enclosures. MD1240 and SC220. The second server patches down to the "Port B" side of each controller. while server one connects to "Port A".

I think I posted about this once before.. dose this help at all?
 
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logixworx

New Member
Apr 15, 2024
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I have dual servers connected to pair of SC220 controllers in a single rack. seems to work fine?

Each R620/630 has two low profile 2 port cards (4 ports total) with a connection down to two enclosures. MD1240 and SC220. The second server patches down to the "Port B" side of each controller. while server one connects to "Port A".

I think I posted about this once before.. dose this help at all?
Thanks for the advice, I will be experimenting on these tips and see what happens.
 

oldfett

#iwork4dell
Jul 20, 2016
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I would still caution against this for two run of the mill servers. If you have a cluster aware filesystem and enclosure/drive management, sure. But this is not something you can just plug in and work with more traditional filesystems without corruption. Without the split mode switching both servers are going to have full access to all the drives, which means if they aren't aware of what one another is doing they can overwrite one another or perform management operations (firmware updates for example) without the other being aware.
 
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Blu3wolf

New Member
Jul 6, 2024
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So I seem to have much higher temperatures than the one's Ive seen in this thread.

Code:
12Pack.Slot0.1.03.000 >_who

Host Links UP                  : 4
Expansion Links UP             : 0
Drive(s)                       : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
EMM (I'm primary and  active)  : 0 1
Power Supplies                 : 1 2
BP_1[2] = 35c
BP_2[3] = 35c
SIM0[0] = 42c
SIM1[1] = 41c
EXP0[4] = 68c
EXP1[5] = 68c
Despite that, the chassis feels cold to the touch. Is there any chance the temp sensors could just be faulty? Im tempted to set_temp down and see if a controller melts, but I don't really want to do that with data on the drives. Im also mindful that its currently wintertime. What will those controllers get to in summer?
 

cam_e_ron

New Member
Aug 5, 2024
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I have a PS6100 that I am trying to get to work with SC2 controllers I got for cheap. So far the enclosure powers on and the lights on the disks seem to work, but both EMMs have a solid amber light which the manual states: "Lights amber when the enclosure does not boot or is not configured properly" My LSI 9702-8e does not establish a link and the LED beside the SAS ports do not light up. I have not been able to establish a serial connection by shoving jumpers into the diagnostic port, but I ordered the password reset cable to see if that makes a difference.

Anybody have this issue before? Not being able to communicate over serial worries me that my enclosure is preventing the EMM from booting and I have no other enclosures to try to change them to md1200 24 disk controllers.
 

cam_e_ron

New Member
Aug 5, 2024
3
0
1
I have a PS6100 that I am trying to get to work with SC2 controllers I got for cheap. So far the enclosure powers on and the lights on the disks seem to work, but both EMMs have a solid amber light which the manual states: "Lights amber when the enclosure does not boot or is not configured properly" My LSI 9702-8e does not establish a link and the LED beside the SAS ports do not light up. I have not been able to establish a serial connection by shoving jumpers into the diagnostic port, but I ordered the password reset cable to see if that makes a difference.

Anybody have this issue before? Not being able to communicate over serial worries me that my enclosure is preventing the EMM from booting and I have no other enclosures to try to change them to md1200 24 disk controllers.
Turns out I have a PS6110, didn't even notice haha.

Managed to get serial to work by using a pinout from the attached image.

Interesting enough my enclosure initially reported as:

>CaseOfKingCans.Slot0.100.0

Then I uploaded the firmware for the md1200 controllers and it displayed as:
>GreenDress.106.000

But now, it shows up as:

>RedDress.106.000

Still has no SAS link...
 

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oldfett

#iwork4dell
Jul 20, 2016
44
21
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Just throwing out a guess as to why the EMMs may not booting:
To the left of drive slot 0 is a little IO card with LED's and on the MD1200 funcitons as the split mode card. If you remove the first two cards I think there is a little blue release pin to remove that card. Maybe power down the enclosure, remove that card and power it up without it (it will run without it) to see if it is causing some EMM confusion? I honestly don't think it would but its easy enough to check.