Configuring an HBA-LSI-9300-8i-A1-X storage controller

NOTE: The BIOS screens might vary by the BIOS version. The screenshots in this chapter are for illustration only.

 

About the HBA-LSI-9300-8i-A1-X storage controller

The HBA-LSI-9300-8i-A1-X storage controller supports 12-Gbps data channels. For storage controller details, access http://www.h3c.com/en/home/qr/default.htm?id=66.

RAID levels

The storage controller does not support configuring RAID arrays.

Configuring controller settings in UEFI mode

This section describes how to configure the storage controller settings in UEFI mode. For more information about how to enter the BIOS and set the boot mode to UEFI, see the BIOS user guide for the server.

Controller configuration tasks at a glance

To configure the storage controller settings in UEFI mode, perform the following tasks:

·     Accessing the controller configuration screen

·     (Optional.) View basic controller properties

·     (Optional.) Changing controller properties

·     (Optional.) Viewing drive properties

·     (Optional.) Locating drives

Accessing the controller configuration screen

1.     Access the BIOS. Press Delete, Esc, or F2 as prompted during server POST to open the BIOS setup screen as shown in Figure 1. For some servers, the Front Page screen opens, and you must select Device Management before proceeding to the next step.

For how to navigate screens and modify settings, see the operation instructions at the lower right corner.

Figure 1 BIOS setup screen

 

2.     Select Advanced > Dynamic Device Configuration, depending on the BIOS version, and select the storage controller model. Then, press Enter.

In this example, the storage controller model is LSI SAS3 MPT Controller SAS3008.

Figure 2 Advanced screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 3, select LSI SAS3 MPT Controller and press Enter.

In this example, the LSI SAS3 MPT controller is LSI SAS3 MPT Controller Version 14.00.00.00.

Figure 3 Selecting the LSI SAS3 MPT controller

 

The controller configuration screen as shown in Figure 4 opens.

Figure 4 Controller configuration screen

 

View basic controller properties

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 5, select Controller Management and press Enter.

Figure 5 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 6, select View Controller Properties, and press Enter.

Figure 6 Selecting View Controller Properties

 

4.     View the controller properties on the screen as shown in Figure 7.

Table 1 describes the properties of the controller.

Figure 7 Viewing controller properties

 

Table 1 Properties of the storage controller

Property	Description
Controller Revision	Version of the storage controller.
Host interface	Host interface type.

 

Changing controller properties

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 8, select Controller Management and press Enter.

Figure 8 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 9, select Change Controller Properties, and press Enter.

Figure 9 Selecting Change Controller Properties

 

4.     On the screen as shown in Figure 10, enable Legacy BIOS.

Figure 10 Enabling Legacy BIOS

 

5.     Select Apply Changes and press Enter.

Viewing drive properties

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 11, select Physical Disk Management and press Enter.

Figure 11 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 12, select View Physical Disk Properties and press Enter.

Figure 12 Selecting View Physical Disk Properties

 

4.     On the screen as shown in Figure 13, select Select Physical Disk. On the pop-up window that opens, select the physical drive you want to view and press Enter.

Figure 13 Selecting a physical drive

 

5.     View properties of the physical drive on the screen as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14 Viewing drive properties

 

Locating drives

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 15, select Physical Disk Management and press Enter.

Figure 15 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 16, select Select Physical Disk Operations, and press Enter.

Figure 16 Selecting physical disk operations

 

4.     On the screen as shown in Figure 17, select Select Physical Disk. On the pop-up window that opens, select the physical drive you want to locate and press Enter.

Figure 17 Selecting a physical drive

 

5.     Select Start Locate/Blink and press Enter.

6.     On the server, identify the physical drive of which the Fault/UID LED is steady blue.

Configuring controller settings in legacy mode

This section describes how to configure the storage controller settings in legacy mode. For more information about how to enter the BIOS and set the boot mode to legacy, see the BIOS user guide for the server.

Controller configuration tasks at a glance

To configure the storage controller settings in legacy mode, perform the following tasks:

·     Accessing the controller configuration screen

·     (Optional.) Viewing drive properties

·     (Optional.) Locating drives

·     (Optional.) Verifying/Formatting drives

·     (Optional.) Setting advanced controller properties

·     (Optional.) Configuring boot options

Accessing the controller configuration screen

1.     During server POST, press Ctrl+C on the screen as shown in Figure 18 to open the controller configuration screen.

Figure 18 Legacy BIOS setup screen

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 19, press Enter.

Figure 19 Main screen

 

The controller configuration screen as shown in Figure 20 opens.

Figure 20 Controller configuration screen

 

Viewing drive properties

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 21, select SAS Topology and press Enter.

Figure 21 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 22, select the physical drive you want to view and press Alt+D.

Figure 22 Selecting a physical drive

 

4.     View properties of the drive on the screen as shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23 Drive properties

 

Locating drives

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 24, select SAS Topology and press Enter.

Figure 24 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 25, select the physical drive you want to locate and press Enter to turn on the drive LED on the drive backplane.

Figure 25 Selecting a physical drive

 

Verifying/Formatting drives

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 26, select SAS Topology and press Enter.

Figure 26 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 27, select the physical drive you want to locate and press Alt+D.

Figure 27 Selecting a physical drive

 

4.     On the screen as shown in Figure 28, select Verify or Format as needed, and then press Enter.

Figure 28 Verifying or Formatting the physical drive

 

Setting advanced controller properties

1.     Access the controller configuration screen.

For more information about how to access the controller configuration screen, see "Accessing the controller configuration screen."

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 29, select Advanced Adapter Properties and press Enter.

Figure 29 Controller configuration screen

 

3.     On the screen as shown in Figure 30, select Advanced Device Properties and press Alt+D.

Figure 30 Selecting Advanced Device Properties

 

4.     Change the advanced properties of the controller on the screen as shown in Figure 31.

Figure 31 Advanced controller properties screen

 

5.     Keep pressing Esc till you enter the screen as shown in Figure 32. Select Save changes then exit this menu and press Enter to save the controller configuration.

Figure 32 Saving the controller configuration

 

Configuring boot options

1.     On the screen as shown in Figure 33, select SAS Topology and press Enter.

Figure 33 SAS Topology screen

 

2.     On the screen as shown in Figure 34, select the target drive, and then press Alt+B to specify the drive as the boot device in legacy mode.

Figure 34 Specifying the boot device

 

3.     To cancel a specified boot device, select the drive, and then press Alt+B.

4.     Press Esc until the screen as shown in Figure 35 opens, select Save changes then exit this menu, and then press Enter.

The boot option configuration takes effect at the next restart.

Figure 35 Saving storage controller configuration

 

Downloading and installing SAS3IRCU

This section introduces the download and installation steps of the OS command line tool. You can use the OS command line tool to manage storage controllers during normal server operation without restarting the server.

Downloading SAS3IRCU

1.     Access https://www.h3c.com/en/Support/Resource_Center/EN/Severs/Catalog/Optional_Parts/Storage_Controller/?tbox=Software.

2.     Download the installation package and release notes for the corresponding storage controller firmware as instructed.

3.     Decompress the installation package to obtain the SAS3IRCU tool package for different operating systems.

Installing SAS3IRCU

See the release notes to install SAS3IRCU for the corresponding operating system.

Commonly-used commands in SAS3IRCU

This section describes the usage and examples of commonly used commands in SAS3IRCU. You can use the OS command line tool to manage storage controllers during normal server operation without restarting the server.

 

NOTE: Commands related to the specified path in this tool do not support spaces and special characters.

 

Viewing all controllers

Perform this task to view all controllers.

Syntax

sas3ircu list

Examples

# View all controllers.

[root@localhost ~]# ./sas3ircu list

Avago Technologies SAS3 IR Configuration Utility.

Version 17.00.00.00 (2018.04.02)

Copyright (c) 2009-2018 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

         Adapter      Vendor  Device                       SubSys  SubSys

 Index    Type          ID      ID    Pci Address          Ven ID  Dev ID

 -----  ------------  ------  ------  -----------------    ------  ------

   0     SAS3008       1000h   97h    00h:a1h:00h:00h      1000h   30e0h

SAS3IRCU: Utility Completed Successfully.

Viewing detailed controller information

View controller information, including the storage controller name, firmware version, drive slot, capacity, vendor, serial number, interface type, and interface rate.

Syntax

sas3ircu controller_id display

Parameters

controller_id: Specifies the ID of the storage controller.

Examples

# View storage controller information, including the storage controller name, firmware version, and slot number.

[root@localhost ~]# ./sas3ircu 0 display

Avago Technologies SAS3 IR Configuration Utility.

Version 17.00.00.00 (2018.04.02)

Copyright (c) 2009-2018 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

Read configuration has been initiated for controller 0

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Controller information

------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Controller type                         : SAS3008

  BIOS version                            : 8.37.00.00

  Firmware version                        : 16.00.10.00

  Channel description                     : 1 Serial Attached SCSI

  Initiator ID                            : 0

  Maximum physical devices                : 1023

  Concurrent commands supported           : 9856

  Slot                                    : 7

  Segment                                 : 0

  Bus                                     : 161

  Device                                  : 0

  Function                                : 0

  RAID Support                            : No

------------------------------------------------------------------------

IR Volume information

------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physical device information

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Initiator at ID #0

 

# View detailed drive information.

Device is a Hard disk

  Enclosure #                             : 2

  Slot #                                  : 0

  SAS Address                             : 578aa82-c-b6d2-0000

  State                                   : Ready (RDY)

  Size (in MB)/(in sectors)               : 11444223/23437770751

  Manufacturer                            : ATA

  Model Number                            : ST12000NM001G-2M

  Firmware Revision                       : SN03

  Serial No                               : ZLW028VH

  Unit Serial No(VPD)                     : ZLW028VH

  GUID                                    : 5000c500c4283e28

  Protocol                                : SATA

  Drive Type                              : SATA_HDD

Upgrading the storage controller firmware

Perform this task to upgrade the storage controller firmware.

Syntax

To obtain storage controller IDs: sas3flash –listall

To upgrade the storage controller firmware: sas3flash.efi -c controller_id -o -f x.bin

To upgrade the Legacy BIOS driver: sas3flash -o -b y.rom

To upgrade the UEFI BIOS driver: sas3flash -o -b z.rom

Parameters

x.bin: Specifies the name of the storage controller firmware.

controller_id: Specifies the ID of the storage controller.

y.rom: Specifies the name of the Legacy BIOS driver file.

z.rom: Specifies the name of the UEFI BIOS driver file.

Restrictions and guidelines

·     When upgrading the storage controller firmware, you must also upgrade the corresponding Legacy BIOS driver or UEFI BIOS driver.

·     When upgrading the firmware of a single storage controller, the -c controller_id option is not required.

Examples

# View controller IDs.

[root@localhost home]# ./sas3flash -listall

Avago Technologies SAS3 Flash Utility

Version 16.00.00.00 (2017.05.02)

Copyright 2008-2017 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

        Adapter Selected is a Avago SAS: SAS3008(C0)

Num   Ctlr            FW Ver        NVDATA        x86-BIOS         PCI Addr

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

0  SAS3008(C0)  15.00.00.00    0e.00.00.08    08.35.04.00     00:af:00:00

        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.

        Exiting SAS3Flash.

# Upgrade the firmware of a single storage controller.

[root@localhost ~]# ./sas3flash -o -f 9300_P1616_OOB_20210529.bin

Avago Technologies SAS3 Flash Utility

Version 17.00.00.00 (2018.04.02)

Copyright 2008-2018 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

        Advanced Mode Set

        Adapter Selected is a Avago SAS: SAS3008(C0)

        Executing Operation: Flash Firmware Image

                Firmware Image has a Valid Checksum.

                Firmware Version 16.00.16.00

                Firmware Image compatible with Controller.

                Valid NVDATA Image found.

                NVDATA Major Version 0e.01

                Checking for a compatible NVData image...

                NVDATA Device ID and Chip Revision match verified.

                NVDATA SubSystem Vendor and SubSystem Device ID match verified.

                NVDATA Versions Compatible.

                Valid Initialization Image verified.

                Valid BootLoader Image verified.

                Beginning Firmware Download...

                Firmware Download Successful.

                Verifying Download...

                Firmware Flash Successful.

                Resetting Adapter...

                Adapter Successfully Reset.

                NVDATA Version 0e.01.00.0b

        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.

        Exiting SAS3Flash.

Locating physical drives

Perform this task to turn on or turn off the UID LEDs for physical drives.

Syntax

ssas3ircu controller_id locate enclosure_id:slot_id operation

Parameters

controller_id: Specifies the ID of the storage controller.

enclosure_id: Specifies the ID of the enclosure where the drive is located.

slot_id: Specifies the ID of the drive slot.

operation: Specifies the action to take. Options include:

·     on: Turns on the drive UID LED.

·     off: Turn off the drive UID LED.

Examples

# Turn on the drive UID LED.

[root@localhost ~]# ./sas3ircu 0 locate 2:0 on

Avago Technologies SAS3 IR Configuration Utility.

Version 17.00.00.00 (2018.04.02)

Copyright (c) 2009-2018 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

SAS3IRCU: LOCATE command completed successfully.

SAS3IRCU: Command LOCATE Completed Successfully.

SAS3IRCU: Utility Completed Successfully.

 

# Turn off the drive UID LED.

[root@localhost ~]# ./sas3ircu 0 locate 2:0 off

Avago Technologies SAS3 IR Configuration Utility.

Version 17.00.00.00 (2018.04.02)

Copyright (c) 2009-2018 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

SAS3IRCU: LOCATE command completed successfully.

SAS3IRCU: Command LOCATE Completed Successfully.

SAS3IRCU: Utility Completed Successfully.

Troubleshooting

For detailed information about collecting storage controller fault information, diagnosing and locating faults, and troubleshooting servers, see H3C Servers Troubleshooting Guide.

Compatibility

For information about storage controller and server compatibility, access http://www.h3c.com/en/home/qr/default.htm?id=66.

Downloading and installing drivers

Access the H3C official website to download the storage controller drivers. For more information about installing drivers, see the release notes for the driver program.