Can't see SATA drives on PCIe riser of UCS

[Zachary_Hamilton]

Hello,

I have a UCS C240-M4 in the 12-drive form factor (RAID), as well as two drives attached to the first PCIe riser (SATA).  I just got this out of the box so I haven't loaded or configured anything on it yet.  I'm planning on installing Windows Server 2016 on the two SATA drives as RAID 1, and then using the 12 other drives in other RAID configurations.

My problem is I cannot see the two SATA drives on the riser, either from the BIOS or from the web interface.  I only see the 12 drives in front as JBODs, one of which is listed as bootable.  A Google search has provided mountains of documentation but nothing that is helpful.

I was hoping someone here can give me a push in the right direction.

Thanks.

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

You need to have a boot order object with embedded LUN, as well as the PCH sata controller mode set to LSI software raid.

During POST You should have been presented with a prompt to run the LSI megaraid SR config (Control + M)

If the embedded controller is set to Software raid, but you haven't been able to configure a local raid volume/LUN then that might be why you don't see any drives.

Highly recommend disabling all the unneeded option roms you won't be using (i.e. LOM port option ROMs, add in NIC option ROMs), as I have seen cases where too many of those trying to load run cause issues with the actual option ROM you are after.

What SSD model drives do you have on the riser card?

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Zachary_Hamilton]

Hi Kirk,

I'm not seeing anything during POST about Ctrl+M.  I can enter MegaRaid through Ctrl+R but I'm not seeing any of the settings you mentioned.  But I'm a bit new to this chassis.  :-)  Are you saying that the MegaRAID configuration should show me the two SSD drives on the riser, as well as the 12 in front?

If I allow the machine to boot completely to the Shell> prompt, it first displays some information there about the two drives.  It lists all 12 SCSI drives and the two SATA drives at the end, so on some level the machine is seeing them.  Unfortunately I don't see them in any of the BIOS or RAID config tools or in the GUI.

These are two Intel SSD drives, DC S3520 series, 480 GB each.  All the hardware was pre-assembled by Cisco before shipment.

Thanks.

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

There are 2 different controllers at play here, each with it's own option ROM config utility.

Each controller & config util will only see it's specific drives.

Cntrl + R is for regular 12Gb sas controller connected to drives in front Utility

Cntrl + M is for MegaRaidSR/software raid for 2 rear riser based slots.  PCH controller mode has to be enabled to software raid mode before this will trigger option ROM.

Should note that VMware does not like software Raid, so wanted to make sure you are not trying to install esxi to the SSD drives in the rear.

Windows and Linux may require driver inserted during install in order to recognize the virtual drive.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Zachary_Hamilton · Accepted solution]

I actually made some progress...

From the Cisco Integrated Management Controller interface, I went to Compute -> BIOS -> Configure BIOS -> Advanced -> LOM and PCIe Slots Configuration.  PCH SATA Mode was set to AHCI, but I changed it to LSI SW RAID.  Once I rebooted, I then got the Ctrl+M option during POST and was able to create a RAID 1 array with the two SATA drives on the riser.

My remaining issue is that Windows Server 2016 (not doing VMware) only sees the 12GB SAS controller during installation.  It doesn't see the SATA array on the riser.  I'm assuming that's a driver issue, but I'm having difficulty locating a driver.

Thanks.

[Wes Austin]

Are you using UEFI to install? Try that and see if Windows sees the disk.

If not, the driver ISO is available at cisco.com

[Zachary_Hamilton]

Hi Wes,

I'm using CIMC to map a virtual DVD to the install ISO, and I'm then pointing to that as my boot device in the UEFI.  Is that what you are referring to?

I haven't been able to locate the driver ISO.  I went here, but it didn't have the storage driver I need:

https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286281356/type/283853158/release/3.0%25284%2529

Thanks.

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

Greetings.

The Intel controller (with LSI software raid option rom) is listed as:

Windows W2K16 Intel C600 /ws/stage/ucs-cxxx-drivers.3.0.4/Windows/Storage/Intel/C600/W2K16/x64 nodev.inf:08-17-2016:17.01.2016.0817
Windows W2K12 Intel C600 /ws/stage/ucs-cxxx-drivers.3.0.4/Windows/Storage/Intel/C600/W2K12/x64 nodev.inf:02-16-2016:17.01.2016.0216
Windows W2K12R2 Intel C600 /ws/stage/ucs-cxxx-drivers.3.0.4/Windows/Storage/Intel/C600/W2K12R2/x64 nodev.inf:02-16-2016:17.01.2016.0216

Depending on your version of windows, one of those should be appropriate.

Did you use one of those listed?

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Zachary_Hamilton · Accepted solution]

Kirk,

Thank you very much.

From the Windows setup screen where it asks on what drive you want to install Windows Server 2016, it showed all 12 of the drives up front, but not the array (2 SATA drives) on the riser.  At this point, I remapped the virtual DVD from CIMC to point to the ISO I downloaded from the link in my previous post.  I browsed to Storage -> Intel -> C600 -> W2K16 -> x64 (I never would have thought to look in that particular folder).  There were two driver listings here: MegaSR1.inf  and nodev.inf.  I don't remember which one I used, though I think it might have been the MegaSR1.inf.  With the other, I got an error about Windows not being able to install on the selected drive.

Anyway, I was then able to rescan, see the SATA array, and install Windows Server 2016.  I really wish Cisco could come up with something like HP's SmartStart.  I figure most people are loading VMware or Windows Server, so Cisco wouldn't have to get too creative with it - just enough to give a push in the right direction.

Thanks again.

[Kirk J]

You'll have to manually create the VD, but if you have any unconfigured servers left, give the SCU a try.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/ucsscu/user/guide/501/Cisco_UCS_SCU_User_Guide_5_0_1/install501.html

Thanks,

Kirk...