Backplane compatibility?

TrueNAS General
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Hello all, I have browsed the forum and the usual search engines about my issue and have not found any definitive answer, I think I may just be out of luck and need to purchase another case for my server.

I recently built, piece by piece, my 1st ever build and 2nd home server, (first was a Dell mini PC running Proxmox). I’ll share specs below but it’s nothing special… MOST importantly, the case included a backplane that seems to be incompatible with TrueNAS.

Currently I am trying to run Core on a VM in Proxmox (I am aware of the warnings against virtualizing TrueNAS in Proxmox, may switch to standalone TrueNAS install, and move my HA server to a VM in TrueNAS). I have 4x HDD’s, 2x are 4TB IronWolf, 1x 2TB WD and a 500GB Seagate. All are connected to the backplane > backplane to the motherboard via SATA cables included with the case. Here is the case:

(well I can’t include links apparently, so go to A dot co / d /7DTYUPW to see the case :slight_smile: )

Unfortunately, I was the first to purchase and review this item, and simply assumed that a case with a backplane designed and sold specifically for NAS purposes would work…

The issue is that the backplane is not passing through the serial numbers of any of the drives to TrueNAS. To be more specific, while trying to create my first Pool I’m getting the message “Warning: There are 4 disks available that have non-unique serial numbers. Non-unique serial numbers can be caused by a cabling issue and adding such disks to a pool can result in lost data.”

Am I correct in assuming that this case/backplane are just not going to work for me? Is there anything I can do to fix this? I was hoping that it was possibly due to running TrueNAS in Proxmox and incorrect configuration, but I’m prepared to remove the backplane and connect directly to the motherboard, or replace the case. Just in case it’s useful, as you can see in the product photos, the backplane seems to have nothing to it but a few resistors and capacitors, and indicator LED’s.

Thank you so much in advance for any assistance!

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Well I can’t figure out how to edit so, just wanted to say I’ll post specs/hardware info if it’s needed. Thanks

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I’ve used cases that just have a “dumb” backplane and did not run into this issue, and I can’t imagine how they could design one that presented every disk with the same serial. I’m skeptical of it being a problem with the backplane.

You say they are connected to the motherboard. Are they connected directly to the motherboard, or to some other card? Was the motherboard’s SATA controller passed to the TrueNAS VM?

I am confident it’s not a TrueNAS issue, but an issue with something between TrueNAS and the disks…

If you’re only using Proxmox for HA, I have HA running perfectly fine as a VM on bare metal TrueNAS.

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Is your computer inside the enclosure?
And does the computer use any RAID configuration on the SATA ports?

One issue could be a SATA port multiplier. These are highly discouraged;

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The good news is your issues are probably due to proxmox and not your hardware.

Core is effectively obsolete/eol and new installs should be using scale.

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No hardware details yet, and in particular nothing on the controller that is is (hopefully) passed through to CORE…
If you’re passing virtual disks to CORE, well, the backplane may be released without bail.

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In defence of my setup, I replaced the HBAs with much more modern ones and things seem to be more stable (can’t prove a negative of course).

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I wanted to delete that line from the post (but don’t see an edit option) because I didn’t know if more hardware info was needed :sweat_smile: Here it is:

Mobo: ASRock H670M-ITX
I’m struggling to find info on the storage controllers, even the manual does not say. However,
~lspci
…in the Proxmox shell reveals-
“10000:e0:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-S PCH SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 11)”

BUT more interestingly, while trying to research the above command to determine the storage controllers, I tried:
~lshw -class storage -class disk
…the output of which showed each of my disks AND their serial numbers correctly passed through:

“*-disk:0
description: ATA Disk
product: ST4000VN006-3CW1
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: SC60
serial: ZW6212ED
size: 3726GiB (4TB)
capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=46a0a906-869c-49c4-93b6-5da0751a04be logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
*-disk:1
description: ATA Disk
product: ST4000VN006-3CW1
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@5:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
version: SC60
serial: ZW6025ZE
size: 3726GiB (4TB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096 signature=2052474d
*-disk:2
description: ATA Disk
product: ST4000VX016-3CV1
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@6:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdc
version: CV10
serial: ZW61FQP3
size: 3726GiB (4TB)
configuration: ansiversion=5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
*-disk:3
description: ATA Disk
product: ST1000DX002-2DV1
physical id: 3
bus info: scsi@7:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdd
version: CC41
serial: Z4YEW1JY
size: 931GiB (1TB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096 signature=76df6723”

I misspoke earlier, it’s 2x 4TB disks, 1x 1TB, and the 4th disk is not seen and having issues, but that’s irrelevant, separate issue to diagnose -_- for now let’s say I just have 3 storage disks and a boot disk.

I am confused as to why the system is able to read the serials but the TrueNAS VM is not. I will likely abandon Proxmox for this purpose and run TrueNAS SCALE bare on my mini PC, but I’d still like to figure out why this is happening if possible :frowning:

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@Arwen The only enclosure is a typical PC case, except it has a backplane for slotting (“hot swapping”) up to 4 hard disks, so everything is in the same enclosure/case. Not using a port multiplier, PCIe card or anything external. However (more info in my above reply), it seems the serials are being read just fine at the Proxmox level, just not in the VM running TrueNAS, apparently. Next and only thing I know to try currently is starting over with a fresh install of Scale (I definitely mixed up my versions, Scale is what I wanted) and making sure I don’t mess anything up. Otherwise it may be a Proxmox issue as @Stux suggests (thank you btw!).

Will update when/if it’s figured out :confused:

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And?
How are the drives and/or PCH controller passed through to CORE?
What is this “typical PC” case?
Ten posts down, we are still left to guess. SPELL IT. Do NOT leave it to readers to guess an URL with reference!

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As confirmed by the serials being present in Proxmox, your issue is Proxmox, not the backplane.

When installing TrueNAS as a VM in proxmox you have to take take extra steps for a reliable installation.

If not required the simplest thing is to NOT install TrueNAS in Proxmox.

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Asked earlier:
Was the motherboard’s SATA controller passed to the TrueNAS VM?

I still recommend just running TN without Proxmox, though.

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Hi all, thanks again for trying to help, and I have resolved the issue. For anyone trying to virtualize and pass through individual disks (which I is highly recommended to NOT do due to possible corruption of pools when done this way):

I reinstalled, Scale instead of Core, and went through the process of passing through disks again in Proxmox. I believe that the issue was likely in this step, as I’m fairly certain the first time I did it, I passed through disk “parts” (when listing the disks, I don’t recall the command to do so but in the Proxmox shell it will show partitions as part1, part2 etc) when the guide I followed this time said to ignore the “parts.” I also may have just copy/pasted something incorrectly on this step, but I’m pretty sure that’s where the problem was.

I am now trying to install Scale bare metal on this system and having issues but, I was able, previously, to create a pool successfully on TrueNAS Core after making sure to pass through the disks properly in Proxmox.

Thanks for everyone’s help :slight_smile: