HBA Troubleshooting | mpt3sas errors

TrueNAS General
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1

Hi folks. Been pulling my hair out the last few days trying to get my HBA configured. I’m quite new to most of this stuff so bare with me…
(I had to put most of the logs on Paste-bin because I was way past the character limit)

HBA:
Model: Lenovo 430-16i (LSI SAS3416 (same as 9400-16i)) (Supposed to be in IT mode)
Firmware: 24.00.07.00
BIOS: mpt35sas_legacy_9_47_03_00.rom
UEFI: mpt35sas_x64_24_00_05_00.rom
FYI: I’m aware there’s limited support/knowledge about this HBA, compared to the more common ones, but I was able to purchase one for a good price so I took a risk.

HOST
MOBO: Gigabyte Z77x-UD5H
CPU: i7 3770k
RAM: Timetec 32GB DDR3 1600MHz
NIC (Internal): Intel [1G]
NIC (PCIE): GLOTRENDS X520 Clone [10G] (single spf+ x4 pcie version)
OS: TrueNAS Scale 24.10

I’m not sure what’s causing me problems, hopefully something obvious. Basically the server seems to POST okay, but the first issue is I don’t get an option to enter the HBA bios. It shows a splash screen that says “MPT35SAS BROADCOM BIOS” where it scans for devices attached to the HBA, it finishes that but at no point does it allow me to load the HBA bios/uefi. Doesn’t say anything about “Ctrl-C” or anything. Just loads into TrueNAS. Apart from that, when I have drives attached to the HBA, they don’t appear in TN, and I’m getting lots of “mpt3sas” errors during boot and when I try to run “storcli” in shell.

Here’s the complete log (/var/log/messages) while TrueNAS is booting:
Paste-bin - “/var/log/messages” during boot

This is what “/var/log/errors” shows during boot:
Paste-bin - “/var/log/errors” during TN boot

This is what it shows in Shell when I run “storcli show all” (as root):

root@truenas-nas[/var/log]# storcli show all
CLI Version = 007.2807.0000.0000 Dec 22, 2023
Operating system = Linux 6.6.44-production+truenas
Status Code = 0
Status = Success
Description = None

Number of Controllers = 0
Host Name = truenas-nas
Operating System  = Linux 6.6.44-production+truenas
StoreLib IT Version = 07.2900.0200.0100

This is the complete (/var/log/messages) when I run “storcli show all” (as root):
Paste-bin - “/var/log/messages” during “storcli show all”

And here is (/var/log/errors) during “storcli show all” command:
Paste-bin - “/var/log/errors” during “storcli show all”

If I run “lspci -vv” in shell I get this:
Paste-bin - “lspci -vv” in shell

If I run “sas2flash” in shell I get this:

root@truenas-nas[/var/log]# sas2flash
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 20.00.00.00 (2014.09.18) 
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved 

        No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SAS2Flash.
root@truenas-nas[/var/log]#

And if I run “sas3flash” I get:

root@truenas-nas[/var/log]# sas3flash
Avago Technologies SAS3 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2017.05.02) 
Copyright 2008-2017 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.

        No Avago SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SAS3Flash.
root@truenas-nas[/var/log]#

Sorry for the wall of text… I wasn’t sure which info was the most important so I included everything I could think of.
I’m fairly certain that this is a simple configuration issue but I’m too much of a noob to know what’s wrong. Hoping someone here can lead me in the right direction. :pray:
Thanks for reading.

2

My 2 cents…

I have had issues with a mainbord where i wanted to run a x16 graphics card and a x8 video input card. I assumed I could run it as 2 times x8 PcI-E but i found out that only works for 2 graphics cards.

So i bought another mainboard which has an additional x16 slot (with x4 lanes)

It is a z590 chipset where the x4 lanes come from the z590 and the x16 or x8 and x8 from the cpu.
That hdmi quad input card runs ok in a x4 slot as i use one input out of the 4.
It has to do with number of PCI-E lanes.

So it is possible the Lenovo card does not work because of that.
You could try to take out the 10GE nic and test with only the lenovo card.

3

Thanks for the suggestion.
I did check my motherboard specs for this before. It has 3 x 16x (sized) slots, and apparently they can run in either (x16,0,0) (x8,x8,0) or (x8,x4,x4).
I don’t have a GPU, so just the 430-16i (x8) and 10G NIC (x4) in slots 1 and 2.
I’ll try removing the NIC and see if that makes a difference. And maybe i’ll also try putting the 430-16i in slot 2 as well.
Thanks again.
Edit: *(x8,x4,x4) not (x4,x4,x4)

4

I fear you have same issue like i had. That x16 or x8+x8 is meant for SLI mode with 2 graphic cards.
For my Nas units i was adviced server mainboards with xeon cpu’s.

5

I see… but just to clarify, the 10G NIC is a x4 (single SPF+) version. Most of them are x8, I specifically looked for one that was x4. So even if you’re correct and my mobo can only do (x8,x4,x4) shouldn’t that still be fine?
I haven’t had a chance to try moving them around yet, I will in about 20 mins.
Thanks again.
Edit: Or do you mean, even though my mobo manual says that, my CPU might not support those configurations?

6

I am not sure.
When i started making a nas, people advised me a supermicro server mainboard and a xeon-E3 cpu. That cpu has 20 pcie lanes and has x8, x8, x4 (in x8 slot)
So I know that works. The issues i hit was for a video processor with a normal mainboard. There x8 and x8 was only possible with gpu cards in SLI mode. My quad hdmi input card worked in the slot 1 and not in the other slot (with or without the gpu card)

I swapped for a z590 board where there are x4 lanes from the z590 chip. That setup now works for me.