TrueNAS - Noob - Set up

TrueNAS General
,
1

I will start with - Sorry for all the questions, I am unsure where to start. I read a few threads, but I didn’t see what I was looking for. Point me at the documentation.

My goal is to back up my new media box to TrueNAS. My old media box specs are as follows:

SuperMicro: x8dah±
Dual Xeon E5540 @ 2.53Ghz with 128GB
This is a 16 bay 3U sata backplane with MR9750-4i4c SAS controller installed.
Toshiba NAS300 (4TB)

Extra parts laying around
MR-9260-8i controller available.
HP NC-550-SFP 10GB NIC (2)

Questions,
Given SATA can’t utilize 12GB SAS - can I use the existing controller (9750).
Are there TRUENAS requirements that would limit me from using the community editions or updates ?
Are there GPU requirements? My intent is storage.
Where do I find IT MODE to flash the various controllers?
Are there any concerns about drive types?
I see some 3U FreeNAS\TrueNAS on ebay for less than 600.00 - pull the trigger, or use what is laying around?
My plan is to direct connect the two over 1 10gb link - maybe LACP - not sure the old Quantum

2

I don’t think there is a IT firmware that can be used on those MegaRaid controllers, they are not really suitable for ZFS systems such as TrueNAS.

Recommended you use a HBA that can be flashed with IT firmware. I recently got a couple of second hand ones from the Art of Server on ebay pre flashed with IT mode.

You can connect SATA HDD’s to SAS 12G. SATA drives themselves just won’t connect at 12G speeds, but will connect at 6G speeds, not that spinning drives can max the 6G connection. But with the SAS3 (12G) connection if you use an expander it will use the full 12G pipe between all the SATA drives.

You can use the sata ports on your motherboard even though I don’t know what backplane you have. Can it take straight sata or is it a different type of connector. it might also have a integrated expander on your backplane which means you cant connect the SATA ports?

Another note the sata ports on that motherboard are only SATA2 spec not SATA3

TrueNAS has no requirements, obviously if you are running a business its best to go for TrueNAS enterprise with the fancy enterprise hardware for properly support to your mega large company :stuck_out_tongue:

So download it today and give it a whirl…
Just don’t put critical data on it until you have sorted out your hardware and you have made a redundant pool and have your 3 2 1 backup strategy in place :wink:

According to the manual on your botherboard:
VGA Onboard Video Display (X8DAH±F/(-LR) only)
https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/5500/MNL-1060.pdf

If yours is the plain X8DAH+, if it is then you will need a GPU as TrueNAS doesn’t run headless. Only the horseman.

Yes, don’t use hard drives with SMR technology otherwise the headless horseman comes for your data.

Maybe, if they are a significant jump in specs and have all the compatible equipment to run with peace of mind with TrueNAS. and you dont mind spending the money.
One feature I love with newer server grade hardware: IPMI…

But your current motherboard/cpu/ram should work fine. Based on the amount of memory you have and what the motherboard manual states, your using ECC which I personally favor for any zfs based system :wink:

Might work with TrueNAS Scale as its debian based linux OS behind the scene. You will need to test to find out…

3

I actually was wrong, TrueNAS can run without a GPU, but it will depend on your motherboard if it can boot up without one, but you will need to install TrueNAS, if you have a GPU laying around you can wack that in for the install at least. There might be a way to install it without GPU but all the computers I’ve installed it on had GPU’s

4

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I did find documentation and spent 2 hours reading. That being said, The Mobo has onboard video - I don’t know that I would call it a GPU. My question was really a GPU processing, which I don’t need. I get needing video output.

Regarding flashing controllers to IT Mode. The MR9750 does support JBOD (Single Disk Mode) SAS 9750-4i https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/12352118
I have not yet gotten to reading this part yet, so I don’t know what to ask.

9750 - has One Mini-SAS SFF-8087 internal connector on the backplane now. There is a vacant port, It looks like maybe a the SuperMicro AOC-S2308L-L8i (9207-8i) could fit the bill, or Broadcom SAS9440-8I 12Gb/s?

Off to search for compatible controllers…

Again, Thank you.

5

You only want a way to access the BIOS and/or console if need be.

JBOD/Single Disk on a RAID controller is still NOT proper HBA behaviour. Replace it.

Yes. Anything with a LSI 2308 or 3008 will do.

6

Thanks.

I thought I would share more about the build. The Quantum DXI6700 has a SuperMicro SAS expander board SAS8386EL1, which only has one 8087 port to access all drives. The other ports are used for cascading to another box. FYI - If you find a SAS-836EL2, it has two SAS ports that allow access to all drives.

Purchasing a SAS3008 requires a Mini-SAS SFF-8643 to 8087, and the SAS expander will work its magic!

While I wait, time to track down documentation on flashing the card - More reading!

1 Like
7

I was surprised that documentation on where to find the ROM flash\how to flash has not been consolidated as part of the install\setup, or maybe I missed that.

I don’t see it in the Software Releases | TrueNAS Documentation Hub
I also don’t see details in the Tutorial: TrueNAS Tutorials | TrueNAS Documentation Hub
nor is it in Install Guide: Installing TrueNAS | TrueNAS Documentation Hub

My build will use a Broadcom SAS3008 9300-4I.

Looking in the community, I found an old thread: What SAS3008 Firmware to use for TrueNAS12? | TrueNAS Community
That thread references ServerHome on how to flash: How to flash a LSI SAS 3008 HBA (e.g. IBM M1215) to IT mode.

After being redirected to Broadcom, I see P16: 9300_4i_Package_P16_IR_IT_FW_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows
Looks like zip includes the flash utility for Dos boot, and windows flash with the P16 zip!

I found a few useful threads on How To flash: Detailed newcomers' guide to crossflashing LSI 9211/9300/9305/9311/9400/94xx HBA and variants | TrueNAS Community

Reading various TrueNas threads, I saw comments about issues with the driver and firmware alignment with TrueNas. I haven’t gotten my HBA, so the installation and HBA flash are currently being planned.

I will update this thread as the build continues…

8

Get the UEFI version of P16.00.12.00.
Put the utility and firmware on a FAT formatted USB thumbdrive.
Boot to UEFI shell.
map to list your file systems. Try them one by one until you find your thumbdrive.
fs0: then dir to list files. (fs1: etc.)
Then flash according to the instructions.

1 Like
9

You can buy LSI based Controllers on Ebay that are pre-flashed to IT mode for TrueNas (FreeNAS).
8 Connector ones are pretty cheap and they often come with the skinny SATA cables which make cable management easier too.
I got one and it worked straight out of the box.

10

Thanks. I picked up off ebay, it showed up Yesterday. I ended up with an LSI SAS3008-i 8… I believe that is the 9300-8i

Drivers

I hope to get to the install today!

11

I received the 3008i - and updated the bios and firmware. I was expecting to see the disk in the Control-C pre-boot. But I don’t see them.

The 3008i - has two MINI SAS 8643, my expander only has SINGLE 8087. I know I am mixing 12gb and 6gb, but it shouldn’t require both cables to be connected to the card. I tried two cables MINI SAS cables, both only show the controller in the post process.

Tried two iPole cables: Internal Mini SAS HD Cable SFF-8643 to SFF-8087

I moved the SAS card to another PCI port, still no disks.
I re-installed my raid controller it sees the hard drives, so it appears the expander works.

Either Cable or Card, thoughts?

truenas_installation
truenas_installation757×569 171 KB

Flashed using Rufus - FreeDOS boot USB, pretty straight forward.

truenas_installation2

The SAS Expander Manual, so no one has to hunt… The version 1 board has 1 port to see all disks.
BPN-SAS-836EL_1.1.indd

12

Found the issue - it appears to be the cable. I needed a 36 pin… The correct cable - DOH!

Amazon.com: CableCreation Internal Mini SAS HD Cable, 1.6FT Mini SAS SFF-8643 to Mini SAS 36Pin SFF-8087 Cable, Mini SAS 36Pin to SFF-8643 Cable, 0.5M… : Electronics

Should be here tomorrow, so I’ll give it another go.

13

To be honest I had a quick look of the DXI6700 and if my eyes doesn’t deceive me, the SuperMicro SAS expander in it is because the DXI6700 looks to be a re-badge super micro server. Which is a good thing, Supermicro are good brand.

14

Hopefully this is it, I’ve made a similar mistake in the past in regards to SAS to SATA cable but needed the RE version. RE for Reverse :rofl:

Once you get your HDD’s showing up with HBA goodness, the next step would be to populate with HDD’s and start testing the stability of the hardware :wink:

One should aways test such old hardware :smiley:

BTW, that’s a lot of RAM in it (128GB), you could do a lot of memory intensive VM/Apps, but don’t know how powerful those dual Xeons are being 16years old, but hey you have 8 cores and 16 threads in total so should be plenty of power :grin:

Maybe see how much electrical power it consumes when you have it loaded up with spinning HDD’s ?

15

I had been using this box as my PLEX box. I cut a notch in the bracket out and desoldered the 8-pin on RTX so it didn’t face up, which allowed me to close the lid on the case.

Having a decent GPU made short work ripping various videos.

FYI… The tin bracket is what held the battery for the raid card.

16

HBA - LSI SAS 9300-8i – Manual says Mini SAS SFF-8643
Page 20 from Super Micro for the SAS board is SFF 8087.

page20

This is the cable I tried first:
ipolex Internal (Amazon B0BVD2SKDV) Mini SAS HD Cable SFF-8643 to SFF-8087, Mini SAS Cables with Sideband, Compatible with 12Gbps SAS Drives and 6Gbps SAS/SATA Drives, 1-m(3.28ft), 2 Pack

CableCreation (Amazon B013G4FL0A) Internal Mini SAS HD Cable, 1.6FT Mini SAS SFF-8643 to Mini SAS 36Pin SFF-8087 Cable, Mini SAS 36Pin to SFF-8643 Cable

I tried SAS port 0 and SAS port 1 with both cables no luck.

I reinstalled my old Raid card (same slot) and the old SFF-8087 cable and see drives. I can even get it to boot.

Bad card???

I at loss as to why the HBA comes up, I was able to flash the bios and firmware – but still cannot see drives?

17

Both your cables actually look the same actually, but then I didnt have that much time to go into the details.
SFF-8643 to SFF-8087

Whilst it’s a possibility that the HBA is the problem, but when you said you can’t see the hdd’s do you mean from the HBA bios itself ?

Did you test both ports on your HBA ?

Who did you buy your HBA through ?

Unfortunately I don’t have any experience with Supermicro expanders, so hopefully someone else here can help you in that regards.

18

Yes, I tried SAS 0 and SAS 1 port.
I do not see any disks in the HBA bios, only the controller.
I have contacted the seller on eBay to replace the HBA. While I wait, I purchased an SFF-8643 to SATA - so I can try bypassing the expander, which should confirm it is the HBA.

E-bayer: itserverexchange

That said, Here is a close-up of the difference between the two cables… Note that the second cable has the same number of pins, front and back. The first cable, on one side, has fewer pins. See the pic.

cable comparison

19

I was going to suggest this but its just a added cost purely for diagnostic purposes, just make sure you get this one in the correct direction, this is the one I went the wrong way when I went from individual SAS/SATA ports on the motherboard to a SFF-8087 on the case backplane, at the time I got the cable that went the other way and that wouldn’t work.

I would be surprised if there was something wrong with the HBA…

Ahhh yes didnt see that when I quickly looked at that, second cable should be fine with all the pins there, Im guessing that makes it bi-directional, never really looked into that level of detail before despite having quite a few myself… I just got the silverstone branded ones…

20

Good piece of Hardware. I had that one for a long time. Luckily, Broadcom does still offer all the firmware files.