SuperMicro X10SL7-F - Onboard LSI


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Anyone know if the onboard lsi works well with seagate NAS drives?

 

I don't use them (I use WD SE drives), but I see no reason why it won't, and I'd be shocked if there would be an issue specific to those drives.

 

And is there any consensus on whether we need to actually flash from IR to IT ?

That being said, if you plan to boot off a drive that's on the LSI controller (and not, e.g., from a USB drive as in barebones unRAID) you DO want to install the version 19 of the LSI firmware (off the Supermicro web site). It is a result of a ticket I opened (and fought for for several months), which has to do with boot order issues.

 

Great stuff, daron. Thanks for your reply. I did email SM about drive compatibility, they just told me to do a search on their website (thanks). the seagate 3tb nas wasn't on the list but i'll give it a shot anyway.

 

Seagate NAS drives work fine, I've got 12 of them on my X10SL7-F: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=35249.0

 

I did flash to IT mode, never tried the default mode..

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Anyone know if the onboard lsi works well with seagate NAS drives?

 

I don't use them (I use WD SE drives), but I see no reason why it won't, and I'd be shocked if there would be an issue specific to those drives.

 

 

Great! I think I will run it default. Unraid should work fine according doron.

And is there any consensus on whether we need to actually flash from IR to IT ?

That being said, if you plan to boot off a drive that's on the LSI controller (and not, e.g., from a USB drive as in barebones unRAID) you DO want to install the version 19 of the LSI firmware (off the Supermicro web site). It is a result of a ticket I opened (and fought for for several months), which has to do with boot order issues.

 

Great stuff, daron. Thanks for your reply. I did email SM about drive compatibility, they just told me to do a search on their website (thanks). the seagate 3tb nas wasn't on the list but i'll give it a shot anyway.

 

Seagate NAS drives work fine, I've got 12 of them on my X10SL7-F: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=35249.0

 

I did flash to IT mode, never tried the default mode..

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Anyone know if the onboard lsi works well with seagate NAS drives?

 

I don't use them (I use WD SE drives), but I see no reason why it won't, and I'd be shocked if there would be an issue specific to those drives.

 

 

And is there any consensus on whether we need to actually flash from IR to IT ?

That being said, if you plan to boot off a drive that's on the LSI controller (and not, e.g., from a USB drive as in barebones unRAID) you DO want to install the version 19 of the LSI firmware (off the Supermicro web site). It is a result of a ticket I opened (and fought for for several months), which has to do with boot order issues.

 

Great stuff, daron. Thanks for your reply. I did email SM about drive compatibility, they just told me to do a search on their website (thanks). the seagate 3tb nas wasn't on the list but i'll give it a shot anyway.

 

Seagate NAS drives work fine, I've got 12 of them on my X10SL7-F: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=35249.0

 

I did flash to IT mode, never tried the default mode..

 

Great! I think I will run it default. Unraid should work fine according doron.

 

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If I am connecting a SATA drive to the LSI, do I need to use reverse breakout cables or will SATA 3 cables work? If it's reverse breakout cables, it seems like it would be cheaper to get a SATA controller for somewhere in the 100 dollar range and jsut use SATA cables. The breakout cables are crazy expensive.

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If I am connecting a SATA drive to the LSI, do I need to use reverse breakout cables or will SATA 3 cables work? If it's reverse breakout cables, it seems like it would be cheaper to get a SATA controller for somewhere in the 100 dollar range and jsut use SATA cables. The breakout cables are crazy expensive.

 

Standard SATA cables work. I believe it comes with 6 of them.

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Some people have noticed the WD Reds don't work with the LSI on this mobo. I've talked to others online that haven't had issues. Are the people having issues doing something wrong? Does anyone else have WD Reds functioning properly on the LSI?

 

I hope to find out later this week first hand. I have a board recently purchased and a 3TB Red drive I bought last week. Should have time to put it together in the next 3-4 days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am looking closely at the X10SL7-F for my next unRAID build. I have some IPMI questions that I am hoping for some help with:

 

None of the manuals on the supermicro website at the link below seem to cover the X10, which has the ASPEED AST 2400 controller? Also the FTP server pointed to on that page does not seem to have any info for the X10 either?

http://www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/IPMI.cfm

 

I wondering how much of the IPMI funcitonality will be available when running unRAID?

 

I now have the motherboard up and running (I am building an unRAID v6 machine). I will answer my questions, this should be useful to others:

 

          The motherboard has a ASPEED ASP2400 BMC that supports IPMI. The default BIOS settings have the BMC assigned to

          LAN port 1, and DHCP enabled for the BMC MAC. The BMC has a separate MAC from the normal functional MAC for LAN port 1.

 

          IPMIView is software that provides remote system management of smc machines that support IPMI. Power control, Hardware

          monitoring, SNMP trap receiver, text and graphical consoles, virtual keyboard, virtual media attach, BIOS update, and

          IPMI firmware update are some of the supported features. The software uses IPMI messages over the network to and from the

          BMC (Base Management Card) of a smc machine. IPMI messages are encapsulated in RMCP (Remote Management Control Protocol).

          Windows and Linux versions. Software and manual available for download here: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/utility/IPMIView/

          I have been using IPMIView on a windows machine, connected to the x10SL7 which is running unRAID,  for a few hours,

          and it has been working great. This is a great app for managing the machine remotely.

 

          Most of the features in IPMIView described above are also available from a web server that is available at the BMC IP

          address (port 80).  Things seem slower running on the web server, but it is very full featured.

 

          IPMICfg is a utility that runs on a smc machine and configures its IPMI features. Requires a BMC that supports IPMI.

          Windows and Linux versions are available. I have not tried to use IPMICfg.

          Software and manual (zip file) available here:  ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/utility/IPMICFG/

 

          Superdoctor is system management software that runs on a smc machine. It provides hardware and performance

          monitoring, remote control and administration. Full features are available on windows, Linix is restricted to pager and email

          alerts, SNMP, and hardware monitoring. There is a superdoctor_client that may be installed on a smc machine (in addition to

          the superdoctor program) that allows a remote machine to access superdoctor on the smc machine via a web browser interface.

          The superdoctor_client is available only for windows. I have not tried to use superdoctor.

          Software and manuals available here: http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/software/SuperDoctorIII.cfm

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Whoops! Hopefully it is a worthy motherboard to deserve a dedicated thread. I mean if the price is right and it ticks all the ESXi support boxes, we have a winner!

 

Depends on what you want to built. Do you want a 24 drive server in (virtualized) unraid then you need at least 2 additional controllers (M1015?). Given the fact that the x4 PCIE port is not directly on the CPU but on the chipsets PCH this is less than ideal. You migh then go for a M1015 and RES2SV240 expander. Does this impose speed/bandwith reduction?

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You migh then go for a M1015 and RES2SV240 expander. Does this impose speed/bandwith instruction?

My RES2SV240 reduces my speed for an 15-20 drive array by about 25%.  So instead of getting 130+MB/s on the outer tracks I get 110MB/s on a parity check/build.  But it allows me to use a single M1015 to control up to 24 drives and use the other slots for other devices.  I have a Sandy Bridge CPU and MB so all of my slots work correctly with passthrough to VMs which maximizes my device capabilities.
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You migh then go for a M1015 and RES2SV240 expander. Does this impose speed/bandwith instruction?

My RES2SV240 reduces my speed for an 15-20 drive array by about 25%.  So instead of getting 130+MB/s on the outer tracks I get 110MB/s on a parity check/build.  But it allows me to use a single M1015 to control up to 24 drives and use the other slots for other devices.  I have a Sandy Bridge CPU and MB so all of my slots work correctly with passthrough to VMs which maximizes my device capabilities.

 

Are those numbers on the X9SCM-F? Which cables are needed to hook up an RES2SV240 to a M1015?

 

The X9SCM-F is still a good option.

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If anyone has the text console working under IPMI, perhaps you can point me in the right direction:

 

I am able to get the KVM console to work without any problems, but the text console displays a running stream of garbage characters. This is true whether I invoke the text console from IPMIview, or invoke it from a web browser. I have tried all speed settings, without any effect. I am running JAVA 8 update 25 on the client I am connecting with, and IPMI firmware 1.42, Bios 2.00, and unRAID v6-10a  on the X10SL7.

 

I do have SOL enabled in the bios (obviously, or the KVM console would not have worked). I read here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=27927.0 that enabling serial port console redirection in the BIOS, and updates to /etc/inittab and /etc/securetty are NOT required, but I tried all those anyway(with the values shown below) just in case, but no luck.

echo "s0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty ttyS1 115200" >> /etc/inittab

echo "ttyS1" >> /etc/securetty

 

The reason for wanting to use the text console is to get access to copy/paste.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I caved and purchased the X10SL7.  I did not try with the original rev15 IR firmware, but can confirm the rev19 IT firmware works flawlessly with the 3TB WD Reds.

 

Edit:  Not sure if posted elsewhere, but here is the IT firmware link:

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/2308/Firmware/IT/

 

i've the same motherboard, i'm testing unraid with 2 x 2tb hdd. is it reccomended to flash the it firmware or i can leave the stock one?

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i've the same motherboard, i'm testing unraid with 2 x 2tb hdd. is it reccomended to flash the it firmware or i can leave the stock one?

 

Regardless of IT or IR, I'd strongly recommend to flash the latest version (19) firmware. It does solve a problem applicable to this mobo.

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i've the same motherboard, i'm testing unraid with 2 x 2tb hdd. is it reccomended to flash the it firmware or i can leave the stock one?

 

Regardless of IT or IR, I'd strongly recommend to flash the latest version (19) firmware. It does solve a problem applicable to this mobo.

 

thank you so much doron. i will flash it. any other tips regarding this mobo? it's fantastic :)

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i've the same motherboard, i'm testing unraid with 2 x 2tb hdd. is it reccomended to flash the it firmware or i can leave the stock one?

 

Regardless of IT or IR, I'd strongly recommend to flash the latest version (19) firmware. It does solve a problem applicable to this mobo.

 

thank you so much doron. i will flash it. any other tips regarding this mobo? it's fantastic :)

 

Well, not too many. It is indeed very good, more so after I finally got them to solve the problem that caused LSI f/w v19  8)

I run it headless, and use the IPMI features exclusively. It's a treat. Just make sure you get a decent processor for it and obviously ECC RAM.

 

I run ESXi on it. All kinds of passthru work flawlessly. Cool stuff.

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i've the same motherboard, i'm testing unraid with 2 x 2tb hdd. is it reccomended to flash the it firmware or i can leave the stock one?

 

Regardless of IT or IR, I'd strongly recommend to flash the latest version (19) firmware. It does solve a problem applicable to this mobo.

 

I also ordered this board recently.  Will flashing to IT mode also update the firmware?. I plan on using this tutorial

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/flashing-the-lsi2308-on-an-x9srh-7f-to-it-mode.1734/

 

Also, for anyone who got the board recently, did it already have the latest BIOS? Believe its 2.0 now. I has read somewhere that i3 4th gen  CPUs didnt work very well with the initial BIOS

 

 

 

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