# LSI SAS1068E cannot boot on HP Workstation xw9400 [Solved]

## asg719

I give up, this is totally driving me crazy.  The live cd sees it but when I goto compile my own kernel the driver loads but it never sees the drive.  This is a Serial Attached SCSI controller set up in RAID 1.  I've compiled in the modules to the kernel, tried adding them to the initrd but nothing seems to work.   I even took the .config from the livecd and tried that but that doesn't work.  The driver is the mptsas, I have no problems using Red Hat Ent 4 with this RAID card so I'm at a total loss.  Anybody have any exp with this card?  All the threads I've found about this card say these issues should have been resolved in the 2.6.16 branch of the kernel but that doesn't seem to be my exp.   I'm using Gentoo Sources 2.6.17-r8, I've tried the 2.6.16.x vanilla branch too with no luck.Last edited by asg719 on Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:47 am; edited 2 times in total

----------

## bgregorcy

I am having the same problem w/ the same card.  I *think* I am installing the right drivers but I keep getting the /dev/sd* is an  invalid block device.

At least I am not the only on eh?

----------

## asg719

I think this has to do with genkernel going from udev to mdev, of course the old udev version of genkernel is no longer in portage.  Not really sure if I can prove it but there is no reason this shouldn't work.  I took the exact kernel from Red Hat 4 and compiled it using the config red hat provides under gentoo but using genkernel instead of how redhat does it and the device doesn't come up so it's not a kernel issue as fas as I can tell.  The device nodes must not be getting created correctly.

----------

## bgregorcy

I figured out my issue, when I booted the liveCD it mounted my drives as /dev/sdb, but after I finished with the installation the drives were mounted as /dev/sda and I didn't realize it.  Once I changed my grub.conf file everything booted correctly.

Not sure it is the same issue you are having, but did you make sure to compile in the MPT Fusion drivers and the new LSI drivers?

----------

## asg719

Yeah the are compiled in and they even load on boot but no device nodes ever show up.  Usually when I look at the dmesg I see the driver mapping the nodes out. Here is what the dmesg of RHEL4 looks like

```

SCSI subsystem initialized

Fusion MPT base driver 3.02.62.01rh

Copyright (c) 1999-2005 LSI Logic Corporation

Fusion MPT FC Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SPI Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SAS Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:6b:00.0[A] -> GSI 43 (level, high) -> IRQ 50

PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:6b:00.0 to 64

mptbase: Initiating ioc0 bringup

ioc0: SAS1068E: Capabilities={Initiator}

scsi0 : ioc0: LSISAS1068E, FwRev=00090600h, Ports=1, MaxQ=267, IRQ=50

  Vendor: LSILOGIC  Model: Logical Volume    Rev: 3000

  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02

SCSI device sda: 976562176 512-byte hdwr sectors (500000 MB)

SCSI device sda: drive cache: write through

SCSI device sda: 976562176 512-byte hdwr sectors (500000 MB)

SCSI device sda: drive cache: write through

 sda: sda1 sda2

Attached scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0

```

But for gentoo I just get this

```

Fusion MPT base driver 3.02.62.01rh

Copyright (c) 1999-2005 LSI Logic Corporation

Fusion MPT FC Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SPI Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SAS Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

```

And that is it.

----------

## bgregorcy

whats your grub.conf look like?

----------

## asg719

```

title Gentoo Linix (2.6.19-rc4)

 root (hd0,0)

 kernel /kernel-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.19-rc4 udev dolvm2 doscsi dodmraid root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/vg01/Gentoo_Root elevator=cfq

 initrd /initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-2.6.19-rc4

```

----------

## bgregorcy

I am guessing that you are using an software raid and I am not sure how that works/ how to point to it from from grub   :Shocked: 

I would guess that if it boots from the liveCD the drivers are there but your real_root is off, but I don't know for sure

----------

## asg719

The config is fine, I can take the redhat kernel, from redhat mind you, and put it in that grub and it will boot gentoo except it doesn't work 100% for various reasons.  So I know my grub is correct.  There is something wrong with how the initramfs is getting created, and it seems there are a lot of similar issues out there.  From what I can tell genkernel 3.4 shouldn't be stable and I am still going to try and downgrade it but I don't know how much success I am going to have there.  FWIW Ubuntu can't see it either and it also loads the drivers too so there is something wrong out there with this combo of hardware and bleeding edge software.

----------

## bgregorcy

ok what about manually compiling the kernel, that way you wouldn't be using genkernel or initramfs at all.

----------

## asg719

I've tried that too, didn't work.  I just took apart the initrd for redhat and it is using udev and my initrd isn't so I'm going to try and hack that in and see what happens.

----------

## bgregorcy

hmm have you tried a newer/different kernel like

sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.18-r2

----------

## asg719

 *bgregorcy wrote:*   

> hmm have you tried a newer/different kernel like
> 
> sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.18-r2

 

I've be trying the 2.6.19-rc4 kernels now, still no luck

----------

## asg719

Ok I compiled the mptsas drivers and scsi drivers into the latest kernel and still no love, I am getting really anoyed with this.

----------

## bgregorcy

so I am running out of ideas, any thoughts about trying lilo?

I am not sure what else to say but if the liveCD works and the drivers are there it should work.  What message do you get when if fails to boot?

----------

## bgregorcy

And I am surprised no one else had chimed in with any suggestions, we are waiting for some guru to tell us what the issue is.  Just to recap asg719 thinks this is a kernel issue.   I think it is a grub issue.   And we are apparently both wrong   :Question: 

We should take a poll to try and get more ideas going   :Very Happy: 

----------

## asg719

Not sure if it's a kernel issue, more like a kernel configuration issue.  I just can't the device to initialize the drives and when the drivers load I just get something like this

```

Fusion MPT base driver 3.02.62.01rh

Copyright (c) 1999-2005 LSI Logic Corporation

Fusion MPT FC Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SPI Host driver 3.02.62.01rh

Fusion MPT SAS Host driver 3.02.62.01rh 

```

And nothing else.  It never maps the devices.  Red Hat / Fedora have no issues but Ubuntu can't see it and Ubuntu loads the driver like it should.

----------

## asg719

Well here is some more info, Ubuntu, FC6 don't see the device either and it doesn't show up in lspci -n.  When booted into Red Hat here is the output of lspci -vv

```

6b:00.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 02)

        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company: Unknown device 12fe

        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-

        Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

        Latency: 0, Cache Line Size 10

        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 50

        Region 0: I/O ports at 1000 [size=256]

        Region 1: Memory at fa310000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]

        Region 3: Memory at fa300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]

        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)

                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

        Capabilities: [68] Express Endpoint IRQ 0

                Device: Supported: MaxPayload 4096 bytes, PhantFunc 0, ExtTag+

                Device: Latency L0s <64ns, L1 <1us

                Device: AtnBtn- AtnInd- PwrInd-

                Device: Errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal+ Unsupported-

                Device: RlxdOrd+ ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop+

                Device: MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes

                Link: Supported Speed 2.5Gb/s, Width x8, ASPM L0s L1, Port 0

                Link: Latency L0s <64ns, L1 <1us

                Link: ASPM Disabled RCB 64 bytes CommClk- ExtSynch-

                Link: Speed 2.5Gb/s, Width x8

        Capabilities: [98] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-

                Address: 0000000000000000  Data: 0000

        Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable- Mask- TabSize=1

                Vector table: BAR=1 offset=00002000

                PBA: BAR=1 offset=00003000

```

And for grins I even check that the pci ids are in the kernel

```

localhost linux # pwd

/usr/src/linux/include/linux

localhost linux # grep 0058 ./pci_ids.h

#define PCI_DEVICE_ID_LSI_SAS1068E      0x0058

#define PCI_DEVICE_ID_APPLE_U3L_AGP     0x0058

```

Anybody have any ideas?  I'm getting tired of being alone here.

----------

## asg719

I feel like I'm talking to myself here but more info, the live cd 2006.1 doesn't show the device in lspci whereas the other livecd does.  That live cd uses a 2.6.16.10 kernel vs 2.6.17-gentoo-r7 kernel.  Going to mess with some kernel options and see what happens.

----------

## asg719

While googling around I came across this thread for a similar model xw9300

http://www.gatago.com/linux/kernel/18503357.html

I turned ACPI Segmentation off in the bios and the sucker came right up.  I haven't tried the pci=noacpi with ACPI Segmentation turned on but I image it would work if I needed ACPI Segmentation on.  Thanks to bgregorcy for trying to help me as he was the only one.  Hope this thread helps others with similar hardware.

----------

## bgregorcy

dude sweet......

for all those that voted I was wrong  :Wink: 

----------

## RexAtHighSpeed

Hello Gents,

I am about to attempt to install Gentoo on my xw9400. I've only installed Gentoo a few times and this machine is pretty complicated. Can you guys post your config files? Like your Grub, xorg and kernel configs? 

It would be greatly appreciated! Any other advice would be valuable as well.

----------

