SIlicon Image Controller 3512A or Seagate Barracuda ST3160827AS Issue

SIlicon Image Controller 3512A or Seagate Barracuda ST3160827AS Issue

[Tony Mugan]

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Hello Jeff,

I've tried a few recent Kernels (incl 2.6.23.14) attempting to have my
SATA Raid configuration detected to no avail.  My SATA drives are not
on your blacklist in sata_sil.c so I decided to contact you to see if
I am missing something or can offer a testbed to get this resolved.

I have found a kernel forum posting from you back in 2004 relating to
an issue with a slightly different Sil controller but the same drives.
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0412.0/0535.html
You refer to updates in firmware resolving Raid-related issues but I
cannot find any updates beyond my current v3.42 for these drives.  Nor
were there an newer Mobo firmwares beyond "FK" which I have installed.

I'd be grateful for any pointers and would be very interested in
assisting where I can in providing information if possible.

I have attached some general information regarding my setup.

Regards,

Tony Mugan.

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My Motherboard
--------------
Gigabyte GA-7n400 Pro2 Rev 2.x Motherboard
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=1756

------------------------
My Onboard SATA Controller
------------------------
Silicon Image 3512A Sataraid Firmware 4.3.33

01:0d.0 RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3512 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 01)


--------------
My SATA Drives
--------------
2 x Seagate Baracud Sata1 160Gb 7200.7 NCQ
Model ST3160827AS F/W 3.42
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=631c3b0c2aeef010VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&locale=en-US&reqPage=Legacy#

----------------
****lspci output
----------------
[tony@localhost ~]$ /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?) (rev c1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 1 (rev c1)
00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 4 (rev c1)
00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 3 (rev c1)
00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 2 (rev c1)
00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 5 (rev c1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 ISA Bridge (rev a4)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce2 SMBus (MCP) (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 External PCI Bridge (rev a3)
00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation nForce2 IDE (rev a2)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (rev c1)
01:08.0 Network controller: Texas Instruments ACX 111 54Mbps Wireless Interface
01:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
01:0c.0 RAID bus controller: Integrated Technology Express, Inc. IT/ITE8212 Dual channel ATA RAID controller (rev 11)
01:0d.0 RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3512 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 01)
01:0e.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600 GT] (rev a2)

Re: SIlicon Image Controller 3512A or Seagate Barracuda ST3160827AS Issue

[Tejun Heo]

Tony Mugan wrote:
> Hello Jeff,
> 
> I've tried a few recent Kernels (incl 2.6.23.14) attempting to have my
> SATA Raid configuration detected to no avail.  My SATA drives are not
> on your blacklist in sata_sil.c so I decided to contact you to see if
> I am missing something or can offer a testbed to get this resolved.
> 
> I have found a kernel forum posting from you back in 2004 relating to
> an issue with a slightly different Sil controller but the same drives.
> http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0412.0/0535.html
> You refer to updates in firmware resolving Raid-related issues but I
> cannot find any updates beyond my current v3.42 for these drives.  Nor
> were there an newer Mobo firmwares beyond "FK" which I have installed.
> 
> I'd be grateful for any pointers and would be very interested in
> assisting where I can in providing information if possible.
> 
> I have attached some general information regarding my setup.

Please read the following page.

http://linux-ata.org/faq-sata-raid.html

BIOS RAIDs are supported via device mapper.  I dunno which format the
sil controller uses and whether dm supports it tho.  Unless you have to
use it for another OS, BIOS raids are usually worthless marketing crap.
 Just use software RAID (md).

Thanks.

-- 
tejun