3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[Matt Turner]

Hi,

I'm trying to use a 3Ware 9550SX SATA controller on a MIPS system.

The driver loads, but no disk is detected. I presume this is because
the card need to be configured (normally in the BIOS-type menu before
booting the kernel, on an x86 system) to export the disk to the
operating system.

3ware 9000 Storage Controller device driver for Linux v2.26.02.014.
scsi3 : 3ware 9000 Storage Controller
3w-9xxx: scsi3: Found a 3ware 9000 Storage Controller at 0x44020000, IRQ: 58.
3w-9xxx: scsi3: Firmware FE9X 3.08.02.007, BIOS BE9X 3.08.00.002, Ports: 4.

The card is 3.3V PCI(-X) only, and this MIPS box is the only system
the card will fit in. I've tried 3Ware's tw_cli utility under qemu:

---
Unsupported ioctl: cmd=0x0108
//bcm91250a-be> show
(0x09:0x0026): (0x09:0x0026): Function not implemented

No controller found.
Make sure appropriate LSI/3ware device driver(s) are loaded.
---

strace shows

stat64("/proc/scsi/3w-sas_vm40",0x4080302c) = -1 errno=2 (No such file
or directory)
open("/dev/twa0",O_RDONLY|0x2) = 3
uname(0x407f7350) = 0
ioctl(3,264,137249696,1082094992,0,1082094744) = -1 errno=38 (Function
not implemented)

Are there any ways to configure this card through /proc or /sys? I
simply want to get the card to export the single disk to the OS.

Thanks,
Matt

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[adam radford]

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com> wrote:

> the card will fit in. I've tried 3Ware's tw_cli utility under qemu:

That will not work.

> Are there any ways to configure this card through /proc or /sys? I
> simply want to get the card to export the single disk to the OS.

You can put the board and drive into an x86 box, hit alt-3 at 3ware
option rom bios, configure a single disk raid unit, then put it back
in your MIPS system.

Unfortunately configuring the card through /proc or /sys would involve
many thousands of lines of code (more than exist currently in the
driver) to create and populate complex raid descriptor structures, and
this code need not be in-kernel.

I have PPC32/64, but no MIPS box, otherwise I could build you a tw_cli
binary that would work.

-Adam

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[Matt Turner]

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 6:49 PM, adam radford <aradford@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> the card will fit in. I've tried 3Ware's tw_cli utility under qemu:
>
> That will not work.

Any particular reason? I can see in the strace output that it finds
the card in /sys/devices/pci*/host*/.

>> Are there any ways to configure this card through /proc or /sys? I
>> simply want to get the card to export the single disk to the OS.
>
> You can put the board and drive into an x86 box, hit alt-3 at 3ware
> option rom bios, configure a single disk raid unit, then put it back
> in your MIPS system.
>
> Unfortunately configuring the card through /proc or /sys would involve
> many thousands of lines of code (more than exist currently in the
> driver) to create and populate complex raid descriptor structures, and
> this code need not be in-kernel.

I'd be perfectly satisfied with an open source tw_cli I could use on MIPS.

> I have PPC32/64, but no MIPS box, otherwise I could build you a tw_cli
> binary that would work.

I do have a PowerMac G5 with 3.3V PCI-X. Could I configure it somehow with that?

Alternatively, I can easily give you ssh access to my MIPS system if
you'd be willing to compile tw_cli for MIPS. Send me your ssh key.

Thanks,
Matt

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[adam radford]

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 6:49 PM, adam radford <aradford@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> the card will fit in. I've tried 3Ware's tw_cli utility under qemu:
>>
>> That will not work.
>
> Any particular reason? I can see in the strace output that it finds
> the card in /sys/devices/pci*/host*/.

It looks like the ioctl()'s aren't going through from tw_cli in qemu
down to the driver correctly.

>
>>> Are there any ways to configure this card through /proc or /sys? I
>>> simply want to get the card to export the single disk to the OS.
>>
>> You can put the board and drive into an x86 box, hit alt-3 at 3ware
>> option rom bios, configure a single disk raid unit, then put it back
>> in your MIPS system.
>>
>> Unfortunately configuring the card through /proc or /sys would involve
>> many thousands of lines of code (more than exist currently in the
>> driver) to create and populate complex raid descriptor structures, and
>> this code need not be in-kernel.
>
> I'd be perfectly satisfied with an open source tw_cli I could use on MIPS.
>
>> I have PPC32/64, but no MIPS box, otherwise I could build you a tw_cli
>> binary that would work.
>
> I do have a PowerMac G5 with 3.3V PCI-X. Could I configure it somehow with that?

Yes, I have just emailed you (off-list) a PPC64 tw_cli statically
linked binary.  If you have Linux on your PPC64, you can put your card
in there, load the 3w-9xxx driver, then run tw_cli to configure a raid
unit, then put it back in your MIPS box.

>
> Alternatively, I can easily give you ssh access to my MIPS system if
> you'd be willing to compile tw_cli for MIPS. Send me your ssh key.
>
> Thanks,
> Matt
>

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[Stan Hoeppner]

On 8/5/2011 4:34 PM, Matt Turner wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to use a 3Ware 9550SX SATA controller on a MIPS system.

Just out or curiosity, which MIPS based system?

-- 
Stan

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[Matt Turner]

On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 2:18 AM, Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> wrote:
> On 8/5/2011 4:34 PM, Matt Turner wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm trying to use a 3Ware 9550SX SATA controller on a MIPS system.
>
> Just out or curiosity, which MIPS based system?
>
> --
> Stan

It's a Broadcom "SWARM" BCM91250A development board, which is now
being used to maintain Gentoo's MIPS port.

http://mattst88.com/computers/bcm91250a/

I wish good MIPS hardware was more available.

Matt

Re: 3Ware 9550SX on MIPS

[Stan Hoeppner]

On 8/6/2011 9:45 AM, Matt Turner wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 2:18 AM, Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> wrote:
>> On 8/5/2011 4:34 PM, Matt Turner wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I'm trying to use a 3Ware 9550SX SATA controller on a MIPS system.
>>
>> Just out or curiosity, which MIPS based system?
>>
>> --
>> Stan
> 
> It's a Broadcom "SWARM" BCM91250A development board, which is now
> being used to maintain Gentoo's MIPS port.
> 
> http://mattst88.com/computers/bcm91250a/
> 
> I wish good MIPS hardware was more available.

MIPS as a general purpose (deskotp/server) computing platform pretty
much died when SGI ditched it for Itanium almost a decade ago...sad.

What audience is Gentoo targeting with their MIPS port?

-- 
Stan