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Warlock928

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i am looking to build a plex server out of my dell t5500 workstation....powerful unit...dual 6 core cpu's. i would like to run dual 8 port raid cards along with 6 onboard sata.....i have tried both dsm's 5.2  and 6.0.2  but none of them will run stable with my raid cards...once i reach a certain point the volume degrades and starts telling me drives are failing...they are not....does anyone know which if any 8 port raid cards will definitely work with this combo?  i have also tried both the onboard and an add in nic. not certain what video card i am using but i can get that if it matters. TIA...

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You haven't posted which RAID cards are in your system.  That would help with providing advice.

 

In any case, DSM runs better when you don't use hardware to provide RAID services.  Many RAID cards can be configured in "IT" mode so all drives can be addressed individually by the OS - in other words, it is just a multiport SATA/SAS controller at that point, and that's fine.  On some Dell controllers, the only way to do this is to configure each individual drive as a RAID 0.  Don't configure an array and then use that array for DSM as a single disk.

 

The best XPEnology configuration for your hardware will be loader 1.03b, platform DS3617xs and DSM version 6.2.3.  Alternative would be 1.02b, DS3615xs and DSM version 6.1.7.

 

The bad news for you is that you cannot use all your CPU resources.  DSM supports a maximum of 8 threads for DS3615xs and 16 threads for DS3617xs.  You have 24 threads between your two 6-core processors, so much of your compute will be idle.  The best baremetal case with that hardware is to run DS3617xs and turn off HyperThreading, resulting in 12 CPU cores active.  With ESXi, you can alternately give the DSM VM 16 threads and reserve the rest for other VM workloads if desired.

 

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/13333-tutorialreference-6x-loaders-and-platforms/

 

 

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yea sorry i was at work and didnt have the list with me...so i have tried the hp p410 card...the super aoc-saslp-mv8 and i have 3 different marvell cards...1 4 port and 2 6 ports ....the best i can get out of any combination is 6 m/b sata and 4 of the 6port slots for a total of 10 drives. i have been trying to do it as a 3615,,,i dont know anything about esxi ...if i use the 3617 is esxi a must?

Edited by Warlock928
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there, I had a spare T5500 so want to build an Xpenology server with it. I’ve built two HP N54L Microservers so sort of know the script, but can’t get this one to work. I’ve done the loader recommended above, edited grub.cfg etc and get the splash screen then the loader text. But it doesn’t appear on the network at all. 
 

Been in the BIOS and tried to set everything to low performance defaults but still no joy. Any tips most welcome! Cheers! Al

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just to make it easier that system is about 9 years old, cpu ist westermer-ep - loader 1.04 and 918+ is not working at all

as the cpu might have 6cores and HT then loader 1.03b for 3617 should be used

 

the nic is a bcm5754 the network driver would be tg3.ko and thats part of jun's original driver set

 

loader 1.03b needs csm/legacy mode, it does not work with uefi, also the boot device in bios needs to be the legacy one, if cms is active and uefi boot device is used then then system boots uefi mode (even if the optional csm is active)

 

you can also try loader 1.02b (dsm 6.1) that one boots uefi and legacy

 

you know what a 0-modem cable and a serial port is? use/connect it and see the "normal" linux boot console this way, what you see an the normal video out is not helping you so see if its starting the right way, the fact that a matching nic driver is present indicates boot problems

do you see the boot menu and the message from jun ?

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10 minutes ago, IG-88 said:

just to make it easier that system is about 9 years old, cpu ist westermer-ep - loader 1.04 and 918+ is not working at all

as the cpu might have 6cores and HT then loader 1.03b for 3617 should be used

 

the nic is a bcm5754 the network driver would be tg3.ko and thats part of jun's original driver set

 

loader 1.03b needs csm/legacy mode, it does not work with uefi, also the boot device in bios needs to be the legacy one, if cms is active and uefi boot device is used then then system boots uefi mode (even if the optional csm is active)

 

you can also try loader 1.02b (dsm 6.1) that one boots uefi and legacy

 

you know what a 0-modem cable and a serial port is? use/connect it and see the "normal" linux boot console this way, what you see an the normal video out is not helping you so see if its starting the right way, the fact that a matching nic driver is present indicates boot problems

do you see the boot menu and the message from jun ?

 

Thanks for the reply, appreciated! Yes, I get to the Jun message, Happy Hacking, then nothing else. I used the loader from the post up above, 3617XS, 1.03b. Will maybe give 1.02b a try and have another look at the BIOS settings for UEFI etc.
 

I know the theory of a null modem cable etc but haven't used one like this... How hard can it be though, eh?

 

Thanks again! Will report back!

 

Al

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46 minutes ago, GSXR750AL said:

How hard can it be though, eh?

not that much if you have a cable

on the "receiving" side you can use a usb2serial adapter if the newer system (using putty) does not have a com port

you can at least see the difference between not starting because of uefi boot and a driver problem (you would even be able to login into the system without network that way)

the settings can be seen in the grub.cfg in the loader (8n1, 115200)

 

testing with loader 1.02b can help to see if its working at all as this one does not depend on csm/legacy mode

for just testing to boot you dont need to change anything in the loader (like grub.cfg) the vid/pid of the usb only gets impotant when installing a dsm file to the system, just booting up and check if can be found in network works with the default settings of the loader, if its prooven to boot and found in network you can start changing the vid/pid an maybe use the real mac of the nic (thats only important when using wol, otherwise ts just nice to always see the same mac in network)

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i have got jun 1.0.3B working with 3617 but still cannot see the 8 port card i have installedi have got jun 1.0.3B working with 3617 but still cannot see the 8 port card i have installed...could someone direct me on how to use the extra.lzma file? i am hoping the drivers i need are in there maybe? ..thanks.

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9 hours ago, Warlock928 said:

i have got jun 1.0.3B working with 3617 but still cannot see the 8 port card i have installedi have got jun 1.0.3B working with 3617 but still cannot see the 8 port card i have installed...could someone direct me on how to use the extra.lzma file? i am hoping the drivers i need are in there maybe? ..thanks.

Hi mate, any tips on getting the loader running? Did you use any special BIOS settings? Not sure on your raid card problem, sorry, I'm just trying to get started full stop haha. Cheers!

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the only bios changes i made were to set to legacy only and make the usb stick the primary boot device. then i setup the stick with the vid and pid and mac address...then go to the serial generator and copy that into the image....when it loads give it some time before you seach the network

 

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new problem...i was trying to setup the system with root access so i could set drive limit to 45 and be able to use shr....all was working fine until i did one last reboot...now the system is down and keeps saying migratable...i pulled all drives and then only put 1 back in after doing a clean with diskpart..however now the install fails and all i get is migratable...i cant migrate and i cant do a fresh install...i have also done a clean on the boot stick and hdd at the same time but still errors on install and goes back to migratable...how is that possible with a fresh boot stick and clean hdd??

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Ah no, tbh the mobo was failing on it before - it would only see the riser memory. Now it doesn't see any haha. Replaced the motherboard with a new (used!) one during the week, so it boots fine on a Windows  disk, all good. 

 

Done the null modem cable, and just get 'mount fail' immediately after the boot screen says happy hacking. Hmmm.

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1 hour ago, GSXR750AL said:

and just get 'mount fail' immediately after the boot screen says happy hacking. Hmmm.

might depend on the context, if booting with a empty disk not containing a DSM system its pretty normal that /dev/md0 and /dev/md1 are not present (system and swap)

but if can you see that you are loading the 2nd kernel (the original dsm kernel) and booting process is fine

when the kernel starts and decompresses there is a special ascii character in the upper left corner, seeing one and then nothing else means you stuck after the 1st reloader kernel (presumably injecting the fake drivers of the original hardware and maybe doing more), it should be a second character and after this there should be the normal output you (on serial consle) you usually see on a normal systems monitor console

only seeing the 1st character with loader 1.03b 3615/17 will mean in most cases that the system did not boot in csm/legacy mode, it might be active in bios but only if the csm/legacy boot device is used then its starting in that mode, when using the uefi boot device then its still starting in uefi (csm is just a added option in uefi)

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  • 2 weeks later...

ok i finally broke down and purchased the LSI 8 port raid card flashed in IT mode. this card will still only see 6 of the 8 ports i can add 4 m/b sata and get up to 10 drives but it simply will not see more than 6 on the LSI card...any ideas what i am doing wrong? this is the 3 rd raid card i have tried and none of them will see over 6 drives and i cant use more than 1 card in the system or it throws corrupt volume errors...i am running an x9scl board with intel I3 4130 dsm 6.0.2 v8451 ,,,this is my 5th attempt with every single version of dsm tried at this point and i am back to this one...any ideas?

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1 hour ago, Warlock928 said:

ok i finally broke down and purchased the LSI 8 port raid card flashed in IT mode. this card will still only see 6 of the 8 ports i can add 4 m/b sata and get up to 10 drives but it simply will not see more than 6 on the LSI card...any ideas what i am doing wrong?

some boards only have 4 sata connectors but announce 6 ports in dsm (linux kernel), addind a 8 port controller results in 14 ports and 3615/17 comes with a default of 12 so without manually changing the synoinfo.conf for more ports the last two ports of the 8 port controller will not be usable, that might explain your 6 ports usable, it would need a log like dmesg to see that

same goes for adding more controlers and ports and 24 is the limit for now, i have not seen a system with more drives here, quicknick had something in his loader for more then 24 drives and it also was about safe numbers as not every count would be working, never tested this and have not seen anyone here using that safe numbers, i wrote about the 2 or 3 times but have not seen any feedback about a successful >24 try (with quicknicks or jun's loader)

 

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/8057-physical-drive-limits-of-an-emulated-synology-machine/?do=findComment&comment=167748

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/30991-104b918-slots-available-16/?do=findComment&comment=152364

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/24890-problems-supermicro-x10sri-f-e5-1620v3-ds3617xs-v103b/?do=findComment&comment=132566

 

i'd say start by tweaking for 14 or 24 drives and play with that and if you are confident about that and have the time you can test more inside a vm, like on a windows pc with virtual box (thin disks can be used without any space used in the host system)

this is a good video that explains how the settings in synoinfo.conf work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSGAZy7LVQ

 

 

 

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26 minutes ago, Warlock928 said:

i ran through and tried that 45 drive setup in the video and it seemed to work great..till i rebooted the system and it crashed and would not start back up...

 

like he did?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTplfOyxHcU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T7h2X5xpE8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMGLsrkrBeU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHksdTTGBbE

 

and final: (he gave up)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/z0hCKfceYmc?start=982

 

if you aim for such high drive count maybe go with freenas, unraid or omv, if you really want to try it with xpenology test with quicknicks loader if its really solving the problem and if so look deeper into the loader like i suggested here:

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/28321-driver-extension-jun-103b104b-for-dsm623-for-918-3615xs-3617xs/?do=findComment&comment=159301

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/8057-physical-drive-limits-of-an-emulated-synology-machine/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-167748

 

as seen in the threads i linked above, its seems to be more then just changing maxdisks and internaldrives in synoinfo.conf (what you already tried)

 

 

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1 hour ago, Warlock928 said:

t looks like quicknick has not posted in almost 3 years...but i was able to find the bootloader...this is designed for dsm 6.1.3 correct?

yes, he had 2nd thoughts about the release of the loader and one of the beta tester released it, i guess he was not amused and left

i don't support any use of the loader for that reason but taking it as a good example how thinks can be done or transferring know how is ok as long as he is not dragged into this

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