LSI Raid Card BBU issues :(

coolamasta

coolamasta

coolamasta

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Hi Guys,

I am running an LSI 9260-8i Raid card, well in fact its an IBM M5014 but just re-branded from the LSI 9260, I have it set up and running a Raid-5 array with 4 x 3TB WD RED drives, all working fine but I have crappy write speeds which is down to it not having a BBU (Battery Backup Unit)

Soooo I just purchased a new BBU and after almost a week of faffing about I cant get the thing to work properly!

The LSI software in windows sees the BBU fine, health status is showing as OK but it shows as Degraded and needs attention (see below)

lsibbu0.jpg


This stops the write policy going to 'Write Back' which is what I need running to get the fast write speeds but its not kicking in as it says the BBU is discharged (see below)

lsibbu3.jpg


This controller has a learn feature which is one of the very few options I get with the BBU, when you run it it fully charges the battery no problem then it will sit there and fully drain it to see how long it lasts or whatever so it knows its able capacity etc, this all works fine and passes the learn feature but then when it starts charging itself back up it just stops on 40-something percent and then stops (see below)

lsibbu1.jpg


I have let it do 2 sets of learn cycles and they both work fine but then after it finishes it will just not charge itself up again and sits there saying Degraded(needs Attention) but there is nothing I can click on to give it attention lol, what can I do, I have been thinking maybe the battery is duff?!

Heres the log, says battery charging is complete but it only gets to around 43% and stops charging the damned thing but yet when you start a learn cycle it will charge it to 100% before it drains it etc :(

lsibbu4.jpg


Cheers for any help, bit annoyed right now! :mad:
 
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I'm not an expert although I do have a BBU in my 3Ware/LSI 9650SE controller. Are there any firmware updates for your card?

I'd also be thinking the battery is duff but theyre a bit expensive though just to get another to test!
 
Not an expert of LSI cards stopped using them after having numerous issues with the cache write performance (same as the old HP cards).

As tribz said check for firmware updates, unsure if you are using it on windows ensure you are using the latest driver with the latest firmware. From memory using a newer driver with a older firmware caused loads of trouble.

It could be the battery, on some revisions of the cards you had to completely redo the array for some reason IIRC linked to the BBU. If you don't want to buy another new battery, try rebuilding the array.
 
Sounds like a faulty battery. Can you get it replaced by whoever sold it to you? Also, as others have mentioned, check the firmware.
 
Cheers fellas, I just updated it to latest firmware rebooted and then installed latest windows drivers and its no different, battery charge still wont kick in and says Needs Attention :(

I can't see anywhere to force an array rebuild, below shows the options I get for the array:

lsibbu5.jpg


I'm sure I can get the battery replaced but want to bottom out whether its a configuration issue first, when on a learn cycle it deffo charges up to 100% fine but soon as the learn cycle finishes it charges up to something random like 43% and then stops :(
 
And not sure why you want to force an array rebuild? Should be automatic whenever a faulty disk is replaced with a working one.
 
rotor said:
And not sure why you want to force an array rebuild? Should be automatic whenever a faulty disk is replaced with a working one.
Click to expand...

this isnt the same with the LSI cards, only if you have designated a global hot spare will it kikc in auto, if you have no hot spare you need to manually tell it to rebuild the disk.

back to the issue, what happesn if you hange to policy to always write back and then perform a learn cycle?

Looks like a battery fault however strange its getting to 100% in a learn cycle but not in real use.

Does the BBU show up in physical view with a green tick? (just under the drives)
 
rotor said:
And not sure why you want to force an array rebuild? Should be automatic whenever a faulty disk is replaced with a working one.
Click to expand...

For some reason LSI requires a rebuild by deleting the virtual drive and recreating it on some revisions; something to do with how the virtual drive was created there is no automated way from memory. As ashrobbo says you have to manually do it.

If you can get the replacement battery then probably best try that first. Afterwards if it still don't work might be an idea to backup the data, delete the virtual drive and then recreate it. See if the cache magically "works" afterwards :p Oh the fun with LSI controller cards.
 
I 'think' its sorted *touches wood* and you will never guess what sorted it! - a different motherboard!! :confused:

I had to change out the motherboard in my NAS box anyway as it was an old P67 chipset 1155 board so last night I put a new board in with a H77 chipset and not only did everything post and run faster (P67 used to hang a bit before LSI firmware kicked in) but once I got into Windows and opened the LSI MegaRaid software the BBU was showing as Optimal and battery charge was a lot higher, write back is now on and speeds are up to what I expect WINNER!! :cool:

lsibbu6.jpg


I've not forced a learn cycle on it yet as I cant decide whether I should or just let it do it itself which is every 28 days so it wont happen now until early July, hmmmm.... Should I or shouldn't I?
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO its gone and done the same thing again, Its just done its monthly automatic learn cycle and foookin disabled the BBU again saying 'Needs Attention' FFS :mad:
 
coolamasta said:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO its gone and done the same thing again, Its just done its monthly automatic learn cycle and foookin disabled the BBU again saying 'Needs Attention' FFS :mad:
Click to expand...

Advice still stands, you may need to delete the array and rebuild it. LSI cards are not known for their reliability, they have some really bizarre bugs on occasion as you have just witnessed.

I recently had an LSI card I replaced with a HP P410, similar issue cache wouldn't enable - replaced battery, didn't work, flashed firmware with new battery, didn't work. Tried in different system with identical specs, didn't work at first BUT then after reflashing with the same firmware it worked, then I put it in the original system and it started mystically working. Decided it wasn't worth the risk so just put in the HP P410 instead.

It may be that you need to follow additional steps; if you don't mind calling India for LSI support if you have a contract or warranty that may be the first port of call. Alternatively rebuild the array from deleting it entirely and start again. Recommend you flash the array AFTER deleting and BEFORE recreating the array. Hope it helps.
 
It could be faulty? Have you thought of getting it replaced under warranty?
 
jake108 said:
Advice still stands, you may need to delete the array and rebuild it. LSI cards are not known for their reliability, they have some really bizarre bugs on occasion as you have just witnessed.

I recently had an LSI card I replaced with a HP P410, similar issue cache wouldn't enable - replaced battery, didn't work, flashed firmware with new battery, didn't work. Tried in different system with identical specs, didn't work at first BUT then after reflashing with the same firmware it worked, then I put it in the original system and it started mystically working. Decided it wasn't worth the risk so just put in the HP P410 instead.

It may be that you need to follow additional steps; if you don't mind calling India for LSI support if you have a contract or warranty that may be the first port of call. Alternatively rebuild the array from deleting it entirely and start again. Recommend you flash the array AFTER deleting and BEFORE recreating the array. Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks bud, I think this is the only thing left I can try really, will have to get my backups up to date and just go for it I think, might even add in a 5th 3TB RED while im at it as im quickly running out of space on the current 8.2TB, with a 5th I should have around 10.8TB usable space :)

If it still messes up after that I will not be a happy chappy hahaha :(
 
I don't think its the card at all. I would say its incompatibility with the motherboard. I have had it manifest in a lot of ways like not being able to get into the firmware on bootup, crashing the MSM software etc. According to LSI its something the size of the upper memory address that is available. Basically desktop boards do not usually have the same size as an enterprise board and it can cause issues when trying to assign memory address (I think, its Friday afternoon after all) I wouldn't say LSI were not the most reliable at all, I would say they are not hugely compatible, jeez even intel cards like the RS2BL080 is the same card as the MegaRAID 9260-8i. I would love to go back to using Adaptec but they seem to have stopped producing good, compatible SAS/SATA RAID cards for the lower end of the market.
 
FFS I am really getting annoyed with this now, I bought a few backup drives and copied all my data from the array onto it, I then deleted the array and restored factory defaults on the raid card using the BIOS GUI

I went through the wizard to create the new array, it sat there for 6 hours initialising the array, its now complete and guess what? Yeah fooooookin BBU still says Degraded, I just ran a manual learn cycle, it fully charged then drained itself and then said BBU failed with 1% charge in it then after 10 mins it then started charging for a bit and its now sat saying Degraded again just like it did before. :mad:

Really thought re-building the array from scratch again would have sorted this, bit gutted now to say the least :(

No idea what I can try next.... :mad:
 
Can't remember... did you get the whole thing replaced under warranty? Surely LSI would say "known issue"?
 
coolamasta said:
FFS I am really getting annoyed with this now, I bought a few backup drives and copied all my data from the array onto it, I then deleted the array and restored factory defaults on the raid card using the BIOS GUI

I went through the wizard to create the new array, it sat there for 6 hours initialising the array, its now complete and guess what? Yeah fooooookin BBU still says Degraded, I just ran a manual learn cycle, it fully charged then drained itself and then said BBU failed with 1% charge in it then after 10 mins it then started charging for a bit and its now sat saying Degraded again just like it did before. :mad:

Really thought re-building the array from scratch again would have sorted this, bit gutted now to say the least :(

No idea what I can try next.... :mad:
Click to expand...

What you can do is take it step by step,

First is to determine if that battery has indeed degraded. Undo the battery. If you have a voltmeter you can measure on the contacts, failing that an LED light or even an old speaker would generate some sound.

If the battery has indeed degraded (be surprised if it has) then it won't generate much noise or light. If it has not allow the battery to completely drain using your method, then reconnect it to the controller card. Allow it to go through a recharge cycle (don't look at the GUI) just keep the machine on for say 3-6 hours then cold reboot.

If it still says it's degraded then there is something wrong with the card, firmware or battery. We have checked the battery so that rules out the battery assuming it works, for firmware try reflashing it so that takes that out of the equation, for the card perform a diagnostic. For compatibility purposes could you try another machine with the card temporarily?

If all else fails you could try contacting support (might £) if out of warranty.
 
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