Adaptec 2940U SCSI controller

[John McKenzie]

Hello, all.

I got a bunch of SCSI drives free and found a used PCI SCSI controller
card for $5.00. With ZFS I figured I could use these drives and act like
their total combined storage space was one big continuous space and make
those old drives useful.

(It dates me a little, but I can remember being a SCSI snob. :-))

This SCSI PCI controller is an Adaptec AHA-2940U card. After researching
it I see that it supposedly works with opensolaris 2008.11. Everyone
confidently declares that it works just fine after installation of the OS.

My fresh install of Opensolaris does not seem to be part of that
consensus. The Device Driver utility flags as hardware that is without a
driver and the install driver function states there is no driver
available. My research into this leads me nowhere because all the known
info about the subject states that the card just works.

Any advice is get a driver for the card is welcome.

Thanks.

[Ian Collins]

There is a 32 bit diver, but I don't think there's a 64 bit one. I used
to use these on 32 bit systems, but binned them when those boxes were
put out to pasture.

--
Ian Collins

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Start by telling us which platform you are talking about; SPARC or X86?

[Ian Collins]

"opensolaris 2008.11" only runs on x86.

--
Ian Collins

[John McKenzie]

>Start by telling us which platform you are talking about; SPARC or X86?

Sorry I thought OpenSolaris was only 32-bit and only x86.

Running on an AMD Semperon 2000.

isainfo -v
32-bit i386 applications
ahf sse fxsr amd_3dnowx amd_3dnow amd_mmx mmx cmov sep cx8 tsc
fpu

[Doug McIntyre]

Well, it isn't available for SPARC, but it is fully 64-bit capable..

$ isainfo -v
64-bit amd64 applications
sse4.1 ssse3 cx16 mon sse3 sse2 sse fxsr mmx cmov amd_sysc cx8 tsc fpu
32-bit i386 applications
sse4.1 ssse3 ahf cx16 mon sse3 sse2 sse fxsr mmx cmov sep cx8 tsc fpu

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article <P18gl.8520$Db2.5390@edtnps83>,

OpenSolaris is 32 bit and 64 bit.

Earlier Semprons are 32 bit only, and that looks like it applies
to yours, although not having one myself, I don't know for sure
if Solaris will actually run in 64 bit mode on later ones.
(It certainly does on Athlon64's.)

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

[John McKenzie]

>OpenSolaris is 32 bit and 64 bit.

That is good to know. My system is an old machine I got cheap sued from
a guy. It is a 32-bit CPU, but it is good to know I can move to 64-bit
if I get such a machine to use for this project in the future.

Looks like I will need to if I want to use that card and my SCSI drives
for it. Or I can just make myself not care as those drives were free. :-)

[Churnd]

I have the same problem. I'm on a 32-bit platform. Can someone
please tell me how to get this SCSI card working? Many thanks!!

[C. Hearn]

Apparently I need the ADP driver from Solaris 9:
http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/components/details/152.html Any
idea where I can get it?

[Ian Collins]

Churnd wrote:
> On Jan 22, 4:30 pm, Ian Collins <ian-n...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>> There is a 32 bit diver, but I don't think there's a 64 bit one. I used
>> to use these on 32 bit systems, but binned them when those boxes were
>> put out to pasture.
>

> I have the same problem. I'm on a 32-bit platform. Can someone
> please tell me how to get this SCSI card working? Many thanks!!

I'm sure it worked out of the box with Solaris 10. Failing that, look
on the Adaptec support page.

--
Ian Collins

[C. Hearn]

It does work out of the box with Solaris 10. The problem is the
drivers aren't included in OpenSolaris. I guess the card is "too
old". What I'm trying to do now is import the older drivers from a
Solaris 9 dvd (cadp160 and SUNWadp). Now my problem is I can't figure
out how to properly import them into OpenSolaris after it's been
installed. Any help there?

[Ian Collins]

If you are using Sun's "OpenSolaris" distribution, no. The packaging
system is different.

--
Ian Collins

[Chris Ridd]

It is different, but you can still pkgadd a SVR4 pkg to an OpenSolaris
system. Sun's VirtualBox still comes as SVR4 pkgs so I know this works
:-(
--
Chris

[C. Hearn]

On Mar 21, 5:07 pm, Chris Ridd <chrisr...@mac.com> wrote:

OK, I also noticed that the SUNWadp drivers are in Solaris 10, so I'd
like to try them. The problem is, it's just in a folder, no pkg. The
folder has this in it: "install pkginfo pkgmap reloc". I checked
inside reloc and saw "boot kernel", with a directory "drv", then two
files "adp" and "adp.conf".

Long story short, I realzied that the files in "reloc" could be copied
to their respective place on the actual OS filesystem itself, right?
I noticed also that the "master" file in boot should probably be added
onto the "master" file on the OS.

Am I going to hose my system?

[Ian Collins]

C. Hearn wrote:
>
> OK, I also noticed that the SUNWadp drivers are in Solaris 10, so I'd
> like to try them. The problem is, it's just in a folder, no pkg. The
> folder has this in it: "install pkginfo pkgmap reloc". I checked
> inside reloc and saw "boot kernel", with a directory "drv", then two
> files "adp" and "adp.conf".

The directory SUNWadp on the install media *is* the package.

It's also on SXCE:

more /mnt/Solaris_11/Product/SUNWadp/pkginfo
PKG=SUNWadp
NAME=Adaptec 29xx/39/xx/78xx Family of SCSI HBA
VERSION=11.11.0,REV=2009.03.02.23.50

(output filtered)

and 10 update 6:

more /mnt/Solaris_10/Product/SUNWadp/pkginfo
PKG=SUNWadp
DESC=Adaptec 29xx/39/xx/78xx Family of SCSI HBA
VERSION=11.10.0,REV=2005.01.17.23.31

(output filtered)

So you should be able to pkgadd the package from your Solaris 10 or SXCE
media.

--
Ian Collins

[C. Hearn]

Oh sweet!! I had to copy the SUNWadp dir into /var/spool/pkg then do
"pfexec pkgadd", and it automatically picked it up and installed it!
Could I have done this without copying it to /var/spool/pkg?

So, I installed both SUNWadp and CADP160. Problem is, I still can't
see my SCSI hard drives. Am I missing something?

[Ian Collins]

C. Hearn wrote:
> On Mar 21, 8:40 pm, Ian Collins <ian-n...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> So you should be able to pkgadd the package from your Solaris 10 or SXCE
>> media.

*Please* don't quote signatures.

> Oh sweet!! I had to copy the SUNWadp dir into /var/spool/pkg then do
> "pfexec pkgadd", and it automatically picked it up and installed it!
> Could I have done this without copying it to /var/spool/pkg?

Yes, you can use the -d option, see the man page.

> So, I installed both SUNWadp and CADP160. Problem is, I still can't
> see my SCSI hard drives. Am I missing something?

Are there any entries relating to the driver in /var/adm/messages after
rebooting?

--
Ian Collins

[C. Hearn]

Yes, I'm seeing this:

cat /var/adm/messages | grep adp
Mar 21 22:37:53 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:37:55 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:37:57 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:37:59 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:44:35 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:44:38 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:44:39 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:44:41 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:49:48 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found
Mar 21 22:54:19 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
module not found

[Ian Collins]

C. Hearn wrote:
> On Mar 21, 10:53 pm, Ian Collins <ian-n...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> C. Hearn wrote:
>>
>>> So, I installed both SUNWadp and CADP160. Problem is, I still can't
>>> see my SCSI hard drives. Am I missing something?
>> Are there any entries relating to the driver in /var/adm/messages after
>> rebooting?
>
> Yes, I'm seeing this:
>
> cat /var/adm/messages | grep adp
> Mar 21 22:37:53 unix: [ID 469452 kern.info] NOTICE: adp: 64-bit driver
> module not found

So it looks like you have a 64 bit system after all. 32 bit drivers
only work with a 32 bit kernel.

--
Ian Collins

[C. Hearn]

> So it looks like you have a 64 bit system after all.  32 bit drivers
> only work with a 32 bit kernel.

I thought I was in a 32-bit kernel because "uname -a" returned this:
"SunOS host 5.11 snv_101b i86pc i386 i86pc Solaris". I did more
digging then realized that's not an accurate way to tell which kernel
you're using, but rather to use "isainfo -b", which will show eithe 32
or 64.

So, to boot into 32-bit mode, I just removed the $ISADIR line from /
rpool/boot/grub/menu.lst. Is there a better way to do this?

Luckily now, I see the drives!!:

~$ dmesg | grep adp
Mar 22 08:27:01 pci_pci: [ID 370704 kern.info] PCI-device:
pci9004,7881@9, adp0
Mar 22 08:27:01 genunix: [ID 936769 kern.info] adp0 is /pci@0,0/
pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9
Mar 22 08:28:17 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd2 at adp0: target 0 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:17 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd3 at adp0: target 1 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:17 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd4 at adp0: target 2 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:18 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd5 at adp0: target 3 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:18 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd6 at adp0: target 4 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:18 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd7 at adp0: target 5 lun
0
Mar 22 08:28:18 scsi: [ID 193665 kern.info] sd8 at adp0: target 6 lun
0

~$ pfexec format
Searching for disks...done

c6t0d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t1d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t2d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t3d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t4d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t5d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
c6t6d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
0. c4d0 <DEFAULT cyl 9726 alt 2 hd 255 sec 63>
/pci@0,0/pci-ide@1f,2/ide@0/cmdk@0,0
1. c6t0d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@0,0
2. c6t1d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@1,0
3. c6t2d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@2,0
4. c6t3d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@3,0
5. c6t4d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@4,0
6. c6t5d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0002 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@5,0
7. c6t6d0 <SEAGATE-ST173404LC-0004 cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec
424>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,244e@1e/pci9004,7881@9/sd@6,0

Now, off to create my raidz pool!

[Ian Collins]

C. Hearn wrote:
>> So it looks like you have a 64 bit system after all. 32 bit drivers
>> only work with a 32 bit kernel.
>
>
> I thought I was in a 32-bit kernel because "uname -a" returned this:
> "SunOS host 5.11 snv_101b i86pc i386 i86pc Solaris". I did more
> digging then realized that's not an accurate way to tell which kernel
> you're using, but rather to use "isainfo -b", which will show eithe 32
> or 64.
>
> So, to boot into 32-bit mode, I just removed the $ISADIR line from /
> rpool/boot/grub/menu.lst. Is there a better way to do this?

I don't know, I replaced my 32 bit only cards.

> c6t0d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t1d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t2d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t3d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t4d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t5d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB
> c6t6d0: configured with capacity of 68.35GB

> Now, off to create my raidz pool!

You really should look at replacing the controller with one with a 64
bit driver (LSI?). ZFS performance will suffer badly on a 32 system.

--
Ian Collins

[C. Hearn]

The most important thing is, it's working! My main goal was to get it
working and learn how to use OpenSolaris. I started from scratch
again, getting the SUNWadp driver from the SXCE DVD. I have a 400GB
ZFS raidz pool with a 100GB volume shared via iscsi which I've backed
my laptop up to. Performance was better than my Linux/mdraid/AFP
setup. I will see if I cam come across a SCSI card with a compatible
64-bit driver. If I swap the two out, will I have to re-create my
zpool?

Thanks for the help!

[Casper H.S. Dik]

"C. Hearn" <che...@gmail.com> writes:

>The most important thing is, it's working! My main goal was to get it
>working and learn how to use OpenSolaris. I started from scratch
>again, getting the SUNWadp driver from the SXCE DVD. I have a 400GB
>ZFS raidz pool with a 100GB volume shared via iscsi which I've backed
>my laptop up to. Performance was better than my Linux/mdraid/AFP
>setup. I will see if I cam come across a SCSI card with a compatible
>64-bit driver. If I swap the two out, will I have to re-create my
>zpool?

If both devices support the disks "as they are", then you can use the
disks. But some cards, specifically those which support RAID, might take a bit
of the end of the disk.

Casper
--
Expressed in this posting are my opinions. They are in no way related
to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems.
Statements on Sun products included here are not gospel and may
be fiction rather than truth.