Support for LSI firmware HBA IT mode controller cards

[restot]

Referencing for this comment from @GJChester https://discord.com/channels/884667213326463016/943513030497558598/1134207617284178010

Would love to see support in zima's bios HBA SAS controllers cards. IBM H1110 SAS-2 HBA LSI 9211-4i P20 IT Mode for instance seems like a great fit for zimaboard with potential to operate of up to 125 HBA lines, (hard drives).

Please consider implement that support in future updates

[restot]

Tried with IBM H1110 LSA firmware, no luck so far

[Pyromane]

Unfortunately, a "Broadcom LSI 9200-8e SAS Controller HBA" does not work either.

[restot]

Supermicro AOC-S2308L-L8i (LSI SAS2308 9207-8I) not working as well, tried with pci-e riser too

[Pyromane]

@JohnGuan Is there any feedback about this?

[iferlive]

Sadly IBM H1110 in IT mode also does not work, it gets power but is not detected in BIOS.

@JohnGuan, have there been any progress on a BIOS update? Any rollout schedule you can share?

Sadly there have been no BIOS updates at all, the Zimaboard project started in 2021, is already 2024 and we are still running BIOS 1.0 from launch date, no additional features or issues have been addressed.

We'd love lo see HBA LSI support since for some of us this one was the sole propuse of purchasing the Zimaboard in the first place.

Thanks in advance -FR

[gjchester]

The card is from 2015, and has been pretty much abandoned by IBM and Broadcom who now own what became of LSI.

While it’s possible there could be an update to make this work, it’s a very remote possibility. It there was a fix in the Bios it should have been in a 2022 Bios release.
I doubt AMI who make the bios are going to revisit the card so long after it’s hit the end of its support life.

[Pyromane]

I doubt AMI who make the bios are going to revisit the card so long after it’s hit the end of its support life.

The changes must be made to the ZimaBoard bios, hence the issue here.

[jarneson33]

This issue should be closed as the BIOS already supports these cards. Just need to make some changes in the BIOS as seen in this video. https://youtu.be/ar9Xhd2Wqjk?si=Us1RTQdNKBkd74ij&t=942

I have a couple ZimaBlades which use the same BIOS as the ZimaBoard and I have the IBM H1110 in IT mode and can confirm making the changes from the video work.

The video suggests a few different changes. I actually found that just changing PCIe speed to Gen2 and enabling Transmitter Half Swing were the only two settings I needed to change to get the IBM H1110 in IT mode recognized. The other suggested changes might be good to do as well but for minimal changes I found just those two get it recognized.

[restot]

Thank you, can confirm issue resolved