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Xs 1,1-3,1 6TB SAS drives only detect as 2.2TB in an Xserve3,1

RealKGB

RealKGB

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 26, 2021
34
6
Finally got an Xserve3,1, some SAS trays, and 6TB drives to go with it - specifically HGST HUS726060ALS640 6TB drives.\
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They're SAS-3 (6 Gb/s). I did the 3.3v mask bit and they show up, but only detect as 2.2TB as SATA drives would.
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I'm unsure if the tape mod is required for SAS-3 drives - does applying it break compatibility? My RAID controller has a failed battery, but that shouldn't affect drive capacity. The Xserve is a dual 2.26 model running El Capitan currently - attempts to patch it to High Sierra failed after install as if the OS itself hadn't been patched.
 
It's now only detecting a drive in Bay 1, despite all three bays displaying green and blue lights...
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If I disconnect Bay 1, Bay 2 will detect a drive a bit later.
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Disconnecting Bay 2 only makes that drive vanish, I can't get Bay 3 to detect anything. RAID Utility just spits out "Drive 3:5000cca2322bddc0 failure detected - Primary disk port unusable, previous drive status was unassigned". I had been using it with a 1TB SATA drive with no issues, and reinstalling that drive makes it detect a drive fine - though it complains that it can't drive SAS and SATA drives at the same time.

Reinserting Bay 2 does nothing, I have to reinsert Bay 1 to get it to recognize any drives... but it then only detects Bay 2.
Removing Bay 2 makes Bay 1 detect, but then no other drives are detected until (you guessed it) Bay 1 is removed.
Doesn't matter how I switch the trays around, it's the same cycle every time.
 

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Your problem is called RAID backplane - it will limit the drives to 2.2Tb. SAS or SATA doesn’t make a difference in that case. The non RAID backplane works with the drives. Same situation on a Mac Pro 4.1 or 5.1 with installed raid card.
Not sure if you can flash the non raid firmware into a raid backplane - both use a Lsi 1064e, never tried that. The chip supports JBOD, but not sure how the rest of the raid chips will react.
Take a look on the bay, sometimes they are sold separately. Changing the backplane is not a big thing.
 
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willowthewisp said:
Your problem is called RAID backplane - it will limit the drives to 2.2Tb. SAS or SATA doesn’t make a difference in that case. The non RAID backplane works with the drives. Same situation on a Mac Pro 4.1 or 5.1 with installed raid card.
Not sure if you can flash the non raid firmware into a raid backplane - both use a Lsi 1064e, never tried that. The chip supports JBOD, but not sure how the rest of the raid chips will react.
Take a look on the bay, sometimes they are sold separately. Changing the backplane is not a big thing.
Click to expand...
What part number am I looking for?
 
willowthewisp said:
It ONLY works in the 2006 and 2008 Xserves ! Not sure if it’s the pcbs firmware that’s not happy with the 3.1.
Click to expand...
Alright. I might just get a second 3,1 that has the regular SAS backplane and use that for all my storage stuff.
 
willowthewisp said:
It ONLY works in the 2006 and 2008 Xserves ! Not sure if it’s the pcbs firmware that’s not happy with the 3.1.
Click to expand...
Just to make sure, that backplane would allow using 6TB drives in an Xserve1,1 or 2,1?
 
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