Question New issue...SAS drives not reading

[diaz1510]

OK, so a few days ago, I posted about SAS enclosures...well, update.

I currently have an LSI 9300-8i controller in my system. I realized after posting that enclosure question that I am only using one of the ports on the controller card. I am using a cable like this to connect 4 SATA drives to it:

I have no issues seeing those 4 SATA drives. I figured since I had an open port on the LSI card that I could buy a cable like this for it:

So I then connected 4 of my SAS drives to this cable and attached it to the open port on the controller. I then used an old PSU that I have jumpered to run as a separate power supply and connected SATA power cables to the SAS cable. When powering everything up, I can't see my SAS drives at all. I am entering the LSI BIOS to see what drives are connected to the controller. I have 12 SAS drives (they are all Hitachi MG04SCA4OEN SAS 12GBs drives). Here is what I did to trouble shoot:

1. Went through all 12 SAS drives, unable to see any of them.
2. Switched ports on the controller card for the SATA and SAS cable. Still able to see all 4 SATA drives and can't see SAS drives.
3. Attempted to remove SATA cable so only the SAS drives are on the controller, still no SAS drives show up.
4. Tested power supply to ensure 12V and 5V are being supplied correctly. All is good there. I'll be honest though, it's really hard to tell if these drives are spinning up. Either they are super quiet but I don't hear them do anything, nor do I feel like they are spinning at all.

I guess it COULD be possible all 12 drives are dead, but it seems highly unlikely. Full disclosure, they are used drives, but came from a reputable source. I am leaning toward the cable being the issue, but I only have one mini-SAS to SAS cable, so I can't test this theory at the moment. Although it is brand new from Amazon, never been used.

My question: Before I go and buy another cable, is there anything I can do? Is there a setting in the LSI BIOS I need to enable in order to use SAS drives? Do I not have the right controller?

Any tips or help to figure this out would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fzabkar]

The drives may need a START STOP UNIT command to spin them up.

https://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/support/docs/manual/Interface manuals/100293068j.pdf (page 223)

 

[diaz1510]

The drives may need a START STOP UNIT command to spin them up.

https://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/support/docs/manual/Interface manuals/100293068j.pdf (page 223)

Hmmm....I gotta apologize for bein a noob in this area (but I'm a quick study). How would I invoke this? I'll be honest, the manual you sent might as well be in another language...

I'm on Windows. The drives can't be seen even in the LSI BIOS...

Thank you for the quick response. btw.

 

[fzabkar]

I don't have a SAS or SCSI drive, so I can't help you. I would have thought that the LSI BIOS should still have seen your drives, though.

If you want to check your PCBs, I could show you what to test, if you have a multimeter.