# LSI SAS2308 pcie driver compatibility



## vecihi (Jan 10, 2013)

hello,

I have Intel raid controller, chipset used LSI SAS2308 (LSI logic). 
I read FreeBSD hardware guide and I found:

The mps(4) driver supports the following controllers:


LSI Logic SAS2004 (4 Port SAS)
LSI Logic SAS2008 (8 Port SAS)
LSI Logic SAS2108 (8 Port SAS)
LSI Logic SAS2116 (16 Port SAS)
LSI Logic SAS2208 (8 Port SAS)

How can I use it? I can't find compatible driver.


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## usdmatt (Jan 10, 2013)

It's possible that the mps() driver in FreeBSD doesn't support the 2308 chipset yet.
You can try your luck loading the LSI provided FreeBSD driver for one of their HBA's that uses the same chipset; Such as this one: http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/LSISAS9207-4i4e.aspx

Don't know what version of FreeBSD you're using but they have a driver for 9.0 which may also load on 9.1.


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## vecihi (Jan 10, 2013)

I will try to use LSI's driver on FreeBSD 8.3 or 8.2, I will share result.
Should I write to FreeBSD mailing lists about 2308 chipset issue? Or can I watch progress or maybe I can contribute?

Thank you,
best regards


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## xibo (Jan 14, 2013)

I have a LSI2008 based SuperMicro HBA and it works fine with FreeBSD-9.1 and without loading any modules since the relevant ones are linked into the kernel in GENERIC. I *thought* it used the mpt(4) driver rather than the mps(4) one but I might be remembering it poorly and can't check it now either.


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## vecihi (Jan 14, 2013)

xibo I tried mpt(4) driver for LSI SAS2308, not worked.


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## Crest (Jan 14, 2013)

xibo said:
			
		

> I have a LSI2008 based SuperMicro HBA and it works fine with FreeBSD-9.1 and without loading any modules since the relevant ones are linked into the kernel in GENERIC. I *thought* it used the mpt(4) driver rather than the mps(4) one but I might be remembering it poorly and can't check it now either.



For some chips it depends on the installed firmware if the mpt driver or the mps driver attaches to them. If the so called "IT firmware" is installed it will be claimed by the mps driver and used a HBA only. This is the optimal configuration for ZFS.


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## vecihi (Jan 17, 2013)

usdmatt said:
			
		

> It's possible that the mps() driver in FreeBSD doesn't support the 2308 chipset yet.
> You can try your luck loading the LSI provided FreeBSD driver for one of their HBA's that uses the same chipset; Such as this one: http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/LSISAS9207-4i4e.aspx
> 
> Don't know what version of FreeBSD you're using but they have a driver for 9.0 which may also load on 9.1.



FREEBSD_MPS_SAS2.tar.gz

driver downloaded... and 8_3_0 driver attached to freebsd 8.3 bootonly cd iso... and mpslsi.ko enabled in loader.conf than iso re-generated... but this driver didnt work too 

how can i request driver for this device? should i share it at freebsd-hardware maillist?


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## gattebury (Feb 27, 2013)

Minor thread necromancy, but as this is the first hit for 'FreeBSD LSI 2308' on google I figured it could use an update.

I just got FreeBSD 9.1 amd64 going happily on a Supermicro 6047R-E1R36L which has an onboard LSI 2308 in IT mode. The original post mentioned an Intel PCIe card with the 2308 chipset, but hopefully there aren't too many hidden differences, especially once in IT mode.

I had no problems installing straight onto drives on the LSI 2308, and the mps(4) driver shows everything correctly similar to the following:


```
mps0: <LSI SAS2308> port 0x8000-0x80ff mem 0xdfa40000-0xdfa4ffff,0xdfa00000-0xdfa3ffff irq 34 at device 0.0 on pci3
mps0: Firmware: 14.00.00.00, Driver: 14.00.00.01-fbsd
mps0: IOCCapabilities: 1285c<ScsiTaskFull,DiagTrace,SnapBuf,EEDP,TransRetry,EventReplay,HostDisc>
da25 at mps0 bus 0 scbus0 target 34 lun 0
da26 at mps0 bus 0 scbus0 target 35 lun 0
... etc
```

I just discovered this particular chassis can support drives internally (under the motherboard) and now have the OS drives (a gmirror raid1) internal and connected to the motherboard SATA controller. All 36x external drives on the 2308 are used in ZFS pools.

I've hammered away at ZFS for a bit and had no issues so far. Fingers crossed. Seems, at least for an onboard Supermicro version, the LSI 2308 works fine with FreeBSD 9.1.


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## Crest (Feb 27, 2013)

Do yourself a favor and replace the gmirror+UFS with a mirrored ZFS pool as root filesystem. Otherwise UFS and ZFS will trash each others buffer caches under memory pressure.


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