How can I make LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i working under ESXi 5.0?

[Kubicz]

Hi guys,

I've read a lot of discussion all around the Internet, mostly found some issues regarding LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i, which differs from mine card just by having 2 mini-SAS ports instead of one, driver for this controller should be the same.

In ESXi 5.0 there was some workaround handling with ESXi Customization, so the driver should be placed into the original ISO file. In ESXi 5.0 U1 should be driver for LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i/LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i natively, but it still doesn't work for me.

Important information is when controller is not plugged into PCI-e x16 port, everything works fine (ESXi Installer will pass and ESXi is running from selected device).

My problem is: When trying to boot ESXi Installer (5.0/5.0 U1) everytime I got stucked when drivers are beeing loaded, namely "megaraid_sas". Screen looks like this:

Anyone can give me some serious help?

Thanks in advance,

Jakub Rybar (Kubicz)

[Sreejesh_D]

It seems there is no inbox driver for 9240-4i in ESXi, couldnt find it in VMware HCL. In that case we've to download driver from LSI (http://www.lsi.com/support).

[Kubicz]

OK, I will explain what I've already done before opening this thread.

I have found an ESXi-Customizer on http://v-front.blogspot.com and I have also downloaded VIB file for 9240-4i on LSI page.

Problem is that when importing a working driver for 9240-4i, there is still the wrong driver, loaded as a process called "megaraid_sas". Problem might be that I am not overwriting the old driver.

Is there any possibility how to delete original "megaraid_sas" driver and than I should be able to import there suitable "megaraid_sas" driver supporting 9240-4i.

Thanks for replies!

JR

[Sreejesh_D]

It seems, we don't need to remove the existing inbox driver.

here's a customer who had the same issue. (Please ignore if you saw this thread already).

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/336077

1. Download driver from http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/dt_esxi50_lsi_2108_v534/dHRAYnRqZWRiZHAlZA==#drivers_tools

2. Use http://v-front.blogspot.co.uk/p/esxi-customizer.html or VMware image builder to inject the driver.

If its not working please post the query in above thread, hope you will get a response from the initiator of the thread.

[Kubicz]

Hi,

I have done what is written in the proposed thread, but it doesn't work for me, ESXi is behaving still the same.

I will place my question directly to this thread.

Thanks!

JR

[Kubicz]

Hi,

so finally I have found out a working conditions for LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i under ESXi 5 on my mainboard ASUS P9X79.

1. I have tested 2 versions of ESXi (5 and 5 Update 1) and on both should LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i work.
2. Important is setting in the BIOS, where should be "PCI ROM Priority" set to EFI Compatible ROM.

Hopefully this will help those who would struggle with the same issue!

JR

[Sreejesh_D]

Thats a new info. Thanks for sharing it.

[caraboy]

Hello,

Maybe this topic can help you: http://tinkertry.com/lsi92658iesxi5/

It`s a different board, but the principle is the same.

The only thing not working fine for me is the Megaraid Storage Manager. It`s impossible to work with it, it`s very slow, and fails to detect the server most of the time, from a remote client.

[aris]

Hi everyone,

I have the exact same problem with an LSI 9240-i4. I've tried ESXi5.0 update 1, 5.1 and a custom 5.1 with the driver from VMware (at which moment it told me I was erasing a more recent driver with mine).

Always blocked at the module loading. the VMKernel log show some kind of timeouts/resets.

I have no option for the PCI UEFI boot.

My board is a quite recent ASRock (consumer) with UEFI and an AMD CPU.

Installing ESXi outside of the RAID is not an option since I plan to only use the RAID drives (installing it on non-raid would defeat the purpose of raid).

I'd appreciate some suggestion, I'm completely stuck.

Thanks,

Aris

[aris]

I found a partial answer, that works for me but is not perfect.

I flashed the board on another computer. It still doesn't work as expected but at least the firmware is newer. I figured on that after 6 or 7 minutes ESXi ends up booting with a proper detection of the RAID array. I also managed to add disks on runtime and it seems to work without errors.

so if you have the same problem as me: BE PATIENT

[BreathOfIT]

I have a LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i I'm trying very hard to get running. I am using a Supermicro MBD-PDSMA+-O motherboard. I'm running ESXi 5.0 on a Vertex 4 SSD as my boot drive.

My system is hanging on the loading megaraid_sas ... screen.

I wasn't able to boot off the CD in order to install ESXi with the raid controler installed. I removed the raid card to finish the install. It still hangs up. So than I reremoved the raid card. SSH'ed in and used "esxcli software vib remove" to remove all of the stuff that started with megaraid. I went to LSI's site got the latest ESXi drivers installed those and it's still hangs. It has been sitting on that screen for about an hour.

Any ideas at this point would be helpful.

[BreathOfIT]

I started to get worried that there may be something wrong with my card... I decided to to connect a new HDD and install windows so I could at least test the card. Even windows got hung up while installing drivers. Oddly though, after I restarted the server for the first time I saw the <control> + <h> screen during boot. From that point on the card works like a snap in 5.0... I'm not sure what loading the drivers in windows did (perhaps some sort of firmware reset), but it's working awesome for me now.

[Datacraft]

Hi All

Just like to add I just had the same issue with a 9240 8i. Always sticks on megaraid installer screen. Tried the EFI rom option that did not work. Only when I flashed the firmware on the 9240 card in another PC did it work. Again you still need to wait a few mins for it to get past the message.

Tony

[parahumanoid]

Folks, 9240-4i differs from 9240-8i only in number of ports.  I am running the latter on a white box with no issues whatsoever, so carefully examine your BIOS settings, it's all in the motherboard.  I am using an ASUS Sabertooth X58 and it's running just fine.  The only issue I'm having is getting the raid health info to show up in vsphere client, but that's in a different thread.

[aris]

The problem is that this LSI MegaRAID thing is crap. It doesn't work correctly on UEFI Bios no matter how many patches I applied on both the firmware of the LSI card and motherboard.

There is an open untouched ticket at LSI. Last time I buy LSI hardware.

[parahumanoid]

Possibly.  You get what you pay for.  This is one of the more affordable controllers.  I wouldn't expect a whole lot more for a home lab.  Production environment would call for a more beefy controller anyway.

[jonmarsh]

Hi guys,

Just in case anyone still has this issue.

I came across this problem when installing ESXi 6.0 on a UCS B230 M2.

I found changing the boot option (so for a Cisco UCS server the boot option in the boot policy) from UEFI to Legacy solved the issue.

Zipped straight past the loading megaraid_sas module after that.

Thanks

[calleboy]

Hi,

I have the same problem with a HP Z230 machine I wan´t do install ESXi at and use my LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i. I have tried to remove UEFI on all places in BIOS I can find

But still the same problem. I have tried to "inject" the vib driver and verified that it is installed but still the same problem

When I use latest ESXi 6.. the boot stays at loadin module megaraid-sas but after some minutes it is going further and when I enther Alt + F1 I got this message

Anyone have some more ideas how I can solve this problem and use my controller card as it was ment to be used?

[kirieshka]

Hi,

thanks for Info.

Ich have Supermicro Board X11SSA-F + LSI 9240-4i with equal error.

In BIOS switched Legasy -> EFI for PCI-E Slot, where RAID seat had helped for me!