[zfs][hardware] Reproducible kernel panic in 8.0-STABLE

Stephane LAPIE stephane.lapie at darkbsd.org
Sun Feb 7 16:27:09 UTC 2010


Torsten Kersandt wrote:
> Hi Stephane
> 
> I currently use some excellent cards from Supermicro, and these seem to be
> the only 8 port PCIx and PCI-E available on the market running on 
> The marvel chipset.
> I would not use them for RAID but as SATA/SAS controllers very good.
> 
> Supermicro 8 Port SATA 2 Card (PCI/PCI-X) AOC-SAT2-MV8
> Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port (PCI-E)SAS/SATA Card
> 
> For about £80.00/USD130.00 each - not bad
> 
> Regards
> Torsten

Actually, I do have both cards.

I have been using them for one year now, and I can say this about both 
of them :

-> Supermicro 8 Port SATA 2 Card (PCI/PCI-X) AOC-SAT2-MV8

This is what I am using right now, I have a server with two of them. 
It's chip is a Marvell MV88SX6081 8-port SATA II PCI-X Controller.

I had virtually nothing to say against this card while using it under 
FreeBSD up to 7.2-STABLE, but it seems drive hotplug handling is truly 
lacking in 8.X, though whether this is a problem on the card's side or 
on some recent change in ATA handling on FreeBSD's side is lost on me.

But the current reality is that I am getting random kernel panics for 
what seems to be ATA queue handling woes.

Also, re-detection of drives in BIOS seems to be utterly buggy, so the 
above hotplug handling problem might be related to the hardware itself.

-> Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port (PCI-E)SAS/SATA Card

This controller does not have a driver for FreeBSD, as of 8.0-STABLE, 
and documentation for it is not public. I have asked sam@ for advice and 
help on obtaining documentation.

As an additional comment :

Plus, I tried it under Linux, and the mvsas driver available for it is 
less than satisfying. Drive disconnection/hiccups handling is severely 
lacking, and I busted several mdadm RAIDs while using this card in test 
machines, upon "going over the speed limit" and losing all plugged in 
drives until next reboot.

(To be fair, the SVN version of the mvsas driver is a little more 
stable, but in a "I will only disconnect one drive at a time, so if you 
see one drive going down, you'll have the time to shut down the RAID 
array" way.)

(As a result, I couldn't exactly say I am satisfied with Marvell on 
FreeBSD so far. I am seriously considering going for Areca.)

Best regards,
-- 
Stephane LAPIE, EPITA SRS, Promo 2005
"Even when they have digital readouts, I can't understand them."
--MegaTokyo

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