3ware 8506-4LP not working after os upgrade

[Christiaan von Geldern]

Hi, 

 

I'm having problems upgrading FreeBSD from 4.9 to 5.3. The raid controller
did work flawless with the fresh 4.9 install. When booting from the 5.3 mini
install iso the system hangs when the next step is mounting the UFS root.
Safe mode boots without a problem. After upgrading to 5.3, the system hangs
at the same point freezes the system so even a reset doesn't help (need to
hard power down holding power button). I really need to power down and even
after that loading the kernel sometimes freezes. Again, booting in safe mode
is no problem at all. When booting the system loads the twe driver and seems
to recognize the 4 port raid controller. Loading the old 4.9 kernel again
doesn't have the problem. Nothing is in the logs, probably because the
driver freezes before it can write anything at all.

 

I've seen some little topics about similar problems, but the symptoms and
hardware aren't totally equal. Besides, I can't find what solved their
problems (besides downgrading or changing hardware). I even don't have the
resources to do that. My FreeBSD knowledge is not that really big, but I do
know the basics.

 

The system is a Supermicro case w/ P4SCT motherboard, 3ware 8506-4LP raid
controller and 4x Maxtor DiamondMax 9 160GB SATA drive (3x raid5, 1x hot
spare).

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS: An upgrade with a Supermicro case w/ dual xeon motherboard, 3ware
8006-2LP raid controller and 2x Maxtor DiamondMax 9 120GB SATA drive (raid1)
didn't have the problem.