ZFS "zpool replace" problems

[Jeremy Chadwick]

On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 08:15:27AM -0800, Chuck Swiger wrote:
> Hi--
> 
> On Jan 26, 2010, at 7:03 AM, Gerrit Kühn wrote:
> [ ... ]
> > atapci4 at pci0:3:6:0:     class=0x010401 card=0x02409005 chip=0x02401095
> > rev=0x02 hdr=0x00 vendor     = 'Silicon Image Inc (Was: CMD Technology
> > Inc)' device     = 'SATA/Raid controller(2XSATA150) (SIL3112)'
> >    class      = mass storage
> >    subclass   = RAID
> > 
> > Meanwhile I took out the ad18 drive again and tried to use a different
> > drive. But that was listed as "UNAVAIL" with corrupted data by zfs.
> 
> There's your problem-- the Silicon Image 3112/4 chips are remarkably buggy and exhibit data corruption:
> 
>   http://unix.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/FreeBSD/stable/2005-08/0208.html

Well, to be fair, we can't be 100% certain he got bit by that bug.  It's
possible/likely, but we don't know for certain at this point.  We also
don't know what brand hard disks he had connected to ad16 and/or ad18.

Older Silicon Image controllers are known for..... well, just read the
Wikipedia entry for details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Image_Inc.#Product_alerts

I don't have any experience with their newer models, but I'm told
they're significantly improved (throughput and reliability-wise).

But it is amusing, almost ironic, how Silicon Image bought CMD -- the
same company who was infamous for their CMD640 IDE controller causing
data corruption... back in 1995.

As others have stated already: Intel could make a fortune off of a
simple PCIe or PCI-X SATA controller card that's ICH9/ICH10-based.  I
guess there's more money in forcing people to buy motherboards with said
southbridge.

-- 
| Jeremy Chadwick                                   jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking                       http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator                  Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977.              PGP: 4BD6C0CB |