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In a Ubuntu system I have an LSI card with a 53C1030 controller and I'm getting write speeds to LTO4 tape at only 4MiBps. The drive should be capable of 120MBps.

I have found a copy of lsiutil and attempted to enable write caching but I don't have the proper options under the RAID menu.

Is there some other form of configuration I need to do? Or is there a compatibility or hardware problem?

Here is some information on the card:

$ lspci | grep SCSI
04:08.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI (rev c1)

Here is the result of identify in lsiutil

Current active firmware version is 01032700 (1.03.39)
Firmware image's version is MPTFW-01.03.39.00-IT
 LSI Logic
x86 BIOS image's version is MPTBIOS-5.05.21.00 (2005.10.03)
AkBKukU
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  • For starters, this is some seriously old equipment. Has it ever worked in this workload, or is this you putting it into service? – Spooler Apr 01 '18 at 04:37
  • This is a "new" installation of used equipment for personal use. These parts have never been used together before. – AkBKukU Apr 01 '18 at 04:51

2 Answers2

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I ran into this issue with an IBM LTO-4 drive on the same SCSI controller as the original question (LSI 53c1030). Interestingly the controller had no issues with a Tandberg (HP) LTO-4 drive. Both drives were external. Full speed on the HP drive, 1-4MB/s on the IBM. No issues with cabling or termination, although the IBM required an active terminator whereas the HP had one built in. No obvious configuration issues either.

Without knowing exactly what setting was causing the issue, I was able to resolve it by resetting the SCSI controller to defaults using lsiutil (option 61: restore default settings). You can find a mirror here: https://github.com/mute55/LSIUtil - I used version 1.62.

Dark
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  1. Caching does not work on tape/sequential devices.
  2. Make sure that each SCSI channel is properly set up:
    1. exactly two active, LVD or LVD/SE terminators
    2. at least one device providing termination power
    3. no mixing of single-ended and differential devices
    4. no branches
    5. decent LVD cables - LVD cables use twisted pairs, no straight ribbon
  3. Check the HBA's BIOS setup for device config, set the LTO to U320, synchronous, parity.
Zac67
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  • The LTO4 drive is the only device connected to the card. I believe it has a build in terminator. In BIOS I only get options for "multi initiator configuration". There are no pre-drive settings. – AkBKukU Apr 01 '18 at 15:58
  • "I believe it has a built-in terminator" is likely wrong. LVD devices usually don't. – Zac67 Apr 01 '18 at 16:07
  • https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E21418_01/en/CRCM2177/CRCM2177.pdf page 17 shows the jumper on the back for the terminator. I have a non-ribbon LVD cable. I'm not sure it it is internally twisted pair. – AkBKukU Apr 01 '18 at 16:53
  • That manual is for Certance LTO-1 and LTO-2 drives. These drives can optionally provide *termination power* which is *not termination* - check bottom of page 18. – Zac67 Apr 01 '18 at 17:08
  • Alright, my LTO4 drive also has that jumper but I cannot find an proper install manual for it so I just used the LTO1/2 version. But if it still isn't a built in terminator then it wont work. My cable only has two LVD connectors on it, so I assume I will need a pass-through terminator. – AkBKukU Apr 01 '18 at 17:23
  • What's the model? Are the jumpers labeled? Usually, `TE` stands for *termination enable* while `TP` refers to *termination power*. You need at least one device providing termination power (usually the HBA) and one active terminator on each end of the bus. – Zac67 Apr 02 '18 at 11:33
  • It's an HP EH921B. The jumpers are labeled. It is labeled as `TP`. It's in the middle of a 26hr write operation right now, tomorrow I'll try pulling the `TP` jumper to see if that makes a difference. Since there are only two LVD connectors on my cable adding a terminator(which I don't currently have) will be difficult. – AkBKukU Apr 02 '18 at 15:10
  • Disabling TP won't make a difference (unless it's the only TP, then it'll get worse). You need a terminator. You can get LVD cables with integrated terminators very cheap used. – Zac67 Apr 02 '18 at 16:41
  • In the [quickspecs](https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04123270.pdf?ver=14) page 13 you can read *No terminator is required for SCSI internal models (assumes use of terminated cable).* This implies there's no termination on the drive. – Zac67 Apr 03 '18 at 17:58
  • Ok, that's good to know. I've ordered a pass through terminator which I should receive in about a week. Thank you for the help. I'll report back with the outcome when I get the terminator installed. – AkBKukU Apr 03 '18 at 21:47
  • The [pass through terminator](https://i.imgur.com/tADdfkv.png) came in early and after installing it I'm still only getting ~4MiBps transfer rates. – AkBKukU Apr 06 '18 at 19:06
  • Termination was definitely off and is hopfully fixed now - the other terminator is from the HBA? Reread the checklist above, there may be multiple problems. The speed you're getting indicates that synchronous transfer fails altogether. – Zac67 Apr 07 '18 at 07:52
  • I got to the point where I had determined that there were no BIOS settings for the card because it had HP vendor firmware&BIOS on it. After hours of searching I tried flashing the closest firmware&BIOS I could find that were not vendor modified. It ended up bricking the card, which I somewhat expected. So I've got a replacement Adaptec SCSI card on the way now. – AkBKukU Apr 07 '18 at 18:40
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    I've got the new SCSI card installed an now I'm getting 60MiBps. So I'd say problem solved. – AkBKukU Apr 11 '18 at 00:02