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README.TXT

Adaptec ASR-7805/ASR-7805Q/ASR-71605/ASR-71605Q/ASR-71605E/ASR-71685/ASR-72405 SAS/SATA RAID Controllers
AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit

NOTE:  All Adaptec by PMC products are UL listed and for use only with UL listed ITE.

as of May 2, 2013
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Please review this file for important information about issues
and errata that were discovered after completion of the standard
product documentation. In the case of conflict between various
parts of the documentation set, this file contains the most
current information.

The following information is available in this file:

   1. New Features in this Release
   2. Software and Documentation
      2.1   Driver & Utility Software
      2.2   Documentation
   3. Installation and Setup
      3.1   Installation Instructions
      3.2   DKMS Driver Setup for Red Hat 6/CentOS 6
      3.3   uEFI-Mode OS Setup
      3.4   AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit Setup
      3.5   Solaris 11 Express Setup
      3.6   Fedora Linux Setup  
      3.7   Debian Linux Setup 
      3.8   Ubuntu Linux Setup 
      3.9   Adaptec maxCache Setup
      3.10  maxCache Container Configuration
   4. Known Limitations
      4.1   Installation DVD
      4.2   Linux Boot Device 
      4.3   FreeBSD Issues
      4.4   AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit            
      4.5   ATAPI Devices
      4.6   Drive Compatibility Issues
      4.7   System Compatibility Issues
      4.8   RAID 50/RAID 60, Max Drives
      4.9   Solaris 32-bit Array Size Limits
      4.10  HDA Mode Reset 
      
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1. New Features in this Release

   - Dual firmware flash image support (Adaptec Series 7 controllers only)
   
     Adds redundancy to controller firmware, with support for active
     and passive images. Built-in logic determines the "right time" to
     update from passive to active, either at shutdown or boot up, and
     is designed to protect against image corruption or data loss due 
     to power failure during image update. If the update occurs in the
     boot path, a server reboot is expected. Additionally, you must be 
     running the latest drivers.
     
     NOTE: This feature is enabled only when upgrading from and to a 
     firmware version that supports dual firmware images. For customers
     updating from an earlier Adaptec release (2012.3 or 2012.4MR),  
     there is no change in behavior. The firmware image is updated 
     in one stage. 
     
   - Background controller rescan
   
     Controller rescan runs in the background, asynchronously, in BIOS, 
     ARCCONF, and maxView Storage Manager. When rescan is started,
     a message is displayed stating that the process is running in the
     background and may take 10 minutes to complete. Another message 
     is displayed if a rescan is started while one is already in 
     progress. When the rescan is finished, maxView Storage Manager 
     displays a rescan complete event. Rescan status can also be 
     obtained with ARCCONF getstatus.

   - AFM-700 supercapacitor lifetime estimation monitoring
     
     Enhanced supercapacitor health monitoring information in BIOS 
     and command line (ARCCONF getconfig), including charge level,
     max voltage, and estimated life. The AFM-700 serial number is
     also displayed.
     
   - Bugfixes

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2. Software and Documentation

   2.1 Driver & Utility Software

       - Adaptec Firmware/BIOS/Drivers/Utilities Version 1.02
       
       - Adaptec maxView Storage Manager Version 1.02

         NOTE: The latest versions of firmware, BIOS, driver software 
         and utilities can be downloaded from the Adaptec Web Site at 
         www.adaptec.com.
                          
       - Drivers on this DVD
      
         The drivers on this DVD have been tested and certified on  
         the following operating systems. In general, you can load   
         the drivers on out-of-box operating system versions, the  
         latest service pack, or software update. Compatibility   
         issues may be seen with untested OS versions.
               
         Windows Drivers: 
  
         o Windows Server 2012, 2008, 32-bit and 64-bit
         o Windows Server 2008 R2, 64-bit
         o Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 (all versions)
         o Windows SBS 2011 (all versions)
         o Windows 7, Windows 8, 32-bit and 64-bit
          
         Linux Drivers:

         o Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3, 5.9, IA-32 and x64
         o SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, 10, IA-32 and x64     
         o Debian Linux 6.0, IA-32 and x64
         o Ubuntu Linux 12.04, 11.04, 10.04, IA-32 and x64
         o Fedora Linux 18, 17, IA-32 and x64
         o CentOS 6.3, 5.9

         FreeBSD Drivers:

         o FreeBSD 9.1, 8.2
                     
         Virtual OS Drivers:
	        
         o VMware ESX 4.1 
         o VMware ESXi 5.1
         o Citrix XenServer 6.1

         Solaris Drivers:
          
         o Solaris 10 U9
         o Solaris 11 Express*
           
         *Not Supported on Bootable Arrays; see Section 3.5.         
        
   2.2 Documentation on this DVD 
  
       PDF Format (English/Japanese):
        
       - Adaptec SAS RAID Controllers Installation and User's Guide 
       - Adaptec RAID Controller Command Line Utility User's Guide
       - maxView Storage Manager User's Guide               
       - Adaptec SAS RAID Controllers Quick Start Guide (multi-lingual)                

       HTML and Text Format:

       - maxView Storage Manager Online Help
       - Adaptec SAS RAID Controllers README.TXT file

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3. Installation and Setup

   3.1 Installation Instructions

       The Adaptec SAS RAID Controllers Installation and User's Guide
       contains complete installation information for the controllers
       and drivers. The Adaptec RAID Controllers Command Line Utility
       User's Guide contains complete installation information for
       ARCCONF. The maxView Storage Manager User's Guide contains  
       complete installation information for the maxView Storage  
       Manager software.        

   3.2 DKMS Driver Setup for Red Hat 6/CentOS 6 
      
       Installation instructions for Red Hat 6/CentOS 6 drivers with
       Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) are provided in the 
       RAID Controllers Installation and User's Guide. DKMS ensures  
       that the driver remains installed across OS updates. For DKMS
       driver instructions for other linux OSs, contact Adaptec support 
       or search the Adaptec Support Knowledgebase (ASK) at www.adaptec.com. 

   3.3 uEFI-Mode OS Setup
       
       Before attempting to install an operating system in uEFI mode, 
       you must delete all MBR partitions from the disk or reformat the 
       disk with GPT (GUID Partition Table). The installation may fail  
       if you try to install on a disk with a Master Boot Record (MBR) 
       partitioning scheme.

   3.4 AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit Setup
   
       The AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit includes three LEDs to help you
       monitor its status. See labels on daughterboard PCB for LED 
       locations.
       
       LED 'DS2': Charger Enabled
       
       DS2 Solid on    Charger Enabled
       DS2 Blinks      Charger Off (during cap learn cycle)
       DS2 Temporary   No Supercapacitor attached
           Blinks
           
       LED 'DS3': Supercapacitor power indication; 
                  Supercapacitor charge Bleeding LED
                 
       LED 'DS4': Blinks faster when backup in progress

   3.5 Solaris 11 Express Setup

       Installing Solaris 11 Express on a bootable array is not
       supported in this release.                           
                
   3.6 Fedora Linux Setup
  
       To avoid a known PCIe Active State Power Management issue under
       Fedora Linux 14, you must add the OS option `pcie_aspm=off` 
       in GRUB bootloader file "menu.lst". Follow these instructions:
       
       1. When the first Fedora installation screen appears, press
          the 'Tab' key. 
          
       2. Before pressing the first 'reboot' button, edit grub/menu.lst:

          o Press Alt+F2
          o cd /mnt/sysimage/boot/grub/
          o Open the menu.lst file 
          
       3. Add 'pcie_aspm=off' just after 'rhgb quiet'. The new line
          should look like this:

          root (hd0,0)
          kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.i686.PAE... rhgb quiet pcie_aspm=off
          
   3.7 Debian Linux Setup
  
       After installing the Debian Linux driver, you must replace the 
       SCSI Device Partition Name in Debians GRUB bootloader with  
       a UUID. Failure to update the partition name may cause the   
       system to hang when the OS is rebooted. In the GRUB bootloader  
       file "menu.lst", replace the SCSI device partition name 
       (for instance, /dev/sda1), with UUID=<string>.

   3.8 Ubuntu Linux Setup
   
       - When installing the driver on an existing Ubuntu 11 or 12 OS, 
         the install script may stop at "grep vermagic" if the OS is 
         already installed with Ubuntu-desktop packages. To avoid this  
         problem, always install the driver packages first:
         
         # sudo dpkg -i aacraid-1.2.1-29600-Ubuntu11.04+11.10+12.04-all.deb

         ...then install Ubuntu desktop utilities by doing an online update: 

         # sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

       - After installing the Ubuntu driver, you must increase the
         SCSI command timeout value from 30 seconds (the default 
         value) to 90 seconds. Failure to increase the timeout may  
         cause the system to hang with an EXT4 error when a good drive  
         is removed from a rebuilding array. Use these commands to   
         increase the timeout in SYSFS, assuming /dev/sda, /dev/sdb,  
         and /dev/sdc are the device LUNs on the Ubuntu Linux host:

         echo ``90``> /sys/block/sda/device/timeout
         echo ``90``> /sys/block /sdb/device/timeout
         echo ``90``> /sys/block/sdc/device/timeout                  
       
   3.9 Adaptec maxCache Setup
 
       - Adaptec maxCache SSD caching is supported on Adaptec Series Q 
         controllers only; see www.adaptec.com/compatibility for a
         list of maxCache-compatible SSD drives.
 
       - The maximum number of SSDs that you can install on a
         controller for maxCache caching applications is:
         
         7805Q: up to 8 SSDs, with 2TB total capacity
         71605Q: up to 16 SSDs, with 2TB total capacity
         6805Q/6805TQ: up to 8 SSDs, with 1TB total capacity

  3.10 maxCache Container Configuration

       The maxCache Container pre-fetches hot data blocks only for
       the first logical drive with maxCache write-caching enabled.
       Once the pre-fetch is complete, the container is considered 
       'configured' and no further pre-fetch occurs.
       
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4. Known Limitations

   4.1 Installation DVD
       
       The Installation DVD does not eject the DVD drive when you  
       reboot from the DVD Main menu.

   4.2 Linux Boot Device 
   
       Regardless of which device you select to install the OS, the
       boot record is always written to Device 0. As a result, 
       Linux will fail to boot if you delete or swap away Device 0.
       For example, if you create three arrays in the BIOS--VOL-0,
       VOL-1, and VOL-2--install the OS on VOL-1, then swap VOL-0 
       and VOL-2, Linux will fail to boot. Restore the original
       array sequence and Linux boots normally. Ideally, you should
       always install on Device 0.   

   4.3 FreeBSD Issues
   
       - Power management is not supported under FreeBSD.
       
       - maxView Storage Manager is not supported on FreeBSD. Use 
         ARCCONF to create and manage arrays.
         
   4.4 AFM-700 Flash Backup Unit
  
       Hot-plugging the AFM-700 supercapacitor module is not 
       recommended. Doing so may result in unusual status updates,
       such as Preparing to Dead to Ready.
         
   4.5 ATAPI Devices
      
       Adaptec Series 7 controllers do not support ATAPI CD-ROM, DVD,
       or tape devices.

   4.6 Drive Compatibility Issues

       - OCZ Vertex 4 SSDs are not supported in this release.        
       
       - With Seagate Constellation ES drives (eg, ST3500514NS) with 
         FW SN11, a medium error might result in SCSI command timeouts,  
         depending on the I/O load. This condition might be seen when 
         creating a logical drive with the 'build' initialization method.
         
       - With Hitachi HUA721050KLA330 hard drives, the drive LED blinks
         just once when using the CTRL-A BIOS 'Identify Drive' option.
         The LED blinks continuously if blinked from ARCCONF or 
         maxView Storage Manager.
         
       - With HP LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 tape drives, backup fails with Adaptec
         Series 7 controllers. WORKAROUND: Upgrade the drive firmware to
         A63D using an on-board SAS or SATA controller, then try again.
       
   4.7 System Compatibility Issues

       - Promise J630 and J830 enclosures are not supported in this
         release.
       
       - uEFI-mode setup is not supported on systems with Supermicro  
         X9SCL-LN4F or X9DRi-F motherboards.

   4.8 RAID 50/RAID 60, Max Drives
   
       The maximum number of drives in a RAID 50 or RAID 60 differ
       between maxView Storage Manager, ARCCONF, and the BIOS:
       
       - BIOS and ARCCONF: 128 drives max
          
         RAID 50 - From 2-16 legs with 3-32 drives/leg
         RAID 60 - From 2-16 legs with 4-16 drives/leg
    
       - maxView Storage Manager:  
       
         Assumes 2 legs for RAID 50/RAID 60 (non-selectable)
         RAID 50 3-32 drives/leg (64 total) 
         RAID 60 4-16 drives/leg (32 total)
         
   4.9 Solaris 32-bit Array Size Limits
   
       Due to an OS limitation in Solaris 32-bit systems,
       the practical limit for array size on Solaris 32 
       is 1TB. 
              
       NOTE: If you create a >1TB array, OS tools, such
       as format or fdisk, won't detect them.

  4.10 HDA Mode Reset 
  
       Adaptec Series 7 and Adaptec Series 6 controllers do not support 
       Mode 0 reset, using the AFU utility on the Adaptec Installation   
       DVD. These controllers are reset using the HDA mode jumper on    
       the controller board. If a HDA reset is required to recover 
       a controller, AFU cannot be used. Contact Adaptec by PMC 
       customer support for assistance. 
       
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This software is protected under international copyright laws and 
treaties. It may only be used in accordance with the terms 
of its accompanying license agreement.

The information in this document is proprietary and confidential to
PMC-Sierra, Inc., and for its customers' internal use. In any event,
no part of this document may be reproduced or redistributed in any
form without the express written consent of PMC-Sierra, Inc.,  
1380 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.

P/N DOC-01725-11-A Rev. A    