S1200SPL and PCI-E USB 2.0 Cards for Bare Metal Restoration

[idata]

We ran into a problem on the original S1200BTL that was eventually resolved several firmware updates after we reported the problem and I'm now having a similar issue with the S1200SPl.

When trying to restore a system from dissimilar hardware running 2008r2 or SBS 2011, you of course have no USB after restoration due to the OS's not supporting USB 3.0 natively. Using other manufacturers hardware, it's a simple matter of installing a PCI-E USB 2.0 card and off you go. Log in, install the 3.0 drivers, powerdown and uninstall the 2.0 card. On the Intel platform, you get the initial beep codes then a non-blinking cursor in the upper left corner of the screen and that's it. We've tried this on several SPL's and used several different cards all to the same effect.

Has anyone found a USB 2.0 card that does not cause this issue? We've updated the boards to the latest firmware and it doesn't help. This is going to end up being a problem when IT companies that support 100's of clients run into issues where hardware crashes/dies and the servers need to be restored back to dissimilar hardware, especially this platform as it's very affordable.

Thanks for any input.

Regards,

D..

[idata · Accepted solution]

Hello,

According to our database, a case has been created for this report already. We will let you know of any updates. Thank you for your understanding.

[idata]

I am aware there is a case open as I am the one who opened it after dealing with less than helpful support who wasn't even going to open the case to begin with as no one else has reported the issue and it therefore it wasn't a problem. I also never received the support ticket email afterwards. An open case however, does not solve the problem.

We are one of the largest movers of Intel product in our area and support 100's of businesses. This is an issue that is occurring now and I reached out to the community for help to see if anyone else has yet to have the problem and might have a solution as Intel support was not helpful in the least. When this problem occurred with the original S1200BTL and PCI-E sata controllers, I was contacted by engineering who did a test lab and had the same issue. The issue was eventually resolved through a firmware update, but we had found our own solution before that happened. In this instance, the support technician I dealt with was not helpful until I mentioned previous contact was much more helpful.

I would prefer not to move to another manufactures product as this is not an issue with their systems as their support forums are what lead me trying the USB 2.0 card solution in the first place. We have clients dependent on being able to keep their businesses running in the event of hardware failures and bare metal restoration is very important. I will most likely be reaching out to our Intel representative today and letting him know of the problem as well.

Should the community have any ideas on a solution, input would be still be appreciated.

Regards,

Derek

[idata]

Hello Derek,

We apologized for any inconveniences with our support team but normally our recommendation for such issue is testing a different device to confirm the slot works fine, latest firmware on the board and card. You can try disabling features in the BIOS to save resources. Also, we would like to inform you there is a list of validated hardware for each Intel Server System on https://serverconfigurator.intel.com/exalt/RequestManager?ServletNumber=1&localinfo=0&RestrictionVal=SVG&APPLICATIONCODE=1 server configurator. If you are telling us that the hardware component you are having issues with is listed as validated on such website, then we can proceed to escalate to our engineering department for further investigation, If not; let me tell you that Intel build products due to industry standards but we cannot ensure compatibility with every single product on the market. Regarding future BIOS releases and their fixes, such information is completely out of our scope of support and the case number was provided to you via phone according to our database. Number is 01786762 in case you miss it. Thank you for your understanding.