HighPoint RR2720A User manual

Linux Debian on RR2720A Installation Guide
HighPoint RR2720A
RAID Controller
Linux Debian
Installation Guide
Copyright © 2023 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Last updated on April 10, 2023

Linux Debian on RR2720A Installation Guide
i
Table of Contents
1 Overview .......................................................................................................................................1
2 Installing Linux Debian on RR2720A RAID controller............................................................1
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation..........................................................................1
Step 2 Check System EFI Settings............................................................................................1
Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to RAID Controller ............................................................................3
Step 4 Create Array ...................................................................................................................4
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette............................................................................................5
Step 6 Install Linux Debian.......................................................................................................5
3 Installing RAID Management Software.....................................................................................9
4 Troubleshooting............................................................................................................................ 9
5 Rebuilding Driver Module for System Update ........................................................................10
6 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................10

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1 Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide clear instructions on how to install Linux
Debian on the RR Series RAID controller.
Supported system: Debian 10.1/10.2/10.3/10.4/10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8/10.9/11.3/
11.4/11.5/11.6
Supported controller: RR2720A
2 Installing Linux Debian on RR2720A RAID
controller
If you would like to install Linux Debian onto drives attached to RR2720A RAID
controller, please perform the following operations:
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation
After you attach your hard disks to RAID controller, you can use EFI Utility to configure
your hard disks as RAID arrays, or just use them as single disks.
Before installation, you must remove all the Hard disks, which are not physically attached
to RAID controller, from your system.
Note
RAID Controller support EFI boot. If you have other SCSI adapters installed, you must
make sure the RR2720A controller EFI will be loaded firstly. If not, try to move it to
another PCI slot. Otherwise you may be unable to boot up your system.
Step 2 Check System EFI Settings
In your system EFI SETUP menu, change Boot Sequence in such a way that the system
will first boot from EFI CDROM or EFI a Bootable USB drive, after you finish
installation, set RR Series RAID as the first boot device to boot up the system. Refer to
your motherboard EFI manual to see how to set boot sequence.
1. Set UEFI setting with SuperMicro X11DPi-NT motherboard as an example.
a. "Advanced->PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration->CPUSlot PCI-E OPROM"
to "EFI". Suppose RAID Controller is connected to motherboard CPU1 Slot 2
PCI-E X16, then you should set "CPU1 Slot 2 PCI-E X16 OPROM" to "EFI";

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b. Disable "Secure Boot", set "Attempt Secure Boot" to "Disabled".
2. Set UEFI setting with GA-X570 AORUS MASTER motherboard as an example.
a. Set " Boot->CSM Support " to "Enabled";
b. And" Boot-> Storage Boot Option Control " to "UEFI Only";

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3. Set UEFI setting with ASUS PRIME X299 -DELUXE motherboard as an example:
a. Set "Boot from Storage Devices" to "UEFI driver first";
b. And "Boot Device Control" to "UEFI Only" or "UEFI and Legacy OPROM";
c. Set "OS Type" to "Other OS".
Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to RAID Controller
For Example RR2720A：
Note
： Make sure your USB flash partition format is FAT32.
a. Unzip RR2720A UEFI package to root dir(/) of a USB flash drive, and insert the
USB flash drive to the motherboard;
b. Booting from the UEFI USB flash and enter the UEFI environment;

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c. Command with “rr2720.nsh”, flash UEFI rom to RR2720A Controller and reboot;
Step 4 Create Array
a. Attach two hard disks to RR2720A Controller;
b. Boot, enter the motherboard’s Boot List and select start from UEFI USB flash:
c. Command “ArrayCreate.efi” to enter the Utility:
d. Command “create RAID0”.
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.

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e. Command “exit”；
f. For more command usages, refer to Appendix A.
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette
The directory named hptdd can be created in the USB flash drive and the driver RR3740a
_ debian_11.6.0 _x86_64 _ vx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.tar.gz can be extracted in the hptdd directory.
It will look like:
Step 6 Install Linux Debian
For Example：Debian11.6
a. Before you do the following, verify the status of your network environment. To
ensure a proper installation, it is recommended to disconnect the network and install
the system in a network less environment.
b. Insert the USB flash drive to the target system.
c. Booting from Bootable USB drive (EFI mode).
d. When the following window appears, press “Graphical Install” to start
e. When the following window appears during the installation process,

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Press "Ctrl+ALT+F2" to switch to the shell on console 2, and the then execute following
commands to copy the driver contents:
# mkdir /hptdd ← Create mount point for USB flash drive
# mount /dev/sda1 /hptdd/← Mount the USB flash drive to /hptdd
#cp -a /hptdd/hptdd /tmp/ ← Copy driver installation file to system temporary
directory
# umount /hptdd ← Umount the USB flash drive
When the USB flash drive is unmounted, please unplug the USB flash drive from the
mainboard. And then execute following command to install driver to install the Linux
Debian.
# sh /tmp/hptdd/preinst.sh ← Load driver.
f. Then press “ALT+F5” to switch back to installation screen and continue the installation
as usual.
g. Now click the “Go Back” button to detect the disk.

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h. Now click the “Detect disks” button and “Continue” to detect the disk.
i. When the screen shows that “Finish the installation”.
press “Ctrl+ALT+F2” to the shell and type the following commands:
# sh /tmp/hptdd/postinst.sh ← Install driver.
A message will be displayed that the driver has been installed successfully.

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j. Press “ALT+F5” to switch back to installation screen and finish the installation.
k. If you want to boot from another kernel, please install the RR2700 Series opensource
driver after entering the system.
l. Restart to enter the system, please connect to the internet:
01. Linux opensource driver link, open the following link to enter the "Software
Download" page to download:
RR2720A Series: https://www.highpoint-tech.com/rr272x-overview
02. Please execute the following command before installing the driver
# umount /dev/sda1
# mount /dev/sda1 /media/cdrom
Note: sda1 is Bootable USB drive, the default repository path is cdrom, so we need to
adjust the ISO image mount path to /mnt/cdrom
# apt install gcc
# apt install make
# apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
03. Extract driver package:
tar zxvf RR272x_1x_Linux_X86_64_Src_vx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.tar.gz
04. Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
sh rr272x_1x-linux-src-vxx.x.x-xx_xx_xx.bin or
./rr272x_1x-linux-src-vxx.x.x-xx_xx_xx.bin
m. Follow the prompts to complete the driver installation.
n. After the installation is complete, you can perform system update operations.

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3 Installing RAID Management Software
HighPoint RAID Management Software is used to configure and keep track of your hard
disks and RAID arrays attached to RR2720A RAID Controller. Installation of the
management software is optional but recommended.
Please refer to HighPoint RAID Management Software documents for more information.
4 Troubleshooting
If you do not install the system or update the kernel according to the installation manual,
the system will crash and you will not be able to enter. Please follow the steps below.
Press ESC when booting, until the following interface appears. Choose “Advanced options
for Debian” and press Enter
Select the default kernel (5.19.0-21-generic) and enter the system.
Install Linux Opensource driver.
RR2720A Series: https://www.highpoint-tech.com/rr272x-overview
sh rr272x_1x-linux-src-vxx.x.x-xx_xx_xx.bin

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5 Rebuilding Driver Module for System Update
When the system updates the kernel packages, the driver module rr272x_1x.ko should be
built and installed manually before reboot.
Please refer to the README file distributed with HighPoint RR2720A RAID Controller
opensource package on how to build and install the driver module.
6 Appendix A
Support command: help/info/quit/exit/create/delete
Create Command
Syntax
Create Array Type (RAID0/1/10/5/50) Member Disk list (1/1, 1/2|*)
Capacity (100|*)
Note:
The RR2720A controllers can support RAID0/1/10/5/50
Examples
<<< create RAID0
<<< create RAID0 *
<<< create RAID0 * *
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
<<< create RAID1 1/1, 1/3 10
Create RAID1 array with disk 1/1 and 1/3 and with 10GB capacity.
<<< create RAID10 *
Create RAID10 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
<<< create RAID5 *
Create RAID5 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
<<< create RAID50,3 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6
Create RAID50 array with disk 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6 and with
sub member count 3 and with maximum capacity.

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Delete Command
Syntax
delete {array ID}
Examples
<<< delete 1
Delete the first array from Logical device list.
<<< delete 2
Delete the second array from Logical device list.
Info Command
Syntax
info
Display physical device list and logical list
Exit Command
Syntax
Q/q/quit/exit
Quit the application
Help Command
Syntax
H/h/help
This is help message.