HighPoint SSD7540 User manual

SSD7540 Linux CentOS8.2 Installation Guide
HighPoint NVMe RAID Controller
SSD7540 Linux CentOS8.2
Installation Guide
Vers ion 1.00
Copyright © 2020 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Last updated on November 6, 2020

SSD7540 Linux CentOS8.2 Installation Guide
i
Index
1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Installing Linux CentOS8.2 on SSD7540 controller ................................................................. 1
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation ......................................................................... 1
Step 2 Check System EFI Settings ............................................................................................ 1
Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to SSD7540 ........................................................................................ 4
Step 4 Create Array ................................................................................................................... 4
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette ............................................................................................ 6
Step 6 Install Linux CentOS8.2 ................................................................................................ 6
3 Monitoring the Driver ................................................................................................................. 9
4 Installing RAID Management Software ..................................................................................... 9
5 Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................................ 9

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1 Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide clear instructions on how to install Linux
CentOS8.2 on the SSD7540 controller.
For the CentOS8.2 (kernel: 4.18.0-193.el8)
Mirror link:
http://mirror.bit.edu.cn/centos/8.2.2004/isos/x86_64/CentOS-8.2.2004-x86_64-dvd1.iso
MD5: c88e54b25acb83b12ebaa06202db2ff8
2 Installing Linux CentOS8.2 on SSD7540 controller
If you would like to install Linux CentOS8.2 onto drives attached to SSD7540 controller,
please perform the following operations:
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation
After you attach your NVMe SSD to SSD7540 controller, you can use SSD7540 EFI
Utility to configure your NVMe SSD as RAID arrays, or just use them as single disks.
Before installation, you must remove all the NVMe SSD, which are not physically
attached to SSD7540 controller, from your system.
Note
SSD7540 only support EFI boot. If you have other SCSI adapters installed, you must
make sure the SSD7540 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, and then from SSD7540 RAID. Refer to your
motherboard EFI manual to see how to set boot sequence.
If your EFI settings do not support such a boot sequence, you can first set it to boot from
EFI CDROM. After you finish installation, set SSD7540 RAID as the first boot device to
boot up the system.
1. Set UEFI setting with SuperMicro X11DPi-NT motherboard as an example:
a. Set "Boot->mode select" to "UEFI";

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b. Set "Advanced->PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration->CPUSlot PCI-E OPROM" to "EFI".
If the SSD7540 has been connected to the motherboard CPU1Slot2 PCI-E X16，
you should set "CPU1Slot2 PCI-E X16 OPROM" to "EFI"；
c. Disable "Secure Boot", set " Secure Boot " to "Disabled"。
2. Set UEFI setting with ASUS PRIME X299 -DELUXE motherboard as an example
a. Set " Boot->CSM->Boot from Storage Devices" to "UEFI driver first";

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b. And " Boot->CSM->Boot Device Control" to "UEFI Only" or "UEFI and Legacy
OPROM";
c. Set " Boot->Secure Boot->OS Type" to "Other OS".
3. 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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Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to SSD7540
a. Unzip SSD7540 UEFI package to root dir (/) of a USB flash driver, and insert the
USB flash drive to the motherboard;
b. Booting from the UEFI USB flash and enter the UEFI environment;
c. Command with “go.nsh”, flash UEFI rom to SSD7540 Controller and reboot;
Step 4 Create Array
a. Attach eight NVMe SSD to SSD7540 Controller;
Note
Make%sure%your%USB%flash%partition%format%is%FAT32.%
b. Boot, in the presence of the motherboard Log screen, there will be NVMe SSD
information：

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c. Enter the motherboard’s Boot List and select start from UEFI USB flash:
d. Command ”Arraycreate.efi” to enter the Utility:
e. Command “create RAID0 ”.
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
f. Command “exit”；

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g. For more command usages, refer to Appendix A.
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette
a. Extract HighPoint_NVMe_CentOS_8u2_x86_64_ vx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.tar.gz to top(/)
directory of an USB flash drive. It will look like:
Step 6 Install Linux CentOS8.2
a. Insert the USB flash drive to the target system.
b. Booting from Installation DVD disc (EFI mode).
c. When the Installation screen appears:
If you want to choose the default system installation, please select "Install CentOS
Linux 8" to install, press ‘e’ to edit boot command line option.
On the edit command window, move the cursor to the end of line “linux
/casper/vmlinuz... ”, and append "modprobe.blacklist=nvme" (double quotation mark are
not include).
Press CTRL+X or F10 to start the system.
d. When the installation begins:

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Press Ctrl+ALT+F2 to switch new console window and press ENTER to activate this
console.
And the then execute following commands with root user to copy the driver contents.
# mkdir /dd ←Create mount point for USB flash drive
# mount /dev/sda1 /dd ←Mount the USB flash drive to /dd
#cp -a /dd/hptdd /tmp/hptdd ←Copy driver installation
file to system temporary directory
# umount /dd ←Unmount 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
CentOS.
#sh /tmp/hptdd/rhel-install-step1.sh ←Load SSD7540 driver.
e. After the above steps are completed, the system will automatically return to the
installation interface.

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f. Select “Continue” to continue installing the system.
g. When the installation prompts "Reboot"；
Press Ctrl + ALT + F2 and execute the following command to install the driver on Linux
CentOS on the SSD7540 array.
# cp -a /tmp/hptdd /mnt/sysimage/tmp/hptdd
←Copy the driver installation file to SSD7540.
# chroot /mnt/sysimage ←Switch to the top(/)
directory in the SSD7540 system.
# sh /tmp/hptdd/rhel-install-step2.sh
←Install SSD7540 driver.
# rm -rf /tmp/hptdd ←Delete the driver file in SSD7540.
# exit ←Exit the top(/) directory of the SSD7540 system.
h. Press Ctrl+ALT+F6 and Select "Reboot" to complete the installation。
i. Open source driver needs to be installed after system installation.
Linux open source driver link, open the following link to enter the "Software Download"
page to download:
https://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ssd7540-overview.htm
Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
# sh hptnvme_g5_linux_src_vxx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.bin

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j. Follow the prompts to complete the driver installation.
k. After the installation is complete, you can perform a system update operation.
3 Monitoring the Driver
Once the driver is running, you can monitor it through the Linux proc file system support.
There is a special file under /proc/scsi/hptnvme /. Through this file you can view driver
status and send control commands to the driver.
Note
The file name is the SCSI host number allocated by OS. If you have no other SCSI cards
installed, it will be 0. In the following sections, we will use x to represent this number.
Using the following command to show driver status:
# cat /proc/scsi/hptnvme/x
This command will show the driver version number, physical device list and logical device
list.
4 Installing RAID Management Software
HighPoint RAID Management Software is used to configure and keep track of your hard
disks and RAID arrays attached to SSD7540 controller.
Please refer to HighPoint RAID Management Software documents for more information.
5 Troubleshooting
Error1： If you fail to install the driver or restart the system after installing the driver, the
driver cannot be used. Please follow the steps below.
a. After entering the system, use the command to uninstall the original driver:
# hptuninhptnvme
b. Connect to the network and install the following package files:
# yum install elfutils-libelf-devel

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c. Install Linux open source driver.
Linux open source driver link, open the following link to enter the "Software
Download" page to download:
https://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ssd7540-overview.htm
Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
# sh hptnvme_g5_linux_src_vxx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.bin
d. Driver installation is complete, restart the system to see if the driver can be used
normally.
Error2：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.
a. After the system starts, select the default kernel (4.18.0-193.el8) and enter the
system.
b. Install Linux open source driver.
Linux open source driver link, open the following link to enter the "Software
Download" page to download:
https://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ssd7540-overview.htm
Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
# sh hptnvme_g5_linux_src_vxx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.bin

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c. The driver installation is complete. Reboot to enter the system where the new kernel
is located.
Appendix(A(
Support'command:'
help/info/quit/exit/create/delete.'
! Create'Command'
Syntax'
Create%Array%Type%(RAID0/RAID1/RAID10)%Member%Disk%list%
(1/1,1/2|*)Capacity(100|*)%
!
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%*% %
<<<%create%RAID10%*%*%
%%%%Create%RAID10%array%with%all%disks%and%with%maximum%
capacity.%
!
! 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.%

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!
! 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.%