HighPoint SSD7103 User manual

SSD7103 Linux Ubuntu 18.04.4 Server Installation Guide
HighPoint NVMe RAID Controller
SSD7103 Linux Ubuntu 18.04.4 Server
Installation Guide
Version 1.04
Copyright © 2020 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Last updated on April 3, 2020

SSD7103 Linux Ubuntu 18.04.4 Server Installation Guide
i
Table of Contents
1 Overview.......................................................................................................................................1
2 Installing Linux Ubuntu Server on SSD7103 controller...........................................................1
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation .........................................................................1
Step 2 Check System EFI Settings............................................................................................1
Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to SSD7103........................................................................................3
Step 4 Create Array...................................................................................................................4
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette............................................................................................5
Step 6 Install Linux Ubuntu Server...........................................................................................5
3 Monitoring the Driver .................................................................................................................8
4 Installing RAID Management Software.....................................................................................9
5 Rebuilding Driver Module for System Update..........................................................................9
6 Trouble Shooting..........................................................................................................................9

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1 Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide clear instructions on how to install Linux
Ubuntu Server on the SSD7103 controller.
For Ubuntu 18.04.4 Server (kernel: 4.15.0-76)
Ubuntu 18.04.4 Server (HWE kernel:5.3.0-28)
Mirror link:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/18.04.4/release/ubuntu-18.04.4-server-amd64.iso
MD5: 880fa4f288c63d7d39a60a8ea70a861f
2 Installing Linux Ubuntu Server on SSD7103
controller
If you would like to install Linux Ubuntu Server onto drives attached to SSD7103
controller, please perform the following operations:
Step 1 Prepare Your Hardware for Installation
After you attach your NVMe SSD to SSD7103 controller, you can use SSD7103 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 SSD7103 controller, from your system.
Note
SSD7103 only support EFI boot. If you have other SCSI adapters installed, you must
make sure the SSD7103 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 SSD7103 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 SSD7103 RAID as the first boot device to
boot up the system.
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 SSD7103 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 withASUS 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";

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c. Set "OS Type" to "Other OS".
Step 3 Flash UEFI Rom to SSD7103
a. Unzip SSD7103 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 “SSD7103.nsh”, flash UEFI rom to SSD7103 Controller and
reboot;

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Step 4 Create Array
a. Attach four NVMe SSD to SSD7103 Controller ;
Note
Make sure your USB flash partition format is NTFS or FAT32.
b. Boot, in the presence of the motherboard Log screen, there will be NVMe SSD
information：
c. Enter the motherboard’s Boot List and select start from UEFI USB flash:
d. Command ”Arraycreate.efi” to enter the Utility:

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e. Command “create RAID0 ”.
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
f. Command “exit”；
g. For more command usages, refer toAppendixA.
Step 5 Prepare the Driver Diskette
Extract HighPoint_NVMe_Ubuntu_18.04.4_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 Ubuntu Server
a. Insert the USB flash drive to the target system.
b. Booting from Installation DVD disc (EFI mode).
c. When the Installation screen appears:
i. Select "Install Ubuntu Server" to install, press ‘e’ to edit boot command line option.

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On the edit command window, move the cursor to the end of line “linux
/install/vmlinuz... ”, and append "modprobe.blacklist=nvme" (double quotation mark are
not include).
Press CTRL-x or F10 to start the system.
ii. Select "Boot and Install with the HWE kernel" to install ,select "Boot and Install
With the HWE kernel" and press Enter;
Select "Install Ubuntu Server", press ‘e’ to edit boot command line option.
On the edit command window, move the cursor to the end of line “linux
/install/vmlinuz... ”, and append "modprobe.blacklist=nvme" (double quotation mark are
not include).

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Press CTRL-x or F10 to start the system.
d. When the installation started:
Press ALT-F2 to switch new console window and press ENTER to activate this console.
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 /dev/sda1 ← 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
Ubuntu Server.
# sh /tmp/hptdd/preinst.sh ← Load SSD7103 driver.

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e. Press ALT-F1 to continue system installation.
f. When the installation prompts “Finish the installation”.
Press ALT-F2 and execute following command to install driver to the installed Linux
Ubuntu Server on the array of SSD7103.
# sh /tmp/hptdd/postinst.sh ← Install SSD7103 driver.
g. Press ALT-F1 and press “Continue” to finish the installation.
h. Open source driver needs to be installed after system installation.
http://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ssd7103-download.htm
Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
# sh hptnvme_g5_linux_src_vxx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.bin
i. Follow the prompts to complete the driver installation.
j. After the installation is complete, you can perform system update operations.
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

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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 SSD7103 controller. Installation of the management
software is optional but recommended.
Please refer to HighPoint RAID Management Software documents for more information.
5 Rebuilding Driver Module for System Update
When the system updates the kernel packages, the driver module hptnvme.ko should be
built and installed manually before reboot.
Please refer to the REAME file distributed with HighPoint SSD7103 open source package
on how to build and install the driver module.
6 Trouble Shooting
If you forget to install the open linux driver before updating the kernel, the system
crash cannot enter. Please follow the steps below.
a. Press and hold the keyboard up and down button when booting, until the following
interface appears.
Choose “ Advanced options for Ubuntu ” and press Enter
b. Select the default kernel (4.15.0-67-generic)and enter the system.
c. Install Linux open source driver.

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http://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ssd7103-download.htm
Run the .bin file to install the driver package.
# sh hptnvme_g5_linux_src_vxx.x.x_xx_xx_xx.bin
d. The driver installation is complete, and the reboot can enter the system where the
new kernel is located.
# uname -r
This command is used to view the kernel version.
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

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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.