SLES 11 SP3 installation fails on HP B120i/B320i RAID enabled controllers

This document (7014431) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 3 (SLES 11 SP3)
Any Hewlett-Packard server equipped with a B120i/B320i controller

Situation

The installation of SLES 11 SP3 fails on B320i controllers with enabled RAID mode, without RAID the process succeeds.

Resolution

Download the hpvsa driver from the Hewlett-Packard homepage and install the system using HP Intelligent Provisioning. Please see the HP documentation for details:

Notice c03871499 - HP ProLiant Servers: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i and B320i Controllers - Driver Support and Configuration

Notice c03742583 - Advisory: HP ProLiant Gen8 Servers - The HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i and B320i Controller Driver for Linux and VMware (hpvsa) Must Be Downloaded from HP.COM in Order to Use RAID Functionality

Cause

The B120i/B320i controllers require a proprietary driver which is supplied by HP only.

Additional Information

This is a lspci -vvn output of a B320i (vendor-/deviceID: 1590:0047) controller used in a Proliant BL420c Gen8:

02:00.0 RAID bus controller [0104]: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [1590:0047] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [1590:0047]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 26
    I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
    Memory at f7cf0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Memory at f7c80000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
    [virtual] Expansion ROM at bc000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
    Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [68] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [d0] Vital Product Data
    Capabilities: [a8] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [c0] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=15 Masked-
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [138] Power Budgeting <?>
    Capabilities: [150] Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)
    Capabilities: [190] Alternative Routing-ID Interpretation (ARI)
    Kernel driver in use: hpvsa
    Kernel modules: hpvsa

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.