SATA hotswap / hotplug

[Todd Denniston]

Christopher Mocock wrote, On 07/17/2008 08:37 AM:
> Hi list,
> 
> I'm trying to get SATA hot-swapping to work in Fedora 9 but I'm either 
> having no luck or doing it wrong.
> 
> I've tried a variety of disk controllers including an 
> LSI MegaRaid, 

lsi does not show up on http://linux-ata.org/driver-status.html so you have to 
figure out what driver supports the card and ask about that driver.

> 3Ware 9550SX, 
http://linux-ata.org/driver-status.html#tware
apparently you need to ask at the driver maker's site if they support it.

> and I'm now working with a Supermicro SAT2-MV8 (Marvell 
> chipset - sata_mv module).

according to the 'Driver / feature matrix'
http://linux-ata.org/driver-status.html#matrix

driver=sata_mv
feature=Device Hotplug
feature state=no

> 
> I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that if I insert or 
> remove a disk, I should see something in /var/log/messages. I've also 
> been running "ls -l /dev/disk/by-path" to see if the device name appears 
> or disappears, but it never does.
> 
> Is there any kind of special setup required or should it "just work"?
> 
> The disks I'm using are either Seagate SATA2 or older Hitachi SATA1 
> drives, I have a few to play with. The disks are not formatted in any 
> way as my application treats them as raw block devices. Still, I would 
> expect to see the contents of /dev/disk/by-path to change when I insert 
> or remove a disk.
> 
> When using the 3Ware card, I did get a message from the 3Ware driver 
> saying that a disk had been removed or inserted, but it didn't change 
> the contents of /dev/disk/by-path and the message was from the driver, 
> not the kernel or udev or any other subsystem.
> 
> I should mention that the disks appear fine if they are inserted before 
> I boot on all the disk controllers I've tried.
> 
> Any suggestions gratefully received.
> 
There may be some user space tools you need too.

> Regards,
> 


-- 
Todd Denniston
Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane)
Harnessing the Power of Technology for the Warfighter