Have an old (but necessary ) LSI PCIx card that I need to access my legacy SAN (INFORSTOR) via 4G Fibrechannel connectors. My new computer is a HP Spectre 64bit running Windows 11 (compatible w/ Thunderbolt 3). Seems like the connection from enclosure to laptop is working (small thunderbolt icon present and also listed w/ up to date driver on Device Manager. Installed PCIx card to enclosure easily but can not confirm it’s working, as downstream the SAN is not connected to the laptop…Any trouble shooting suggestions? Thanks
Hello Kzzzzz,
I hope you’re well.
Unfortunately, Thunderbolt 3/4/5 does not support native PCI / PCI-X protocol tunneling, so this application may not be supported.
I’m happy to look into this situation further with some more context on the off-chance we can support it - Would it be convenient to provide a picture of the set-up, and perhaps the VID/PID or the exact model of the LSI PCI-X card you’re intending to link up with the HP host system?
All the best,
Brent
Hi there, this may be a bandwidth or driver issue. The LSI7204EP 4Gb FCA uses a PCIe x8 connection, but as the tB31PCIEX16 works via Thunderbolt 3, it only has access to a PCIe x4 connection. Thus, the card is missing half of the bandwidth it expects. In some instances, this can be fine, and products may work with reduced performance, but in some other instances, it can prevent detection entirely.
Additionally, the LSI7204EP is an older FCA, and when looking at Broadcom’s site, it only has driver support up to Windows Vista/Server 2008, so it may not support more modern versions of Windows.
This also falls roughly in line with their product brief which listed only up to Windows XP at the time but the brief is from 2007 and may pre-date the January 2007 consumer launch of Vista.
LSI7004EP Series Product Brief
It’s very possible this card just never received modern drivers. I would confirm with Broadcom to see if this card is expected to work under a newer operating system and via a PCIe x4 connection instead of PCIe x8.
As an aside, the images you’ve provided above for the NVM Express controller are related to the NVMe controller for your laptop’s SSD.
Hi
THANKS SO MUCH for the quick review and assessment. Of note, I’m a regular person, so much of this is beyond my grasp.
So as I search for a solution for this legacy system am I left with the following conclusions.
My Startech enclosure is PCI Express 3 x 16 lanes…
It’s drivers (thunderbolt 3) run on Win7-10…
Unexpectedly (to me at least) it only provides 4 lanes of data transfer
It’s compatible w/ my HP Spectre
My Broadcom/Lsi Logic is PCI version? But x8 lanes…
It’s drivers run on Windows NT4/2000/XP/Server 03
But uncertain what would happen when connected via thunderbolt 3 to my HP Spectre…
I’ll reach out to Broadcom, but I can pretty much predict what they are going to say, which is “we don’t support this card anymore”…
So I started looking for a new fiber Channel Card that would x16 lanes to fit into the enclosure…but I think I’m still stuck with the problem is that the enclosure only offers x4 data thruput so I may be exactly where I am now (though these devices are likely to have drivers that are compatible w/ later windows versions,
Final Conclusion: unless I’m able to learn of some other work around, my enclosure won’t work for my legacy configuration…
Hi @Kzzzzz, I’ll do my best to explain things in, hopefully a way that can make it much easier to understand and take the mystery away.
PCIe lanes are a representation of how much data is available for communication. Think of them like a highway. PCIe comes in 4 primary sizes. x1, x4, x8 and x16. You can think of them directly as a 1-lane, 4-lane, 8-lane, and 16-lane highway. Our TB31PCIEX16 uses the Thunderbolt 3 protocol, which has access to a PCIe x4 connection. So, essentially, it has a 4-lane highway connecting the box to your computer. Your card, however, connects with a PCIe x8 connection, so an 8-lane highway. Fitting 8 lanes of traffic into 4 lanes, just kind of doesn’t work in most cases. Sometimes, cards like you LSI7204EP can see that they are connecting to a smaller highway and still work, but parts of it may not work correctly, and sometimes when they see they are connecting to a smaller highway, they just don’t work at all. This is one thing that could be going on,
PCIe is a specific way of communicating in the computer world. If I extend the analogy above, it’s akin to having the highway dedicated only for say, trucks. USB traffic would then have it’s own lanes. Think of it like how some cities have bus lanes where only the local busses can drive, or bike lanes for bikes,
In terms of drivers, this is a bit more complicated. So, the easiest way I can explain it, is drivers are like, instructions for how Windows can talk to, and use the device. If a device doesn’t have drivers installed, then Windows has no idea how to talk to it. Think of it like this. Grab any recent instructions you’ve had for putting something together, or for how to use your TV or something. The English section is something you can understand and tells you how to use say, your TV. If you say, only had the instructions in say, Swahili, you may not understand now how to use your TV. That’s like being on Windows 10, or 11, but only having drivers for Windows Vista. The language spoken changed, but the driver (instruction booklet) wasn’t updated into the language needed. Due to this, Windows has no idea how to use your LSI card.
So, what would you need then? You would need a new FibreChannel card with the same connector, that’s got a 4-lane highway, (PCIe x4 connection) with instructions (drivers) for Windows 10, or 11 (whichever version of Windows you’re running).
In terms of your final conclusion, based on what I can see, it’s fairly accurate. That’s some pretty old hardware (about 17-years) and so it’s not really supported anymore.
I do want to caution you, FibreChannel cards can get very expensive as it’s an enterprise (very big company) solution. They’re not really intended for home use. I’m unaware of any modern ones that use a PCIe x4 connection, with Windows 10/11 support, and 4Gb FC connections, but I can find new 2-port 8Gb FC cards with support for $1,200+ CAD. You may want to reach out to an online forum like ServeTheHome for help in locating something.
Hopefully, my attempt to explain things helped!
Crystal Clear THANK YOU!!
Sadly, I won’t be able to use the enclosure to solve my problem…back to the drawing board…
PS, I’ve been looking at other fiber channel connectors…but I think i run into the same problem on the other side, the SAN (which is a legacy system, though quite capable!)