Buy and use a cable with SATA connectors for the Broadcom MegaRAID 9560-8i controller

3. Customs fees claimed by DHL (if applicable)

In our previous orders from Microchip Direct, in the past, for 2 RAID controllers and for another cable with SATA connectors, we have never had to pay customs fees in addition to the delivery fees previously requested by Microchip Direct.
However, during this order, for some reason that escapes us, we received an SMS from DHL asking us for customs fees.

After verification, this was true.

In our case, customs costs amount to only €26.43.
These can be paid to DHL via the link which you will receive, if applicable, by SMS.
Note that you can pay via Bancontact, debit/credit card (VISA/American Express) and PayPal.

Once payment of customs fees/taxes has been made, you will receive a confirmation email from DHL (if you have provided them with your email address on the DHL website).

In our case, the total therefore amounts to only €97.23 (€70.80 + €26.43) instead of the $149.69 or $163.42 requested by PC PitStop (which we do not know).

4. Unboxing the Microchip ACK-I-SlimSASx8-8SATAx1-0.8M cable

To get started, here's what you'll receive.
A bag with the cable and a paper (for legal reasons) concerning the chemicals used.

On this bag, there is a label with this:

Plain Text

76088415870
MICROCHIP RoHS
ACK-I-SlimSASx8-8SATAx1-0.8M
2305800-R 1

Here is the ACK-I-SlimSASx8-8SATAx1-0.8M cable outside of its packaging.

On one side you have the "SFF-8654 (SlimSAS)" connector that you will later plug into your Broadcom MegaRAID controller.

On this side of the cable you will find this:

Plain Text

RSL74-4874
RFV AX1
AX 23/SEP/21

Here is a photo of the top of the connector.

On the other side, you will find only 8 SATA connectors.

For legal reasons, you will find a sheet listing the chemicals used in this cable (as with any Microsemi product).

Connect the "SFF-8654 (SlimSAS)" connector to your Broadcom MegaRAID controller.

Next, connect the first SATA connectors to your hard drives.
These SATA connectors are numbered starting from 1 (on their label).

Note: the stickers on our hard drives date from the old RAID controller, which explains the numbering starting from 0 instead of 1.
Don't pay attention to it.

With this cable from Microchip, you can power your SATA hard drives with SATA power connectors.
Unlike the Broadcom supplied cable where you had to use Molex power connectors because of the U.3 connector.

When starting your computer, if your motherboard BIOS is configured to boot in LEGACY mode (or CSM mode is enabled for storage and PCIe/PCI devices), you will see the Broadcom RAID controller information appear at startup with the list of detected hard drives (connected to the RAID controller).

Then, you will see your motherboard logo (as usual).

5. Information visible in BIOS (in UEFI mode only)

To access the configuration tool for your new Broadcom MegaRAID controller, your computer must be configured to boot in UEFI mode.
Indeed, the Broadcom MegaRAID controller configuration tool is no longer available in LEGACY BIOS mode.

In this Broadcom configuration tool, you will see the number of drives connected to your Broadcom MegaRAID controller.

In "Main Menu -> Drive Management", you will see the list of detected drives (note that the numbering starts at 0, while the labels on the SATA connectors start at 1).