SAS5/ir and PERC5/I are not the same controller. The PERC5/I does not support non raid drives. Clearing the foreign will not allow you to import the configuration. You are going to need a replacement sas5/ir. 
My SAS controller went bad on my lab computer. I have two sas drives that were not in a raid that have some important data ((I know....). I attached the drives to an old server in the shop but I can't import the config or or the disks. Is it safe to clear the foreign config and try to import the disks or will I lose my data? Do I have any other good options?
Recover data from non-raid SAS drive