SOLVED 9.3-alpha and lsi 9211-8i: firmware - driver mismatch

[dfsooner]

Actually, Cyberjock only said the freenas (FreeBSD) driver must match the controller firmware. The reason I asked about the controller BIOS match requirement is that some manufacturers advise against BIOS updates unless you are having a problem.

 

[Ericloewe]

Actually, Cyberjock only said the freenas (FreeBSD) driver must match the controller firmware. The reason I asked about the controller BIOS match requirement is that some manufacturers advise against BIOS updates unless you are having a problem.

What the hell are you talking about?

System BIOS? Has nothing to do with the HBA.
HBA's boot ROM? Don't flash it. If you really want it, for some mysterious reason, flash the one that ships with the P16 driver.
Management Engine firmware? Flash it along with the BIOS by setting the appropriate jumpers.

HBA's firmware? Definitely flash it to P16 IT mode.

 

[dfsooner]

Whoa!! What the hell are you talking about? I said absolutely nothing about the system BIOS or about an HBA boot ROM.

LSI provides firmware updates and BIOS updates for their controller. From what I've seen elsewhere, most people update both at the same time. All I asked was whether it makes a difference if the BIOS and firmware versions are different. Regardless, I'm going to update to P16 BIOS when I update to P16 firmware.

 

[Ericloewe]

Whoa!! What the hell are you talking about? I said absolutely nothing about the system BIOS or about an HBA boot ROM.

LSI provides firmware updates and BIOS updates for their controller. From what I've seen elsewhere, most people update both at the same time. All I asked was whether it makes a difference if the BIOS and firmware versions are different. Regardless, I'm going to update to P16 BIOS when I update to P16 firmware.

It's not a "BIOS", it's a boot ROM or (BIOS) extension ROM.

As I said, there's no real reason to flash the ROM - it's absolutely useless and is best off remaining nonexistent after the card is wiped.

 

[kdbaumann]

I did all of the above, and zero drives are showing on 9.3 Stable. Any ideas?

 

[FreeNasNewbie]

Do you see any warnings when freenas is running? Are the drives shown up during POST of the adapter? Does the adapter report IT-mode during POST?
Are your drives from the same manufacturer? Same model? Maybe the latter is not relevant. However: you live and learn

 

[Ericloewe]

Start by isolating the problem. Try the drives on the PCH SATA ports, try a different OS, try the controller in a different computer...

 

[kdbaumann]

Well I think this is solved. Seems like the real issue was/is a bad backplane. I did get all of the drivers and BIOS's to match up and that alert went away. But it appears we have a hardware issue. Thanks.

 

[zenzei]

Hi all,
Probably dumb question but... shouldn't there be a driver update to support firmware v.19, rather than downgrading to older firmware do use an older driver? FW 19 certainly has corrected some things? I might be missing something...
Thanks for your enlightenment

 

[Ericloewe]

Hi all,
Probably dumb question but... shouldn't there be a driver update to support firmware v.19, rather than downgrading to older firmware do use an older driver? FW 19 certainly has corrected some things? I might be missing something...
Thanks for your enlightenment

According to LSI, no, it has not fixed anything (except for an inconsequential boot ROM bug).

P20 is currently being tested in the nightlies.

 

[Angelo]

when whats the eta for p20? or is there none

 

[Ericloewe]

No ETA that's been announced.

When it's confirmed to work well and a driver/firmware change is opportune, it'll be updated.

 

[Steven Sedory]

Just curious, why wouldn't you just update the FreeBSD drivers to the appropriate version? They are also available on LSI's site?

I ask because I just downgraded my firmware to 16, only to now wonder why I didn't do the above first.

Is it not good to update the drivers within FreeNAS?

 

[SweetAndLow]

Just curious, why wouldn't you just update the FreeBSD drivers to the appropriate version? They are also available on LSI's site?

I ask because I just downgraded my firmware to 16, only to now wonder why I didn't do the above first.

Is it not good to update the drivers within FreeNAS?

Because you can't. Freenas is viewed as an appliance and you get what you get unless you compile it yourself.

 

[Ericloewe]

P16 has lasted so long because it had some community fixes not present in LSI's branch. That and the fact that P16-P19 were supposedly identical, except for a small BIOS extension ROM bug fix in P17.

 

[Rainwulf]

Mmm. Im getting this error with a "Cross-flashed" H200 according to this : http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?p=16774466#post16774466
I just reflashed the card with the latest dell HBA bios, but its still throwing the "Version 7" error. Using a crossflashed card a bad idea?

 

[Ericloewe]

If you're using Dell's firmware, it's not crossflashed.

There's a thread somewhere where a guy managed to get his H200 crossflashed to LSI SAS 9211 IT mode.

 

[Rainwulf]

When i mean crossflashed, i mean its a H200 (UCS71) reflashed as a Dell 6gbps HBA (UCS70)
I am getting serial numbers and smart data afaik.

I think im just going to buy a M1015. I have a 8x8tb seagate archive freeNAS box, and the amount of data that will finally be stored on this machine isnt worth any possible risk. The final machine will be an intel xeon box, intel nics, m1015, and a 1kw psu, covering all bases!

 

[ndemarco]

Since Avago bought LSI, the firmware files are now here. The BIOS-compatible files are under the heading firmware. The UEFI-compatible files are under BIOS.

 

[Rainwulf]

Thanks ndemarco. Avago is slowly sorting out their support section and i am finding it easier to find it all.