Broadcom/Avago/LSI Firmware version supported by mpr driver

[BenjaminHFJ]

There are already quite a number of threads regarding the matching of the HBA firmware version and the mpr (or mps) driver version, all of which basically state that in a perfect setup both versions ideally should match. I had an old LSI 9201-16i card running for several years with an ancient firmware version, but it didn't make any problems.

Anyway, I recently replaced the 9201-16i with a new 9405W-16i, and it works perfectly out of the box with FreeNAS 11.1-U6 (i.e. most recent stable).
The card came flashed to the P5 firmware version and the mpr driver version lists itself as 18.03:

Code:

mpr0: <Avago Technologies (LSI) SAS3616> port 0xe000-0xe0ff mem 0xf1300000-0xf13fffff,0xf1200000-0xf12fffff,0xf7900000-0xf79fffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1																										
mpr0: Firmware: 05.00.00.00, Driver: 18.03.00.00-fbsd

If I look at the Broadcom website for the HBA, I find the firmware versions P5 and P6 already under archive and the most recent available P7 and P8 are considered current.
Considering that I did not have any problems so far with my old firmware, and everything works like a charm, there is no real need to upgrade - especially since firmware version and mpr driver seem to match up.
But with FreeNAS 11.2 coming up in the next two months there will probably be a driver upgrade

Nevertheless: Is there a way to find out which firmware versions are actually supported by the mpr driver?
(this assumes it supports more than just one firmware version...?)

Google and Forum searches did not produce an answer so far, but this info must be listed somewhere, right? At least it has to be somewhere inside the driver itself...

Would be great to get some expert insight into this!

Best regards,
Benjamin

 

[Chris Moore]

They have not matched the driver version to the firmware version for several years now. I would say it is a good idea to get on the latest firmware available from the vendor.

 

[BenjaminHFJ]

Ah ok, I must have missed that. I was still under the impression that firmware and driver had to match.

I'll give it a try right away - thanks!

 

[BenjaminHFJ]

Works like a charm on P8! :D

Thanks a lot for the quick response and big thumbs up for the community.
I have been running a FreeNAS server for about 5 years now - still without major issues or data loss.

 

[Chris Moore]

Ah ok, I must have missed that. I was still under the impression that firmware and driver had to match.

I'll give it a try right away - thanks!

A few years back, on a different model card, they were releasing a driver every time they released a firmware, but they have not done that in two or three years now. This card, being newer, may never have been matched to a driver the way it used to be.