/dev/mps0 warning with PERC H200 on Dell Poweredge R510

[Gordon Thagard]

I had a Dell PERC H700 in our FreeNAS box but was advised to get rid of it for a controller that supports JBOD or passthrough mode. My vendor suggested the PERC H200 which I've since purchased. All drives were configured RAID0 previously. FreeNAS seems to be carrying on normally. I can see the drives although from the RAID BIOS I can't see individual drives nor manipulate them in any way. Also of concern is that I get a warning from FreeNAS:

WARNING: Firmware version 7 does not match driver version 20 for /dev/mps0. Please flash controller to P20 IT firmware.

Some searches reveal that I should cross flash my PERC H200 to LSI P20 firmware. Is that advisable? What exactly does all this mean? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[toadman]

No idea. Is the H200 LSI based? I assume so if it's matching the driver. So yes, FreeNAS will give you a warning on the firmware/driver mismatch. I think if you do end up flashing to P20, make sure it's the .04. I think there were issues with previous versions. At any rate you should be able to get the latest from the Avago website.

So what controller is on the H200?

 

[Gordon Thagard]

Seemingly Dell PERC RAID controllers are just OEM rebranded LSI RAID controllers, but which one exactly I don't know. What I would really like to know is if FreeNAS really expects/wants/needs me to use the LSI firmware on the Dell PERC H200 or if the Dell firmware is good enough and I can simply uncheck the warning and get back to work without having to worry any more about it. Can anyone offer some advice?

 

[BigDave]

Seemingly Dell PERC RAID controllers are just OEM rebranded LSI RAID controllers

True

What I would really like to know is if FreeNAS really expects/wants/needs me to use the LSI firmware on the Dell PERC H200

FreeNAS needs DIRECT access to the disks for software RAIDz

or if the Dell firmware is good enough and I can simply uncheck the warning and get back to work without having to worry any more about it.

The Dell firmware is hardware RAID and is NOT supported by FreeBSD/FreeNAS
Flash your PERC H200 with P20 LSI/Avago (IT mode)
More info found here
And here also

 

[Gordon Thagard]

Thank you. Looks like I have some cross flashing to do...

 

[karipk]

If you have problem to install the dell firmware, I may have solution for that:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/crossflash-dell-h200e-to-lsi-9200-8e.41307/

Mine H200E refused to install Dell firmware using dell's sas2flash. I had to use P12 version of it.

 

[Gordon Thagard]

Further reading reveals that these two links should be good enough to get the job done:

Instructions:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-flashing-a-dell-h200-with-a-dell-r610.32919/

Firmware:
http://www.avagotech.com/products/server-storage/host-bus-adapters/sas-9211-8i#downloads

 

[tfast500]

Is the firmware in the guide still relevant for FreeNAS 9.10? I am confused about why we need the old firmware if we are flashing the new firmware in the below link
From here

Why do we need P07 and P20?

 

[Mirfster]

Why do we need P07 and P20?

Didn't read the link provided, but the reason is because LSI's P20 will not install properly until at least LSI's P07 version is installed.

Also, from my experience, you need to enure Dell's version is up to 7 before applying LSI's P07.

I posted a ton about this as well as others. Somewhere I even attached all the needed files with instructions. Feel free to search the forums for them if you are so inclined.

 

[tfast500]

Didn't read the link provided, but the reason is because LSI's P20 will not install properly until at least LSI's P07 version is installed.

Also, from my experience, you need to enure Dell's version is up to 7 before applying LSI's P07.

I posted a ton about this as well as others. Somewhere I even attached all the needed files with instructions. Feel free to search the forums for them if you are so inclined.

OK thanks that makes sense. Is there a way to check what version your card is? Maybe I won't have to flash the P07 and just the P20 when it comes
I will search the forums more for this thanks!

 

[Mirfster]

OK thanks that makes sense. Is there a way to check what version your card is? Maybe I won't have to flash the P07 and just the P20 when it comes
I will search the forums more for this thanks!

sas2flash -listall or sas2flash -list will get you the desired info.