Flash the Bios to IT on SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F

[kirkdickinson]

I have come across several threads here and other places where people mentioned flashing the Bios on their SuperMicro X10SL7 to IT mode.

I assume that is to disable the built in RAID. Is that correct?

Some of the posts also mentioned that they may not have needed to do that. I have everything sitting on my desk assembled, but haven't booted it up even once yet.

Can someone please enlighten me on this?

Kirk

 

[Linkman]

You will need to flash the onboard LSI controller to IT mode, and also to the correct version to match your chosen FreeNAS version.

That would be IT mode, P16 for FreeNAS 9.3, and IT mode, P20 for FreeNAS 9.3.1

 

[kirkdickinson]

Linkman, thanks for the answer. I have searched for a step by step on doing this and can't seem to find one.

 

[Linkman]

I started here, I believe...
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/supermicro-x10sl7-f.14105/page-6#post-81892

And used this too...
http://blog.widodh.nl/2014/10/flash-lsi-2308-to-it-mode-on-a-supermicro-x10sl7-f-mainboard/

Just make sure you're using the correct firmware versions for your FreeNAS version. I'm sure there are other posts on the board as well, I know there is a long long thread on upgrading to P20, once 9.3.1 came out. The instructions would be the same other than which version files you use.

 

[kirkdickinson]

Thanks very much Link. I don't have FreeNas on this box yet, so will be using the newest. Downloading now.

 

[Linkman]

And a handy dandy guide, with some hints and tips in the follow up comments, just appeared yesterday here...
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...e-on-a-supermicro-x10sl7-f-motherboard.38884/

 

[kirkdickinson]

Thanks for the link. That will help a lot. :)

 

[jgreco]

I assume that is to disable the built in RAID. Is that correct?

That is incorrect. The reason is that you want to be very sure that you are using the correct driver and a firmware that is designed to work with that driver.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/confused-about-that-lsi-card-join-the-crowd.11901/

See the part about mfi vs mps.

 

[kirkdickinson]

OK, that made me even more confused. The OP on that thread made it sound like the bulit in LSI MegaRAID 2208, then you can never get it to work correctly by allowing FreeNAS and the ZFS to directly control the drives.

 

[depasseg]

Hmm, I'm not sure where the disconnect is, but you want to install the corresponding version (v20 as of today) of the IT mode firmware. IT mode just presents the drives to the OS. IR mode, on the other hand, is what provides the RAID capabilities, and is not what we want to use in FreeNAS.

 

[jgreco]

The 2208 cannot be made to work in IT mode. The X10SL7, however, has a 2308.

 

[depasseg]

The 2208 cannot be made to work in IT mode. The X10SL7, however, has a 2308.

Well that explains my disconnect.

 

[jgreco]

Well that explains my disconnect.

Plug back in dude!

 

[kirkdickinson]

Thanks. I think I got it going.

Kirk