How do I flash LSI (Avago) SAS 9311-i8?

[enoch85]

I just bought a SAS 9311-i8 card which runs on the 11.00.01.00-IR firmware. Problem is I want to flash it to IT mode with the latest firmware P16 (if possible) or P14 found here.

Question 1:
I noticed that when downloading the P16 firmware it cointained two folders, one for 9300 IT and one for 9311 IR. Is it safe to flash the 9311 card with the 9300 IT firmware?

Question 2:
Has anyone ever flashed this card before and can guide me in the right direction? I found this on the FreeBSD forum but it only involves flashing with the sas2 flash tool.

Any guidance to get the latest FW would be appreciated.


Thanks!

 

[Johnnie Black]

Is it safe to flash the 9311 card with the 9300 IT firmware?

It's safe to try, and it should flash OK, but if doesn't it will abort before starting the flash.

I just flashed a 9300-8i to latest firmware, download the package and use DOS, Windows or Freenas to flash, I used Windows 10 for this one, command is:

sas3flash -o -f firmware.bin

If you want to use/update the bios:

sas3flash -o -f firmware.bin -b mptsas3.rom

 

[enoch85]

It's safe to try, and it should flash OK, but if doesn't it will abort before starting the flash.

I just flashed a 9300-8i to latest firmware, download the package and use DOS, Windows or Freenas to flash, I used Windows 10 for this one, command is:

sas3flash -o -f firmware.bin

If you want to use/update the bios:

sas3flash -o -f firmware.bin -b mptsas3.rom

I haven't tried yet, but some posts I read said that you can't flash IT FW if IR FW already exists.

I'll know in a few minutes.

 

[Johnnie Black]

Last LSI I tried from IR to IT, not that model, just gave a warning and asked if you still want to proceed, but like mentioned it can't hurt to try.

 

[enoch85]

I'm trying now. Managed to erase the old flash, but I'm struggling with adding the new... :S

 

[Johnnie Black]

You should have tried without erasing, it should flash on top of the existing one.

 

[enoch85]

What I did:

Running from a FreeDOS USB with the latest FW (P16) and 9300 IT bin file.

sas3flsh -o -e 6 (erase) (success)
sas3flsh -o -f 9300.bin (I renamed it since it couldn't find it otherwise)

Now I'm stuck with: https://cloud.techandme.se/s/bjzwiTKdFdQTixr

Any suggestions?

 

[Johnnie Black]

I always do it without erasing, just flash on top, safer because if it doens't like the new firmware it will abort and keep the existing one, rebooting should clear that error, but not sure since I never did it like that.

 

[enoch85]

OK, so I think I managed to brick it. Money well spent.

As I couldn't flash the firmware since it gave me errors with finding the file, I rebooted after I reset the card.

Now I found this: https://nguvu.org/freenas/Convert-LSI-HBA-card-to-IT-mode/ which says: Its CRITICAL at this stage you do not reboot the machine or you will leave the HBA card in a unrecoverable state.

I will buy a new card tomorrow, and it wasn't too much money, but you learn from your mistakes I guess.

If *anyone* have a solution I'm all ears!

 

[Mryusef1]

did you ever get a HBA and flash it? I am looking to add 2 more SATA to my system. I am looking for the easiest way to do it. I would like to keep my cost below $80.00 if possible. Any suggestions?