SOLVED IBM ServeRaid M1015 and "No LSI SAS adapters found!"

[patrick0525]

Yeah.


Nope, those are LSI SAS 2108 cards.

For the LSI SAS 2108, is there a link for crossflashing to IT mode.

 

[Ericloewe]

I haven't seen anyone successfully flash an SAS 2108 to IT mode, but I'd be glad to be wrong.

 

[patrick0525]

I haven't seen anyone successfully flash an SAS 2108 to IT mode, but I'd be glad to be wrong.

Is there any benefits to cross flashed to LSi9260 for raid 5 mode or just leave it as the M5015 ?

 

[GeekGoneOld]

@patrick0525 Re M1115. I've never done it, but it should work. Google finds some people who had to do the taping of contacts (pins 5 and 6) to allow it to boot. Try https doubleslash colon forums dot servethehome dot com slash index.php?threads slash ibm-m1115-sas9223-8i.2664

 

[Ericloewe]

LSI 9260 mode is an absolute horrible idea with ZFS.

Do not mix hardware RAID and ZFS.

 

[snicke]

Never seen that tool before. Really, the only time you'd need it is if you screwed up very badly, and often if you've screwed up that badly, your card won't even be able to think for its own enough to be a PCIe device on the system. The card is good as dead at that point.

That tool is probably a desperate attempt to recover a card and isn't necessarily a 100% chance of working. You probably should have used the UEFI shell like you are supposed to. ;)

Quite literally, when I want to reflash any LSI controller, I always do then entire process from the UEFI shell. There's no reason to make some crappy DOS boot device for this kind of task. ;)

To help others having the same problem as me and @Satam I need to point out the information by cyberjock quoted here is wrong and that the OP guide by @Satam is correct. Thanks @Satam for the very useful information! If the card is not recognized in the UEFI shell it is obviously quite hard to flash the card in the UEFI shell. Therefore you need to wipe it in DOS first IF AND ONLY IF the card is not recognized by the UEFI shell. But that is the thing that this thread is all about, i.e. you get "No LSI SAS adapters found!" in UEFI shell.

I also have an M1015 labelled SAS9220-8i that was not recognized by sas2flash.efi whatsoever giving the "No LSI SAS adapters found!" for the reasons descpribed by @Satam in OP. The only thing that worked was to first erase the card in DOS and then flash it to IT mode in efi shell as described in OP. So yes, there are plenty of reasons to make a DOS boot device for this task (the erase/wipe part). One: it works in DOS. Two: it dosn't work in UEFI shell. Note however: after the wipe of the card in DOS, the flashing of the card to IT mode should be done in UEFI shell.

Also the "MegaRAID HWR Controller Recovery tool" is written about "everywhere" in many guides on how to flash the M1015 to IT mode like in this popular guide for example: http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/ Because that is the tool that is started when you issue the "megarec" command in all these guides and that is the tool you need to use in this case when the sas2flash.efi tool says "No LSI SAS adapters found!". It is NOT just something you do when you screwed up very badly and the card is good as dead it is also the tool you should use when you get the "No LSI SAS adapters found!" message in UEFI shell (and the card is an M1015 card otherwise an not some other kind of card).

 

[T REX]

So I got smart and just replaced the 20 with a 16 in the url:

http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/Host Bus Adapters/Host Bus Adapters Common Files/SAS_SATA_6G_P16/Installer_P16_for_UEFI.zip

That link no longer works. You can download Installer_P16_for_UEFI.zip here: http://docs.avagotech.com/docs/12350785

 

[moosekaka]

To add another datapoint, I also had to use megarec.exe to flash the IBM BIOS. I believe my card was relatively new (mf. date 2012) and the original BIOS was not recognized by sas2flash.efi. Also, it would be useful to post a link for the megarec.exe and associated software, so this is where I got mine:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/29059-sas2008-lsi92409211-firmware-files/

I also followed GeekGoneOld post on setting a DOS bootable USB, put megarec (i just put the whole folder from the link above) and flashing the card in DOS mode, then reboot and use sas2flash.efi in EFI mode.

As a tip, when adding the sas address, they should be no dashes, just numbers and letters. Also I found sas2flash.efi was case sensitive for the binary file names (2118it.bin and mptsas2.rom had to be in UPPER case for my shell). And lastly, as a mod to GeekGoneOld's post, I installed both the firmware and BIOS in sas2flash.efi with the command :

sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118IT.BIN -b MPTSAS2.ROM

 

[Stux]

To add another datapoint, I also had to use megarec.exe to flash the IBM BIOS. I believe my card was relatively new (mf. date 2012) and the original BIOS was not recognized by sas2flash.efi. Also, it would be useful to post a link for the megarec.exe and associated software, so this is where I got mine:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/29059-sas2008-lsi92409211-firmware-files/

I also followed GeekGoneOld post on setting a DOS bootable USB, put megarec (i just put the whole folder from the link above) and flashing the card in DOS mode, then reboot and use sas2flash.efi in EFI mode.

As a tip, when adding the sas address, they should be no dashes, just numbers and letters. Also I found sas2flash.efi was case sensitive for the binary file names (2118it.bin and mptsas2.rom had to be in UPPER case for my shell). And lastly, as a mod to GeekGoneOld's post, I installed both the firmware and BIOS in sas2flash.efi with the command :

sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118IT.BIN -b MPTSAS2.ROM

The link from laptopvideo2go (which EVERYTHING links too) doesn't seem to work.

SAS2008

I get a 404, even when I've logged into that forum, and clicked from that forum, in both OSX and Windows 10. Does anyone have a copy of the sas2008.zip so that I can clear my M1115 so that I can flash it?

Or is that *not* the approach to use

 

[Rico Viqueira]

The link from laptopvideo2go (which EVERYTHING links too) doesn't seem to work.

SAS2008

I get a 404, even when I've logged into that forum, and clicked from that forum, in both OSX and Windows 10. Does anyone have a copy of the sas2008.zip so that I can clear my M1115 so that I can flash it?

Or is that *not* the approach to use

Same here, these files simply can't be found anywhere else from what I've been finding.... anyone know where we can get dos4gw.exe

 

[Spearfoot]

Same here, these files simply can't be found anywhere else from what I've been finding.... anyone know where we can get dos4gw.exe

Here is the fileset I used for flashing my M1015 to P20:

 

[Stux]

Just flashed my M1115 to vanillia 20.0.0.7 using this fileset. Worked magically on an X10SRi-f.

Thanks @Spearfoot

 

[dakta]

Here is the fileset I used for flashing my M1015 to P20:

I just successfully used these files to flash a 20.0.0.x M1015 to LSI P20, following these instructions.

Since I was unable to find an EFI shell in my motherboard (Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI-REV2; it may not have one, or it may be hidden behind Secure Boot options), and was unable to boot directly to the provided EFI shell from Spearfoot's package (or any other EFI shell, strangely), I used rEFInd's built-in EFI shell. I still had to launch the correct version EFI shell provided in Spearfoot's package to execute the sas2flash.efi binary.

 

[MattEvans]

Hi guys, i'm having trouble crossflashing my 9220-8i.

I am able to detect the card using the megarec tool and i can run the commands specified using megarec; however, when i attempt to use the sas2flsh command it fails with "No LSI SAS adapters found" or something similar.

Now, I've read that I can use the UEFI tool but i am unfamiliar with booting to UEFI. What files do I need to copy over to the usb drive, and how do i go about launching it? Currently, my bios gives me the option to boot to UEFI on the USB drive, but it instantly kicked me back into the bios - I'm sure that I installed the uefi files incorrectly.

Thank you,
Matthew

 

[Spearfoot]

Hi guys, i'm having trouble crossflashing my 9220-8i.

I am able to detect the card using the megarec tool and i can run the commands specified using megarec; however, when i attempt to use the sas2flsh command it fails with "No LSI SAS adapters found" or something similar.

Now, I've read that I can use the UEFI tool but i am unfamiliar with booting to UEFI. What files do I need to copy over to the usb drive, and how do i go about launching it? Currently, my bios gives me the option to boot to UEFI on the USB drive, but it instantly kicked me back into the bios - I'm sure that I installed the uefi files incorrectly.

Thank you,
Matthew

My M1015 zip file (available a few posts above) probably contains all of the UEFI files you need:

• shellx64.efi = UEFI shell
• sas2flash.efi = UEFI sas2flash utility

Try copying these to the root directory of your USB drive, along with the other firmware and BIOS files you're planning to flash.

Hopefully this will get you started...

 

[MattEvans]

Hey, so i dropped those into the root of the flash drive.
I'm using two computers that can boot into UEFI. From the USB they both can boot into DOS mode; however, they can not boot into UEFI - once you choose the boot option, it immediately kicks me back into my UEFI BIOS settings.

Like I said, I am unfamiliar with booting into UEFI and perhaps I have installed the files incorrectly.
I created a bootable flash drive (both mbt and gpt), and dropped the files located here. (I put the entire SAS2008 folder into the root so it's [usb]/SAS2008/)
I then downloaded your files a few posts back and put those into the root of the usb so they're located at [usb]/

Did I do something incorrectly?
Thanks,
Matthew

 

[Spearfoot]

Hey, so i dropped those into the root of the flash drive.
I'm using two computers that can boot into UEFI. From the USB they both can boot into DOS mode; however, they can not boot into UEFI - once you choose the boot option, it immediately kicks me back into my UEFI BIOS settings.

Like I said, I am unfamiliar with booting into UEFI and perhaps I have installed the files incorrectly.
I created a bootable flash drive (both mbt and gpt), and dropped the files located here. (I put the entire SAS2008 folder into the root so it's [usb]/SAS2008/)
I then downloaded your files a few posts back and put those into the root of the usb so they're located at [usb]/

Did I do something incorrectly?
Thanks,
Matthew

I dunno...
Give us your system information (per the Forum Rules), including specifics about the motherboards you're using. Perhaps someone will have experience with them that they can share.

Systems differ quite a bit... you may have to twiddle BIOS settings to boot UEFI from a USB drive. Or you may be able to select your USB drive from a boot device option list available in your BIOS.

But we need more detailed information before we can help.

 

[MattEvans]

I can get the system information for the 2nd computer when I get home, but the one I know is as follows:
P8Z77-V LK mb. I7 3770k, 16gbram. All PCIE cards removed other than the LSI adapter -- at one point the computer said that the UEFI system did not like the vga driver or something so I removed the graphics card and all the other stuff that was plugged in.

In my boot menu I see two options, "USB[name] DOS" and "USB[name] UEFI" (or something similar).
Booting into DOS:
I believe dos loads up fine, but i'm not 100% sure on that - I may have gotten the 'pal' error here. Would the PAL error affect the UEFI boot as well?

Booting into UEFI:
I know of two ways that I can select/change the boot device.
1. Through BIOS 'override boot device', when selected will change the screen black for 1/2 second (as if its loading) then kick me back to the boot override selection screen.
2. Through BIOS edit the boot device order (disable all but the USB-UEFI option that is shown for my usb drive). When this is selected, it will constantly restart the computer as if it is crashing on load.

Matt

Ps. I also have a supermicro X8DTE which is the intended final system; however, I do not believe that it supports UEFI and flashing with DOS worked up to the point when I began writing new firmware using the sas2flsh tool and it wouldn't work stating "no LSI SAS adapters found!".

 

[Spearfoot]

Ps. I also have a supermicro X8DTE which is the intended final system; however, I do not believe that it supports UEFI and flashing with DOS worked up to the point when I began writing new firmware using the sas2flsh tool and it wouldn't work stating "no LSI SAS adapters found!".

If it was me... I'd concentrate on booting DOS on the X8DTE and getting it to recognize and flash the LSI board.

Have you installed the latest X8DTE BIOS (R 2.0c)? I'd do that, for starters.

Then I'd boot from a DOS USB stick and see if you can 'find' the LSI board with sas2flsh -listall.

 

[MattEvans]

When I run that command on the supermicro I get the "No LSI SAS adapters found!" message.
Megarec can still see the card at this point, and I can still run commands on it successfully.

I've had no luck so far getting the dos stick to run on the Asus board or my other PC