Is my SAS9211-8i Controller in the Right Mode?

[jprez1980]

Hi All -

It's been several years and back to FreeNAS..apparently now called TrueNAS Core...and man has the GUI changed (for the better!) - loving thing so far but struggling to understand my HBA controller and if it's in the correct "IT" mode. On my system several years ago I could press "Control-S" (I think that was it) during the boot process and could jump into a configuration mode for the controller before the OS booted. On this system, there is no such prompt during boot. I "think" its because the controller itself doesn't have the BIOS firmware installed?

Anywho... here's the output of several commands...hopefully it's in the right state with the correct firmware but looking for you experts to keep me on track... thanks!

root@filesvr1[~]# sas2flash -list
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2013.03.01)
Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2008(B2)

Controller Number : 0
Controller : SAS2008(B2)
PCI Address : 00:0b:00:00
SAS Address : 500605b-0-013c-a580
NVDATA Version (Default) : 14.01.00.08
NVDATA Version (Persistent) : 14.01.00.08
Firmware Product ID : 0x2213 (IT)
Firmware Version : 20.00.06.00
NVDATA Vendor : LSI
NVDATA Product ID : SAS9211-8i
BIOS Version : N/A
UEFI BSD Version : N/A
FCODE Version : N/A
Board Name : SAS9211-8i

---

mpt0: MPI Version=1.5.0.0
da0 at mpt0 bus 0 scbus32 target 0 lun 0
root@filesvr1[~]# sas2flash -listall
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2013.03.01)
Copyright (c) 2008-2013 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved

Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2008(B2)

Num Ctlr FW Ver NVDATA x86-BIOS PCI Addr
0 SAS2008(B2) 20.00.06.00 14.01.00.08 No Image 00:0b:01:00

---

 

[Spearfoot]

Hi All -

It's been several years and back to FreeNAS..apparently now called TrueNAS Core...and man has the GUI changed (for the better!) - loving thing so far but struggling to understand my HBA controller and if it's in the correct "IT" mode. On my system several years ago I could press "Control-S" (I think that was it) during the boot process and could jump into a configuration mode for the controller before the OS booted. On this system, there is no such prompt during boot. I "think" its because the controller itself doesn't have the BIOS firmware installed?

Anywho... here's the output of several commands...hopefully it's in the right state with the correct firmware but looking for you experts to keep me on track... thanks!

root@filesvr1[~]# sas2flash -list
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2013.03.01)
Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2008(B2)

Controller Number : 0
Controller : SAS2008(B2)
PCI Address : 00:0b:00:00
SAS Address : 500605b-0-013c-a580
NVDATA Version (Default) : 14.01.00.08
NVDATA Version (Persistent) : 14.01.00.08
Firmware Product ID : 0x2213 (IT)
Firmware Version : 20.00.06.00
NVDATA Vendor : LSI
NVDATA Product ID : SAS9211-8i
BIOS Version : N/A
UEFI BSD Version : N/A
FCODE Version : N/A
Board Name : SAS9211-8i

---

mpt0: MPI Version=1.5.0.0
da0 at mpt0 bus 0 scbus32 target 0 lun 0
root@filesvr1[~]# sas2flash -listall
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2013.03.01)
Copyright (c) 2008-2013 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved

Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2008(B2)

Num Ctlr FW Ver NVDATA x86-BIOS PCI Addr
0 SAS2008(B2) 20.00.06.00 14.01.00.08 No Image 00:0b:01:00

---

You're running in IT mode, which is the optimal mode for these cards.

Your firmware version is 20.00.06.00, which is good. I run these cards with a slightly newer version of the firmware (20.00.07.00), but you probably don't need to worry about updating as long as your system is running well.

 

[jprez1980]

You're running in IT mode, which is the optimal mode for these cards.

Your firmware version is 20.00.06.00, which is good. I run these cards with a slightly newer version of the firmware (20.00.07.00), but you probably don't need to worry about updating as long as your system is running well.

Thank you for the reply.

Is it odd the system doesn't prompt me into getting into the HBA's configuration mode? I assume the X86-BIOS field having "No Image" is why it's not occurring. Not sure if there's benefit of putting that image on the card or not.. seems to be working fine without it.

 

[kn51]

It's normal and not buch benefit. In fact without it it saves some booting time but who cares when hopefully your uptime is measured in months.

And if you feel inclined to run .07 of the firmware should be on Broadcom's site as 9211-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_FW_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows

 

[artlessknave]

the bios/UEFI lets you boot from the sas drives. if you aren't booting from them then it doesn't matter.
BIOS Version : N/A
UEFI BSD Version : N/A
0 SAS2008(B2) 20.00.06.00 14.01.00.08 No Image 00:0b:01:00
definitely looks like no bios
it doesn't really add that much time to the boot (the mobo takes like 8 minutes anyway), so i usually just leave it there so I don't have to add it later if I need to boot with that card ever.