LSI 9207-8i flashing help

Muddro

Explorer
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
59
I know there has been some digital ink spilled on this topic generally, but I had some specific questions that I was hoping someone could help with. This is my first HBA as I've grown my server over time. I've looked into it and believe I have old firmware and want to upgrade it. Below are the specifics to the HBA. As you can see its on version 14 of the firmware:

Code:
root@freenas:~ # mpsutil show adapter
mps0 Adapter:
       Board Name: SAS9207-8i
   Board Assembly: H3-25584-00A
        Chip Name: LSISAS2308
    Chip Revision: ALL
    BIOS Revision: 7.27.00.00
Firmware Revision: 14.00.00.00
  Integrated RAID: no

PhyNum  CtlrHandle  DevHandle  Disabled  Speed   Min    Max    Device
0       0001        0009       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
1       0003        000b       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
2       0002        000a       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
3       0005        000d       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
4       0004        000c       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
5       0006        000e       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
6       0007        000f       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator
7       0008        0010       N         6.0     1.5    6.0    SAS Initiator

root@freenas:~ # 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: SAS2308_2(D1)

Num   Ctlr            FW Ver        NVDATA        x86-BIOS         PCI Addr
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

0  SAS2308_2(D1)   14.00.00.00    0e.03.00.01    07.27.00.00     00:04:00:00

        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SAS2Flash.
root@freenas:~ # sas2flash -list
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: SAS2308_2(D1)

        Controller Number              : 0
        Controller                     : SAS2308_2(D1)
        PCI Address                    : 00:04:00:00
        SAS Address                    : 500605b-0-05d9-2e70
        NVDATA Version (Default)       : 0e.03.00.01
        NVDATA Version (Persistent)    : 0e.03.00.01
        Firmware Product ID            : 0x2214 (IT)
        Firmware Version               : 14.00.00.00
        NVDATA Vendor                  : LSI
        NVDATA Product ID              : SAS9207-8i
        BIOS Version                   : 07.27.00.00
        UEFI BSD Version               : N/A
        FCODE Version                  : N/A
        Board Name                     : SAS9207-8i
        Board Assembly                 : H3-25584-00A
        Board Tracer Number            : SV31015684

        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SAS2Flash.


I dont have a PC to throw the HBA into and use the MSDOS utility, so my plan is to flash it on the freenas. My questions are:

  1. Can I flash this on the FreeNAS?
  2. If so, do I need to disconnect the pool I currently have attached to it? (I can host all the necessary files on the boot pool)
  3. When checking out https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/host-bus-adapters/sas-9207-8i, I can only find the firmware in the 9207-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows archive. The FreeBSD listing only has an installer. Do I use the firmware included in the 9207-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows archive on the FreeNAS or is there another file?
  4. It looks like the sas2flash on Freenas is version 16. Should I use the installer from the Broadcom page?
  5. Is all I need to execute this: "sas2flash -o -f 9207-8.bin"?
  6. Do I need to update the bios as well?
  7. Anything else I am not thinking of?
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2014
Messages
1,135
I think you should be able to use sas2flash. My systems were a little picky about that, so I made a USB key with DR-DOS and installed the DOS flash utility there. Here is what the cards look like in my system (1 x 9207-8i and 1 x 9207-8e).
Code:
root@freenas2:/nonexistent # 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: SAS2308_2(D1)

Num   Ctlr            FW Ver        NVDATA        x86-BIOS         PCI Addr
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

0  SAS2308_2(D1)   20.00.07.00    14.01.00.06    07.39.02.00     00:05:00:00
1  SAS2308_2(D1)   20.00.07.00    14.01.00.06    07.39.02.00     00:82:00:00

        Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SAS2Flash.
 

Muddro

Explorer
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
59
Is there any danger to drives I have connected? Or it just wont take if its "picky"
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2014
Messages
1,135
I would certainly make sure you dismount the attached drives before flashing it. Maybe it is superstitious, but that is part of why I boot a different OS to do the flashing. Then there is no danger of the file system being mounted.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
648
After something upgefucts, it is no longer a superstition... It is best practice ;)
 

Muddro

Explorer
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
59
Whelp, couldnt get it to do it through FreeDOS 1.0. Would constantly just reboot. So took my chance and did it in FreeNAS. Almost went off without a hitch. Flashed fine, but rebooting went all funky. Lesson learned is export your pools before doing this.

My data is safe, but I needed to reboot the freenas, export my pool (it listed it even though it was inaccessable) and then reimport it.

A few minor heart attacks, but working now as far as i can tell.
 

ztx

Dabbler
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
16
I added a 9207-8i card, flash to IT mode, it worked fine, but when system boot, there is no prompt like "press ctrl c to enter config".
motherboard is E3C246D4M-4L, and set to boot uefi only.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
648
Question: Did you follow the flashing instructions exactly with the IT mode firmware? It almost seems like the card is still has the IR firmware...
 

ztx

Dabbler
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
16
The card is AOC-S2308L-L8i, I download firmware from supermicro, and flashed in efi mode using smc2308T.nsh.

Code:
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: SAS2308_1(D1)

    Controller Number              : 0
    Controller                     : SAS2308_1(D1)
    PCI Address                    : 00:02:00:00
    SAS Address                    : 5003048-0-189c-2d01
    NVDATA Version (Default)       : 14.01.30.16
    NVDATA Version (Persistent)    : 14.01.30.16
    Firmware Product ID            : 0x2214 (IT)
    Firmware Version               : 20.00.07.00
    NVDATA Vendor                  : LSI
    NVDATA Product ID              : LSI2308-IT
    BIOS Version                   : 07.39.02.00
    UEFI BSD Version               : 07.27.01.00
    FCODE Version                  : N/A
    Board Name                     : LSI2308-IT
    Board Assembly                 : N/A
    Board Tracer Number            : N/A

    Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
    Exiting SAS2Flash.
 

ztx

Dabbler
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
16
When I change to boot legacy mode , I can press ctrl c to enter the card config.

SMC2308T.nsh

Code:
echo -off
sas2flash.efi -o -e 7
cls
sas2flash.efi -f 2308T207.ROM
sas2flash.efi -b mptsas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -b x64sas2.rom
cls
sas2flash.efi -o -sasaddhi 5003048
 
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