LSI 9207-8i flashing help

[Muddro]

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?

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

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]

Is there any danger to drives I have connected? Or it just wont take if its "picky"

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

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.

 

[Newfoundland.Republic]

After something upgefucts, it is no longer a superstition... It is best practice ;)

 

[Muddro]

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]

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.

 

[Newfoundland.Republic]

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]

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]

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