SAS3 flash

[leoj3n]

I have connected:
http://amzn.com/B00JJIEH3U
Using:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118226
With these connectors:
http://amzn.com/B003AI272I
I have the on-board SAS3 controller "SAS3008 I/O Controller"...
http://www.avagotech.com/products/server-storage/io-controllers/sas-3008
On the mobo: X10SRH-CLN4F-O -> http://amzn.com/B00JPJLVIC

Which seemed to work well until getting into software... I am having trouble getting FreeNAS to recognize the drives and am struggling with firmware/driver issues.

Places I have looked for answers include:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/124-bay-12gbps-sas3-setup.30478/
http://www.bussink.ch/?p=1489

I have tried:

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/
ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/Previous Releases/ -> They skipped v9???
http://blog.widodh.nl/2014/10/flash-lsi-2308-to-it-mode-on-a-supermicro-x10sl7-f-mainboard/
http://digitalcardboard.com/blog/20...e-to-the-lsi-sas-9211-8i-hba-2014-efi-recipe/

http://www.avagotech.com/support/download-search -> Searching for "9300-8i" because of the following thread: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/error-mpr-driver-vs-firmware-version.39692/

The different downloads have different contents and are confusing me.

"Installer_P9_for_UEFI" contains:
sas3flash_udk_uefi_x64_rel -> sas3flash.efi

While....

"3008_FW_PH10.00.03.00" contains ->
IT -> UEFI ->
3008IT10.ROM
mpt3x64.rom
mptsas3.rom
sas3flash.efi
SMC3008T.NSH
...
I was able to execute "SMC3008T.NSH" in the EFI shell.
SO I AM FLASHED TO VERSION 10 AT THE MOMENT.

However, when I try to execute "sas3flash.efi" (for P9) I am not sure what command line flags to provide.

I am trying to flash to version P9 like in this thread:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/error-mpr-driver-vs-firmware-version.39692/

I was able to flash to version 10 because I got all the files here: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/

P9 is apparently skipped here: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/Previous Releases/

So to find "P9" I looked Avago's website: http://www.avagotech.com/support/download-search
Searching for "12Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapters"
Then "SAS 9300-8i Host Bus Adapter"
To download "Installer_P9_for_EUFI" -> Containing "sas3flash_udk_uefi_x64_rel" folder with only -> "sas3flash.efi"
And nothing more.. So the "previous release" files (P9) only include *.efi and no other files:

How do I flash to version P9 given the only .efi file?

 

[Ericloewe]

How do I flash to version P9 given the only .efi file?

You don't. You need the P9 firmware image. Look under the Windows downloads, the others now only seem to have the flasher tools and not the firmware images.

 

[depasseg]

This is an older version, but the steps are the same.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...nas-primary-for-plex.24519/page-6#post-159232

 

[depasseg]

And here's an even simpler method. https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...micro-x10sl7-f-motherboard.38884/#post-237679
"Just run sas2flash.efi (or sas3flash.efi) -fwall filename.bin. This doesn't actually erase the firmware that is currently on the card until it's verified that the new firmware is compatible, and it doesn't require you to keep track of the address."

 

[leoj3n]

Thank you both for your help. With your advices, I was able to piece together the steps necessary to successfully downgrade to P9:

1. Search http://www.avagotech.com/support/download-search for 12 Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapters > SAS 9300-8i Host Bus Adapter > Firmware.
   
2. Download 9300_8i_Package_P9_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows.
3. Download Installer_P9_for_UEFI.
4. Format USB to MS-DOS (FAT).
5. Copy 9300_8i_Package_P9_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows/Firmware/SAS9300_8i_IT/SAS9300_8i_IT.bin into USB.
6. Copy Installer_P9_for_UEFI/sas3flash_udk_uefi_x64_rel/sas3flash.efi into USB.
7. Attach USB to server and boot up, Press F11 to enter boot menu, Boot into EUFI Shell.
8. Clean flash (erase everything except manufacturing area) to avoid “Cannot downgrade NVDATA version” with command sas3flash.efi -o -e 6
9. Finally, do the flash with command sas3flash.efi -fwall SAS9300_8i_IT.bin

Thanks again for your invaluable help and support! Not sure I would have been able to figure this one out on my own. FreeNAS seems to be happy now.

 

[depasseg]

I'm glad to hear it's all sorted! Nice work!!

 

[Ceetan]

So what's the current state of the LSI 3008 controller?

Would be useful to know as I am

currently deciding between

Supermicro X11SSL-CF

and

Supermicro X11SSH-F


For my (potentially) eight Drive build.

(in the case of the former I would use the controller in IT mode and a solid state drive I already have laying around as a boot device, whereas the latter would require that I purchased and M.2 Drive or booted of usb)