LSI Controller FW updates IR/IT modes


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  • 4 weeks later...

First, a little background.  I have an old Gigabyte motherboard that only supports Sata II and PCIE 2.0.  I just picked up a new Samsung EVO 1TB SSD.  I was trying to buy a SATA III PCIE card to upgrade the machine but most of the ones I found were only PCIE x1 or x2 and didn't seem to support the full bandwidth of 6Gbps SATA III at PCIE 2.0 speeds.  I saw several people making suggestions of picking up a Dell H310 and flashing it to an LSI 9211 IT mode for this purpose.  So, I picked up a used board on eBay and attempted to flash it this evening and I am concerned that I may have bricked the card!  I'm not sure if this was the best course of action but I invested less then $30 in the card with the included cable. 

 

I am planning on solely using this in Windows 10 as an interface for the Samsung SSD.  I realize that this forum is generally for unRAID stuff but my difficulty seems to be in the flashing part of the adventure and you kind people seem to be the most knowledgeable on this topic!

 

I originally started following this guide:

 

https://tylermade.net/2017/06/27/how-to-crossflash-perc-h310-to-it-mode-lsi-9211-8i-firmware-hba-for-freenas-unraid/

 

I got my SAS address with no problem.

 

I then executed "megarec.exe -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin" and it returned a Success!  The way the guide was worded I assumed since the command succeeded I could skip the step of "megarec.exe -cleanflash 0", so I rebooted the system.  No RAID BIOS loaded and I just booted straight to the USB drive.

 

When I execute the "sas2flsh.exe -o -f 6GBPSAS.fw" I get an error of:

 

Chip is in RESET state.  Attempting Host Boot...

ERROR: Firmware Host Boot Failed !

Due to error remaining commands will not be executed.

Unable to Process Commands.

Exiting SAS2Flash.

 

I went back and executed "megarec.exe -cleanflash 0" but that has not helped the problem.

 

The little green light on the card is still flashing.

 

I then did some searching on this error and found these forums and your awesome batch files for accomplishing the flash.  I wish I had found these first!  When I run your batch files I get the error:

 

Controller is not operational.  A firmware download is required.  Enter firmware file name or quit to exit:

 

So I enter the path back to the 6GBPSAS.fw that I had previously and it gives the error:

 

Beginning Firmware Download:

Firmware Download Failed!

 

At this point I am not sure which direction I need to go.  Is this correctable?

 

Also, are my expectations for this project even attainable?  Will this card (assuming I get it to work) give me full 6Gbps SATA III for the Samsung SSD in the Windows environment.  Are there any other possibly better options out there?  Thanks in advance for any input or insights into my situation.

 

 

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The card is not bricked. While the instructions you linked are detailed, it fails to explicitly say to use the older version of SAS2FLSH tool for the first time.

You will need SAS2FLSH version (phase) 14 or below for flashing 6gbp SAS FW. Then you can flash the IT mode FW.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

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4 hours ago, nthu9280 said:

The card is not bricked. While the instructions you linked are detailed, it fails to explicitly say to use the older version of SAS2FLSH tool for the first time.

You will need SAS2FLSH version (phase) 14 or below for flashing 6gbp SAS FW. Then you can flash the IT mode FW.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

 

I tried the P07 version of SAS2FLSH and while it did recognize the version number of the chip (B2) it still gave me an error.  Here is a screen of the issue with the command that I used at the bottom:

 

What am I missing?  Thanks.

0415181131.jpg

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1 hour ago, nthu9280 said:

Try the P14 version.
Also, copy the FW file in the same directory as the sas2flsh. Not sure if that makes a difference. But just to rule out the quirks.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

OK.  I got the P14 version of SAS2FLSH and it just hangs when attempting host boot.  It has been like this for about 30 minutes.  I'm assuming it will wait forever!  Any other ideas?  Thanks again.  I really appreciate the effort.

 

0415181355.jpg

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It can be frustrating at time and I've gone thru' this pain. Try the following sequence. Someone had reported success with writing empty sbr after cleanflash. The standard sequence is before. Also check the syntax for my steps. I'm typing this on mobile from my memory.


Try starting over:
1. megarec -cleanflash 0
2. Megarec writesbr sbrempty.bin
3. Reboot
4. Sas2flsh-p14 (without -o) -f 6gbpsas.fw
5. Reboot
6. Sas2flsh-p20 -f 2118IT.bin
7. Sas2flsh-p20 (sas-add)


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

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6 hours ago, nthu9280 said:

It can be frustrating at time and I've gone thru' this pain. Try the following sequence. Someone had reported success with writing empty sbr after cleanflash. The standard sequence is before. Also check the syntax for my steps. I'm typing this on mobile from my memory.


Try starting over:
1. megarec -cleanflash 0
2. Megarec writesbr sbrempty.bin
3. Reboot
4. Sas2flsh-p14 (without -o) -f 6gbpsas.fw
5. Reboot
6. Sas2flsh-p20 -f 2118IT.bin
7. Sas2flsh-p20 (sas-add)


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

 

SUCCESS!!  I'm not sure what exactly did it this time because I had tried the -cleanflash previously several times and it always gave an error.  But, this time I did it first and, it actually completed.  Then -writesbr also completed and it allowed me to continue to flash the firmware!  Go figure.  Maybe it was the several reboots in between this time around?

 

Thanks nthu9280 for all of the help.  It is greatly appreciated!  It is now working extremely well in Windows 10 with the Samsung 860 Evo 1TB SSD.  I was getting 528 MB/s Write and 571 MB/s Read transfer rates.  I am definitely happy with that.  It was actually faster then my test machine's (Dell Optiplex 7010) internal SATA III ports with a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD.

 

I did install the BIOS as I need to use it as my boot card on my older machine that I am moving it too.  I originally didn't install the BIOS on the card and it wasn't selectable as a boot device.  It works great now.  Here are some screens.  Thanks again!

 

 

0415182129a.jpg

0415181802.jpg

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Glad to hear it's all working now.

Like I said, I lived thru the frustrations too. Some H310 would complete without a hitch in 5 min while other H310 cards would take multiple attempts. As long as Megarec can see the card, it can be flashed.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

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Last night, I put the flashed Dell H310 card in my old machine.  Its a Q6600 processor in a Gigabyte ep45-ud3p motherboard with 8GB DDR2.  The machine has been running perfectly with an old Adaptec 5405 RAID controller with 4 x 640GB WD drives in RAID 0 as a boot drive for over 10 years.  I removed the Adaptec card and the HDDs and put the H310 in the exact same PCIe x16 slot that was previously used for the old RAID card.

 

Unfortunately, The machine failed to boot at all with the H310 installed.  No video, no beeps, no BIOS, no splash screen, nothing.  The machine would just power cycle after 15 seconds over and over ad infinitum.  When I pulled the H310 card out, the machine booted up just fine.

 

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this to boot with the H310 card in this setup??  Thanks in advance!

Edited by Fulcrum77
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1 hour ago, johnnie.black said:

Try this:

 

Thanks for the reply.  Taping off B5 and B6 worked perfectly to get the card to boot but another road block has arisen in my quest to get this card operational.  Now it just hangs after the H310 BIOS  Initialization screen.  Screen shot below:

 

If I unplug the Samsung SSD, it goes straight through to the next initialization process.  If I plug the SSD back in, it hangs again.  Any other thoughts?  I can get into the configuration utility for the card with a Control-C and have played with several different options, to no avail. Thanks!

 

 

0418181430.jpg

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6 hours ago, johnnie.black said:

Delete the bios, it's not needed.

 

I would absolutely love to delete the card BIOS except I need to boot from the SSD on the H310.  I don't think my computer BIOS will allow me to do that unless the H310 BIOS runs first.  At least that's how it worked on my test system that I used to flash the H310.  Unless there is some other way around that.  I'm just not sure what to do at this point.  Thanks.

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1 minute ago, jonathanm said:

No, unraid boots from the USB drive.

I'm not using this card for unRAID.  I'm using it to gain the SATA III interface on an old machine that I am putting an SSD into.  It will be the boot drive for Windows 10.  I know these forums are mainly for unRAID but you lot seem to have the most knowledge about these cards! :)

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Hi i have ASUS Z9PA-D8, and Asus pike 2008(B2) - i think that this is sas 2008(see screenshots). 

What i do:

1) Download package from first page LSI SAS2008 chipset LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P10)Linux.zip - 3.43 MB (unRAID)

2) Boot to linux

3) Run 1_ListAllAdaptors.sh and i see my controller

4) Back up old firmware and bios by 2_Backup_Current_Firmware_Bios.sh
5) Run 3_Flash_to_IT_mode.sh and get error "cannot Flash IT Firmware over IR Firmware"

6) I think that i need to Erase the old firmware. By this site chapter Overview i do

   Boot dos,

   megacli.exe -AdpAllInfo -aAll -page 20     (get error "Exit code 0x01")

   megarec.exe -readsbr 0 mega.sbr   (backup my old firmware)

   megarec.exe -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin    (success)

   megarec.exe -cleanflash 0  (succsess)

7) Reboot to linux and do with package from 1):

Run 3_Flash_to_IT_mode.sh and get error, but error text i forget

8 ) Boot dos and sas2flash -o -e 7

9) Reboot to linux and do with package from 1):

3_Flash_to_IT_mode.sh and get error "No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!"

 

In total result i have:

1) I dont see raid bios on start

2) I dont know my sas address.

3) backup file from megarec.exe -readsbr 0 mega.sbr

4) backup files from 2_Backup_Current_Firmware_Bios.sh

SAS2008-Backup-BIOS.rom

SAS2008-FW-Backup.fw

5) 1_ListAllAdaptors.sh get "No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!"

 

Do i briking my controller???

 

What can i do now?

  

IMG_1267.JPG

 

IMG_1272.JPG

AdaptersCurrentFW-Bios.txt

FlashLog.txt

ADAPTERS.TXT

Edited by FragMaster
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Hello,

I tried today to flash my dell perc h310 to LSI IT firmware, but after obtaining SAS adress, and executing these two commands:

 

 

  1. megarec.exe -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
  2. megarec.exe -cleanflash 0

my H310 is no longer recognized neither by megarec nor by sas2flsh (EFI/BIOS doesn't matter, won't see it). LED is not blinking, so I assume it is dead. Am I correct? Any way of resurrecting it? :) 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone,

I just received a PERC H200 and followed the instructions in order to flash it to IT mode. I followed the last post:

Quote

 

Update on 17.04.2017, v4 <--- this is the latest, use this one!

Firmware is still P20.00.07.00

Corrections for EFI environment. Untested due to missing hardware.

Post your experience in the forum.

https://www.mediafire.com/?py9c1w5u56xytw2

 

 

There was no error, I was only instructed to skip step 4 (I did not have to reboot). After everything finished successfully, I booted to unraid but the disks that are connected to the controller are not recognized. I should mention that the green light is flashing so the controller is powering up and that I followed the default action which does not install the controller BIOS.

 

Any advice as to how I should troubleshoot? Also how to check if unraid and/or the MoBo at least see the controller?

 

 

PS: I am attaching the logs folder from the USB stick I used in order to flash, although i dont know if it is necessary

logs.rar

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