LSI Controller FW updates IR/IT modes

[bcbgboy13]

Ok after doing a little research I find that the syslog errors are due to cables or a bad controller port etc. I will check into that.

 

another reason could be the fact you are using older firmware - P11

 

P14 is the latest one with many fixes

[luckyflyer]

Ok I will upgrade to P14.

Thanks

[guldil]

Hi,

 

i have an old fujitsu siemens RX300 with SAS 1068E :

 

root@ubuntu01:~/Flash/LSI/1.5Gs_3Gs_SATA_Support_Firmware# ./sasflash -listall

****************************************************************************
    LSI Corporation SAS FLASH Utility.

    SASFlash Version 1.24.00.00 (2009.11.13)

    Copyright (c) 2006-2007 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved.
****************************************************************************

        Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS 1068(B0):

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

1   1068(B0)  01.10.01.00  22.11  06.06.00.00    No Image   00:02:08:00


Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SASFlash.

 

Looks like it's an B0 chipset ? Is there a way to update it ?

 

Thanks

 

Guldil

[bcbgboy13]

Hi,

 

i have an old fujitsu siemens RX300 with SAS 1068E :

 

root@ubuntu01:~/Flash/LSI/1.5Gs_3Gs_SATA_Support_Firmware# ./sasflash -listall

****************************************************************************
    LSI Corporation SAS FLASH Utility.
    SASFlash Version 1.24.00.00 (2009.11.13)
    Copyright (c) 2006-2007 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved.
***************************************************************************
       Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS 1068(B0):
Num   Ctlr      FW Ver     NVDATA   x86-BIOS     EFI-BSD    PCI Addr
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1   1068(B0)  01.10.01.00  22.11  06.06.00.00    No Image   00:02:08:00
Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
        Exiting SASFlash.

Looks like it's an B0 chipset ? Is there a way to update it ?

Thanks

Guldil

 

One has to be careful here - there is 1068 chip and there is 1068e with one of them being PCI-X chip and the other being PCIe (express) chip.

 

Yours appear to be 1068 (b0) and in this case you should look for the LSI legacy products as source for newer firmware and BIOS. One such example is the LSI SAS 3081X-R

 

Direct link to the latest firmware here - http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/Host%20Bus%20Adapters/Host%20Bus%20Adapters%20Common%20Files/SAS_SATA_3G_P21/SAS3080XR_%20Package_P21_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows.zip

 

If you decide to proceed I am not responsible for what could happen.

And if you succeed please let us know.

[Bloodydead]

Hello,

 

i have some problems with my server, i hope you can help me. I don't know who is the producer of this server. I only know that there is a LSI 1068E with 2 Expander onboard.

 

The problem is, that i actually installed 14 HDDs and the Controller only recognize 7 HDDs. I use 8 x Samsung HD204UI and  6 x Seagate ST2000DL001 but the controller only finds 4 x Samsung and 3 x Seagate. I checked all HDDs with disk utility and they are all healty. My guess is that i have to update the FW that the controller finds all HDDs.

 

Attached you will find a screenshot from the LSI Logic Config Utiliy, can you please tell me which fw i can use?

http://s7.directupload.net/images/121221/ifp4ei7f.jpg

Thanks in advance.

 

BR

Bloodydead

[vletroye]

Hi,

 

I have the same issue as some other users after the upgrade of my LSI 9201 16i (I did it to from 7.5.0.0 to the latest bios 7.29.0.0 with Firmware 15.0.0.0)

The PC doesn't boot anymore. It stops the boot sequence after the initialization of the LSI.

 

The problem is similar to the one of Maxse in this thread : http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.msg207998#msg207998

It's also described here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1667247

 

 

I did try your package for LSI SAS2116, in the hope to downgrade but during the firmware update, I get the error message:  ERROR: Cannot downgrade NVDATA version 0xf000003 to 0xa030001.

 

I did try next to only downgrade the bios (I did remove the firmware). The version found in your package is 7.21.0.0. The downgrade of the bios worked fine, but the problem is still there.

 

In response to Maxse, b0ssman said in this thread "I had the same problem... What i did was redo the entire process but on step 5 not flash the bios only the firmware.".

Which "process" is he talking about ? I would like to have the details...

 

I did open a case at LSI two days ago but didn't get any answer yet

 

 

No need to mention I am a real newbie

 

V.

 

 

[vletroye]

Lsi started to help me yesterday, a few hours after my post.

 

They send me their oldest bios still available: 7.15.0.0

 

And good news, this one solves all my problems! It's both compatible with my motherboard and my Promise adapter

 

V.

[ZipsServer]

Hi guys,

 

I dont know much at all about these SAS cards and I am having trouble figuring out how to flash mine. I guess I just need a big picture overview of what to do.

 

I am planning on buying the M1015 and flashing it to the SAS2008. I have read the first 10 pages of this thread and I have downloaded the files from Madburg's OP, but I still cant wrap my head around everything. I know it is laid out pretty clearly, but there are a few missing links that I cant fill in because im a noob.

 

I am hoping to flash this card on my unRAID box so I downloaded LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar - 3.16 MB http://www.mediafire.com/?doepi97zo4ao4c7 and I downloaded LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11).zip - 5.87 MB http://www.mediafire.com/?98j2l2314l6g77w

 

1.) So do I run "LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11)" first and then "LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar"? And are there any other files I need?

 

2.) I cant tell whether I can run LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11)" on my unRAID machine or not because I am not sure what DOS runs under. (yes i am that uneducated) This zip file provided detailed instructions on what to do so I think I can follow those if i do run it on my unRAID.

 

3.) Then for "LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar", im guessing i run the 1,2,3,4 files in order, but then what is the "2118it.bin" file for?

4.) Also, it says to "First step is to copy the sas2flash(5/8/9/10/11) you will be using to just plain sas2flash." Where am I copying it to and how do I run it? and when I copy it I am supposed to rename the file to just sas2flash? (just clarification)

 

5.) Also, i have read posts saying that there is a new P14? Which files do i replace in the original set? And where can I get the new files because they are not posted in the OP?

 

With that, hopefully I can figure out the rest.

 

I appreciate everyone's hard work in getting these files together and I appreciate your response in advance.

 

[prtsmgr]

5.) Also, i have read posts saying that there is a new P14? Which files do i replace in the original set? And where can I get the new files because they are not posted in the OP?

P14 files are in post# 423

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.msg194510#msg194510

[Ford Prefect]

Hi guys,

 

I dont know much at all about these SAS cards and I am having trouble figuring out how to flash mine. I guess I just need a big picture overview of what to do.

 

I am planning on buying the M1015 and flashing it to the SAS2008. I have read the first 10 pages of this thread and I have downloaded the files from Madburg's OP, but I still cant wrap my head around everything. I know it is laid out pretty clearly, but there are a few missing links that I cant fill in because im a noob.

 

I am hoping to flash this card on my unRAID box so I downloaded LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar - 3.16 MB http://www.mediafire.com/?doepi97zo4ao4c7 and I downloaded LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11).zip - 5.87 MB http://www.mediafire.com/?98j2l2314l6g77w

 

1.) So do I run "LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11)" first and then "LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar"? And are there any other files I need?

 

 

When starting with a stock M1015, you are going to cross-flash it to IT mode.

The Program to do that is called sas2flash and you need a version that is binary compatible with the system you will run it (perform the flash with) on.

In your case, when performing the procedure of cross flashing the card on unRAID, you will only need the Linux version (LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar)LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11).

The other archive is used when you attempt to perform the task on windows an upgrade of an already cross-flashed or "native" card, either in Linux or Windows.

 

2.) I cant tell whether I can run LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11)" on my unRAID machine or not because I am not sure what DOS runs under. (yes i am that uneducated) This zip file provided detailed instructions on what to do so I think I can follow those if i do run it on my unRAID.

 

It is not DOS..it is the linux version you want, when flashing from within your unRAID box.

The LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11) will boot your system from a Stick into DOS.

 

3.) Then for "LSI SAS2008 Controllers(P11)Linux.rar", im guessing i run the 1,2,3,4 files in order, but then what is the "2118it.bin" file for?

 

That is the actual firmware file.

You will need to run all steps in sequential order...each step is a script/executable <n>_<name>.sh in that folder.

As step 3 use the "3_Flash_to_IT_mode.sh" script...it will make use of the 2118it.bin file as well as the mptsas2.rom file (which is the BIOS file for the card)

 

4.) Also, it says to "First step is to copy the sas2flash(5/8/9/10/11) you will be using to just plain sas2flash." Where am I copying it to and how do I run it? and when I copy it I am supposed to rename the file to just sas2flash? (just clarification)

 

Yes. the program that actually performs the flash is calld sas2flash and it needs to be from the same version of the firmware.

The archive contains several versions for compatibilty. The FW in that archive is P11, so copy the "sas2flash11" to "sas2flash".

The provided scripts require to find the program named sas2flash in the same directory.

You will just run the <n>_<xxxx>.sh scripts and not the sas2flash utility directly.

 

5.) Also, i have read posts saying that there is a new P14? Which files do i replace in the original set? And where can I get the new files because they are not posted in the OP?

 

There is actually a P15 already.

Once you have flashed the stock M1015 it is no longer a M1015 (or rather a OEM version of the LSI 9240-8i).

It is, after that, a LSI 9211-8i (or rather a OEM version, called LSI 9210-8i).

 

Once you flashed it to P11 you can use the upgrade procedure for a 9211-8i to flash it from P11 to P14 or P15.

See also here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22428.0

 

With that, hopefully I can figure out the rest.

 

I appreciate everyone's hard work in getting these files together and I appreciate your response in advance.

 

...welcome and good luck 

[ZipsServer]

@Ford Prefect,

 

That makes sense. I honestly cant describe how grateful I am.

Thank you!

[FreeMan]

I can get one of these really cheap:

http://www.ascendtech.us/lsi-ser523-rev-b2-raid-sata-controller_i_cntlsilogser523.aspx

Anybody know if that will

A) work with unRAID,

B) be flashable (need to be flashed) as described in this post,

C) be worth getting?

 

I know it only supports SATA 1, so it will be slower, but most of my drives are SATA 1 at this point, so that won't matter much.  I was unable to determine from the ad what chipset this has on it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

FreeMan

[mapesdhs]

Just wanted to say thanks very much for the fw/BIOS resources for the LSI cards! I've used the

1068E P21 file to successfully update an IBM 3082E-R card (B3 rev), no problems at all (I kept it

with the -IR firmware).

 

I do have one question though: how can I turn on write caching when creating a hardware stripe

within the LSI BIOS? Anyone know? It can't be done through Windows Disk Manager (yeah, I know,

I'm using Windows; alas it's a system I'm building for use by someone else, an After Effects setup).

 

If I don't create a hardware RAID using the LSI BIOS setup, but instead just let the disks be passed

through to the OS, then I can create a software stripe ok (dynamic drives) and the write caching works

fine (350MB/sec using four kinda old 1TB Hitachi Enterprise SATA). Or would I be better off using a

software stripe anyway, and just changing the LSI card to -IT firmware?

 

Yours,

 

Ian.

 

PS. For reference, the test system is a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, XEON E5540, etc., but the final build

employing the LSI card will be an ASUS P9X79, 3930K, etc. Win7/Ult/64bit in all cases.

 

 

[ZipsServer]

Hi there again,

 

I am having some trouble flashing my M1015 that just arrived today.

 

I already have the file for flashing the card on my unRaid machine. I put them on a flash drive and mounted it on my unRaid machine using SNAP.

 

I them tried to run the first .sh and it gave me this

 

root@Harvard:/mnt/disk/usbcruzer/LSISAS2008ControllersP11Linux/Flash/LSI# ls
1_ListAllAdaptors.sh*
2118ir.bin*
2118it.bin*
2_Backup_Current_Firmware_Bios.sh*
3_Flash_to_IR_mode.sh*
3_Flash_to_IT_mode.sh*
4_ListAllAdaptorsAfterFlash.sh*
LSI\ 6Gbs\ Serial\ Attached\ SCSI\ (SAS)\ Integrated\ RAID.pdf*
LSI_SAS_2008_Product_Brief.pdf*
Original_Readme_Files/
__ReadMeFirst.txt*
mptsas2.rom*
sas2flash*
sas2flash10*
sas2flash5*
sas2flash8*
sas2flash9*
<ruzer/LSISAS2008ControllersP11Linux/Flash/LSI# 1_ListAllAdaptors.sh         


List information about all adapters found


Press Enter key to start, or CTRL-C to quit.


Proceeding to find LSI Controllers
Log will be AdaptersCurrentFW-Bios.txt in the current directory


LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 11.00.00.00 (2011.08.22) 
Copyright (c) 2008-2011 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved 

No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
ERROR: Command Not allowed without an adapter!
ERROR: Couldn't Create Command -l
Exiting Program.

 

I looked afterward and there was no AdaptersCurrentFW-Bios.txt to be found.

 

I also tried using the -o option but it gave the same output.

 

<ControllersP11Linux/Flash/LSI# 1_ListAllAdaptors.sh -o                     


List information about all adapters found


Press Enter key to start, or CTRL-C to quit.


Proceeding to find LSI Controllers
Log will be AdaptersCurrentFW-Bios.txt in the current directory


LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 11.00.00.00 (2011.08.22) 
Copyright (c) 2008-2011 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved 

No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
ERROR: Command Not allowed without an adapter!
ERROR: Couldn't Create Command -l
Exiting Program.

 

Am I running the .sh wrong? Or should I not mount the usb drive using SNAP? Does it need to be run under the /boot directory?

 

I currently have my array stopped and I have the card plugged into the PCIe 2.0 x16_2 slot (black, at x 4 link) with no SAS cable attached as seen below. I also tried plugging it into the PCIe 2.0 x16_1 slot (blue)

 

 

 

Any Ideas? I hope its not something stupid.

[Ford Prefect]

Hi there again,

 

I am having some trouble flashing my M1015 that just arrived today.

 

 

My bad, I am afraid....you need the other archive "LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P11)" for cross flashing.

That is you need to prepare a bootable usb stick to do that...it will boot into DOS from there.

 

I am very sorry...messed that up. That file should flash it to P11...so you do not need the other Linux archive.

From there, you can continue to flash to P14 or P15 using the original utility.

 

BTW: Your M1015 should at least POST in that slot

[neuromac]

Help flashing an Intel Card.

I purchased an Intel SASMF81 based on the LSI 1068e chipset. I have tried flashing it to the LSI firmware unsuccessfully and the only reference I find of this being successful is using the efi flash utility which I cannot use.

Can anyone think of a way I can accomplish this?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Tsunamijhoe]

Hey guys

 

I was hoping you could help me.

 

I just exchanged my supermicro aoc-saslp8 (due to drive dropouts) for a IBM serveraid 1015M, and would like to have it work like IT mode (native SATA Controller) ,how exactly do i go about using the files in post 1 on this thread? Also, do i use the 1015M files,even though my card is branded LSI 9220-8i and NOT 9210-8i?

 

Does drive spindown from windows power management work? And does smart work?

 

Thank you

[Ford Prefect]

Hey guys

 

I was hoping you could help me.

 

I just exchanged my supermicro aoc-saslp8 (due to drive dropouts) for a IBM serveraid 1015M, and would like to have it work like IT mode (native SATA Controller) ,how exactly do i go about using the files in post 1 on this thread?

You will need to use the files from post 4 (LSI MEGARAID) of this thread 

here: http://www.mediafire.com/?98j2l2314l6g77w

The procedure is in the readme in that file...

In short: prepare a bottable USB with the files

boot from that

run the .bat scripts in sequential order

 

Also, do i use the 1015M files,even though my card is branded LSI 9220-8i and NOT 9210-8i?

The FW is for 9211...the cross-flash will turn the M1015 into this card, as far as FW is concerned.

When you compare card layouts on lsi website for 9210 and 9211, you will notice that the M1010 wil resemble the 9210 or the 9240.

..LSI does not list a 9220---the M1015 in its orginal state with megaraid FW is missing some RAID-modes from the original 9240...maybe this is LSi's naming scheme for their OEM, I don't know.

I own 6 of these and only two carried the 9220 sticker...I have cross-flashed all 6 of them without problems.

 

Does drive spindown from windows power management work? And does smart work?

Yes and Yes

 

BTW:

There is a risk that flashing in some motherboards will not work.....look for "Failed to initialize PAL" error.

The only solution to this is to continue with another mobo until you fget to one that works, as far as i know of.

[Tsunamijhoe]

Hey guys

 

I was hoping you could help me.

 

I just exchanged my supermicro aoc-saslp8 (due to drive dropouts) for a IBM serveraid 1015M, and would like to have it work like IT mode (native SATA Controller) ,how exactly do i go about using the files in post 1 on this thread?

You will need to use the files from post 4 (LSI MEGARAID) of this thread 

here: http://www.mediafire.com/?98j2l2314l6g77w

The procedure is in the readme in that file...

In short: prepare a bottable USB with the files

boot from that

run the .bat scripts in sequential order

 

Also, do i use the 1015M files,even though my card is branded LSI 9220-8i and NOT 9210-8i?

The FW is for 9211...the cross-flash will turn the M1015 into this card, as far as FW is concerned.

When you compare card layouts on lsi website for 9210 and 9211, you will notice that the M1010 wil resemble the 9210 or the 9240.

..LSI does not list a 9220---the M1015 in its orginal state with megaraid FW is missing some RAID-modes from the original 9240...maybe this is LSi's naming scheme for their OEM, I don't know.

I own 6 of these and only two carried the 9220 sticker...I have cross-flashed all 6 of them without problems.

 

Does drive spindown from windows power management work? And does smart work?

Yes and Yes

 

BTW:

There is a risk that flashing in some motherboards will not work.....look for "Failed to initialize PAL" error.

The only solution to this is to continue with another mobo until you fget to one that works, as far as i know of.

 

I have now flashed the card and it seems to work,however i still get drive dropouts once in awhile,and sometimes machine hangs on shutdown and boot,it is driving me insane and why i threw away the supermicro aoc-saslpmv8 as it was horrible with dropouts,i had hoped changing to the ibm would make my system more stable.

 

Anyways, thank you so much for your help :-)

[Ford Prefect]

 

I have now flashed the card and it seems to work,however i still get drive dropouts once in awhile,and sometimes machine hangs on shutdown and boot,it is driving me insane and why i threw away the supermicro aoc-saslpmv8 as it was horrible with dropouts,i had hoped changing to the ibm would make my system more stable.

 

Anyways, thank you so much for your help :-)

 

These symptoms are not very likely to be caused by your card.

Bad cables, connectors or PSU is my first guess....maybe you should ask for help in the General Support section, describing your setup an problems in more detail.

[Dephcon]

Just flashed my LSI SAS3083 card to the latest IT firmware.

[Walhalla]

Yesterday i tried to attach 3TB drives to my HP XW9400 / Tyan S2915 board with an onboard LSI 1068E B1. The problem ist that it only recognizes 2.2TB.

 

I tried to flash the P21 IT firmware but i get the following error message while flashing:

 

Firmware Download Boot Required to get Flash Size
ERROR: Cannot flash a 2MB Firmware image on a 1MB Flash!

 

The strange part is that the original firmware size is bigger than the IT firmware -> 233 KB (239.156 Bytes)

 

Any ideas how to solve this?

[FreeMan]

I can get one of these really cheap:

http://www.ascendtech.us/lsi-ser523-rev-b2-raid-sata-controller_i_cntlsilogser523.aspx

Anybody know if that will

A) work with unRAID,

B) be flashable (need to be flashed) as described in this post,

C) be worth getting?

 

I know it only supports SATA 1, so it will be slower, but most of my drives are SATA 1 at this point, so that won't matter much.  I was unable to determine from the ad what chipset this has on it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

FreeMan

 

OK, I got the card and plugged it into my machine. The hardware recognizes it just fine, and I was able to get into the BIOS setup of the card, and it recognized the HD I'd attached. When I booted into unRAID (4.7) I could not see hide nor hare of the drive.

 

Since I've got a machine made up of recycled parts (my son's old machine), I don't have a fancy KVM over IP solution for nice screen prints, so I did the next best thing. Pics attached linked.

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k331/bdshepard/2013-01-16220945_zps6d9bafad.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k331/bdshepard/2013-01-16220802_zps5d908ff8.jpg

 

I pulled the card, and it's got 3 SiL 3112 chips on it to support the 6 SATA ports. http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k331/bdshepard/2013-01-16222756_zps0746d4d4.jpg

It looks like this controller chip will work with unRAID (http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=17077.0)

 

The card also has some jumpers, but any actual info about this card is hard to come by via the google. I went 6 pages in and couldn't find anything but for-sale, a few forum posts, and the LSI web site which doesn't seem to acknowledge the existence of this card.

 

What other info might someone need to help solve the issue?

 

EDIT: additional note - this is a PCIX card plugged into a PCI slot, and it appears that some of the extra connectors may be contacting a capacitor on the Mobo. I suppose that could be causing issues, but the machine boots, and I have no trouble getting into the card's BIOS, and the BIOS recognized a single drive that I'd plugged into it.

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k331/bdshepard/2013-01-16225206_zpsede85577.jpg

 

EDIT2: Found the LSI docs here:

http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/Obsolete/Obsolete%20Common%20Files/sata150_ug.pdf

and all the info they have on the board here:

http://www.lsi.com/support/Pages/Download-Results.aspx?productcode=P00462&assettype=0&component=Storage%20Component&productfamily=Legacy%20RAID%20Controllers&productname=MegaRAID%20SATA%20150-4%20%28523%29

[dapeace]

Hello Guys, i have 2 questions.

 

I have a Lenovo Thinstation with a 1068E(B2)-Based Controller. Ive bought 3 new 3TB-Harddrives.

Ive tried to reflash the Controller to break the 3TB-Limit to use the full space.

With the latest Firmware ive found on the first Page the Controller still is only seeing 2TB for each harddrive.

Is there an newer version of the firmware available?

In the first posting there is an edit which says that unraid can use the controller with 3TB but i run a normal windows 7 ultimate-workstation.

 

Best regards,

 

dapeace

[PeterB]

... but i run a normal windows 7 ultimate-workstation.

 

Well, when you've installed unRAID on your system, we may be able to help you!