October 28, 20178 yr I just got an LSI 9201-16i card I picked up from eBay. My first surprise when looking for information at the LSI support website is that the documentation for the card is severely lacking. It only contains a useless installation guide. Almost no other information is provided. There is no info on what the LED signals, no info on the configuration utility and no info on how to do updates. Pretty bad I must say. I expected better documentation. Guess I need some forum help instead. Hopefully there are som LSI owners that can shed some light on my questions. I plugged the card into my computer and booted up. I have no HDDs attached at the moment (waiting for cables). My Unraid runs on an older Asus P5B-E motherboard. The LSI posts the following during boot: LSI Corporation MPT SAS2 BIOS MPT2BIOS-7.05.01.00 (2010.02.09) Copyright 2000-2010 LSI Corporation Looks to me like the card is running an old bios version? Newest seems to be 7.27.01.01 on the LSI/Broadcom website. So, first question is: Do I need to update the card or will it run just fine without updating? I would prefer not to update if it is fine as it is. I also tried to access the LSI Corp Configuration Utility (CRTL+C during boot). When I do, nothing happens. The card posts that it will access the utility after initialisation. However, I only get a blank screen / nothing happening. So, second question is: How can I access the configuration utility? Do I need to have HDD’s attached to be able to load it? Do I need the configuration utility at all?
October 28, 20178 yr Author A third thing that is a bit confusing. On the LSI webpage these is both Bios and Firmware for the card: https://www.broadcom.com/support/download-search/?pg=Legacy+Products&pf=Legacy+Products&pn=SAS+9201-16i+Host+Bus+Adapter&po=&pa=&dk= Do I need to flash both, or does the firmware contain the bios? I think this is really confusing stuff. I am not very comfortable with it. I am just a computer layman, no IT professional. I don't think my MB support UEFI neither. Looks like that complicates the matter. I see that LSI has a utility called LSI Pre-Boot USB, but this looks like it is for newer cards?
October 28, 20178 yr Author I have done some searching and reading today. I have found that several users with this card (and some other models) have problems booting from USB when the LSI card is updated to the newer versions. I guess there might be some compatibility issues with some motherboards and boot sequences. The information in the threads was not conclusive however. However, I think I will leave the LSI card alone for the moment. When I get the cable I will try to use it and if it works out ok. I will not do any updating until it is required. Either way, I would still like some input on my questions above if anyone has any comments.
October 28, 20178 yr Community Expert 4 hours ago, kno said: Do I need to flash both, or does the firmware contain the bios? Download package includes both, bios is optional, it will boot faster without it, but if you to to use bios you should flash it with the version that comes with that firmware.
October 28, 20178 yr BIOS update is not needed. I would only update if you hit an issue and determine that the BIOS will resolve it. And I have never heard anyone need to do that with this card. Plug and play. Very easy. Just make sure your SFF8087 cable seat nicely into the connectors. You should feel or even hear a satisfying "click" when it is fully seated. I don't love those connectors because they are sometimes tricky to get lined up just right and easy to bend slightly in the process. You might want to get the cables connected before installing the card if the works logistically.
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