LSI 9201-16e & PERC H310 Issue

[RevelRob]

Hi,

I have a Dell T3600 that came with a PERC H310.

Running latest UnRAID stable.

Unfortunately, I have used all of the space in the case for drives and purchased a LSI 9201-16e card to use with a DAS.

After installing the LSI card, UnRAID did not recognize any of the drives I attached to it so I had to update the firmware with sas2flash via freedos. I followed this guide (but used freedos instead of UEFI Shell) and used this firmware.

It's currently at 20.00.06.00-IT according to the bios which is at v7.39.02.00 (2015.08.03).

Unfortunately, the one drive that I connected to the LSI card (which was originally connected to the PERC card) is showing as "Wrong" in the UnRAID Gui (See attached image).

I tried removing the PERC card and attaching all of the drives to the 9201-16e; but then they all show as wrong. If I attach them all back to the PERC card, everything works fine.

 

I know that the 9201-16e is IT mode only, so it's not a flashing issue (i think).

I don't know what I'm doing wrong here. 

I know that there is a "New Config" option; however, I'm not sure if that's what I need to do.

I have a feeling that it's the PERC card that although was playing fine until now, is not playing well with the 9201 since the 9201 is in IT and the PERC is not... but I'm not entirely sure.

I can attach any logs; I just don't know which I'd need to attach.

 

Thanks very much for any help!

[JorgeB]

The PERC was adding the SAS address to the disk identifier, just do a new config, keep all assignments, you may need to re-assign disk3, then check "parity is already valid" and start the array.

[RevelRob]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Should I also flash the PERC to IT mode?

[JorgeB]

That would be best, you'll need to do a new config again.

[RevelRob]

Ok awesome. Thanks!

To avoid doing the new config twice, Should I do the following? 

Remove all drives, flash PERC, attach drives to current (preferred) configuration, New config?

Or is there a step in there that would actually make it more difficult as I assume then they'd all show up as wrong?

Anything I should bear in mind before I start the process?

 

Lastly, is the FreeDos bootable usb with sas2flash.exe the best way to flash? This T3600 doesn't allow me to go into a UEFI Shell unfortunately (unless I missed something). Any better ways you'd recommend? Maybe an already written tutorial (that LSI thread is a monster)? I went crazy figuring out how to update that dang 2801-16e. I don't have a spare machine with a spare PCIe slot to use to flash so I'd have to use the UnRAID machine. 

 

Thanks again and sorry for the ignorance. UnRAID and server hardware is new to me.

[JorgeB]

22 minutes ago, RevelRob said:

To avoid doing the new config twice, Should I do the following? 

Remove all drives, flash PERC, attach drives to current (preferred) configuration, New config?

Yes.

 

22 minutes ago, RevelRob said:

Maybe an already written tutorial (that LSI thread is a monster)?

https://lime-technology.com/forums/topic/12114-lsi-controller-fw-updates-irit-modes/?page=24&tab=comments#comment-255573

 

[RevelRob]

Amazing! Thanks again!

[RevelRob]

So I flashed the PERC with the instructions at the link you provided and it was easy peasy!

New Config done and all is back to server goodness.

Thanks so much!

 

I was wondering one more thing...

The 9201-16e is currently at 20.00.06.00-IT firmware and v7.39.02.00 (2015.08.03) bios. The Broadcom website lists 20.00.07.00 as the latest and I read somewhere that some P20 FW before 07 are not the greatest. Don't remember where I saw it.

I am also looking to remove the bios for faster boot.

I was searching around the forums for a similar tutorial for the 9201-16e and SAS2116 but could only find the Crossflashing Controllers Wiki which shows only info for the 9201-16i, not 16e; and it lists ooooold P10 & P11 firmwares.

 

TL:DR Is there a tutorial I could follow to update the 9201-16e firmware and remove the bios?

 

Thanks again.

[JorgeB]

For the 9201-16e it's a simple flash, just use sas2flash like the last step of flashing the h310, to delete de bios:

 

sas2flash -o -e 5

 

Make sure it's the only HBA on the system, or it will erase the bios from all.

[RevelRob]

Ok awesome.

 

3 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

Make sure it's the only HBA on the system, or it will erase the bios from all.

I didn't install a bios on the PERC anyways.

 

And regarding updating the firmware? Should I update to the latest? 

[JorgeB]

Yes, though AFAIK the more problematic releases were 20.00.00 and 20.00.04

[RevelRob]

Ok. Thanks so much again.

[RevelRob]

Updated to 07, removed bios, plugged everything in to both cards, prayed a bit to at least 3 deities...

And she's good!

 

Thanks so much again!