IBM M1015 Firmware - What to flash with

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

cactus

Moderator
Jan 25, 2011
830
75
28
CA
I just flashed one of my two m1015s last night to get it to work with ESXi. So far so good, I even missed a step and power cycled early, card didn't brick.
I did the flash on a Asus P6x58d-e with 0502 BIOS using DOS.
 

john4200

New Member
Jan 1, 2011
152
0
0
megacli is if you want to update the firmware with megaraid firmware, since the M1015 is a megaraid card.

If you want to change the firmware to mpt2sas firmware like 9210, then you will need megarec to erase the old and sas2flash to install the new. There are step by step instructions on how to do it that have already been referenced in response to your questions. I suspect your problem is that you are trying to use sas2flash on a card that is still megaraid.
 

dswartz

Active Member
Jul 14, 2011
610
79
28
hey john

megacli is if you want to update the firmware with megaraid firmware, since the M1015 is a megaraid card.

If you want to change the firmware to mpt2sas firmware like 9210, then you will need megarec to erase the old and sas2flash to install the new. There are step by step instructions on how to do it that have already been referenced in response to your questions. I suspect your problem is that you are trying to use sas2flash on a card that is still megaraid.
This is part of the confusion. I've had at least one person tell me I need to use megacli to do the IR => IT switch if I use linux :( This may be a hopeful sign. e.g. the first time, I was doing this on the intended destination system, and did get the flash erased, resulting in the PAL message. A couple of the later attempts were just using sas2flsh, and said 'no LSI SAS adapters found!' or somesuch. Okay, I'm going to try to nuke the flash and try again on my 2nd PC here. I'll post my results...
 

dswartz

Active Member
Jul 14, 2011
610
79
28
Success!!!

This time, just like before, the two intel mobos did NOT work (got the PAL error). I then tried my W7 workstation, which has an asus mobo. Last time I tried, I had gotten a message about no LSI SAS adapters found. I then did the megarec -cleanflash like you suggested. Rebooted, and tried the 'sas2flsh -o -f 2108it.bin -b mptsas2.rom' and bingo, good to go! Oh yeah. had to program the sas address too. Thank you john!
 

SantaSCSI

New Member
May 22, 2011
20
3
3
I managed to flash the M1015 to the latest 9240-8i firmware but now i cant enther the cards bios and my systems really insists on booting from the card although the onboard sata is primary.

So if I get this clear, to flash the M1015 to IT mode, i need the FW and rom from a 9211-8i. I then need to clear the firmware on the M1015 with megarec and then reflash the IT mode (9211) with sas2flash.

Sorry if this has been asked over and over again, but by now there is so much random information that I have no clue anymore :p.
 

dswartz

Active Member
Jul 14, 2011
610
79
28
I feel your pain :(, I had the same reaction. I don't really understand all the diffs with the different chipsets and all. If you have an m1015, do exactly what the May 22nd, 12:30:07AM instructions say. It includes the 2108it firmware. This is what I know works.
 

SantaSCSI

New Member
May 22, 2011
20
3
3
Allright, apparently that guide slipped through the search grid ;).
Adapter is flashed now and a pure HBA. Disabling boot and wham, straight into linux. Thanks!!!
 

pinsb

New Member
Aug 2, 2011
2
0
0
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.15

IBM M1015 ^^ IT ^^ Firmware







Re: LSI Controller FW updates IR/IT modes
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2011, 12:30:07 AM »

Ok, here is long-awaited, short HOW-TO... reflash IBM m1015, LSI 9240-8i, Intel RS2WC080 (SAS2008 SATAIII) controllers to IT-mode!!!

First off, create a standard bootable DOS USB Flash Drive.

Download and unpack tools from http://www.mediafire.com/?x1t5z0qyohnhopf to USB flash root directory.

System req: ONLY ONE LSI card in your system at reflash time!!!


Boot from USB Flash Drive Smiley


1. Save original sbr (serial boot rom) - i have only original IBM 1015 sbr file, another (intel/LSI) controller users, pls, upload and share
your sbr files in this forum!


Megarec -readsbr 0 backup.sbr


2. Write clean sbr file to controller:


megarec -writesbr 0 empty.bin


3. Erase controller Flash (Yes, this is safe procedure)

megarec -cleanflash 0


4. Power cycle your system (yes, no boot-time bios screen appear, this is normal)


5. Reflash controller to IT-mode.

sas2flsh -o -f 2108it.bin -b mptsas2.rom

6. Program SAS address in IT-mode:

sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx

where "500605bxxxxxxxxx" SAS address from small green sticker on yor card, without "-"

All done Smiley


Pros: You have low-cost(65$ on ebay), fast, high-quality LSI 9210-8i Unraid 5.6a+ compatible controller. IT-mode Wink

http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/internal/sas9210-8i/index.html



Cons:


1. No hdd spindown.

Workaround:

add "hdparm -S242 /dev/sdX" in boot script and poweroff.sh (program spindown after wake-on)


2. Hdd Temp/Smart att. do not show in Unmenu/Mymain

Workaround: find and delete all strings

"-d ata" from "smartctl -a -d ata" in unmain scripts


==============================================================


It is possibly to re-flash controller back?
Yes.


Megarec -writesbr 0 m1015.bin

Download LSI 9240-8i firmware from lsi site: http://lsi.com/storage_home/product...as/entry_line/megaraid_sas_9240-8i/index.html
Extract imr_fw.rom file.

MegaRec -m0flash 0 imr_fw.rom

Power cycle your system

Megacli -adpfacdefset -a0

Rreboot

Waaaaiiiittt (about ~3 min frosen boot-screen)

All done!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE edit this posting to get the user to check that they can flash their card using the sas2flsh -listall command BEFORE following these instructions.

I bought two IBM M1015 based on this thread and after doing the megarec portion found that I couldn't re-flash the card due to what appears to be the chipset conflict issue.

I've now tried to re-flash the card (and checked the second card) in 4 different machines, 2 Asus mobo's and 2 Dell machines (one of which has an AMD CPU) and in non of them can I get the sas2flsh -listall command to see the cards.

So now I need some help.

1. Can people state what system/motherboard they have successfully performed a flash with, please the exact model rather then "....it's a gigabyte motherboard.....".

2. Can someone please make it clear which version and operating system of the software they have used to perform the flash, there are a number of versions discussed in the thread. If a working link to the version used could be provided that would be very helpful.

3. Can someone provide a link to the firmware used to do the flash.

Thanks in advance for the above, it would make this thread even more helpful.

Pinson
 

jgb75

New Member
Aug 3, 2011
1
0
0
1. Can people state what system/motherboard they have successfully performed a flash with, please the exact model rather then "....it's a gigabyte motherboard.....".

2. Can someone please make it clear which version and operating system of the software they have used to perform the flash, there are a number of versions discussed in the thread. If a working link to the version used could be provided that would be very helpful.

3. Can someone provide a link to the firmware used to do the flash.

Thanks in advance for the above, it would make this thread even more helpful.

Pinson
I just successfully flashed a new M1015 to LSI SAS 9211-8i IT mode using these instructions and the files from http://www.mediafire.com/?x1t5z0qyohnhopf. This was on an Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard (Intel P45 chipset). I then flashed again to the latest P10 LSI SAS 9211-8i IT firmware from http://www.lsi.com.

I created a USB boot disk using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to do the flashing.

BTW, the sas2flsh -listall command didn't work until completing all of the steps, so I don't think you can use that with a new M1015 at the start to check if the flash process will work.
 

dswartz

Active Member
Jul 14, 2011
610
79
28
Correct. Since it isn't an SAS unit before (it's a raid controller), sas2flsh doesn't recognize it. I made that mistake...
 

pinsb

New Member
Aug 2, 2011
2
0
0
I just successfully flashed a new M1015 to LSI SAS 9211-8i IT mode using these instructions and the files from http://www.mediafire.com/?x1t5z0qyohnhopf. This was on an Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard (Intel P45 chipset). I then flashed again to the latest P10 LSI SAS 9211-8i IT firmware from http://www.lsi.com.

I created a USB boot disk using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to do the flashing.

BTW, the sas2flsh -listall command didn't work until completing all of the steps, so I don't think you can use that with a new M1015 at the start to check if the flash process will work.
Thanks, after the first problem I hadn't tried to flash either of the cards, instead relying on the -listall command to see if they were flashable.......putting them back into one of the Asus motherboards they flashed without a problem!!

So now I have two flashed cards....

Given I want to use them with Linux and 2TB SATA drives to make an array (I'll make the array in Linux though rather then the hardware as it makes it more transportable to another machine) which version of the firmware would people recommend.

Thanks in advance!!
 

Solarnet

New Member
Aug 11, 2011
1
0
0
Ok, I've flashed 4 M1015 to the 9211-8i IT firmware. But now I've got a question. The M1015 can handle 32 drives (I beleive) since i flashed to the 9211-8i IT will it now handle 256 drives like the LSI 9211-8i?
 
Last edited:

m3g4tr0n

New Member
Aug 26, 2011
1
0
0
I just successfully flashed a new M1015 to LSI SAS 9211-8i IT mode using these instructions and the files from http://www.mediafire.com/?x1t5z0qyohnhopf. This was on an Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard (Intel P45 chipset). I then flashed again to the latest P10 LSI SAS 9211-8i IT firmware from http://www.lsi.com.

I created a USB boot disk using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to do the flashing.

BTW, the sas2flsh -listall command didn't work until completing all of the steps, so I don't think you can use that with a new M1015 at the start to check if the flash process will work.
Ok, I've flashed 4 M1015 to the 9211-8i IT firmware. But now I've got a question. The M1015 can handle 32 drives (I beleive) since i flashed to the 9211-8i IT will it now handle 256 drives like the LSI 9211-8i?
isn't that the wrong firmware? 9211-8i IT firmware

-----
http://forums.servethehome.com/showthread.php?19-LSI-RAID-Controller-HBA-Equivalency-Mapping
-----
IBM ServeRAID M1015 similar to LSI 9240-8i but the M1015 does not support RAID 5 and RAID 50 even when flashed to LSI 9240-8i firmware.
-----
 

alleyezonme

New Member
Mar 6, 2011
1
0
1
I recently purchased the M1015 off ebay (in the uk) and it came with the LSI Megaraid firmware on it, did some digging around and I have now successfully flashed my M1015 by simply following the instructions here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.msg121131#msg121131 with the following: LSI MegaRAID to SAS2008(P10).zip - 6.38 MB (DOS, via bootable usb key)

Although the driver in windows 7 shows up as LSI Adapter, SAS2 2008 Falcon, its been working flawlessly.
 

nilsga

New Member
Mar 8, 2011
34
0
0
Has anyone experienced trouble getting into the card's BIOS? Pressing ctrl+h doesn't do anything. But the card shows up in Windows and recognizes the attached disks.
 

lippy

New Member
Jun 29, 2011
16
1
1
Midwest
Has anyone experienced trouble getting into the card's BIOS? Pressing ctrl+h doesn't do anything. But the card shows up in Windows and recognizes the attached disks.
I posted at about the same time over on the Motherboard thread, with the same problem…I want to know too.
 

Mr. F

Active Member
Sep 5, 2011
172
30
28
In my experience, having the option ROM enabled for too many add-in cards can cause the BIOS to run out of option ROM space as it attempts to load them all.

I was unable to load the configuration utility for the IT firmware on my M1015 on a cheap old Core 2 Dell I had, but, strangely enough, the WebBIOS with the IR firmware did load just fine. I was never able to get the configuration utility to load on that system.

If you are having issues, I suggest disabling as many option ROMs as you can, except for the HBA of course. If you have multiple NICs and they all have the PXE ROM enabled, that could be your trouble. Also, if your motherboard has built-in RAID you could disable that feature to get some space back in your BIOS' option ROM area. Otherwise, your BIOS simply doesn't have the memory to load the option ROM of the HBA :(

Server boards tend to have more space for loading option ROMs as multiple RAID and ethernet cards are a given. My Supermicro serverboard can load the M1015 config utility, while also maintaining the Cougar Point RAID and PXE option ROMs as well.

It sure doesn't feel like 2011 when we have to disable things one-by-one to reclaim megabytes of space in order to make things work ;)
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
28
28
Singapore
I had the same issue with the roms until I pull all non essential cards and disabled everything I could. I had the same issue with the LSI 1068e based cards as well.

I have bought two M1015s and flashed them with the LSI MPT2SAS IT firmware and they were working fine with WHS 2011 and now work fine on an ESXi 5 box using VT-d instructions to passthrough to a WHS2011 vm.

One question I do have though is that as the M1015 requires a hardware key to activate raid5 and there are hardware raid5 keys around for the Supermicro AOC-SAS2 based on the LSI2008 chipset, has anyone tried to see if these keys work on the M1015 ?

RB
 

lippy

New Member
Jun 29, 2011
16
1
1
Midwest
Has anyone experienced trouble getting into the card's BIOS? Pressing ctrl+h doesn't do anything. But the card shows up in Windows and recognizes the attached disks.
I just got mine with a BIOS upgrade to the Tyan motherboard.
 

nilsga

New Member
Mar 8, 2011
34
0
0
In my experience, having the option ROM enabled for too many add-in cards can cause the BIOS to run out of option ROM space as it attempts to load them all.
You were probably right, but even disabling everything didn't free enough option ROM. But it did work in a different motherboard.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced controller that handles SSDs in RAID well, and works properly in a desktop Z68 board?