How do you read firmware version numbers

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Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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Exactly what the title says - how do you read firmware version numbers I have searched google for the firmware number on my IBM1015 card which says 2.120.54.1235 but I do not know how these numbers relate to the firmware files available for download and can not tell if the card even needs it's firmware updated, I am assuming that my problems getting Megaraid storage manager running could be to do with the firmware being out of date.
 

Terry Kennedy

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Exactly what the title says - how do you read firmware version numbers [...]
If a card is running the generic LSI firmware, you can look at the LSI download page to see what the latest firmware is. But for cards running OEM firmware, the version numbering is entirely up to that manufacturer and usually doesn't correspond with version numbers from any other OEM or LSI.

Unfortunately, many OEM firmware update utilities will only work if the card is in a chassis from that OEM, so it isn't always possible to install newer OEM firmware.
 

Falloutboy

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Well I know these cards will firmware update ... I've done it before I just don't know which ones are updated, in future I'll mark them but failing being able to read IBM firmware numbers how are the LSI firmware numbers formatted?
 

Terry Kennedy

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[...] how are the LSI firmware numbers formatted?
Generally, LSI designates them as a "phase". The versions are not synchronized across controller families, only within a given family. For example, the 9201-16i is a SAS2116 chip currently on Phase 20 (or P20). Within any particular phase, there may be more than one release if a problem needs to be corrected. Phase 20 was particularly problematic and there were a number of subsequent releases to fix serious issues in the original 20.00.00.00 release. It is currently at 20.00.07.00. Any new features or enhancements will be done in a new phase - the only changes within a phase are critical bug fixes.
 
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Falloutboy

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Generally, LSI designates them as a "phase". The versions are not synchronized across controller families, only within a given family. For example, the 9201-16i is a SAS2116 chip currently on Phase 20 (or P20). Within any particular phase, there may be more than one release if a problem needs to be corrected. Phase 20 was particularly problematic and there were a number of subsequent releases to fix serious issues in the original 20.00.00.00 release. It is currently at 20.00.07.00. Any new features or enhancements will be done in a new phase - the only changes within a phase are critical bug fixes.
O.K Good to know but how do I know which version of firmware is already on the card - I may have flashed it before and need to be able to relate one to tother.
 

thatoneuser

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O.K Good to know but how do I know which version of firmware is already on the card - I may have flashed it before and need to be able to relate one to tother.
When your system boots up you can enter the option ROM with Ctrl+C and you should see the firmware version there.
Alternatively, you can use sas2ircu under DOS or UEFI Shell and run "sas2ircu LIST" to show a list of controllers, then again with "sas2ircu <controller number> DISPLAY" to show a whole bunch of information of the card (replace <controller number> with what you got from sas2ircu LIST).

sas2ircu user guide here
SAS-2 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility User Guide (775 KB)
 
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Falloutboy

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When your system boots up you can enter the option ROM with Ctrl+C and you should see the firmware version there.
Alternatively, you can use sas2ircu under DOS or UEFI Shell and run "sas2ircu LIST" to show a list of controllers, then again with "sas2ircu <controller number> DISPLAY" to show a whole bunch of information of the card (replace <controller number> with what you got from sas2ircu LIST).

sas2ircu user guide here
SAS-2 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility User Guide (775 KB)
Okay having a read of this at the moment to try and make head n tails of it and see if I can find what I need.
 

Falloutboy

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Okay having a read of this at the moment to try and make head n tails of it and see if I can find what I need.
Okay - I read through that document and I can understand what you are thinking but it's not what you thought I said :)

I know how to read the firmware version from the card itself what I am trying to figure out is how to relate that firmware number that I have just read from the card to the available firmware on the broadcom site.

I.E if the card is for a random example a 9340-8i and it says firmware 08.234.440.6 how do I then look at the broadcom site and figure out if I have the latest firmware version or older firmware - there is nothing there that I can see that you can easily convert from whats installed on a card to whats available for download.
 

i386

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I.E if the card is for a random example a 9340-8i and it says firmware 08.234.440.6 how do I then look at the broadcom site and figure out if I have the latest firmware version or older firmware - there is nothing there that I can see that you can easily convert from whats installed on a card to whats available for download.
You have to read the readme file, broadcom lists only the firmware packe version on their site.

Example for the 9340-8i:
Broadcom.JPG
 
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