LSI 9211-8i flash via the EFI Shell
I finally managed to flash my M1015 to LSI 9211-8i in IR mode using my Asus P9X79 WS, the same motherboard that give me headaches in the native DOS prompt.
I was able to flash it via the UEFI shell. The method I used it`s a simple one and I think it should work for everyone who had the "Failed to initialize PAL" error.
You can read below all the steps I`ve made, starting in DOS and finishing via the EFI Shell:
1. I downloaded the latest updates (sas2008.zip) for LSI 9211-8i from mobilenvidia`s laptopvideo2go.com forum:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/29059-sas2008-lsi92409211-firmware-files/page__hl__m1015. I was a bit lazy and I found very convenient to download everything in one go. Thanks mobilenvidia!
2. Then using a USB stick I created a MS-DOS Bootable Flash Drive. You can finf how to do it here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/46707-ms-dos-bootable-flash-drive-create.html
3. After that I extracted the content from sas2008.zip on the USB stick.
4. I set up in Bios to boot from the USB and in DOS prompt, I followed the instructions from the first post in the earlier mentioned thread:
Convert LSI9240(IBM M1015) to a LSI9211-IR mode
Type in the following exactly:
megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
megarec -cleanflash 0
<reboot, back to USB stick>
5. In DOS, after reboot using "sas2flsh -o -f 2118ir.bin -b mptsas2.rom" command I got the infamous "ERROR: Failed to initialize PAL. Exiting program".
6. I went to ArchWiki, to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) page.
The web address is:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#UEFI_Shell
Scroll down to "UEFI Shell " and download "x86_64 UEFI Shell 2.0 (Beta)" and "x86_64 UEFI Shell 1.0 (Old)"
To flash my card I used "x86_64 UEFI Shell 1.0 (Old)".
I renamed the "Shell_Full.efi" to "shellx64.efi" and copied on the USB stick, over the previous files from the "sas2008.zip" archive.
7. I also had to copy on the stick the sas2flash.efi program. You can download the "Installer_P13_for_UEFI " from the LSI support page:
http://www.lsi.com/channel/products/storagecomponents/Pages/LSISAS9211-8i.aspx
8. Attach the USB, restart the PC and go in the UEFI Bios. Check if the UEFI USB drive is your first boot option. On the top right corner click on the "Exit" button. You will get a new menu and the last option is "Launch EFI Shell from filesystem device" Click on it and you will go in the UEFI Shell.
Here I was able to continue the flashing procedure:
sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118ir.bin -b mptsas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)
9. Done.
I thought it`ll be a good idea to post in detail all the steps, especially for guys like me, who don`t do everyday things like this.
Also, a big thanks to Servethehome.com for the great article "IBM ServeRAID M1015: Performance of the LSI 9220-8i". That was the article that pointed me to the M1015. Also, thanks mobilenvidia for putting all together. It helped me a lot.
Now I`m happy, I have a little monster ready to chew all the data I`m going to feed him.
Cheers,