Crossflash Dell H330 to HBA330

[986box]

Does this really work to crossflash a H330 to a HBA330 or did you first crossflash it to a HBA330 and than update it?

yes it did. I used the latest version of HBA330 firmware and run it in IT mode. Update step is not necessary if you use the latest version.

 

[SaveServer]

There is no option to flash a HBA330 to Firmware 16.00.12.00?
So the Dell firmware with version 16.00.11.00 and the SATA bug in TrueNAS will be the last firmware?

 

[ericloewe]

Have you actually hit the issue? It's said to be pretty rare. There's also a 16.00.13.00 that I recall seeing in some other proprietary variant, for which I did not see a changelog.

 

[SaveServer]

Have you actually hit the issue?

Not so far in my new test setup. But I don't have a good feeling when I want to use it productively in the end.

OK, 16.00.13.00 is new to me, thank you.
But for HBA330 16.00.11.00 is the newest version, that can be flashed?

 

[ericloewe]

Officially anyway. I don't know what kind of validation IDRAC really does when reading update packages and how it would deal with an altered package that included the new firmware.

 

[SaveServer]

Officially anyway.

OK, then I must look for another cheap HBA SAS9300, 9400 or 9500 tat supports FW 16.00.12.00.
Any recommendations?

 

[ericloewe]

Honestly, give 16.00.11.00 a try until such a hypothetical time when it becomes a real problem.

 

[celticvalley]

Hello. Beleive it or not, I'm looking for a way to go in reverse.

Yesterday I successfully crossflashed my server's Dell H330 to HBA330. However, I only did that so I could run another set of instructions for reformatting 6 SAS drives from 520 sector size to 512.

Now that I successfully have my set of SAS drives with sector size 512, I want to return back to having a Dell H330 in my Windows server again and use its RAID capability.

I've searched and searched, and so far I find no such instructions on how to get there. Thanks!

 

[miken92]

Hello. Beleive it or not, I'm looking for a way to go in reverse.

...

I've searched and searched, and so far I find no such instructions on how to get there. Thanks!

I refer you to the links on the internet archive from the original post and what Sleyk said:

2. Removed "Revert" back to Dell proprietary rom procedure for now. Just too risky. Plus no real need to revert back anyway. I will leave it in the docs, but please don't revert back! You don't buy a cheap dell raid card to flash to IT firmware, just to go back to proprietary raid rom right? Of course not my friends!

So there was a way to do it but it was risky they even bricked a card trying to go back to RAID firmware.
The steps are in the below PDF but you need to have backup of your SPD and SBR.

Files: Crossflash Dell H330 Raid to Stock HBA IT Firmware.zip
Full Write Up: Flash Dell H330 Full Write Up with Pics v3.0.pdf

If it was me I wouldn't risk it and just purchase another H330.

 

[celticvalley]

@miken92 Ahh, that explains it. Thank you for the links, and thank you for the good advice. I'll think on what direction to go this week. I don't need the HBA, so I may take a chance. Or, I may set it aside for future use and follow your advice to purchase another.

Have a great week!

 

[SorgKhan]

Hi all, i am new here.
I tried to crossflash an Perc h330 and got an issue ...
So i tag @miken92 but others can answer too

I follow exactly (to the letter) the pdf, especially the page 16 and 17 (only dos utilities)
saved my h330info with the sas adress
flashed the card with SMC31....
reboot
been patient
-writesbr
-cleanflash

i got all success messages and all things on this guide happen

i reboot and ....

when i type "sas3flsh -list" i got a sad : "ERROR : Failed to initialize PAL. Exiting program"
I let you imagine the little PANIC in my eyes ^^
so i tried to type the whole command with hba330.fw and mptx64.rom
and the same sad message appears ...

i tried to type again -cleanflash with megarec, success again
but sas3flash command after reboot gives me the same answer ...

what is "PAL" ? (except becoming my friend)
did I brick my card
could you bring a little light in the black hole where i stuck ?

 

[miken92]

If I recall correctly "Failed to initialize PAL" is related to using DOS on recent motherboards which have UEFI support, you need to boot into a UEFI shell and use sas3flash.efi instead.

 

[SorgKhan]

Thanks a lot for your answer.
Sorry for shouting in a quiet place ... but remember "PANIC in my eyes" ^^

I don't feel comfortable with flash, dos, uefi, etc ... but sometimes when it's well explained (as in your guide) i become a real brave
and you solved my problem !

So i booted in UEFI shell, mount my usb stick, in my case FS0
"ls" to check all files was there and type sas3flash instead of sas3flsh

Ending the pdf guide and now i enjoy my brand new hba330 !
It will fit perfectly well in my unraid server (a dell powerdge t430)

Thanks again and a lot (i hope my bad adventure will help another lost boy or girl)

 

[luckylinux]

Did anybody manage to cross-flash using LSI Generic Firmware ? I'm tempted to buy these Dell Perc H330 and I would like to cross-flash to "Stock" LSI Firmware, just like I did (and many other People did) for LSI 9211-8i (IBM M1015) / 9207-8i / etc.

It looks like you all managed to flash only Dell Official Firmware, or ?

 

[alarsen77]

I tried doing this and when using perccli to flash the smc3108 I get an error that it failed to verify the image. Any advice?

 

[wilsonhomelab]

For those who are looking for the latest firmware file ( 05 Mar 2024 )from the Dell, I managed to extract the whole content of the windows executable "SAS-Non-RAID_Firmware_NKNVC_WN64_16.17.01.00_A08_03.EXE".
I found the extract from the "Temp" folder. The firmware "SAS_HBA330_ADP_SF.fw" and the bios "mptx64-sas3-sb.rom" are located in the payload folder.

I flashed my 1st H330 back in Mar 2022 using Sleyk's zip file. Sleyk told me that was the latest at that time.
Today, I just flashed another one came with my newly purchased R740. My plan was following the same procedure and crossflash to the 2022 firmware and then use the latest Dell firmware executable under windows to do the final update. To my surprise, the latest update executable said "The version of this Update Package is the same as the currently installed". I did the update again under windows anyway. Just in case Dell improved the code but didn't bother to update the version number.

 

[sparky3387]

I just want to add my two cents here, I could not get my card to detect on multiple PC's using sas3flsh (DOS based) and sas3flash.uefi (UEFI based), until I erased it using megarec and megacli from

LSI Pre-Boot USB tool Download

LSI Pre-Boot USB tool Download

www.broadcom.com

Megarec is in (It should be renamed from Megacli - confusing i know)
boot/LSI/FW/Recover

Megacli is in
boot/LSI/FW/

SMC3108 - 4.680.00-8561.rar - matches the sha256 of the one i used from maychuvatly

Once i erased it using the How to crossflash Dell H330 to IT mode firmware video guide, it would finally show up once i moved the card to another PC and used sas3flash.uefi to flash this bios from Dell.

I really recommend not using the -b options, it makes reboot instant vs having to wait needlessly
Hope this helps someone (i spent a full 10 hours trying to fix this card)