Flash/Crossflash DELL H330 RAID Card to HBA330/12Gbps HBA IT Firmware

[rohankapoordotcom]

I tried again with a random Dell Optiplex I had lying around and it worked the first time. Thanks for your help!

 

[Sleyk]

I tried again with a random Dell Optiplex I had lying around and it worked the first time. Thanks for your help!

Yeah, sometimes the older tools and utilities dont like the newer boards and wont flash the card. So Im glad it worked for you on an older board

 

[JeremiahCricket]

Just to share my weekend dilemma. I've been running 3 of the H330 flashed to HBA for well over a year now. They have been excellent performers with TrueNAS Core. This weekend I changed course and started the conversion to Proxmox. Turns out the flashed H330 will not work properly! Thankfully I had a still original H330 on hand and it works fine. I confirmed that the card is not defective, as loading Proxmox on a second system formerly running TrueNAS and with flashed H330 is exhibiting the identical issues. For the second system I did not open the system case nor performed any updates (same BIOS, Lifecycle Controller, etc).

Here is what `dmesg` outputs when trying to perform any disk activity, even formatting with `gdisk` fails with I/O erros.

[  339.770431] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_ABORT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=0s
[  339.770433] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[  339.770435] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 Add. Sense: Logical block reference tag check failed
[  339.770436] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 CDB: Read(32)
[  339.770438] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 CDB[00]: 7f 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 09 20 00 00 00 00 00
[  339.770439] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#8435 CDB[10]: e8 e0 88 00 e8 e0 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08
[  339.770440] print_req_error: 30 callbacks suppressed
[  339.770440] blk_update_request: protection error, dev sda, sector 3907028992 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[  339.773214] mpt3sas_cm0: log_info(0x3112043b): originator(PL), code(0x12), sub_code(0x043b)
[  339.773224] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_ABORT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=0s
[  339.773240] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[  339.773241] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 Add. Sense: Logical block reference tag check failed
[  339.773243] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 CDB: Read(32)
[  339.773244] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 CDB[00]: 7f 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 09 20 00 00 00 00 00
[  339.773245] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3146 CDB[10]: e8 e0 88 00 e8 e0 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08
[  339.773246] blk_update_request: protection error, dev sda, sector 3907028992 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0

The results in brief:

• Proxmox 7.3 (Debian based) - fail
• Ubuntu 20.04 (Debian based) - fail
• TrueNAS Core (FreeBSD I think) - works
• Windows Server - works

 

[ericloewe]

So what sort of disk is /dev/sda?

 

[JeremiahCricket]

I found the problem. The latest HBA330 firmware fixes the issue.

Dell 12Gbps HBA firmware version 16.17.01.00

Fixes
-Fixes a firmware initialization problem that causes T10 Protection Information (PI) Logical Block and Guard Tag errors under Linux operating systems. This can result in an inability to read from T10 PI capable drives.
Note: This fix does not address the T10 PI errors due to the secure erase of certain Seagate drives.

The card was running 16.00.04.00, now it shows 16.00.11.00.

 

[JeremiahCricket]

I found the problem. The latest HBA330 firmware fixes the issue.
The card was running 16.00.04.00, now it shows 16.00.11.00.

I am actually running the HBA330 firmware, not the 12Gb firmware. There is a 16.17.01.00 release for it also which is what I flashed.

 

[JeremiahCricket]

So what sort of disk is /dev/sda?

They are definitely Seagate. I would not have expected there to be an issue specific to a certain disk model(s) and certain operating system only.

 

[ericloewe]

They are definitely Seagate. I would not have expected there to be an issue specific to a certain disk model(s) and certain operating system only.

Unfortunately, you never know with these things. That's one of the benefits of NVMe, fewer layers to go wrong.

 

[2b2bff]

Hi,

after reading a lot in this forum, I wonder if anybody had luck to crossflash a Fujitsu CP400i into some sort of HBA330 that a Dell Server would accept as a Dell card without turning on the leaf blower?

I tried to do this but kept stuck with the infamous message:

Mfg Page 2 Mismatch Detected.
Writing Current Mfg Page 2 Settings to NVRAM.
Failed to Validate Mfg Page 2!

I know there is hacked sas2flash version that works around this, but I don't know whether it is possible for sas3flash.

Cheers

 

[wellzi]

Hey team! I've just joined the STH club purely because of the Dell H330 and this thread! It's important to note that I'm a diehard Windoze guy (i.e. a 'user') and haven't the faintest clue about Linux / CLI. Ergo, please forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to this sort of thing.

Collectively, I think it took me about 6-hours of back and forth between W10, WS19, EFI and FreeDOS to get my H330 Adapter (4Y5H1) FINALLY flashed over to eradicate all of the Dell proprietary BS. I had very similar issues to @mrmance, some of which was addressed already in the original write-up of the guide:

• My H330 just didn't want to do anything on W10; it threw a Code 10 at me.
• I had to complete the process using a combination of EFI, FreeDOS and WS19
  • WS19 to corrupt it, FreeDOS to flash it, and EFI to load the new firmware
• SAS3FLSH threw a PAL error at me, so I had to refer to EFI.
• SAS3FLASH on EFI required me to type in the full path "fs0:\HBA330.fw" (same for the final step)

I hope no one's had to bear witness to my forever-changing post about how I can't do shit.

 

[HindrikS]

Hey there,

I have two 6H1G0 cards and I successfully (?) flashed them to HBA330's. However, just like some of the previous posts described, in Avago config utility, once I enter advanced adapter properties, the system just hangs. This occurs with both of my cards. Any clue on what might cause this as well on how to fix it? The cards otherwise seem to function fine. (i.e. drives show up)

EDIT: Interesting, I grabbed the second zip file with the supposedly 16.17 firmware, flashed those to my cards. They now say 16.08. Did a sas3flsh with -e 6 and then flashed it. I can now enter the advanced adapter properties menu. Are those firmware files up to date?

EDIT2: Even more odd, just downloaded the newest firmware from Dell, it also lists 16.17.00.05, but in sas3flsh/cards' bios it lists 16.08. Seems to be the exact same rom as the one in the ZIP file.

Kind regards,

 

[cptcrunch]

@HindrikS which file did you flash? I'm having the same freezing issue getting into the advanced properties.

 

[HindrikS]

@HindrikS which file did you flash? I'm having the same freezing issue getting into the advanced properties.

The one from the second page of this thread. It’s a zip file. You can also download it from dell’s site. Either way, not sure if it’s 16.17 or 16.08 …

 

[drknight71]

Hi,

I think I have a Dell H330 (4Y5H1) and when I tried to "megarec3 -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin " on the Freedos command line I got an error that said:

Warning! IO Base address high. Currently not supported.
Chip is in FUSION mode

My details:
================
Product Name : PERC H330 Adapter
Serial No : 84O01G8
FW Package Build: 25.5.5.0005

Mfg. Data
================
Mfg. Date : 04/27/18
Rework Date : 04/27/18
Revision No : A08
Battery FRU : N/A

Image Versions in Flash:
================
BIOS Version : 6.33.01.0_4.16.07.00_0x06120304
Ctrl-R Version : 5.18-0701
FW Version : 4.290.01-8335
NVDATA Version : 3.1511.01-0020
Boot Block Version : 3.07.00.00-0003


MegaRAID SAS-3 3008 [Fury]

 

[Tecnicom]

Hi, crossflashed with success (or so I think) the H330 to HBA330, and it's working fine under TrueNAS. The problem is that the R730XD server now doesn't lower the fans below 57%, and it's very noisy. Before crossflashing the card, the server kept the fans at a minimum. I haven't changed anything else.

Please let me know if anyone has had the same problem. Thanks for your time!

 

[2b2bff]

Hi, crossflashed with success (or so I think) the H330 to HBA330, and it's working fine under TrueNAS. The problem is that the R730XD server now doesn't lower the fans below 57%, and it's very noisy. Before crossflashing the card, the server kept the fans at a minimum. I haven't changed anything else.

Please let me know if anyone has had the same problem. Thanks for your time!

It is 42% on our R730xd, but with 17 disks installed. So I guess it is ok.

Generally what I found with the Dell servers is that you have to reboot to let the Lifecycle controller detect all your hardware, to actually figure out what it should do...

 

[riahc3]

Hi, crossflashed with success (or so I think) the H330 to HBA330, and it's working fine under TrueNAS. The problem is that the R730XD server now doesn't lower the fans below 57%, and it's very noisy. Before crossflashing the card, the server kept the fans at a minimum. I haven't changed anything else.

Please let me know if anyone has had the same problem. Thanks for your time!

You need to run a script to manually set your fan level.

 

[ericloewe]

Surely not, as the HBA330 was widely offered by Dell with these systems.

 

[B1scu1T]

2am.

Thats the time I finally got success with this last night

I had all kind of problems trying to do this on my B450 desktop machine with various compatibility settings tweaks, eventually ending in PAL errors. I then faught with EFI (note: A useful command for efi is map –b which lists out the mapped drives) only to find that sas3flash wouldn't recognise the card.
Rather than fiddling with compatibility even more, I switched over to a AM1 lump of metal that I have been considering scrapping for a while. Even that continued to fight me. It also gave me the PAL errors, secure boot blocked me and I couldn't find the menu to turn it off (turns out I had to change a different setting to show the secure boot options), more efi compatibility issues but EVENTUALLY I got the efi shell to recognise the card and i finally saw the magical "success" words.

Havent tested just yet, but I'm feeling confident it will be fine.

Big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread and especially @Sleyk!

 

[Thebokke]

I am actually running the HBA330 firmware, not the 12Gb firmware. There is a 16.17.01.00 release for it also which is what I flashed.

Do you by chance have a copy of the HBA330 FW file you used? I can only find .exe files off of Dell's site and nothing suitable for DOS or UEFI Shell. My card is running 16.00.04 and I was hoping to avoid the disk issues you were having.