Flash Dell H730P to LSI firmware?

[ElCoyote_]

I jut got a nice H730P (2gb ram) off e-bay. I got that card instead of a genuine LSI for the following reasons:
- Comes with an integrated BBU (don't know what type, though).
- Comes with a much better/badder/larger heatsink (temp averages 65C in my TE410 instead of 90C with the previous LSI).
- was less expensive the equivalent LSI.

..but now I am stuck with Dell firmware (which updates fine, btw)

Does anyone know if there's a possibility to flash the card to LSI firmware?

Thanks,

Vincent

 

[klree]

forget about it. the price comes from the stuck firmware

 

[Boris]

Necro-bump.
I also noticed these controllers at a fairly attractive (for me) price on Ebay.
And I, too, was immediately puzzled by the question "can I reflash in LSI?".
But according to @klree comment, this is a problem.
But what inconvenience can be expected when using the original DELL firmware?
Are only DELL branded discs supported? Will there be a problem when switching to another controller model, from LSI?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

But what inconvenience can be expected when using the original DELL firmware?

Here are a few things, which may or may not apply to any specific Dell card:
1) May not work with generic chassis enclosure services (sideband)
2) Sometimes (mostly older cards) limited queue depth compared to LSI cards with same controller chip
3) May need to be managed with Dell versions of the utilities
4) Support for things like NVMe drives will be different than on generic cards
5) LSI optionally licensed features are completely different on Dell cards

Are only DELL branded discs supported? Will there be a problem when switching to another controller model, from LSI?

Dell stopped doing that a while ago. Non-Dell drives (SAS, SATA OK, not sure about NVMe) will work but the controller will log an event about a non-Dell drive being detected. On older cards (H700 and older) newer firmware is needed to change the outright block into a warning.

 

[Boris]

Here are a few things, which may or may not apply to any specific Dell card:.

Thank you for your clarification!

 

[coolelectricity]

I'm going to give this a necro bump, too, since I'm actively dabbling with a pair of H730's and it might be a good time to try a different firmware (for at least one of them anyway

I have one "integrated" version in the form of the H730P (2GB Cache /w battery)
Then one PCIe 3.0 version as the H730 (1GB Cache - but no battery)

They both use the same Dell PERC firmware, found here: Dell PERC H730/H730P/H830/FD33xS/FD33xD Mini/Adapter RAID Controllers firmware version 25.5.9.0001 | Driver Details | Dell US

It looks like the H730 is "closest to" the LSI SAS 3108 according to the data sheet:

Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller cards, built on
the LSI® SAS 3108 dual-core PowerPC® RAID-onChip (ROC)

- https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocument...ts/en/Dell-PowerEdge-RAID-Controller-H730.pdf

Annoyingly, Broadcom (LSI/Avago) doesn't seem to list its drivers or firmware

here: Support Documents and Downloads


nor here: https://support.broadcom.com/web/ec...s=&pageSize=50&language=en&suCaseCreate=false

I'm not logged in though, so maybe that's why. I noticed Broadcom is essentially forcing people to create an account to get certain materials from them as of a few weeks ago.

After some considerable "pain" in trying to hunt down where these files got moved to on the SuperMicro "WDL" File Server List, I found it here: https://www.supermicro.com/wdl/driver/SAS/Broadcom/3108/
but at the time of posting, the latest FW was uploaded in mid 2022 as 4.680.00-8561.rar

I'd be curious to know about anyones experience with trying to crossflash an H730 with this, or perhaps a newer version.

The H730's still seems to be getting FW updates from Dell as recently as 2024Q1 so I'm guessing LSI/Broadcom is hiding some more recent FW updates, too. Historically, LSI firmware has better performance, hence why there is some interest in doing this.

I'm considering testing it since I have the 2nd PCIe H730 and could keep the integrated/embedded H730P with the Dell Firmware in tandem and not be left stuck with nothing in the event something goes horribly wrong.