Hey all. After tons of searching I cant seem to quite figure out how exactly to flash my LSI 9207 (2308) to IT Mode. The NAS server its running in is freenas based. It is a PCIe based card so its not on the mobo. Do I load the efi and rom to a flash drive and boot from there. Or is it more complicated. If there is a straight forward walkthrough could someone point me in the right direction? Help is appreciated!
Flashing 9207 LSI Card IT Mode
- Thread starter redlinesprint
- Start date
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
Have you checked the current firnmware?
9207 comes with IT firmware per default (9217 is the same adapter with IR firmware as default).
About reflash, see http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/flash_lsi_sas.pdf
btw
It does not matter if the HBA is a pci-e card or onboard. They behave the same
9207 comes with IT firmware per default (9217 is the same adapter with IR firmware as default).
About reflash, see http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/flash_lsi_sas.pdf
btw
It does not matter if the HBA is a pci-e card or onboard. They behave the same
if you're just flashing a card that already has IT mode firmware to the latest, or your just adding the BIOS ROM or UEFI, you don't need do it in DOS. You can use either a Windows or Linux version of the sas2flash utility and the appropriate firmware and BIOS/UEFI file. The commands are:
for the firmware flash:
sas2flash -c <your controller #> -f 9207-8.bin
for the bios flash:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -b mptsas2.rom
for the uefi flash:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -b x64sas2.rom
or you can combine them like:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -f 9207-8.bin -b mptsas2.rom -b x64sas2.rom
If you need to do an erase, or perhaps need to muck with the SBR, then you need to do it in DOS or the EFI shell. There are other tools that work at OS level, but they require more complicated steps like unloading the driver, putting the card in reset mode, and then booting the card with firmware, etc., but it's just easier to do in DOS or EFI shell.
for the firmware flash:
sas2flash -c <your controller #> -f 9207-8.bin
for the bios flash:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -b mptsas2.rom
for the uefi flash:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -b x64sas2.rom
or you can combine them like:
sas2flash -c <controller #> -f 9207-8.bin -b mptsas2.rom -b x64sas2.rom
If you need to do an erase, or perhaps need to muck with the SBR, then you need to do it in DOS or the EFI shell. There are other tools that work at OS level, but they require more complicated steps like unloading the driver, putting the card in reset mode, and then booting the card with firmware, etc., but it's just easier to do in DOS or EFI shell.
thanks Blinux, what a clear and perfect explanation! I had flashed lsi in windows many times, but this was my first in freebsd (and i rather do it in efi shell than via the OS, even though i know its the same thing).
btw, below is really for my own records locally, but figured i would share.
vkvm recording of all the LSI 2308 cards in IT mode bios options / settings (its a 9207-8e) , with the help explanations .
pt2 i left one out:
and the efi shell flashing process..
in case anyone wanted to see this, pause video where needed to read. they are unlisted YT vids so u or others will need the direct links above
also hats off to LSI for putting nice help screens / clear explanations. most help info in any HW's bios is TOTAL, unmitigated, gArBage...
btw, below is really for my own records locally, but figured i would share.
vkvm recording of all the LSI 2308 cards in IT mode bios options / settings (its a 9207-8e) , with the help explanations .
pt2 i left one out:
and the efi shell flashing process..
in case anyone wanted to see this, pause video where needed to read. they are unlisted YT vids so u or others will need the direct links above
also hats off to LSI for putting nice help screens / clear explanations. most help info in any HW's bios is TOTAL, unmitigated, gArBage...
What worked best for me was using the LSI preboot CD. Broadcom Inc. | Connecting Everything
I used it to flash a 9217 card which had failed to flash in dos mode using the majority of instructions I'd found around the web.
Simply booted into the preboot CD (copied contents of ISO onto existing freedos bootable USB) then selected F3 for HBA controllers, then chose my model of card (9207) then there was one intermediate step I forget, then it asked for firmware location, I had to type the path which was something like /LSI/IMG/9207-8i.IMG
It automatically found and fixed the error which was stopping me using sas2flsh.exe, then flashed the firmware, then everything just worked.
Of note: I had to do it on an older HP workstation, a newer Lenovo workstation didn't work properly because of something to do with "Option Roms" not being exposed by the motherboard/BIOS ( I don't really understand this so may be describing it wrong)
I used it to flash a 9217 card which had failed to flash in dos mode using the majority of instructions I'd found around the web.
Simply booted into the preboot CD (copied contents of ISO onto existing freedos bootable USB) then selected F3 for HBA controllers, then chose my model of card (9207) then there was one intermediate step I forget, then it asked for firmware location, I had to type the path which was something like /LSI/IMG/9207-8i.IMG
It automatically found and fixed the error which was stopping me using sas2flsh.exe, then flashed the firmware, then everything just worked.
Of note: I had to do it on an older HP workstation, a newer Lenovo workstation didn't work properly because of something to do with "Option Roms" not being exposed by the motherboard/BIOS ( I don't really understand this so may be describing it wrong)