Guide: Flashing H310/H710/H810 Mini & full size to IT Mode

razvan1 · Feb 26, 2020

Thanks @Roelf Zomerman and @fohdeesha for your answers.
I have H710 mini according to info command from freedos, I can't upload photo before flashing it here but I've uploaded on another site: IMG-20200224-1554075
I was trying to enter in config utility using physical keyboard in front of server but still nothing, server reboot after each try.
I was able to install freenas (there was showing disks in the right order) but I can't boot from any of disks even I've followed optional steps from flashing.

fohdeesha · Feb 26, 2020

Do you see the "LSI configuration blahblah blah Press ctrl+c" text during boot? And you're pressing ctrl+c then? All I can think is to try over idrac, because I know it works, I've done it on that exact same card

fohdeesha · Feb 26, 2020

Also, are you booting via BIOS or EFI? I know another user reported strange behavior like this when they booted the linux live ISO via EFI, and flashed the BIOS bootloader. They had to go back and boot the linux ISO in normal BIOS mode, then reflash the BIOS bootloader to the card

razvan1 · Feb 26, 2020

I have seen that message and pressed CTRL+C, then show something like initialization then server reboot.
I am in BIOS mode but I have installed also UEFI just in case. I'm using idrac to configure for most part and install FreeNAS. I am supposing something I'm doing wrong but I can't get what.

fohdeesha · Feb 26, 2020

make sure the server is set to boot in bios mode, and start the guide over from the beginning to wipe the card and all the bootloaders off it. flash only the BIOS bootloader. after that you should be able to enter the boot utility, everyone else with that card has

razvan1 · Feb 26, 2020

Thanks. I will do it right now.

razvan1 · Feb 26, 2020

I made some changes in the BIOS but when I try to boot from controller the screen is showing the following photo which is strange because are not my server specs then I need to cold reboot server. Do you have any clue about this?
Make sense to try again reflash controller or is still only something bad configured by me?
Thanks

Roelf Zomerman · Feb 26, 2020

For the R620 backplane, the numbers are:

Code:

Pysical    ID 
0 ->   6
1 ->   7
2  ->  2
3  ->  1
4  ->  0
5  ->  3
6  ->  4
7  ->  5

Roelf Zomerman · Feb 26, 2020

razvan1 said:
I made some changes in the BIOS but when I try to boot from controller the screen is showing the following photo which is strange because are not my server specs then I need to cold reboot server. Do you have any clue about this?
Make sense to try again reflash controller or is still only something bad configured by me?
Thanks

could it be that you still have the SD card installed? perhaps your server is booting from other media - skipping the boot from the LSA 0 drive.

I had the same when I had it in BIOS mode with the wrong boot-order..

go into the bios, select SYSTEM BIOS SETTINGS - BOOT SETTINGS - BIOS Boot Settings

and check what the boot sequence is and the boot option enable/disable

and underneath there you have the Hard-Disk Drive Sequence.. click on that and put the C drive as top

Kim Bjoern · Feb 26, 2020

Many thanks for the "mini" guide! Great stuff. I had already flashed a H310 mini following the fourlynx guide. But had given up on H710. Now I've successfully flashed a 5CT6D, and a TY8F9 in the pipe. This means I can upgrade my H310 mini, and upgrade a MCR5X from PCIe-2 to PCIe-3. Great.

In this process, another card popped out of the boxes! A failed attempt to crossflash a LSI 9266-8i months ago, and I thought why not give it a shot with these new guides/tools!

My 9266-8i variant is probably a Hitachi OEM, but I believe its of the same origin as the DELL H710P (not mini) and PCIe-2 based.

Code:

09:00.0 Serial Attached SCSI controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS2308 PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS-2 (rev 03)

I went with the H710P B0 guide. The FreeDOS part went well (it didn't complaint), and I ran the PB0CROSS script twice.

Code:

root@debian:~# B0-H710
rmmod: ERROR: Module megaraid_sas is not currently loaded
rmmod: ERROR: Module mptctl is not currently loaded
rmmod: ERROR: Module mptbase is not currently loaded
Errors above are normal!
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
Device in MPT mode
Resetting adapter in HCB mode...
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
IOC is RESET
Device in MPT mode
Resetting adapter in HCB mode...
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
IOC is RESET
Setting up HCB...
HCDW virtual: 0x7f3917a00000
HCDW physical: 0x7fe000000
Loading firmware...
Loaded 809340 bytes
Booting IOC...
IOC is READY
IOC Host Boot successful.
Device in MPT mode
Removing PCI device...
Rescanning PCI bus...
PCI bus rescan complete.
Pausing for 20 seconds to allow the card to boot

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.72, Sep 09, 2014

1 MPT Port found

     Port Name         Chip Vendor/Type/Rev    MPT Rev  Firmware Rev  IOC
 1.  ioc0              LSI Logic SAS2308 C1      200      14000700     0

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit] 3

Erasing...

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit] 8

Erasing...

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit]

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.72, Sep 09, 2014

1 MPT Port found

     Port Name         Chip Vendor/Type/Rev    MPT Rev  Firmware Rev  IOC
 1.  ioc0              LSI Logic SAS2308 C1      200      14000700     0

Firmware image's version is MPTFW-20.00.07.00-IT
  LSI Logic
  Not Packaged Yet
  MPTFW-20.00.07.00-BL
  LSI Logic
  Not Packaged Yet

Downloading image...
Download succeeded

Verifying download...
Verification succeeded
All Done! Continue following the guide to set SAS addr
root@debian:~#

Rebooted

But:

Code:

root@debian:~# /root/sas2flash -c 0 -list
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 20.00.00.00 (2014.09.18)
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved

    No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
    ERROR: Command Not allowed without an adapter!
    ERROR: Couldn't Create Command -c
    Exiting Program.
root@debian:~#

I know it was a wild shot, but hey!

Any ideas? Anyone else with attempts to crossflash a 9266-8i card to IT?

- Anyone with an original 9266-8i SBR ? (-:

Best - Kim

fohdeesha · Feb 26, 2020

razvan1 said:
I made some changes in the BIOS but when I try to boot from controller the screen is showing the following photo which is strange because are not my server specs then I need to cold reboot server. Do you have any clue about this?
Make sense to try again reflash controller or is still only something bad configured by me?
Thanks

It's successfully booting from the controller, one of those drives connected has that blanco erased program installed, its showing the specs of the server that erased the drive (it's a proof of Erasure certificate). I'm guessing you got those drives off eBay. Just install an actual OS on them to overwrite the Blanco program

fohdeesha · Feb 26, 2020

Kim Bjoern said:

Many thanks for the "mini" guide! Great stuff. I had already flashed a H310 mini following the fourlynx guide. But had given up on H710. Now I've successfully flashed a 5CT6D, and a TY8F9 in the pipe. This means I can upgrade my H310 mini, and upgrade a MCR5X from PCIe-2 to PCIe-3. Great.

In this process, another card popped out of the boxes! A failed attempt to crossflash a LSI 9266-8i months ago, and I thought why not give it a shot with these new guides/tools!

My 9266-8i variant is probably a Hitachi OEM, but I believe its of the same origin as the DELL H710P (not mini) and PCIe-2 based.

Code:

09:00.0 Serial Attached SCSI controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS2308 PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS-2 (rev 03)

I went with the H710P B0 guide. The FreeDOS part went well (it didn't complaint), and I ran the PB0CROSS script twice.

Code:

root@debian:~# B0-H710
rmmod: ERROR: Module megaraid_sas is not currently loaded
rmmod: ERROR: Module mptctl is not currently loaded
rmmod: ERROR: Module mptbase is not currently loaded
Errors above are normal!
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
Device in MPT mode
Resetting adapter in HCB mode...
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
IOC is RESET
Device in MPT mode
Resetting adapter in HCB mode...
Trying unlock in MPT mode...
Device in MPT mode
IOC is RESET
Setting up HCB...
HCDW virtual: 0x7f3917a00000
HCDW physical: 0x7fe000000
Loading firmware...
Loaded 809340 bytes
Booting IOC...
IOC is READY
IOC Host Boot successful.
Device in MPT mode
Removing PCI device...
Rescanning PCI bus...
PCI bus rescan complete.
Pausing for 20 seconds to allow the card to boot

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.72, Sep 09, 2014

1 MPT Port found

     Port Name         Chip Vendor/Type/Rev    MPT Rev  Firmware Rev  IOC
 1.  ioc0              LSI Logic SAS2308 C1      200      14000700     0

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit] 3

Erasing...

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit] 8

Erasing...

 1.  NVSRAM
 2.  SEEPROM
 3.  FLASH
 4.  BootLoader
 5.  Firmware (backup copy)
 6.  Firmware (current copy)
 7.  Persistent non-manufacturing config pages
 8.  Persistent manufacturing config pages
 9.  Boot services (BIOS/FCode)

Select what to erase:  [1-9 or RETURN to quit]

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.72, Sep 09, 2014

1 MPT Port found

     Port Name         Chip Vendor/Type/Rev    MPT Rev  Firmware Rev  IOC
 1.  ioc0              LSI Logic SAS2308 C1      200      14000700     0

Firmware image's version is MPTFW-20.00.07.00-IT
  LSI Logic
  Not Packaged Yet
  MPTFW-20.00.07.00-BL
  LSI Logic
  Not Packaged Yet

Downloading image...
Download succeeded

Verifying download...
Verification succeeded
All Done! Continue following the guide to set SAS addr
root@debian:~#

Rebooted

But:

Code:

root@debian:~# /root/sas2flash -c 0 -list
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 20.00.00.00 (2014.09.18)
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved

    No LSI SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
    ERROR: Command Not allowed without an adapter!
    ERROR: Couldn't Create Command -c
    Exiting Program.
root@debian:~#

I know it was a wild shot, but hey!

Any ideas? Anyone else with attempts to crossflash a 9266-8i card to IT?

- Anyone with an original 9266-8i SBR ? (-:

Best - Kim

It might not be possible, as even the real 9266-8i straight from lsi does not support IT mode, and they never published IT mode firmware for it, it was a megaraid card only. It's a slightly different chip than all the h710 variants as a sas2308 c1. If you dumped the SBR before overwriting it with the freedos script intended for h710s I could have taken a look at which structure it uses and came up with a new sbr for it, after that it would be a guessing game of trying to see what IT firmware it will boot if any, 9205 or 9207

Kim Bjoern · Feb 28, 2020

fohdeesha said:
It might not be possible, as even the real 9266-8i straight from lsi does not support IT mode, and they never published IT mode firmware for it, it was a megaraid card only. It's a slightly different chip than all the h710 variants as a sas2308 c1. If you dumped the SBR before overwriting it with the freedos script intended for h710s I could have taken a look at which structure it uses and came up with a new sbr for it, after that it would be a guessing game of trying to see what IT firmware it will boot if any, 9205 or 9207

Thanks again fohdeesha, I'm abandoning the IT mode, and trying to recover original state.

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/lsi-9270-8i-it-mode.16085/page-4#post-255329

bitmanipulator · Feb 29, 2020

Thanks for the great work and guide @fohdeesha ! Process went smoothly and without incident (other than the first reboot kernel panic) on an R620 with H710P Mini B0. However, the process did *not* go smoothly on a second system (with exact same specs). No errors during the FreeDOS or Linux portions, but now the card doesn't work. "lspci" shows it present within Linux, but there is no BIOS option at POST, nor do the FreeDOS or Linux environments see the card anymore using "info". All guidelines were followed (BIOS settings for SR-IOV/DMA, battery disconnected, etc). Any pointers?

fohdeesha · Feb 29, 2020

bitmanipulator said:
Thanks for the great work and guide @fohdeesha ! Process went smoothly and without incident (other than the first reboot kernel panic) on an R620 with H710P Mini B0. However, the process did *not* go smoothly on a second system (with exact same specs). No errors during the FreeDOS or Linux portions, but now the card doesn't work. "lspci" shows it present within Linux, but there is no BIOS option at POST, nor do the FreeDOS or Linux environments see the card anymore using "info". All guidelines were followed (BIOS settings for SR-IOV/DMA, battery disconnected, etc). Any pointers?

Follow the guide again starting from the PB0CROSS command in freedos and watch the output of each command looking for errors but you'll probably be good. Sometimes megarec doesn't erase everything the first time, not sure why

bitmanipulator · Feb 29, 2020

Well would you look at that, it worked! I guess I was afraid of not getting any output from "info" and not wanting to make things worse. All is well again, and the host has happily booted off a SAS drive on the freshly flashed controller. Thanks again @fohdeesha !

fohdeesha · Mar 2, 2020

bitmanipulator said:
Well would you look at that, it worked! I guess I was afraid of not getting any output from "info" and not wanting to make things worse. All is well again, and the host has happily booted off a SAS drive on the freshly flashed controller. Thanks again @fohdeesha !

the "info" script uses megacli, which polls megaraid firmware (like the dell stock firmware). Since your first run of the guide (mostly) wiped the card there was no longer megaraid software on the card to pull info from, so totally normal it comes back empty. With the amount of times this has happened (megarec cleanflash not actually erasing the entire card the first go) I think I might make all the scripts just run it twice from the get go

fohdeesha · Mar 5, 2020

Added a guide section/custom SBR/etc for the full size H710P D1 as requested by lbong via PM. Also updated all crossflash scripts to run megarec cleanflash twice, as in some cases it was leaving the dell bootloader on the first run, which was screwing up the flash process for people like @bitmanipulator - should be more robust now

fohdeesha · Mar 7, 2020

added a guide section for the full size H710 D1 - now all it's missing to be 100% complete is the full size H710P B0, if anyone has one so I can grab the sbr. I don't recommend buying any of these full size percs as you can get an actual LSI card for half the price, but I keep getting emails about them so I dunno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

JackAss · Mar 24, 2020

Hi,
I just registered to the forum to say thank you to fohdeesha (and all the STH forum where I'm starting to learn a lot for homelab!!!), I followed your guide to flash to IT mode my H710 D1 and the procedure went perfect. I didn't flashed the BIOS as I will probably be using it in a FreeNAS or linux VM (installed VMWare ESXi 6.7U3).

Just one thing is changed, after the flash the led on the hdd tray are all off, is there a way to have the led work again? Did this happened to anyone?

I am using the card in a Dell T620 with a 12 Bay backplane if this can be useful.

I hope that is possible to have the led status back as it was useful for me.

Thank you again for your work!!!

Guide: Flashing H310/H710/H810 Mini & full size to IT Mode

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