How to update firmware on Dell branded Intel SSDs w/o a Dell?

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

SPCRich

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
256
137
43
42
I purchased some MFG refurbed 400GB Intel DC S3610 drives from Amazon (84.99/ea, if anyone cares). When they arrived, I noticed they were Dell drives (not mentioned, but not a big deal). They came with DL22 firmware, and I see there is now a DL2D firmware available (actually 3 new firmwares). I tried downloading the dell DUP package, but it doesn't run on my windows system. I googled for hours trying to find a way to do it, but that didn't help. Finally, I tried sticking them in a Poweredge R230 I have, rebooted into the lifecycle manager, and did a firmware update there...except it didn't find any available updates for the drives.

Normally this wouldnt be an issue, but there are some stability updates in these updates, so I would prefer to apply them if possible. Does anyone know a way to update dell drives outside of a dell? FWIW, I tried using Intels SSD toolkit, and it says to contact Dell.

Thanks!
 

Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
1,140
594
113
New York City
www.glaver.org
I tried downloading the dell DUP package, but it doesn't run on my windows system. I googled for hours trying to find a way to do it, but that didn't help.
I've never gotten the Dell Windows DUPs to run, even on a Dell server. I think they expect the whole OMSA framework to be installed.
Finally, I tried sticking them in a Poweredge R230 I have, rebooted into the lifecycle manager, and did a firmware update there...except it didn't find any available updates for the drives.
The lifecycle controller will only look for firmware for devices that could have been sold with the system it is running on, not all possible Dell hardware.

As the post above this mentions (referencing an old post of mine), it is easier to do this under Linux, particularly if you have a Dell system (then you don't need to override the DUP sanity checks). Grab a copy of the Dell CDU from ftp://ftp.dell.com/secure/FOLDER01087307M/1/cdu_2.2_core_702.iso and burn it to a DVD. Copy the DUP for your drive to a USB stick (FAT format is fine). Boot the CDU on your Dell server, press F3 at the splash screen, then wait for the "press F2, F3, F4..." message. Press an F-key, insert the USB stick, wait a bit and then mount it (mount /dev/sdXY /mnt) and then cd to /mnt and execute your DUP. It should work, unless you have the SSD behind a RAID controller and the DUP doesn't support that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nthu9280

SPCRich

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
256
137
43
42
I've never gotten the Dell Windows DUPs to run, even on a Dell server. I think they expect the whole OMSA framework to be installed.

The lifecycle controller will only look for firmware for devices that could have been sold with the system it is running on, not all possible Dell hardware.

As the post above this mentions (referencing an old post of mine), it is easier to do this under Linux, particularly if you have a Dell system (then you don't need to override the DUP sanity checks). Grab a copy of the Dell CDU from ftp://ftp.dell.com/secure/FOLDER01087307M/1/cdu_2.2_core_702.iso and burn it to a DVD. Copy the DUP for your drive to a USB stick (FAT format is fine). Boot the CDU on your Dell server, press F3 at the splash screen, then wait for the "press F2, F3, F4..." message. Press an F-key, insert the USB stick, wait a bit and then mount it (mount /dev/sdXY /mnt) and then cd to /mnt and execute your DUP. It should work, unless you have the SSD behind a RAID controller and the DUP doesn't support that.
Thanks for the detailed instructions. I think you missed a step, after pressing F3 at the splash screen, a new item appears called "DTK...something" so i tried that, but it never booted (just got a blinking underscore.

I ended up figuring out how to do it. I have 2 R230's. The first, has no HBA/PERC controller, and it didn't work in that. The second had a PERC H330, as well as Enterprise IDRAC license. Using this box, I was able to load the windows .exe update into the IDRAC update section, and it applied the firmware to the drives after a reboot. Seems SUPER lame that there's no DOS version or something, but at least I got them updated...after like 4 days of messing with it.

Thanks everyone!
 

vanfawx

Active Member
Jan 4, 2015
365
67
28
45
Vancouver, Canada
With Dell's updates, you can usually just rename their .exe's to .zip and unzip them under linux and osx to provide you the firmware file. I had to do that this week to extract the iDRAC firmware from their update package.
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
1,628
498
83
San Antonio, TX
@vanfawx

Wouldn't normal extract work?

Dell Update Packages User's Guide

Windows:
/e=<path>
Extract option
Extracts all files contained in the DUP to the path you specify. If the directory specified in the path does not exist, it is created.
The /s option is required with this option.
Options /f, /c, and /r are not valid with this option.

packagename.exe /s /e=c:\update

If the path contains spaces, use quotation marks around the < path>value.
packagename.exe /s /e="c:\update files"

Linux archive also has similar option
 

u238

Member
Aug 11, 2018
40
10
8
I know this thread is a bit old, but has anyone found a way to update the firmware on a dell branded intel ssd with non-dell hardware?
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
6,626
1,767
113
The above mentioned strategy with an lsi hba does not work for you?
 

u238

Member
Aug 11, 2018
40
10
8
The above mentioned strategy with an lsi hba does not work for you?
Do you have any info on that procedure? I'm not familiar with it. I see that you mentioned it earlier in the thread. I do have an LSI HBA (H310 flashed to 9211-8i) that I can use. I tried the linux tool and got the error "This Update Package is not compatible with your system configuration." with the drive attached to onboard sata and also the 9211-8i.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
6,626
1,767
113
Have you tried the steps on the linked thread?
I think i basically renamed/unzipped and ran the commands manually but it's been a while
 

u238

Member
Aug 11, 2018
40
10
8
Have you tried the steps on the linked thread?
I think i basically renamed/unzipped and ran the commands manually but it's been a while
I got as far as unzipping the .bin file and poking around at the files inside, but I'm really not sure what I'm doing.

The other thread mentioned modifying a .sh file, and I found a few lines referencing a qualified hardware check, but how to bypass that is over my head.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
6,626
1,767
113
The shell scripts do a lot of sanity checking, but you can override some of the checks with command line arguments like --force (the particular arguments and their effects are only documented in the shell script). Sometimes you need to comment out a test and change something like "return $status" to "return $success" to bypass checking thinks like the system model.
So try force option first. Usually a -? Or --help will list options
 

u238

Member
Aug 11, 2018
40
10
8
So try force option first. Usually a -? Or --help will list options
Turns out the --force option required an input of 0, 1, or 2. None of these options solve the brand check. I'm poking around in the spsetup.sh file, and can see that it's checking for a brand id in some way, but can't quite figure out how to modify it to work.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
6,626
1,767
113
Ok. Can't remember whether I maybe used a Dell HBA I happened to have to update the drives since I can't remember having to do that.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
6,626
1,767
113
yes, as I said maybe I used a dell HBA but definitely not a whole box
 

u238

Member
Aug 11, 2018
40
10
8
yes, as I said maybe I used a dell HBA but definitely not a whole box
Hm. I'm seeing the same behavior using a dell HBA. Probably gonna give up and return the drives unless I make some sort of breakthrough.
 

azev

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 2013
768
251
63
Hey guys, I am also attempting to upgrade a few of dell sandisk ssd LT0800WM. I tried using sandisk scli and firmware downloaded from sandisk website P405.bin and it does not work. So I've searched for the latest DUP on dell website for this ssd and found the latest version is D416. I tried following the instruction here and extracted the DUP, but I cannot find the .bin file. The closest thing I found within the payload folder is D416.fwh file. Do you guys know if this is the firmware file ??

What are your thought about using SCSI firmware update operations to update the firmware ??
 

DataFoo

New Member
Jan 11, 2019
1
3
1
Quick notes:

  • You can flash Dell SSD Firmware without a Dell HBA/RAID or Dell Server. I did need to use my LSI 9270 to flash firmware, would not do it from sata directly.
  • All my S3700 drives were default set at sata 2 regardless of OEM firmware revision (10 total with oem firmware from DLO3 to DL06), current is DL08.
  • Win10 x64 box using powershell and the datacenter tool .exe for install.
  • These are just my personal notes, sorry original links are trimmed out but this thread would be one of them :-D

===================================
DELL SSD DC S3700 series
===================================
NOTE: All CLI. No REQUIRED Dell HBA/RAID or Server.

NEEDS:
1. LSI RAID CARD
2. Intel SSD DataCenter Tool - CLI
3. Dell firmware package

DOWNLOADS:
2. INFORMATION - Downloads for Intel® SSD Data Center Tool DOWNLOAD - Download Intel® SSD Data Center Tool (Intel® SSD DCT)

3. INFORMATION - Intel DL08 for model number(s) INTEL SSDSC2BA100G3T, INTEL SSDSC2BA200G3T, INTEL SSDSC2BA400G3T, INTEL SSDSC2BA800G3T, INTEL SSDSC2BA100G3R, INTEL SSDSC2BA200G3R, INTEL SSDSC2BA400G3R and INTEL SSDSC2BA800G3R. | Dell Canada DOWNLOAD - https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03668511M/1/Serial-ATA_Firmware_999RW_WN64_DL08_A00.EXE


-----------------------------------
FORCE 6GBPS SPEED
-----------------------------------
isdct set -intelssd 0 physpeed=6
isdct set -intelssd 1 physpeed=6

NOTE: CLI - can be direct sata, no dell hba or server required.
Use the command "isdct show -intelssd" to see what number the drives are (0,1,2,3 etc) to set speed on them.

-----------------------------------
ENABLE LSI RAID ADAPTORS FOR isdct
-----------------------------------
isdct set -system EnableLSIAdapter = true
"Set EnableLSIAdapter successful."



-----------------------------------
UPDATE DELL FIRMWARE / NON-DELL SYSTEM
-----------------------------------
1. ENABLE LSI RAID ADAPTORS FOR isdct
2. ATTACH SSD TO RAID CARD
3. EXECUTE packagename.exe DELL FIRMWARE UPDATE

NOTE: Normal Intel SSD tool CANNOT update the firmware because it doesn't have access to whatever is current. That is hosted by Dell and not Intel. The Dell firmware tool sees the drives on the LSI card and DOES have the proper firmware so it will go ahead and update as long as you enabled "EnableLSIAdapter = true". tested only with LSI 9270, YMMV.


BTW this is my very first post!
This thread was incredibly helpful in discovering this process. Get your Dell on Yo.