Hp Integrity BL860c i2 firmware

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ar_a

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Nov 12, 2018
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Hi STH

Does anyone have the latest firmware bundle for BL860c i2 blades? As far as i can see these were EOL'd in 2020/21.

Bundle 26.36 (from 2013) is publicly available on HP's website, but the last bundle (Bundle Version: 2020.08 (firmware version 30.00)) is locked.

Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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pulla

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I didnt find even that 26.36 one from 2013. If i remember right, mine firmware was even older but cant check right now.

Seems to be difficult to find indeed.
 

ar_a

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I didnt find even that 26.36 one from 2013. If i remember right, mine firmware was even older but cant check right now.

Seems to be difficult to find indeed.
I haven't been able to play around with this pretty much since this post but if i remember correctly it's this link.

I extracted and played around with the SFW binary, then flashed with a hardware flasher.

Glad to see someone else with one of these. I have a soft spot for the tragicomedy that is itanium
 

pulla

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Thanks @ar_a

I need someday connect cables and powering up my blade chassis and check firmware version.

If i remember right, ILO3 (yes its integrity-itanium version, not normal) was somehow buggy-problematic, but cant anymore remember exact problem and i was hoping / reading that newer firmware could fix it.

HP-UX itself was running and working but installation process was quite painful...

When Linus annnounced that Itanium is dead, somehow i really wanted one for myself but havent been playing with it lately. C7000 bladechassis is not very homelab friendly.
 

cy384

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I ended up not trying very hard to update any firmware, they're pretty old/buggy/obsolete anyway, and I'm not using it for anything serious. It is possible to boot them outside of a chassis, but then you only have USB, and heat is an issue of course.
 

pulla

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ILO version was 1.30 and now it's 1.55.2. Also system firmware is updated.

Still very old but atleast something. If i remember correctly i had some serious problem with console access or/and USB boot.
Might be that it was also problem with HP-UX, have to try burn something else. Virtualmedia is horrible slow, Gentoo was booting for ages.

Not sure if Integrity can survive outside of a chassis but seems that Proliants can. Definitely networking could be problematic with USB only and HP-UX.

Currently chassis taking around 300 watts with 10 fans, 2 PSU, 2 switches, 2 OA and currently only one blade connected (Itanium) which is powered off, so indeed im not going run anything serious with it either. Just for fun.
 

ar_a

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Definitely can survive outside. @cy384 and I both worked on this some time ago (see attached). I had it connected to an ATX supply, booting into Debian and PCIE working via an MXM-PCIE adapter.

I had grand plans to build it into a case with proper power setup, but had to shelve the project temporarily. As a proof of concept though it worked great.

These blades go for pennies where I'm located vs the thousands asking price for the RX 2800 series servers.
 

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pulla

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Intresting project! I didnt know that there are MXM-PCIE adapters. I was trying looking something like that but probably didnt just know what to search.

Probably it wont be impossible also find somewhere PCIe ethernet card with HP-UX support. Mainly i would like run HP-UX but of course would like nice test also Linux and Windows or maybe even OpenVMS but that its not mandatory.

Need order couple adapters and try out.
 

ar_a

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If you go down this road make sure you get the mezz cards in the screenshot below.

These are the only ones which are MXM3 (confusingly Generation 2). The other MXM mezz cards are an earlier pinout and there are no off the shelf PCIE adapters that I could find.
 

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pulla

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Its looks like that there is HP MEZZANINE graphics adpter card and is that black one is ADT MXM to PCIe adapter? which seems to be quite expensive. Over 100 euros + posts. Oh hoh! I wonder if it's somehow difficult make or just very rare.

Not really having need for GPU (atleast now), i 'only' would like get some HP-UX compatible network card.

there is intresting video how get ILO access outside chassis, just makes me think would it somehow possible use also ethernet similar way or using with switch from chassis without chassis. Need think and trying figure out something.

Didnt find any evidences that it could be possible, everyone using just USB networking.
 

ar_a

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Not ADT-Link but another Chinese brand - markings are JHHMXM. I bought 3 and they were MUCH cheaper than 100 euros per adapter! It was probably marginally over that for 3.

I don't think they're all that difficult to make or complex. Considering these are normally used for egpu purposes I suspect the prices are a combination of egpu tax + limited supply/demand for this particular conversion.
 

pulla

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There are tons of options for PCI-E to MXM but another way no. Only mad expensive ADT-link. Cheaper are sold out.

Supply chain outages also hits badly on my itanium hobbyism, pity!

Thanks anyway, i need keep continue doing my research.
 

ar_a

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There are tons of options for PCI-E to MXM but another way no. Only mad expensive ADT-link. Cheaper are sold out.

Supply chain outages also hits badly on my itanium hobbyism, pity!

Thanks anyway, i need keep continue doing my research.

If you're still looking, there's an MXM to M2 adapter going for ~15USD on Aliexpress - you'd drop to PCIE x4 lanes but you'd have a more standard interface to work with.
 
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gdwnldsKSC

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If you're still looking, there's an MXM to M2 adapter going for ~15USD on Aliexpress - you'd drop to PCIE x4 lanes but you'd have a more standard interface to work with.
Any chance you can show more of the setup, and some pictures or maybe a short how-to of what goes where? This would make IA64 access so much easier for a few people I know.
 

gdwnldsKSC

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We tore into this a bit in our little chat and pieced together how the setup is run:

For the record: The MXM mezzanine boards required for this little insanity is HP part number 598033-001 .... the two GPUs identified in the documentation are 608293-001 and 608294-001 .... which can be found for various prices with and without mezz board.

You do NOT need the GPU, just the mezz board itself.

Blade power is via banana plug connectors utilizing the two CPU EPS power cables off the PSU, just shoved into screwdown connectors, one of them taped up to hell and back to prevent accidental shorting.

PCIe power is the PSU ATX power connector/motherboard connector with an adapter cable. The ADT-Link one talked about earlier (findable here: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803623242107.html ) comes with a pre-wired adapter cord for that, but as pointed out, is a bit pricey.

Not sure if this adapter cable came with the JHHMXM (whew, couldn't find that part.. only google reference was this thread), or was hand made, since the connector colors are different - i'd bet handmade. Molex pin extractor and another ATX connector and you're golden to make your own if you can get the pinout right ;)

SATA power connector shown in use in the photo is merely broken out to power fans, so not connected to any 'functional' component at all. If you count fans as not a functional component for a hot running blade. ;)

Ethernet is just a motherboard USB port/connector connected out of the chassis using a USB->Ethernet adapter (wonder why that header's even there... manufacturing testing? Coming off the iLO? USB boot media addon inside the blade?)

All in all pretty great job here, the only sad part is not having any onboard networking brought out in a usable way. Which essentially precludes a lot of OSes other than linux and windows. Well, i mean, there's always the iLO serial console I suppose.... :) Maybe a second mezz card?

Okay, to summarize....

Insert:
1x BL860c of some type.
1x ATX PSU or other PSU that provides ATX and EPS power
2x set of banana plugs
1x heat sink to make the worthless blade heatsink work okay and not overheat our shit 2x fans (minimum)
1x SATA power cable breakout board to power fans - like SATA-F-BO-V2AV, SATA Serial ATA Female connector Breakout Board Vertical, eLabGuy
1x HP 409496-001 VGA breakout cable to provide front VGA (so we don't need external GPU)
1x HP 598033-001 mezzanine board, often paired with 608293-001 and 608294-001 GPU
1x MXM to PCIe x16 adapter - like https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803623242107.html (or other solution found as appropriate such as an M.2 adapter and associated M.2 breakout and if needed handmade adapter cord if one did not come with your device of choice)
1x PCIe Network Card compatible with OS of choice
1x pinout adapter / jumper wire for internal USB port (front for keyboard, second for mouse).

Receive:
OpenVMS/HP-UX/Windows/Linux Itanium workstation.

Potentially: Possibly add second MXM breakout kit and mezz for accelerated GPU.
 
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ar_a

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Nov 12, 2018
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I can give a better breakdown of this shortly with some extra photos. Your summary is excellent and it's weird to see my old photo methodically torn down in such a manner! Happy to see a bit of interest.

So broadly agree with your list:

Power
1 x ATX PSU with two EPS
2 x EPS cables (can make do with one if you modify the one end of a single cable)
4 x Banana plugs (I used these, but whatever you can get)
1x ATX PSU jump start cap / a wire to jump the power supply

I wouldn't encourage anyone to replicate my power setup as I put very little thought into it at the time. Someone with more electrical knowledge could 100% come up with something better. Basically though you just need 12v.

The basics
1x Bl860c i2, i4, i6 (I think @cy384 also managed with an original Bl860c too)
1x ICH card AD399-60014 or equivalent - if not included
1x HP breakout cable 409496-001
1x USB breakout (like this one)
1x serial cable of choice

The ICH card is required because the blade seems to need to run as a monarch blade.

You can just run with these + some kind of power setup and random fans for cooling. Everything else is window dressing. In this config you have 3 x USB total - 2x USB 1.1 from the breakout cable, and 1x USB 2.0 from the ICH card. Enough for USB network and a keyboard.

You'll get serial and VGA and be able to boot from the P410i on the blade - this storage solution is otherwise a pain, which I can get into later if there's interest. I recommed setting up serial just in case, even if you intend to use VGA. You can access the managment processor via serial but not VGA.

The fun stuff
1x HP MXM3 598033-001
1x MXM3 to PCIe adapter / or
1x MXM3 to M.2 Key M

This stuff takes the blade connector and turns it into something usable.

I've tried a few things here (and can give a better breakdown on this too if there's interest). But broadly; pretty much everything is good. NICs are good. GPUs are good - they are visible in Linux and I even got a GUI up and running on a prior Debian version (I think somewhere around kernel 4.19 or something). You can even get GPUs visible in UEFI if they have UGA EBC roms for old Mac Pros.

But, I've not been able to get alternative storage bootable for some reason. I've searched for HBAs with IA64 or EBC roms, and luckily there are a few. LSI made a bunch. I can break down the cards and firmware verisions I've tried if people want that knowledge.
 

gdwnldsKSC

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Ah, see, the intention with the above setup we pieced together was to have a working/usable OpenVMS graphical workstation machine on Itanium. Hence me going for the NIC instead and using front panel VGA.

The potential part was that the second MXM might be possible - and spec sheet says the system can support two type II mezzanine cards, so no reason why I can't have accelerated OpenVMS graphics as well with a supported NIC. When I get some hardware i will have to try this. I have this strong feeling they'd be well supported in UEFI given we're limiting to OpenVMS compatible/driver supporting ones of which there were a few different ones supported by HP on Itanium.

Obviously, USB nics are way out of the question - just absolutely not possible. That'd be an interesting compatibility diceroll for windows versions, greate for linux/BSD, but no-go for HPUX and VMS. My thoughts with having the one USB breakout was so that I could have from the front panel breakout keyboard, and internal breakout mouse.


Point on the ICH, but most i've seen have it. It has the built in graphics chip, and I theorize that the only way to run a board without it is when you're combining them with bladelink, since the ICH services are important... just like the ICH on any other motherboard...

As for power, what i've seen from other similarly power using boards, one EPS port would be enough - you'd probably want to split it, but those boards are made to be fed redundant power, so you probably didn't have to hook up both (unless it was whining, but i'd plug in both just to keep the iLO from whining anyway, so i'd just build a splitter for the EPS cables of each polarity bundled together)

Don't forget though, that the board PCIe needs 3.3V and 12V. 600W PSU would be just about perfect for this size, I think - could probably get away with 500W or maybe even less, but i'm sizing with the 8-core 170W TDP processor in my mind.

And iLO on network is just a matter of shoving some wires up the thing's behind ;)

Storage, internal is enough. Dual port 10gig nic ought to provide enough DEC cluster storage, iSCSI, NFS, etc that anyone would need. ;) Though 1068e LSI controllers would be compatible with damn near everything, if you didn't want the GPU or were able to use USB nic.

Essentially, a budget RX2660. Budget implying you've got some things laying around already like wiring, PSU, fans, RAM, add in cards, etc - though some of that you'd have to bring to the RX2660 anyway.... but sitting at about $400 for the blade + expensive mxm breakouts + mxm tier 2 cards.... shop around enough fit the front panel breakout in that.... and you're looking pretty good cost wise.
 

cy384

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These are all pretty close to what I've been messing with. I'm in the process of finding a nice 10gb or faster NIC that would be compatible with openvms and linux. But honestly, the linux deprecation of itanium has kinda killed my motivation for spending time on this. I already have an openvms box (a vax 4000) that I never use...
 

ar_a

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Nov 12, 2018
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With the i2 I think its essentially a budget RX2800 i2. Possibly cheaper than 400? Depending on your parts bin for power, usb, serial, fans etc

If i was to do this again, for a basic setup I'd start like this (USD prices):

Blade at 120-ish (incl p410i backplane, 1 CPU and VRM and ICH card)
HP breakout 409496-001 $12
HP Mezz 608294-001 599058-001 $16
MXM to M2 $12

I'm not affiliated with any of these sellers and aren't even located in the same continent.