Here are the steps I followed to update my M1015 to P16 firmware using mobilenvidia's SAS2008.zip file.
I had to update via UEFI due to having a SuperMicro X9SCM-IIF. Flashing via DOS did not work, kept getting this error: "ERROR: Failed to initialize PAL. Exiting program.”
1. Download mobilenvidia's SAS2008.zip file and extract to a random folder, let's call this folder A.
2. Go to LSI Support website and navigate to the "Documents & Downloads" area. Fill in the following for the search filters: Component Type = Storage, Product Family = Host Bus Adapters, Product = LSI SAS 9211-8i, Asset Type = Firmware
3. Download these two files: 9211_8i_Package_P16_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows.zip & Installer_P16_for_UEFI.zip
4. Extract "sas2flash.efi" from Installer_P16_for_UEFI.zip into root Folder A, it is located in a random folder in the archive.
5. Extract "2118it.bin", "2118ir.bin", "mptsas2.rom", "mptbios.txt", "sas2flsh.exe" into root Folder A, these are located in random folders within the archive.
6. Download
Rufus and insert a USB flash drive that you are willing to wipe clean.
7. Run Rufus, file system should be FAT32, Volume Label: SAS2008, enable quick format, select create bootable disk using: MS-DOS, deselect "Crate extended label and icon files" and then click on Start.
8. Connect USB flash drive to the server. To be safe, I disconnected all other USB flash drives, and made sure I only had one M1015 card inserted at a time. I also disconnected the SAS cables from it just to be safe.
9. Press F11 and boot from the flash drive.
10. Type "megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin" hit enter, and then type "megarec -cleanflash 0"
11. REBOOT system
12. Press F11 and boot from "UEFI Shell"
13. Type "map" to list your devices, in my case fs0 was my USB flash drive.
14: Type "mount fs0:"
15: Type "fs0:"
16: Type "sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118it.bin" (I used this since I want IT mode, and do not need OptionROM since OS will be controlling the SAS Card + faster booting)
17: Type "sas2flash.efi -o -sasadd 500605Bxxxxxxxxx" (x= numbers for SAS address)"
18: Type "sas2flash.efi -listall" to see if you card was flashed properly to this new version.
19: Type "exit"
20: Enjoy!
This is more a reference for myself when another update comes out, as I spent numerous hours trying to get this to work. Thanks to mobilenvidia, and
Bryan Vyhmeister for all your valuable knowledge!!!