IBM Serveraid M1015 Cross Flash Issues

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TAC

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Feb 15, 2016
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I'm trying to cross flash a M1015 (sas 9220-8i) card to run in my FreeNAS box. I've made a bootable USB drive with Rufus with all the files per IBM ServeRAID M1015 Part 4: Cross flashing to a LSI9211-8i in IT or IR mode.

When entering the first command my machine hangs with the following:

DOS/32A -- Protected Mode Run-time Version 7.35
Copyright (C) Supernar Systems, Ltd. 1996-2005
_

From sniffing around here I get the idea I need to try a different DOS boot USB. My MoBo doesn't have any UEFI or compatibility options.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thnx,

-TAC
 

MiniKnight

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Mar 30, 2012
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What kind of motherboard is it? FreeDOS might work better. You can make an ISO and then IPMI mount it if your motherboard has that available.
 

TAC

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The mobo I'm trying to reflash on is a Giagabyte GA-G31M-ES2L.

The actual mobo in my FreeNAS server is a SuperMicro X10SSL-F that I think does support IPMI but I kind of wanted to leave that system alone and thought it would be easier to reflash on a separate machine.

Thnx,
-TAC
 

mad1993max

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Jan 27, 2016
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Try using lsi2flash.EFI and Boot over a Evi shell that was the solution to my endless errors i got
 

nephri

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The mobo I'm trying to reflash on is a Giagabyte GA-G31M-ES2L.

The actual mobo in my FreeNAS server is a SuperMicro X10SSL-F that I think does support IPMI but I kind of wanted to leave that system alone and thought it would be easier to reflash on a separate machine.

Thnx,
-TAC
i doubt a X10SSL-F is a BIOS motherboard !! i think it's an UEFI motherboard.

You should use at boot option (F11) the entry "UEFI built-in shell" and use sas2flash.efi
 
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TAC

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Looking at my X10SSL-F manual I see Appendix C - UEFI BIOS Recovery Instructions. Chapter 4 of the manual also describes the AMI BIOS.

When I get home tonight I guess I'll see what happens when I boot my FreeNAS system and hit F11. I assume from a "UEFI built-in shell" if I put my jump drive in a USB port I'll see the *.efi programs and be able to execute those just as if I booted from DOS.

I also assume I'll see my FreeNAS OS USB drive.
 

nephri

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when you choose "UEFI Built-in shell", you will have to select to disk to go.

Typically it's like:
fs0:

after you have commands similar to dos like "cd", "dir", etc...
 

TAC

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Thanks nephri. So I'll just plug my M1015 into my FreeNAS X10SLL-F mobo (where it's going to end up anyway), boot to the UEFI shell and follow the DOS instructions. In looking at the sas2008.zip files I see a sas2flsh.efi but I don't see a MegaRec.efi.

Convert LSI9240(IBM M1015) to a LSI9211-IR mode
Type in the following exactly:
megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
megarec -cleanflash 0
<reboot, back to USB stick>
sas2flsh -o -f 2118ir.bin -b mptsas2.rom
sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605b0xxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)
<reboot>
Done!
 

nephri

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you don't need megarec, you can replace it by using:

sas2flash.efi -o -e 6

or the more deep flash erase :

sas2flash.efi -o -e 7

And you didn't need a reboot between the erase and the flash processes.
 
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TAC

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So the process that should be typed in exactly.

sas2flash.efi -o -e 6
sas2flash.efi -o -b x64sas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -sasadd 500605b0xxxxxxx (x=SAS address)

Done!

This should get me in the IT mode and play well with my FreeNAS box. Will this also skip the boot portion of firmware (faster boot) since I don't need that for my FreeNAS box?

Thanks!
 

nephri

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You have to put the IT firmware !!

sas2flash.efi -o -e 6
sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -b x64sas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -sasadd 500605b0xxxxxxx (x=SAS address)

i haven't experience of what you can omit for faster boot.
 

TAC

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Details, details! ;-)

Thanks a ton for the pointers nephri!

Hopefully this goes smoothly and tonight I'll have 6 additional drives in my FreeNAS box! Then I'll just have to figure out how to move my Z1 pool over to this new Z2 pool and not screw up all my plugins and data. :)
 

pricklypunter

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Nov 10, 2015
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Any reason you can't use sas2flash built into the FreeNAS CLI?
Although it may work, stick with the version that is included with the firmware you are flashing with, there's no point in risking introducing any more issues to deal with if things don't go as planned :)
 

Boddy

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Oct 25, 2014
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I'm no IT guru but I have read some online forums that some people have had problems flashing on Gigabyte motherboards. If all else fails, is there another motherboard you can flash the card on?
 

Boddy

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Boddy

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Hi. I'm new to all this. I'm attempting to flash IBM Serverraid M1015 for the first time on my desktop (Dell OptiPlex 790) with Win7 64bit.
I'd appreciate some help with the steps. I have not seen much online with using an ISO image.
Perhaps it could help out the O/P as well.

The article: IBM ServeRAID M1015 Part 4: Cross flashing to a LSI9211-8i in IT or IR mode was written in 2012.

I has asked Patrick if there was any newer versions available. Not having to flash a M1015 for some time. He graciously pointed me to an ISO image he had, stating: 'If you want, here is the last Live CD I was using for updates: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sth-livecd/STH_SMC_LSI_LiveCD_2014.iso Many thanks @Patrick!

Could someone kindly clarify the steps I need to take on a desktop so I don't end up 'bricking' my RAID card?

1) Save the ISO image onto a bootable USB and boot from USB.

2) Would it boot from USB automatically and I'd be in DOS mode and need to type the following commands provided by @nephri:

sas2flash.efi -o -e 6
sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -b x64sas2.rom
sas2flash.efi -o -sasadd 500605b0xxxxxxx (x=SAS address)

2b) if it did not automatically boot from USB, I'd need to type the following command:
fs0:

I'm not very familiar with DOS commands.
Do I also need a specific command to point to my USB, like:
f://

PS, Patrick also suggested: 'You can also disable the OptionROM usually in BIOS under PCIe / OptonROM settings.'

Many thanks in advance