LSI 9207-8i - identify current firmware?

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Hololight

New Member
May 4, 2020
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I just picked up a LSI 9207-8i through amazon for a ZFS zraid2 i'm building for my current server (my first use of ZFS actually). Is there a simple way to check that the card did indeed come with the IT firmware? If I can avoid having to use a boot disk, would be ideal. Running Ubuntu 18.04 on the intended machine. I'm pretty sure the card is brand new, but can't be 100% sure, so I want to verify.

Edit: Or perhaps this card can only be in IT or IR mode anyway? So it doesn't matter as both will work with ZFS? As a side question (to verify what I've read elsewhere): IR mode is just like IT mode, but adds ability to do raid (which I of course dont want because I'm using ZFS)?

Thanks
 
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tangent

New Member
Feb 7, 2020
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I was able to get the version of the firmware on my card using this command:

sas2ircu 0 display

LSI Corporation SAS2 IR Configuration Utility.
Version 20.00.00.00 (2014.09.18)
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved.

Read configuration has been initiated for controller 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Controller information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Controller type : SAS2308_2
BIOS version : 0.00.00.00
Firmware version : 20.00.07.00
Channel description : 1 Serial Attached SCSI
Initiator ID : 0
Maximum physical devices : 1023
Concurrent commands supported : 10240
Slot : 6
Segment : 0
Bus : 2
Device : 0
Function : 0
RAID Support : No
------------------------------------------------------------------------
IR Volume information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical device information
------------------------------------------------------------------------



RAID Support = No should indicate that the card is in IT mode. Also, make sure you're on the latest version of the firmware. Version 20.00.00.00 has issues with ZFS.
 

Hololight

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May 4, 2020
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So i'm going to need to come up with a boot disk (flash drive) anyway? From what I was reading, that's required to do the firmware flash part at least? Not like its the end of the world, just adds some steps Ill have to deal with.
 

tangent

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Feb 7, 2020
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Well, if you installed sas2ircu and ran the display command, there is a small chance that it is running with the correct firmware. I ordered my copy off of ebay, and it did indeed come flashed to IT mode as advertised. I still ended up needing to create a boot disk so I could update to the latest .07 firmware.

I actually just dumped the sas2flash tool onto a usb stick and booted to my motherboard's uefi shell.
 

Hololight

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May 4, 2020
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I was in the middle of typing up this followup when you posted, perfect timing.
To answer my own question: I didn't need a boot disk since the flashing software can be ran under Linux since I was wasn't changing version (IR to IT or vise versa). I had the IT firmware already, just an older version. Thanks for letting me know on that btw, in my prep research I hadn't run across needing to do that (outside of flashing to IT mode if needed)
 
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tangent

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Feb 7, 2020
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From the .07 changelog (the only change listed).

Defects Fixed (1):
ID: SCGCQ01026819 (Port Of Defect SCGCQ00927500)
Headline: IOP: False Reply Parity Error Firmware Workaround
Description Of Change: When the false reply parity error occurs, clear out the interrupt and return. If it was a real parity error, then the error would either be seen upstream or downstream as well, and another parity error would be generated.
Issue Description: In the IOP a false reply parity error is being generated, which results in a 0x1500 fault.
Steps To Reproduce: Run in hostboot with specialized drivers and run IOs. Some controllers never see the issue, while others see the issue in a highly consistent manner.
Component: \sasctrlfw\common \sasctrlfw\controllerfw\iop\sched
Turns out ZFS disagress with excessive parity errors.