HOLY *#$&%& that worked (doing a mode 0 flash and subbing the stock LSI FW with this specific dell FW )!!
Im still not sure if im going to keep the card or not , bc it would seem now that:
1) this card is not new (it was sold as new , unopened, and LSI, no mention of DELL) but it must have been opened and someone tried to flash this card to an LSI firmware which apparently will *nearly* brick the card (i say nearly bc when doing the mode 0 flash as directed by LSI support, im essentially flashing the card to a LSI firmware for this card and that clearly didnt work)
EDIT: looking though the LSI webBios (now that the card is functioning) its def not new, there are lots of entries in the event log from the prior owner/user
2) It would appear that i cant use LSI firmware and have to use dell FW which i dont want (and wouldn't have bought this card had the seller disclosed that it was a Dell OEM) - im going to test this by flashing a LSI FW and will report back, but i wanted to get this message up asap for the reason below:
3) it seems really hard to find info on this card on dell's website. (info being FW updates or any kind of info at all, i cant find it when searching dells support pages nor the dell enterprise storage support pages)
4)
NO RAID 6 ?! maybe im missing something when it comes to LSI controllers, (this is my first real production use of LSI hardware, ive tested with it many times), but im not seeing the option for Raid 6 on this card - as a test ive attached 4x SATA drives, they come up, when using the config. wizard via the webBIOS i get the options for raid 0, raid1 and raid 5 but no raid6 option.
One thing i noticed that was different, is that in webBIOS under "Advanced Software Options" is an entry for Raid 5 "unlimited license". Is this maybe a restiction because the card is a Dell OEM (in that they only allow or license raid 5 but not raid 6?). I hope someone more familair with LSI can chime in on this, maybe im missing something obvious about making a Raid6 array via WebBIOS.
Here is what im refering to:
1)
2)
++hey PERSONAL J , beware, flashing this card to an LSI FW may *nearly* brick the card (i say nearly bc apparently doing a mode 0 flash and subbing in this specific Dell FW will get the card alive again), but you have to contact LSI support to get the files to do the mode 0 flash (or if you PM me i'll send you the link / file, i hope lsi is ok with this :/ ).
im also going to stress test the heck out of this card before i decided if im going to use it or going to return it and get a real LSI 9265-8i card (not a dell OEM 9265-8i)
EDIT: wow, from the webBios (lsi) it appears as if the card is
not showing the 1gb of cache, can someone please confirm if/where in the webBIOS interface it shows the controllers Cache amount (this card was sold as having 1GB of cache, and it does have the add on board, as i have seen the IBM OEM version of this 9265-8i sold without the 1gb cache board connected).
Ebay link for this exact cards listing. (dell OEM 9265-8i)
Ebay link for a IBM OEM of the 9265-8i without the cache pcb connected/sold