SOLVED: Flashing LSI 3008 to IT Mode on Supermicro X11SSL-CF-O board: I Ran the FW update before...

[billhickok]

I've read a few step-by-step guides in attempt to flash the onboard controller to IT mode, and I'm afraid I might have done something wrong. I downloaded the latest SAS 3008 firmware (v. P15) directly via Supermicro: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/

I got a little mixed up and before even flashing the controller to IT mode, I ran the SMC3008T.NSH script in the zip file under the IT subfolder. For reference, the adapter was in IR mode "LSI3008-IR", prior to this. The script executes the following:

echo -off
sas3flash.efi -o -e 7
cls
sas3flash.efi -f 3008IT15.ROM
sas3flash.efi -b mptsas3.rom
sas3flash.efi -b mpt3x64.rom
cls
sas3flash.efi -o -sasaddhi 5003048

Now it's telling me "Controller is not operational. A firmware download is required. Enter firmware file name or quit to exit"

I tried entering the FW file 3008IT15.ROM, but it doesn't work. This is the screen I'm looking at now:

Every step-by-step guide I've read was nearly the same, and I suppose what confused me was that after erasing the controller firmware in the UEFI, every guide said to run the following:

sas3flash.efi -o -f *.bin -b mptsas3.rom

There is no .bin file in the firmware .zip Supermicro provided. Was I supposed to substitute the .bin with 3008IT15.ROM?

Here's a list of the files they do provide:

3008IT15.ROM
mpt3x64.rom
mptsas3.rom
sas3flash.efi
SMC3008T.NSH

And now that I ran that script and getting the above message in the UEFI....Am I totally screwed or is there any recourse? I have not rebooted the server in fear that the controller might brick (if it isn't already toast.) Any help is appreciated!

 

[Stefan75]

Don't worry, these cards/chips are quite hard to brick
This guide seems quite nice: https://www.servethehome.com/flash-lsi-sas-3008-hba-e-g-ibm-m1215-mode/

Can't recommend flashing with *.bin in any case...
And yes, 3008IT15.ROM looks like the firmware file

 

[billhickok]

Thank you for the Assurance! Hopefully it's not bricked.

Am I safe to reboot? Also, any recommended steps on what to do next & what commands to execute in the UEFI?

I did come across that link you provided and have google searched for hours. I'm uncertain on how to proceed.

Summary: I tried flashing the LSI 3008 adapter from IR to IT mode, using the SMC3008T.NSH script here: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/Driver/SAS/LSI/3008/Firmware/
Now it's saying "controller not operational."

Also when I try to erase the flash region using the command "sas3flash.efi -o -e 7", I get the following error:

 

[nthu9280]

You should be fine rebooting it. On the next attempt instead of the script, try just the firmware step only. Have not seen this before on 3008 based cards. You may need to use slightly older it FW say p10 and corresponding sas3flsh.exe or sas3flash.efi first and then to the latest P15.
IT to IT you shouldn't need to erase.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[billhickok]

Hi there. Thanks for the responses. I figured out what was wrong...I was in the wrong directory. I tried moving to fs1: and everything worked smoothly. Doh!