X8DT6-F and second HBA MegaRaid 9240-4i ( CrossFlashing Help needed)

[Jayshahu]

I have X8DT6-F motherboard which has an onboard SAS2008 chip whose firmware I had flashed to P20 IT mode which I had downloaded from supermicro's website.

I installed a MegaRAID 9240-4i PCI Slot 5 ( 1X8 PCIe 2.0) , on my the other motherboard is shows that slot 4 is taken up by the onboard SAS2008 as per the BIOS,

I wanted to crossflash the 9240-4i to 9211-8i

I followed the instructions at https://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/

megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
megarec -cleanflash 0

reboot to dos

(sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin

sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)

reboot

The upgrade did show success.

As soon as I did the second reboot I knew I had messed up as I never which controller to flash.

Luckily as both the HBA's are running on the SAS2008 chip I dont think I bricked my onboard SAS2008 or the 9240.

sas2flash -listall shows only one entry SAS2008(2) as the name of the controller. with the 9240 installed and the 9240 uninstalled.

My question is

1) How do know which one is 9240 controller.
2) For me to go back to the supermicro firmware what do I need to do,
what does megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin do

3) Once I revert back to supermicro P20 firmware , what will I have to do to crossflash the 9240 to 9211.

I am new to HBA 's etc any help and direction would be much appreciated.

 

[EffrafaxOfWug]

If you didn't specify the controller, I think it might be possible you've written the SAS address of one card as the SAS address of another, and possibly overwritten the SBR of the onboard HBA.

I think you should be safe removing the PCIe HBA and then repeating the flashing procedure on the onboard SAS2008; don't forget to flash a new SAS address (or re-use the old one if you've got it written down anywhere), then hopefully you'll be able to plug in the PCIe card and see it separately. Number one reason for attempting things like re-flashing on a workbench machine that's got as little as possible connected to it!

Hopefully in answer to your questions;
1) when both are plugged in, you should hopefully be able to see which one is which by their PCI addresses. sas2flash supports writing directly to a PCIe address as well if you're so inclined (although I don't think megarec does IIRC).
2) if you've put the standard firmware on the onboard chip it's no great shakes, just repeat the re-flashing steps using the supermicro files (did you take a backup of your SBR first?). The megarec command basically "empties" part of the flash (actually an EEPROM I think rather than the controller flash memory) called the SBR which governs what device the card says it is - hence why it's necessary to zero it and write a new one when you flash to a different breed of firmware
3) again the same steps should be just run again (albeit I've not experience with the 9240 cards but I assume they're know to be crossflash-safe as per the STH doc), just make sure you a) specify the device address [or index] and b) make sure both cards get different SAS addresses

 

[Jayshahu]

Thx .

I did not take a backup of the SBR on the onboard SAS2008.

I guess cleared the SBR on the onboard SAS2008.

My question now is when I reflash the onboard SAS2008 should I clear the SBR again.

 

[EffrafaxOfWug]

I've not used the SM onboards HBAs myself so I'm no expert... but when the onboard HBA boots I assume it still works...? It's essentially the same chip so as long as it's working with the right capabilities I doubt it'd need the "real" supermicro SBR (although you might want to ask their support if they can supply you with the file just in case) and you can leave the current SBR in place.

 

[Jayshahu]

Thx.

I will talk to Super Micro and ask them about their SBR

I think I might have figured it now.

when using sas2flsh - listall shows only the Onboard SAS2008(2) even though the MegaRaid 9240-4i shows up in the BIOS and also presents its own software upon reboot for configuration of disks. This is bcos sas2flsh is not compatible or does not want to show another manufacturer board.

After booting from a bootable dos USB and copying the cross flashing software found here onto the USB. ( call it SAS2008)
https://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/

I also put the P20 software for the 9211-8i in a different directory on the USB found here. ( call it SAS9211)

https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/12350530

( Even though I am flashing a 9240-4i I have to use the firmware for the 9211-8i as the 9211-8i is based on the SAS2008 chip while the 9211-4i is based on the SAS2004 chip.


Boot in dos and go into SAS2008
Please note I am using an older motherboard which does not support for UEFI. For newer motherboards your commands might be different

1) megarec -adpList

This will show both the Cards. Note the Controller No.

megarec -writesbr x sbrempty.bin ( x is the controller no of the 9240-4i)
megarec -cleanflash x

reboot to dos

sas2flsh -listall

This will show both the Cards. Note the Controller No.

(sas2flsh -c x -o -f 2118it.bin (where x is the controller no. For me the controller no changed from 1 to 0 at this time). Please be careful and try and upgrade the firmware on the correct board.

sas2flsh -c x o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)

reboot to dos

sas2flsh -listall ( this shows both the boards and the firmware they are currently running on.

sas2flsh -c x list ( this will detail sas address etc, where x is the controller no)

after this point I went to the directory SAS9211 and upgraded the firmware to P20 on the 9240-4i.

reboot.

My existing freenas configuration are all fine. I am going to be running in this mode for the next 2 weeks testing it and stress testing it before I will add any data onto the server.

It has been an learning experience and thx to this wonderful forum , I was able to save myself some real pain. I really lucked out as both my HBA's were from the same manufacturer and cross flashable else I would have a dead motherboard. A shoutout to EffrafaxOfWug (Thx Buddy) for helping me figure out my mistake.