Jump to content
LaptopVideo2Go Forums

SAS2008 (LSI9240/9211) Firmware files


mobilenvidia

Recommended Posts

Thanks for your great tutorial, i tested 5 Mainboards until i found one with that it worked^^ But now i have a problem.

I have 2 M1015 with a MSI Z77A-G41 Mainboard. With the original firmware i could see both in der administration utility.

First i flashed it to 9211-81 IT with rom, but then only the card was working which i plugged in the 1st PCI-E

i tried it now without rom, but the same.

Has anyone an idea what i can do so that i can use both controllers at the same time?

 

Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Replies 173
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • mobilenvidia

    68

  • Georgelza

    18

  • sleyk

    7

  • jperz09

    6

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

@mobilenvidia

 

Thank you! I followed your guide and in less than 2 minutes, my M1015 was flashed.

I used Rufus for USB startdisk (freedos), and the motherboard was a P5Q from Asus.

 

\o/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No probs, enjoy the fabulous M1015

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've Googled this for a while now and can't find a direct answer anywhere -- hoping someone here might know.

 

I have a LSI 9201-16i and 9211-8i and would like to completely bypass the boot time configuration.  I have seen a number of places (including this thread) say that for cross-flashing the M1015 card you can simply not flash the BIOS rom file.  I haven't seen anywhere say that this is safe for the LSI 9201-16i or LSI 9211-8i cards themselves.

 

Maybe it's a stupid question, but before I go bricking one of my cards I thought I'd ask.  Is it safe to erase these cards, flash only the firmware, and  leave the bios unflashed?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just flash the 9211 and 9201 with IT firmware (which has no BIOS) and get the quickest boots

in IR mode you could not flash the BIOS, then still have RAID but only via MSM or MegaCLi BUT you cannot select a boot drive (MegaCLi might)

 

The M1015 is in IT or IR mode just a LSI9211

SO quite safe to do so on your 9211/01

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

First great work! Highly appreciated things like this.
I do have a few questions, which you can hopefully answer, because it's not all clear to me.

I order an IBM ServeRAID M1015 yesterdat, which I will receive in a few days (hopefully before the end of the week).

Now if I follow your tutorial and I quote:

Convert LSI9240(IBM M1015) to a LSI9211-IT mode

Type in the following exactly:
megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
megarec -cleanflash 0
<reboot, back to USB stick>
sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom (sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin if OptionROM is not needed)
sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)
<reboot>
Done!


Will this also mean it will be flashed to the latest firmware?
And if I am not mistaken, the latest firmware is P15, right?

Sorry if I am asking stupid questions, but I wanted to be sure before I receive the card and start flashing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yip, sure will, if newer FW gets released just use that bin file

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the clear instructions - I flashed a M1015 to 9211IR mode with success - have a question:

 - I cannot connect to the card server using MegaRaid Storage Manager (windows 8 x64) - got the latest windows drivers and software from the LSI site. Is this expected? The card is functioning normally, I get into the bios (only have pass-through's set up right now). Apologies if this is not the right place to ask!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MSM should work, you have the latest version 13.01 ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MSM should work, you have the latest version 13.01 ?

yes, I'm using 13.01.04.00. What I found is that, after I install MSM, it will work (although sometimes not showing the attached drives). But once I enter the LSI bios (bootrom? with <cntrl c>), without making any changes, it will not find the server anymore.

Thanks for the reply

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes, I'm using 13.01.04.00. What I found is that, after I install MSM, it will work (although sometimes not showing the attached drives). But once I enter the LSI bios (bootrom? with <cntrl c>), without making any changes, it will not find the server anymore.

Thanks for the reply

 

 

Can't say I've experienced this before.

When you exit Boot ROM with no changes does the computer reboot or continue the boot ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't say I've experienced this before.

When you exit Boot ROM with no changes does the computer reboot or continue the boot ?

This is a UEFI bios (Asus P8Z77-V_PRO_THUNDERBOLT), set up to load the bootrom's first and then go to system bios. The M1015 bios loads first, followed by the Intel Z77 RST bios, followed by the system bios. (I think there is a setting in the system bios to change this order, so that system bios loads first). Entering and exiting the M1015 bootrom without changes just goes on to the next step (IRST bios). IRST currently have a 3-drive (spindle drive) raid 5 array with SSD cache. Also two pass-through drives and two SSD's (Intel and Samsung).

 

Something is wrong, I think - tonight I tried to use the 120GB intel 550SSD on one of the m1015 ports (flashed to 9211IR) - the system will run for a little while and then bluescreen. The disk is my boot disk, so it was set up to boot in the M1015/9211IR rom.

 

Otherwise the SSD works fine on the Mobo IRST 6gb/s ports, excellent performance. I wonder if it's the cable (a hard, blue colored supermicro 0.5m affair with a sideband cable, unconnected). I would have liked to have the SSD on the HBA since I want  of the drives currently on the HBA to spin down (a backup drive), and I'm not having success with that either (tried SDParm and HDParm).

 

This is windows 8 pro. M1015 is on a second of three Pcie3 x16 slots, first is a ATI 9750, now running as PCIe3 x8. Third is not used. System is moderately overclocked to 4.3Ghz, but was tested stable. Processor is I7-3770k. 32GB memory at 1600Mhz dual channel.   

 

The M1015 works fine with 3 spindle drives attached (unconfigured pass-through). It's only the SSD that caused a problem. Do I have to do something special for SSD's in the bootrom? I thought the card was supposed to work great with SSD's, in IR mode...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm running 2x 60GB SSDs in RAID0 as boot on my M1015 in IR mode, with no issues (Win8 GPT boot)

Not the Overclock ?

Your not OCing the PCIe bus at all ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yip, sure will, if newer FW gets released just use that bin file

 

Erring on the side of caution here:

 

The firmware (2118it.bin) included in the latest sas2008.zip included on the site here appears to be dated 2012-11-14.

 

The latest firmware on LSI's site for the 9211-8i (at the time of this posting) is P16 (2118it.bin) dated 2013-03-13.

 

Following the instructions in the OP, can one simply substitute the latest firmware (2118it.bin) from LSI in place of the file included in the .zip file?

 

Thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm running 2x 60GB SSDs in RAID0 as boot on my M1015 in IR mode, with no issues (Win8 GPT boot)

Not the Overclock ?

Your not OCing the PCIe bus at all ?

 

 

Well, I re-tuned the overclock, this seems to solve the problem with MSM. I could not test the ssd, since it's the boot disk and win8 bluescreens on bootup if I hook the ssd onto one of the controller ports. So, I gave up. Will try again another day.

Thanks for the answers and help!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Erring on the side of caution here:

 

The firmware (2118it.bin) included in the latest sas2008.zip included on the site here appears to be dated 2012-11-14.

 

The latest firmware on LSI's site for the 9211-8i (at the time of this posting) is P16 (2118it.bin) dated 2013-03-13.

 

Following the instructions in the OP, can one simply substitute the latest firmware (2118it.bin) from LSI in place of the file included in the .zip file?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hey Mate,

 

I have downloaded the P16 firmware from LSI and copied 2 files (2118ir.bin and mptsas2.rom) over the ones in the sas2008.zip package in the first post. I have flashed the P16 IR firmware using the OP's instructions and everything seems to be working fine, card is detected and drives are also detected.

Edited by A Man Eating Duck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Mate,

 

I have downloaded the P16 firmware from LSI and copied 2 files (2118ir.bin and mptsas2.rom) over the ones in the sas2008.zip package in the first post. I have flashed the P16 IR firmware using the OP's instructions and everything seems to be working fine, card is detected and drives are also detected.

 

Thanks for the follow-up!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Signed up to say thanks for this thread! Was a big help and successfully flashed an IBM M1115 to a LSI 9211-8i (IT Mode - P16). Just downloaded directly from LSI the latest .bin file & replaced it in the zip folder.

 

Now the only downside I get and I also expereinced it with the original IBM firmware/BIOS is that I get an error code D5 (No Space For Legacy Option ROM) on my board (Asus Maximus V Extreme). Tried many different variations but I gather it's possibly too old for my board? The LSI 9261-8i works flawlessly along with a cheapo 4-Port SATAII PCIe cards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you flash the BIOS as well ?

 

IT mode doesn't need the BIOS, the BIOS is the OROM that's giving the error.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you flash the BIOS as well ?

 

IT mode doesn't need the BIOS, the BIOS is the OROM that's giving the error.

 

Yerp I've tried it with out the BIOS & with it. I've tried almost everything. It still does it even if its the only card in the PCIe slot & most onboard features disabled. I guess it's just card I suppose but this tutorial was still very helpful :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you clean flash the card (ie remove old FW) beffore flashing with IT FW ?

If you just flash the IT FW, the previous IR BIOS will remain.

 

Easiest is probably to go back to a IBM M1115 then cleanflash then convert to IT with no BIOS

 

But becareful you don't end up with a paper weight

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you clean flash the card (ie remove old FW) beffore flashing with IT FW ?

If you just flash the IT FW, the previous IR BIOS will remain.

 

Easiest is probably to go back to a IBM M1115 then cleanflash then convert to IT with no BIOS

 

But becareful you don't end up with a paper weight

 

Yerp I've done that. Flashed the provided 9211-8i firmware in this thread whilst also doing a clean flash first, also done the same thing with updating to the latest firmware (P16). Also tried it with & without the BIOS & going all the way back to the original IBM M1115 firmware and doing it again. But I've isolated the issue further and I beleive its most likely my motherboard's BIOS. This card seems to work fine on other H77/Z77 systems (ie. Being able to go into the motherboard's BIOS with the card installed with no issues) but my current board it does not like it. Contacted Asus about this matter and hopefully get a positive response.

 

Thanks for the suggestions though :toast:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

If I have already flashed to IT mode P14 and want to update to P16 what do I need to do?

run everything or can I skip some steps?

megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin
megarec -cleanflash 0
<reboot, back to USB stick>
sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom (sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin if OptionROM is not needed)
sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605bxxxxxxxxx (x= numbers for SAS address)
<reboot>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom (sas2flsh -o -f 2118it.bin if OptionROM is not needed)

Should do it, nothing else needed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only joined this forum to say thanks to Smeg Head for this thread.  Took me all of about five minutes to get my card cross flashed with the excellent instructions provided.  Thank you.

 

Question to those who have this card.  How hot should it run?  I just got the card second hand today and am surprised how very warm to the touch the back of the card is and also the heat sink.  I pulled the heat sink off the card and found that the thermal paste was old and dried out so I cleaned it up and redid the thermal past.  Card is still pretty warm tough.

 

Kind regards,

craigr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...