Flashing SAS Controller failed

[Harrison]

Starting a new thread from "9.3.1 Update with alert Firmware version 16 does not match driver version 20 for /dev/mps0"
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https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ion-20-for-dev-mps0.36536/page-20#post-296835

Yes, I have both IPMI & physical access. But even after a power cycle I don't see how to start the UEFI shell, since even when it says its entering setup, it goes into the Avago Technologies MPT SAS2 BIOS and gets stuck there "Initializing..."

My hardware is an iXSystems FreeNAS-Certified-2U-AP-64 (Supermicro) with SMC2308-IR running Firmware 16.00.01.00-IR

 

[jgreco]

I would suggest that you try disabling the add-on card's BIOS in the host BIOS if you're able to get in there. Otherwise the HBA probably needs to be removed and manually reflashed on a platform where you can first disable the add-on card BIOS.

 

[Mlovelace]

Starting a new thread from "9.3.1 Update with alert Firmware version 16 does not match driver version 20 for /dev/mps0"
--
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ion-20-for-dev-mps0.36536/page-20#post-296835

Yes, I have both IPMI & physical access. But even after a power cycle I don't see how to start the UEFI shell, since even when it says its entering setup, it goes into the Avago Technologies MPT SAS2 BIOS and gets stuck there "Initializing..."

My hardware is an iXSystems FreeNAS-Certified-2U-AP-64 (Supermicro) with SMC2308-IR running Firmware 16.00.01.00-IR

When the card comes up can you ctrl+C and get into the configuration menu? If so, disable all the boot options, save the config and reboot. You should be able to get past the cards BIOS after that.

 

[Harrison]

Hi Mlovelace, sorry ctl+C can't break the boot sequence... unfortunately the SAS2 "card" (BPN-SAS2-B26EL 1) is built-into the drice back-plane. I tried disconnecting the power to this but the system just hang "Initialising..." and not even reaching the boot menu.
I'm really lost.

 

[Harrison]

Under IPMI does anyone know if "Firmware Update" mode can help me... its got these notes against it:

Press Enter Update Mode to put the device in a special mode that allows firmware update.
Please note that once you enter update mode the device will reset if the update process is canceled.​

 

[maglin]

That should be for your MB BIOS and BMC. You might have to take the card to another system to update the firmware as mentioned earlier.

There is some other last resort stuff but I'll hold off on that. It's bad business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Harrison]

Hi maglin, trouble is - this SAS2 is no a usual PCI card but the whole 10 drive backplane. I don't see any possibility of connecting it to any other system.

 

[jgreco]

Hi maglin, trouble is - this SAS2 is no a usual PCI card but the whole 10 drive backplane. I don't see any possibility of connecting it to any other system.

Naw. You're looking at the backplane. That's not what we're talking about. Please see the SAS primer sticky.

The backplane has an SAS expander chip on it which allows a SAS multilane cable to attach to your system's HBA. That particular X9DR7 has a built in LSI 2308 so my guess is they've wired the backplane directly to one of the SAS ports on the front of the mainboard.

https://www.supermicro.com/QuickRefs/motherboard/C606_602/QRG-1333.pdf

You should be able to toss a jumper on JPS1 and disable the onboard HBA. If you do that, then go into the BIOS and see if you can disable the boot ROM for SAS from executing. Then go and reflash.

 

[maglin]

And pictures save the day!!! jgreco beat me to it.

Ironically it's always the hardware specs that matter and usually solve issues people are having. They usually don't like the answer thou.

 

[Harrison]

Hi Guys, - unfortunately, my board is X9DR7-LN4F
https://www.supermicro.com/QuickRefs/motherboard/C606_602/QRG-1336.pdf
with no jumper to disable SAS.

 

[Spearfoot]

Hmmm... To sum up, @Harrison has an X9DR7-LN4F w/ integrated LSI 2308 SAS controller, which he tried (unsuccessfully) to flash to the P20 version of the firmware. The flash seemed to go okay, but the system never gets past the Avago/LSI "Initializing..." screen at boot-up. This particular motherboard doesn't seem to have a jumper to allow for disabling the SAS controlller, so @jgreco's idea won't work.

What to do?

> @Harrison, can you select a different boot device at startup? Like many systems provide via the F10 or F12 keys? If so, perhaps you could boot to a USB stick w/ the necessary files and re-flash the HBA.

> Would it help to clear the CMOS? I guess that depends on what the BIOS default behavior is; we'd like it to skip the SAS option ROM so we can get past the "Initializing..." phase and re-flash the thing. Be sure to read the user manual if you try this; the instructions say to pull the battery before installing the jumper to clear the CMOS.

Is there anything else to try?

 

[Spearfoot]

Well it turns out that Supermicro uses F11 to boot a UEFI shell:

http://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=14716

@Harrison, does your system let you fire up the F11 boot menu? Bypassing the non-functioning LSI option ROM code?

 

[Harrison]

Thanks Spearfoot, unfortunately on power-on the thing only sits under "System Initializing..." - I can press any key I like (tried F11) but there's no reaction at all.
iX have given me a night time (Singapore) slot for on-line support - although its unclear if they mean today or tomorrow, seem like they're not used to support accross time zones), so I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Mirfster]

Out of curiosity, are you just using the integrated LSI 2308 SAS by itself or are you also using the SATA Intel C602 chipset too?

Just was reading over this (but I think they mentioned it also is/was corrected with a Firmware update)

• SATA chip: Intel® C602 chipset
  • The Motherboard has 4x SATA2 Ports (Ports 2-5) and 2x SATA3 (Ports 0-1).
  • The Ports are labeled on the Motherboard with I-SATA.
  • The onboard SATA-Controller supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10.
  • The onboard SATA-Controller supports the Intel RAID mode.
  • The SCU Controller also has 4x SATA2 Ports, these are labeled with S-SATA 0-3.
  • The SCU Controller is displayed with its own POST during the boot process (only when a hard drive is connected).
  • Warning: With simultaneous use of an SCU with the LSI 2308 SAS-Contoller or the Intel SATA-Controller, problems can occur (see Problems with SCU on X9DR7-LN4F).
    • The following problems have been encountered during our product tests:
      • Hard drives are no longer recognized by Raid.
      • The complete Raid is no longer available after a reboot.
      • Installation of an operating system is not possible.
• SAS chip: LSI 2308
  • By default, we run the IT (Initiator Target)-Firmware on this controller. For additional information on Firmware see "What is the difference between “IT” and “IR” HBA firmware?" as a PDF Frequently Asked Questions.
  • The onboard SAS-Controller supports using the IR (Integrated RAID)-Firmware RAID 0, 1, 10.
  • A maximum of 2 RAID-Sets can be created side-by-side on this controller.
  • If the onboard SAS Controller is enabled with Firmware Version 13, no other additional LSI 9207 HBA can be used. The server is displayed after the first POST. We have fixed this problem in our quality assurance update in the Firmware Version 14.
  • With the simultaneous usage of an LSI 2308 SAS-Controller and the SCU SATA-Controller, problems can occur. For more information regarding this, see above or at "SATA-Chip: Intel® C602 chipset".

 

[Harrison]

Hi Mirfster, actually I'm just running the unit as built and supplied by iX, so I've never looked into this level of detail. But from what I saw when checking the firmware before the "update" it listed something like Avago 2308 SAS.
I'm totally shocked that the SAS can cripple the whole unit, from what I'd seen if something was incompatible it wouldn't update - not leave you in this crippled state.

 

[Harrison]

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Supermicro_X9DR7-LN4F_Motherboard#BIOS_Versions
Thanks, that was interesting and an interesting site in general, thanks.

 

[Mirfster]

Yeah, I am not really any kind of SuperMicro aficionado; just me really guessing in an effort to help. :)

 

[Harrison]

Thanks Mirfster, you cannot under estimate the help you guys in this forum have given me. A problem shared is a problem halved :) and I'm thankfull for everyones help.
Situation right now is that it looks like the HBA is hosed, but I have a session booked with iX in the wee hours, so I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Spearfoot]

Thanks Mirfster, you cannot under estimate the help you guys in this forum have given me. A problem shared is a problem halved :) and I'm thankfull for everyones help.
Situation right now is that it looks like the HBA is hosed, but I have a session booked with iX in the wee hours, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Yikes! I hope not!

A suggestion: it might expedite matters if you set up teamviewer on your system so that you can offer the tech support folks direct access.

 

[jgreco]

Yikes! I hope not!

A suggestion: it might expedite matters if you set up teamviewer on your system so that you can offer the tech support folks and some of your new best friends in China/Russia/whereever direct access.

FTFY