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Arsita Mudaiyana | 4 Feb 06:01
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How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)

Hello,

i had a problem with my PERC 4e/Si RAID Controler giving an "Memory/Battery failure" message. After exchanging 
battery and RAM i now get a "raid firmware not found" message :(

Anyone knows why the firmware is lost when replacing RAM or batterie on the PERC. Maschine is Poweredge 1850 running 
debian 5 Lenny.

My question now is 

- what is the fastest/easy method to install a new firmware
  - i.e. creating a redhat/dos/windows bootable usb stick and installing from there? Which which firmware?
- how do i know which firmware is the right one. The last bootscreen did report:
  "HA-0 (Bus 2 Dev 14) PERC 4e/Si Standard FW 521S DRAM 256MB (SDRAM)"
  - anyone knows which releases are safe as replacement?
- why is the firmware lost when replacing RAM or batterie on the PERC?

thanks for your help,

   Arnd
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Sven Ulland | 7 Feb 14:15
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Re: How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)

On 02/04/2012 06:01 AM, Arsita Mudaiyana wrote:
> - what is the fastest/easy method to install a new firmware
>    - i.e. creating a redhat/dos/windows bootable usb stick and
>      installing from there? Which which firmware?
> - how do i know which firmware is the right one. The last bootscreen
>   did report:
>    "HA-0 (Bus 2 Dev 14) PERC 4e/Si Standard FW 521S DRAM 256MB
>    (SDRAM)"
>    - anyone knows which releases are safe as replacement?
> - why is the firmware lost when replacing RAM or batterie on the
>   PERC?

I feel your frustration, as I'm also on Debian. While I haven't played
with this particular type of update, I would probably have a go at
fetching the PE1850_RAID_FRMW_LX_R186614.BIN (or similar) file [1].

Then unpack it with "mkdir foo/ && sh ./PE...BIN --extract foo/".

Next, figure out the nearly infinite call depth of the scripts to see
exactly what they do. Start with stuff called *PIE*. Check that PCI
IDs match by comparing the ID in package.xml with your vendor/sub IDs
found with "lspci -nn" for the controller.

After having narrowed down the command to run, determine any library
dependencies with "ldd <binary>", and modify LD_LIBRARY_PATH to
include the 3rd party .so files that are bundled. Then run the command
and hope for the best :)

I understand Dell wants to streamline the update process as much as
possible, and that it probably works perfectly fine for users running
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Mike Brodbelt | 27 Feb 18:59
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Re: How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)

On 07/02/12 13:15, Sven Ulland wrote:
>
> I feel your frustration, as I'm also on Debian. While I haven't played
> with this particular type of update, I would probably have a go at
> fetching the PE1850_RAID_FRMW_LX_R186614.BIN (or similar) file [1].
>
> Then unpack it with "mkdir foo/&&  sh ./PE...BIN --extract foo/".

I've been down this path also. It's a twisty maze of fragile shell 
scripts with a lot of unnecessary distro dependencies. I've found the 
easiest method to update firmware on most PERCs to be to download the 
appropriate package from Dell, using the Windows "hard disk" packages. 
These unpack easily (with wine on a Linux desktop, presumably also with 
actual Windows, but I haven't tried), and you can usually extract the 
actual firmware file (usually a .rom file). This can then be flashed 
with MegaCli directly:-

# megacli -AdpFwFlash -f <filename.rom> -a0

This utility has some sanity checking, and won't (in my experience) 
flash random rubbish to your card. Caveat - I have *not* tested this on 
a PERC4, but have used this procedure on PERC5 and PERC6 cards.

> I understand Dell wants to streamline the update process as much as
> possible

If what they've done is "streamlining", I'd hate to see the results of a 
non-streamlined version. Even if I was running RedHat, I wouldn't like 
what they've done, and I've never understood the requirement to bury the 
actual firmware images 8 layers deep in shell scripts, shar type
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Stephen Dowdy | 27 Feb 19:51
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Re: How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)

Arsita,

(i suspect you have bigger problems from your description, but
i'm including info on flashing PERC4s anyway)

Attached is a script i cobbled together partly from stuff i found
in Dell DUPs and other places that i use to update PERC4 controllers
on Debian AND RedHat machines.  It DOES require the following:
(Not sure if the list allows attachments, so let me know if you
want me to e-mail it)

  - LSI's (or Dell's) 'linflash' utility (probably in the DUP .BIN)
  - LSI's megacc or megarc executable. (they're essentially the same
    program, megacc came in Dell's DUP kits, megarc is available on
    LSI's website somewhere.)
  - All applicable Firmware .ROMs from DUP .BIN's you will need
    extracted with 'sh FOO.BIN --extract extract/' in the same
    directory as the enclosed updater script
  - It attempts to disabled Consistency Checks and Background
    Initializations (CCBI) and then re-enable after flashing.
    (this is in the scripts in Dell's DUPs, IIRC.

Once you have all the bits in place, on a system with a PERC4 just
do:

    ./Flash_PERCs

It'll produce warning messages for any ROM images that aren't
applicable to the current system, but i have never had it try to
flash the wrong thing or break a controller.  (No Guarantees, I'm
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Dirk_List | 14 Feb 09:39
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RE: How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)

Hi Arnd,

1.

You can use the Dell OMSA Live CD/DVD (5.5 for PE1850) because I am not sure if the Linux Update Package is
running under Debian.

http://linux.dell.com/files/openmanage-contributions/

2. 

Current FW you will find here (also the Linux/RHEL version of update package):

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=1NFTX&FileId=2731104575

3.

The controller bios is executed in the controllers RAM/cache. In case of an cache HW error this FW cannot be
executed and an controller cache error/RAM type mismatch can lead to the error message you mentioned
(Memory/Battery failure / raid firmware not found). So I assume still an HW error in the controller itself
or in the cache/ctrl RAM. Make sure you replaced the RAM with an identical type of module (same type and capacity).

Regards,
Dirk

-----Original Message-----
From: linux-poweredge-bounces-Lists On Behalf Of Arsita Mudaiyana
Sent: 04 February 2012 06:02
To: linux-poweredge-Lists
Subject: How to update PERC 4 RAID Firmware (on debian)
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