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April 3rd, 2014 17:00

Re-flash PERC H700 Firmware from Adapter to Integrated Adapter?

Hello, We have several 1Gb H700 Adapter cards (not modular) that we would like to use in our R710’s and were wondering if they can be re-flashed with the “Integrated” adapter firmware? I believe the two cards are identical with the firmware being the only difference, adapters work in any PCIe slot while Integrated Adapters only work in the dedicated Internal Storage PCIe slot. We tried these cards in the R710’s and they get the error: “Invalid PCIe in the Internal storage slot! SYSTEM HALTED” .They work fine when tried in the other PCIe slots but the SAS cables don’t reach. I have tried to flash the cards with the Dell Integrated firmware via DOS boot USB but it can’t find the card in the PCIe slot and I can’t get past the System Halted message when trying the dedicated PCIe slot. Thanks, Glenn

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2.4K Posts

April 3rd, 2014 17:00

There is a way to force the LSI bios update tool to flash whatever BIOS file you want, but you risk bricking your RAID controller. Unfortunately I don't know the exact commands...

Might be safer to get the longer SAS cables...

4 Posts

May 6th, 2014 22:00

Hi Jobsoftinc,

If I can get your email or skype id etc I'll send it to you. I used Megarec to flash the card. Please note I also encountered an issue where my R710 changed the ID of the newly flashed card from Integrated back to Adapter. The problem was the servers NVRAM which I cleared using the jumpers on the R710 motherboard and rebooting the server.

To flash the card, I placed it in the PCIe x16 slot of a Dell Optiplex PC and flashed it from a DOS bootable USB using megarec.

Procedure:

  1. Boot PC to USB DOS
  2. Megarec -adplist        (Displays the RAID card ID, should be "0")
  3. Megarec -readsbr 0 ackup-fileneme>.sbr        (Backup your current sbr file to the USB)
  4. Megarec -cleanflash 0        (erases the current flash)
  5. Reboot PC back to USB DOS
  6. Megarec -m0flash 0 FW1405IA.rom    (H700 Integrated ROM update file downloaded from Dell website)
  7. Megarec -writesbr 0 H700INT.SBR        (SBR from our H700 Int.)
  8. Megarec -writespd 0 H700INT.SPD        (SPD from our H700 Int.) 
  9. Reboot

I'm not a Dell tech so there are no guarantees this will work for you and there is a risk of bricking your card however I successfully flashed 3 H700 cards this way.

Good luck

GWM210

4 Posts

April 21st, 2014 18:00

Thanks HYDRALISK00222,

 I played with the LSI megarec flash utilities and successfully flashed the cards from a copy taken from one of our existing integrated H700’s and Dell’s latest Integrated card ROM update file. All working now! 

May 6th, 2014 10:00

@GWM210,

I am in the exact same boat as you were in. I have a regular H700 adapter and want to place it in the IR slot of my R710 and need to reflash it as you did. But I don't have an existing integrated H700 to pull the SBR image from in order to do this (using the LSI tools). Any chance I could get a copy of that firmware image(s) you used to reflash your H700?? Which LSI flashing tool did you use as well? I have played with Megarec.exe but I've read there are other tools for this as well.

Thanks!!

May 7th, 2014 04:00

Great deal! Email is <ADMIN NOTE: Email id removed as per privacy policy>I have played with Megarec some before, so am somewhat familiar with it. The bit about clearing the R710's NVRAM to keep it from overwriting the newly flashed ID is news to me. But it wouldn't at all surprise me. :) My R710 is a second-hand one (for me) so I've no qualm in trying it. Anyways, very much obliged for your assistance! 

3 Posts

July 16th, 2014 08:00

Hi GWM210

We are in the same boat, have successfully flashed rom to card but haven't got the H700 integrated sbr file.  Any chance you could send us this?

Many thanks

MCS1

4 Posts

July 16th, 2014 16:00

Hi MCS1, Not a problem, if you can send me your email address I'll send you the file. Regards, GWM210

3 Posts

July 16th, 2014 17:00

Please send to <ADMIN NOTE: Email id removed as per privacy policy>

Much appreciated, thank you!

MCS1

11 Posts

August 7th, 2014 04:00

Hi GWM210,


Any chance you could send the H700 integrated sbr file this way?  My e-mail is [removed per privacy policy].

Thanks!

gatorHeel

1 Message

August 14th, 2014 06:00

Hi GMW210, Could you pleaes send the SBR and SPD file to me as well? My email is [removed per privacy policy]. Thanks. Regards, Eason

4 Posts

September 3rd, 2014 15:00

Do you still have the files available? I am in the same boat. [email removed per privacy policy] Thanks!

4 Posts

September 5th, 2014 22:00

Hi,

I tried this with the emailed files, and the download from here, but the T710 still does not like it.  I confirmed that the PERC BIOS shows "H700 Integrated" when it is installed in a workstation, but the server balks.  I also made sure to drain the CMOS on the server to reset the NVRAM, as well as the jumper settings.

Does anyone know if I should be using a different firmware download?

Thanks!

Tim

3 Posts

September 7th, 2014 02:00

Hi Tim,  

Yes we also had this happen on one server which was an R515. The only way we got around this was to use one of the standard PCIe slots with longer cables that would reach.

Regards

Paul

2 Posts

September 13th, 2014 08:00

Hi,

Does the files include the SPD file for H700? If so, could you (or anyone who has it) upload it or post the hexdump of it (it's only 64 bytes I think).


Thanks a lot!

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