PowerStore: PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrades and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

	v1.x	v2.x	v3.0.x	v3.2.0.x	v3.2.1.x - v3.6.x.x	v4.0.0.0
Compatible	No	No	No	No	Yes	No

Should the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade be run before or after a PowerStoreOS firmware upgrade?
Dell suggests installing the drive firmware package after the PowerStoreOS package.


Does the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade require a reboot?
The Drive Firmware Upgrade does not require a reboot of the node, appliance, or cluster.


How do I find the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade​​ package?
Use the following steps to download the drive firmware package:

• Navigate to https://support.dell.com
• Log in to your business account
• Select Support
• Select Support Home
• Enter your service tag into the product identifier and search
• Under Drivers & Downloads, browse to PowerStore Drive Firmware Package 3.2.1.0 (Release Date 20 July 2023) or search with keyword Firmware
• Direct Link: PowerStore Drive Firmware Package 3.2.1.0 (Requires login to https://support.dell.com)

How do I find the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade release notes?
Use the following steps to download the release notes: ​​​​​

• Navigate to https://support.dell.com
• Log in to your business account
• Select Support
• Select Support Home
• Enter your service tag into the product identifier and search
• Under Documentation go to Manuals and Documents and look for Dell PowerStore Drive Firmware Package 3.2.1.0 Release Notes
• Direct Link: Dell PowerStore Drive Firmware Package 3.2.1.0 Release Notes (May require login to https://support.dell.com)

Should I use the "Disable Support Notifications" (Maintenance Window) feature during the disk firmware upgrade?  
Yes, Dell suggests enabling the maintenance window feature during the drive upgrade. A maintenance window can prevent an unnecessary alert going to Dell technical support. Dell suggests picking a period of time that is longer than the drive firmware upgrade is expected to take. 

By default, the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade automatically enables a maintenance window of 8 hours. The default maintenance window is set internally and is not reflected in the PowerStore User Interface (UI). To estimate how long the drive firmware upgrade may take, see below.

If errors persist beyond the upgrade (see below), reach out to support. 


How do I set a maintenance window of greater than 8 hours?
If the user believes that the drive firmware upgrade takes longer than 8 hours, the user can set a maintenance window in the UI.

In the PowerStore UI:

• Navigate to Settings
• Under Support, select Disable Support Notifications
• Select the checkbox next to all appliances.
• Select MODIFY
• Check Enable Maintenance Mode and select a maintenance window longer than the expected update time

When the update finishes, the user should manually end the maintenance mode. 

How long does the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade take?
Drive firmware upgrades take a variable amount of time. Upgrade times depend on I/O Activity, types of drives, number of drives, and layout of the RAID resiliency set. The drives must upgrade serially to maintain high availability.

Internal testing has seen the drive firmware upgrades take as little as 30 minutes with an idle, minimally configured PowerStore. A fully populated single PowerStore appliance with no external enclosures running with high I/O activity can take as long as 6-10 hours to complete.
 

Does the Drive Firmware package name with build number indicate the order of installation when updating the PowerStoreOS and the PowerStore drive firmware?
No, the version nomenclature indicates when the software was built, not the install order of files. See the release notes for specific compatibility.


Are there release notes for the PowerStore Drive Firmware Upgrade?
Yes, the newest version of the release notes should be located on your product support page.


The drive firmware upgrade ran and took under five minutes. It states that drive firmware upgrade ran successfully. Should I be concerned?
The drive firmware does not upgrade drives (by design) on PowerStoreOS v.3.0.x and 3.2.0.x. The upgrade utility prepares for a drive firmware upgrade, then check the PowerStoreOS version and exits. 

The process of unpacking and running the software is successful but no firmware is upgraded. You have to upgrade PowerStoreOS to a version that supports the upgrade and try again. 

See the release notes for details.


Why is the drive firmware upgrade taking a long time?
Many factors go into the time that it takes to upgrade the firmware of a drive. These factors can include: The number of drives in the RAID resiliency set, single or dual parity, rebuild priority, drive performance, and especially I/O activity during the drive firmware upgrade. Intensive I/O during an online drive firmware upgrade can prolong the normal activity of the rapid reconstruction process.   


I have already run the drive firmware upgrade. A drive is replaced in the PowerStore appliance. Must I rerun the drive firmware upgrade?
Replacement drives coming from parts depots may or may be running the newest version of drive firmware. It is recommended to rerun the drive firmware upgrade after replacing any drives in the system. This ensures that the newest version of drive firmware code is loaded on the replacement drive.


Where can I check in the PowerStore User Interface (UI) to check my drive firmware version?
In the PowerStore UI, drives are located in Hardware > Appliance > Components > Drives.

Figure 1 - Example of a checking the drive firmware in the PowerStore UI



I saw alerts during the PowerStore drive firmware upgrade, should I be concerned?
The following alerts occur in the PowerStore UI during the Drive Firmware Upgrade. This is considered normal (unless they persist more than 5 minutes after the PowerStore drive firmware upgrade completes).

 

• 0x00201201 - Severity Critical Write cache is degraded. An NVRAM device has been removed or is offline
• 0x00307203 - Severity: Major Firmware version of the drive in bus x enclosure x is incompatible
• 0x00307204 - Severity: Minor Firmware version of the drive in bus x enclosure x slot xx is out-of-date.
• 0x00307104 - Severity: Major Drive in bus x enclosure x slot xx has been removed.
• 0x00307108 - Severity: Minor Drive in bus x enclosure x slot xx needs reset after the drive firmware upgrade.

 

Figure 2 - Example of a transitory set of alerts that are expected during the drive firmware upgrade

Does the drive firmware upgrade all applicable drives on the PowerStore Cluster?
The upgrade kit upgrades all applicable drives. See the release notes for the specific models and versions of drives. 

In rare scenarios, the drive firmware upgrade must be performed multiple times to ensure that all drives receive needed upgrades. If the drive firmware upgrade fails after running for 8 hours, see KB 000216935 - PowerStore: Drive firmware upgrade to package version: 3.2.1.0-198710-retail fails after 8 hours.

  See the release notes for the specific drive firmware versions.


What does this drive firmware upgrade do?
This depends on the make and model of the drive. See the release notes for the specifics.


Will this drive firmware upgrade my drive to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) compliant?
This depends on the make and model of the drive. Some drives receive FIPS security enhancements as part of this drive firmware upgrade. See the release notes for the specifics.

PowerStoreOS prepares for the drive upgrade for approximately 4 minutes and the begin upgrading the drives. You may be able to estimate the time once the user sees how long a single drive upgrade takes in your environment. Multiply the resulting time of a single drive upgrade time to the number of drives in your PowerStore configuration.


Should I apply the older "PowerStore-disk_firmware-2?1.0.0-1519794" disk upgrade package?
No, the older "PowerStore-disk_firmware-2.1.0.0-1519794" drive firmware package should not be applied to the PowerStore system. It was removed from the website.