Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 4/DC and 4/SC Firmware Update Version: 350O Criticality: Recommended Contents: Compatibility / Minimum Requirements Fixes or Enhancements Installation Important Information Change History Compatibility / Minimum Requirements: This firmware update delivers bug fixes for following PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controllers. PERC 4/DC PERC 4/SC Fixes or Enhancements: Component Current Version Previous Version Firmware 350O 3.41 BIOS 1.09 1.06 Ctrl-M U821 U812 Boot Block 1.7.6Dell 1.7.1Dell Bug Fixes: 1. Addressed issues found with the Firmware status Queue. This was causing the firmware to post status completion of command IDs still in progress, causing the driver to reuse those command IDs 2. Addressed an issue in the media error counter logic when drives with media errors are replaced. 3. Improved rebuild logic to handle multiple media error in the same array in corner case conditions. 4. Improved Firmware error handling and messages for TBBU related events. Enhancements: 1. Improve firmware behavior and reporting when a multi-bit error is encounter at boot time. If an unrecoverable (multi-bit) error is encountered, during a cache scrub at initialization, the cache is re-initialized. 2. Improve the Firmware interrupt handling for all possible interrupts and takes specific actions based on the type and source of the interrupt. 3. Improve firmware failure algorithm for failed drives based on SAF-TE information. 4. Improved firmware error handling for cable pulled/removed situations. 5. Improved firmware algorithm and error handling for drive roaming scenarios and deleted Logical Disks. 6. Improved error logging and debug information collection when the firmware hangs or crashes. 7. Improved BIOS status reporting and messaging during POST. 8. Improved error firmware handling when drives return Hardware Error (sense key code 04) in some configurations. 9. Improved Firmware behavior and error handling for SCSI bus resets when in a cluster configuration. Installation: Webpack Instructions: This program creates a bootable diskette to upgrade the firmware of the controllers. You will need a formatted 3 1/2 inch floppy diskette for the following procedure. 1) Download the file to a directory on your hard drive. The file downloaded is a self extracting executable. 2) Insert a blank diskette into the system's diskette drive. 3) Double click on the file that you downloaded and follow the instructions on the screen to extract the files to the diskette. 4) Insert the diskette into the system with the RAID controller for which you want to update the firmware and boot the system. 5) Follow the instructions on the screen to update the firmware. NOTICE: Pflash.exe will be executed automatically and will report existing code level and prompt you to reconfirm before starting the firmware upgrade process. To perform this process in non-interactive mode please execute, Pflash /? and read about possible command line switches. 6) Remove the diskette and reboot the system. Windows Update Package Instructions: Download 1. Click the "Download Now" link to download the file. 2. If the Export Compliance Disclaimer window appears, click the "I agree" link to accept the agreement. 3. When the File Download window appears, click "Save" to save the file to your hard drive. Installation 1. Browse to the location where you downloaded the file and double-click the new file. 2. Read over the release information presented in the dialog window. 3. Download and install any prerequisites identified in the dialog window before proceeding. 4. Install any necessary Embedded Systems Management firmware prior to this BIOS update. 5. Click the Install button. 6. Follow the remaining prompts to perform the update. The Update Package can also be used with Dell OpenManage Server Administrator. See the Dell Update Package User's Guide for more information. Linux Update Package Instructions: To install, enter the following on the command line: rpm -Uvh /mnt/floppy/linflash-3.03-0.i386.rpm You must copy the firmware image to the same directory for the linux flash utility to work. Create a diskette image of the firmware and copy the .rom file to the same directory as linflash. Usage : linflash [-r] [-p] [-s] [-i [file] [file] [...]] [-f [file] [file] [...]] -r : Flash without asking for user input to flash adapter(s). -p : Prompt user for filename. Flash without checking for signatures. -s : Silent flash. First matching image file will be taken for each adapter. -i : Ignore the following files. These files will not be considered for flashing the matching controllers. -f : Force the following files To be flashed for the matching controller. In case more than one matching files are specified, the first one would be taken. To uninstall the rpm, enter the following command: rpm -e linflash Important Information: Firmware upgrade while controller is doing background I/O task Firmware upgrade process will fail if any background I/O task (i.e. RAID-5 background consistency check or power on auto-resume rebuild and reconstruction) is being performed. The program will stop at the "Flash Download" screen with the following message: "Consistency Check of logical drive(s) in progress for adapter-X. Failed Writing Image on Adapter X with Baseport ...". Firmware and configuration on the adapter will not be modified by the program. A reboot can be performed to return to the Operating System. Wait until the background task completes before updating the firmware. Universal CRTL-M Multiple adapters can be configured from CRTL-M, but currently selected adapter should be verified before performing any configuration changes using the Select Adapter option. Drive Migration When hard drives are moved from one controller to another, the target controller configuration must be cleared to ensure a configuration mismatch does not occur. Any ongoing hard drive operations, such as a rebuild or reconstruction, should be completed before migrating drives to the new controller. FlexRAID FlexRAID Virtual Sizing is no longer supported in firmware v.3.41 or later and should be disabled prior to firmware flash. This can be performed from CRTL-M by accessing Objects -> Logical drive -> View/Update Parameters -> FlexRAID Virtual Sizing and will need to be performed for each logical drive present. PERC controller in Cluster configurations In a cluster configuration, multiple Logical Drives are not supported in the same physical disk array. Be sure to use the full available size of the disk array (provided by default) when creating Logical Drives in a cluster configuration. Note: that if you attempt to set the adapter in cluster mode when multiple Logical Drives are present on the same physical disk array, the controller will generate the following error message: "invalid Slice Configuration" Before setting the adapter to be in cluster mode or upgrading your adapter FW in a cluster configuration, verify that your configuration is compliant. Change History: Change from 3.28 to 3.41 Firmware Enhancements 1. Improved I/O performance. 2. Improved hard drive status logic when virtual disks are spanned across channels. 3. Firmware will automatically change cache settings to WriteThru when a battery problem is detected to preserve data. If WriteBack was originally selected, firmware will switch back once battery problem has been corrected. 4. In the Rebuild function of CRTL-M, a new status called “INCON” will be displayed after a rebuild operation completes if any unrecoverable errors are found in any of the hard disk drives. To identify the location of the error and if any data was present, run a check disk from the O/S (e.g. chkdsk in windows). Note: Dell recommends that a check disk or consistency check should be run after any RAID rebuild operation is completed by the controller. Firmware Bug Fixes 1. When multiple hard drive media errors are encountered, array rebuild operation will complete. 2. Consistency checks are aborted after reboot in cluster or stand alone mode. User must restart consistency check manually if needed. 3. Manual initialization calls will be rejected if a background initialization or consistency check is in progress on the logical drive. 4. Address potential controller lock-ups that could occur during either degraded, rebuilding or multiple drive pull and reinsert scenarios. 5. Addressed potential controller freezing during driver failure on possible Raid configurations.