Upgrading Firmware for the DELL PERC 2 Controller Firmware Version 2.1 build 2957 Flash utility Version 2.1 build 2959 ____________________________________________________________ This file provides instructions on how to upgrade the firmware for the PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2, hereinafter referred to as the PERC 2 or PERC 2 controller. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introducing the Product 2.0 Contents of the Kit 3.0 Performing the PERC 2 Firmware Upgrade in Command Line Mode 4.0 Performing the PERC 2 Firmware Upgrade in Interactive Mode 5.0 Release History ___________________________________________________________ 1.0 Introducing the Product The PERC 2 controller integrates advanced RAID technology with state-of-the-art controller hardware to deliver advanced performance, data availability, and storage management features. You upgrade your PERC 2 firmware when a maintenance fix needs to be applied to the currently installed firmware or as part of an upgrade to an existing PERC 2 software installation. ____________________________________________________________ 2.0 Contents of the Kit The PERC 2 firmware resides on two diskettes. The first diskette is labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 1 of 2 and contains the following: - This README file - "afu.exe" (This is the AFU executable) - "perc201.ufi" (This is the user flash image file 1 of 2.) The second diskette is labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 2 of 2 and contains the following: - "perc202.ufi" (This is the user flash image file 2 of 2.) The AFU (Adaptec Flash Utility) is the program that updates PERC 2 firmware by reprogramming the flash memory on the controller. The PERC 2 firmware consists of a single image called a User Flash Image or UFI. Since the UFI is too large for a single diskette, the image is split across two diskettes. **** Important Note: **** The firmware upgrade process will invalidate the contents of the cache DIMM on the controller. Be sure that there is no cached data held by the controller by following proper operating system shutdown procedures prior to the upgrade. See your operating system's documentation for details. ____________________________________________________________ 3.0 Performing the PERC 2 Firmware Upgrade in Command Line Mode The AFU provides a command line mode which is useful for batch files and automated upgrade scenarios. If you are very familiar with AFU from previous upgrades, you may prefer command line mode to interactive mode (described in section 4.0) To upgrade your PERC 2 controller to the version of firmware included in these diskettes using the command line mode of AFU, follow these steps: 1. Shut down your system, then reboot on a DOS system diskette. 2. Insert the diskette labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 1 of 2 3. At the DOS prompt, enter the following command and press : afu list This command starts the flash utility and lists the controller numbers of all installed controllers, including both PERC 2 and integrated versions of the controllers. You can determine the controller number of the desired PERC 2 controller from the list. 4. After determining the PERC 2 controller number, use the following command to update the firmware: afu update /c X replacing X with the controller number. For example, to update controller #0, enter: afu update /c 0 If you have multiple PERC 2 controllers you can update all of them with this command: afu update /c all You can update specific controllers by their controller number. For example, if you wanted to update only controllers 1 and 2, use this command: afu update /c 1,2 Note: AFU has the capability to update integrated PERC 2 controllers (PERC 2/Si, 3/Si, or 3/Di) in addition to PCI slot-based PERC 2 controllers. However there is a unique UFI file for each controller type. If you attempt to update a controller using the wrong UFI files, AFU will detect the mismatch and will prevent the update. 5. AFU will start, then prompt you to insert the diskette labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 1 of 2 Insert the diskette if it is not already inserted, then press ENTER. AFU will read the diskette, then request that you enter the diskette labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 2 of 2 The AFU will read the second part of the flash image, and then perform a checksum operation to verify that all the data was read correctly. 6. After the AFU reads the UFI the disks, it shuts down the controller(s) and updates the PERC 2 firmware. A verification of the operation follows. The results of each operation are displayed on the screen as it happens. 7. Remove the diskette from the drive and reboot the system. ____________________________________________________________ 4.0 Performing the PERC 2 Firmware Upgrade in Interactive Mode The AFU also includes an interactive mode. This mode simplifies the update process for the PERC 2 controller when additional controllers such as Dell PERC 2/Si are present. To update the firmware using the AFU interactive mode, follow these steps: 1. Shut down your system, then reboot on a DOS system diskette. 2. Insert the diskette labeled: DELL PERC 2 Firmware Disk 1 of 2 3. At the DOS prompt, enter the following command and press : afu This starts the AFU in interactive mode. The AFU will detect the installed PERC 2 and integrated PERC 2 controllers and present them for selection in a list. 4. Using the cursor arrow keys, highlight one or more PERC 2 controllers and select it for update by pressing the space bar, then press ENTER. 5. A menu will be presented. Select the following option: Update flash image 6. The AFU will issue the following message: Update from the flash image in directory: A:\ Change the directory if necessary, then use the TAB key to select the OK box, and press ENTER. 7. AFU will issue this message: Reading flash image file... Please insert disk labeled "Dell PERC 2 Firmware disk 2". 8. Insert the second diskette and press ENTER. 9. AFU will complete reading the flash image, then AFU will issue this message: AFU is about to update firmware on controller #0 Dell PERC 2 10. Select the OK box, then press ENTER. AFU will proceed to update the firmware. You will see the following message: Writing PERC 2 firmware to controller 0 ... This message will be followed by additional progress messages. When the flash update has completed, you will see this message: Flash image was updated and verified successfully. 11. Press any key, then press the ESC key to exit AFU. 12. Remove any diskettes from the drive and reboot the system. ____________________________________________________________ 5.0 Release History Version 2.1 represents a major update of the PERC 2 firmware, driver, and management software. This section summarizes the changes in firmware only. Note that this firmware version is not compatible with drivers or utilities from version 1.X. All components of a system must be upgraded to version 2.1 before upgrading your controller to this firmware release. 06/06/2000 Version 2.1-5: Package update (firmware V2.1.5.2957; AFU 2.1.3.2959) * Changed the ACPI version indication in the PCI configuration registers for compliance with Microsoft Certification requirements. 03/21/2000 Version 2.1-3: Package update (firmware V2.1.3.2939; AFU 2.1.3.2959) * Changed AFU utility to issue shutdown to controller and to invalidate the cache during the flash process so that cache structures could be rebuilt. * Added expanded release notes to the readme. * No firmware changes 02/01/2000 Version 2.1-3: Initial release of V2.1-3 for PERC 2 (firmware V2.1.3.2939; AFU 2.1.3.2952) Bug fixes from version 1.1-4: * Corrected issue where CCU stops showing scrub progress 22% into scrub with very large arrays * Corrected issue where drive initialization under BIOS CCU could cause deletion of good container * Made change in method firmware uses to alert user of need to recondition. Alert is now emitted from firmware only once per boot. * Corrected problem where if single drive hardware failure locks the bus, it is possible that all drives on the bus will be marked dead. This can result in the appearance of a lost container on reboot. * Corrected issue in firmware allowing it to fail an enclosure device that keeps hanging the bus, thus clearing the bus for access to disk drives. * Corrected problem with CCU status updates freezing during scrub of large containers. * Corrected problem causing invalid date to be written to LAST RECONDITION DATE if battery exits fast charge prior to getting INIT FIB from device driver. New functionality over version 1.1 * Automatic Rebuild on Replacement - a feature that allows a failed drive to be rebuilt automatically as soon as it is replaced * Assignment of failover drives from controller BIOS * Selection of either SCRUB or CLEAR initialization method when creating containers from controller BIOS * Improved resiliency to drive errors during array initialization using SCRUB * Faster, more efficient CLEAR operation for array initialization * Dynamic cache partitioning and cache policy control based on I/O loads * Automatic migration of retired write data to read cache * Configuration change detection and alerting in controller BIOS * Read cache remains enabled during battery recondition * Elimination of free space fragmentation during reconfiguration operations * Add support for Windows 2000 * Additional platform support (including coexistence with RAID on Motherboard) * Enables additional operating systems support * Transparent drive size coercion