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When does the firmware actually get reflashed? Next time the server is restarted? I don't want to interrupt services but I'd love to get the latest update out of the way. (It fixes read/writes for small blocks).. good for MSSQL.

This is a LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i card, if it makes any difference.

Mindflux
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2 Answers2

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when you flash, a new image is written into the controller bios. it is loaded at boot time though. so ideally, you should be able to reflash and not reboot for a while. extremely UNRECOMMENDED though, the correct way is to plan downtime, update all firmware subsequently, from the top down, i.e. if you have devices depending on other devices (like the hdds are depending on the disk controller) then you update the top component (controller) first, and the next after a restart. that prevents a situation when an old firmware will stop recognising a device with firmware too new for it

dyasny
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  • @dyasny Well that begs to question how do you upgrade HDD firmware (if available) when they are in a 'virtual disk' like an array? You'd need to break the array apart (powered off of course) and update the disks independently I presume? – Mindflux Apr 13 '10 at 20:30
  • Of course not - if the only udate you have is for the HDDs, then you simply update the HDDs. Plan downtime of course, and have a verified backup handy, but nothing else. The firmware does not reside in the same place as the data, so unless something REALLY goes wrong, the data shouldn't be touched. The raid data - array affinity and parity data are actually in the same area as the data, so if the data is intact, so is the raid related stuff – dyasny Apr 14 '10 at 08:39
  • I've never had luck updating hdd firmware when it's part of a RAID array. Never sees the disks as separate items. Not that hdd updates are frequent. – Mindflux Apr 14 '10 at 15:49
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I have flashed LSI 2208-based cards from MSM and from command line. At the command-line, it says that controller is getting reset at some point. I assume MSM will do the same. I would recommend separating firmware flash from production.

GregC
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