Dell recommends the customer review specifics about the update to determine if it applies to your system. The update contains changes that impact only certain configurations, or provides new features that may/may not apply to your environment.
Compatibility
Systems
Operating systems
PowerEdge 2600 PowerVault 770N (Deskside NAS Appliance)
Not Applicable
Fixes and Enhancements
Current Firmware - 2.48 (Previous - 2.37)
Current BIOS - 1.06 (Previous - 1.05)
Current Ctrl-M - U812 (Previous - 5.62)
Current BootBlock - 1.7.1Dell (Previous - 1.6.6Dell)
Current MPT SCSI firmware - 01.03.11.05-IT (Previous - 01.03.06.00-IT)
Firmware Enhancements
1. Improved hard drive status logic when virtual disks are spanned across channels.
2. 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.
3. 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. log it.
Additional 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.
FlexRAID:
FlexRAID Virtual Sizing is no longer supported by the current firmware (v.2.48) 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.
Installation Instructions
Custom Instructions for perc4di-pe2600-248-A14.exe:
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 reboot 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.
Custom Instructions for perc4di-pe2600-248-A14.txt:
Please see read me file. Custom Instructions for perc4di-pe2600-248-a14.tar.gz:
To install, enter the following on the command line:
rpm -Uvh linflash-3.01-0.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.
-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
Dell Update Package Instructions for RAID-FRMW-R71754.exe:
Download 1. Click the "Download Now" link to download the file. 2. 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.
