megaraid and scsi errors

[Patrick_Boyd at Dell.com]

Timo,

There are two software components to an LSI based PERC card. The BIOS
version and the Firmware version. 

In this case I think your BIOS is 1.32 and your Firmware is 161N. 

We currently recommend Firmware 198R. (I can't remember the current BIOS
version to go with that)

My recommendation would be to download probably the oldest Firmware
relese that you can find on support.dell.com, it should still be newer
than what you are running and also download the newest hopefully you can
use them in sequence to update your firmware.

Patrick Boyd
Dell Storage Software Engineer
(512)728-3182


-----Original Message-----
From: Timo Veith [mailto:tv at rz-zw.fh-kl.de] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 9:37 AM
To: Boyd, Patrick
Cc: linux-poweredge-Lists
Subject: Re: megaraid and scsi errors

Am Dienstag 04 Juli 2006 03:27 schrieb Patrick_Boyd at dell.com:
> Ok this doesn't make much sense. Its indicating an error on channel 5 
> (which doesn't exist).
>
> So I would first try upgrading the firmware.
> Second I would check your LDs and PDs using either OpenManage or the 
> controller firmware.
>
> Patrick Boyd
> Dell Storage Software Engineer
> (512)728-3182

Hi Patrick,

the bios version of the system is current (A09 2/3/2004).

but you probably meant the PERC firmware. I installed dellmgr (5.31) and
it shows "Fw Ver = 161N". The readme file of the newest firmware version
says "Your controller should be running firmware version 1.72 or higher
before attemping this firmware update."

The oldest version on the support website is "LSI Logic PERC3/DCL,
PERC3/DC, PERC3/QC, PERC3/SC, v.1.80, A20" and there is no notice
whether I need a minimum version for that. Can I safely upgrade to that
one? What does 161N mean? I quickly wrote down some version numbers when
the machine booted and the I have "1.32". Could that be right?

I didn't mention that there is a PowerVault (12 bays) connected to the
system, but you may have already noticed that:

>scsi0: scanning scsi channel 5 [P1] for physical devices.
> Vendor: Dell      Model: 12 BAY U2W CU     Rev: 0209
> Type:   Processor                          ANSI SCSI revision: 03

I used dellmgr to do a consistency check on the LDs. No error was
reported. Drive state optimal. The drive information page of every PD
says "No media errors" and "no other errors".

In the meantime I will check with knoppix omsa and see if I can find
anything with that.

Kind regards,

Timo