Hardware

Flashing IT Mode to the IBM-ServeRAID-M1015 SAS HBA
Original Article URL: https://opticpow.io/post/cross-flash-ibm-serveraid-m1015-to-it-mode/ 

 The IBM M1015 is the go to Host Bus Adapter (HBA) for enthusiasts wanting a reliable and reasonably priced HBA for systems using advanced filesystems such as ZFS. I acquired a number of these cards for my file-server upgrade. I needed cards to support my new  Norco RPC-4224 Chassis . There is a lot of discussion on line about these cards, and re-flashing them to remove the boot & raid firmware. They are easily acquired on eBay for a reasonable cost with a little searching. I have now done this on three cards and not had any issues, however your mileage may vary. 

 Removing the IBM M1015 firmware 

 

 Download  Rufus  Bootable USB Key Utility 

 Format a USB key using the Rufus tool, making sure you choose the option to make it bootable with  FreeDOS 

 Download the SAS tools & firmware from  SAS2008  and unzip to the USB Key 

 Boot from the key 

 

 Run the following commands to remove the IBM identity to allow it be be flashed with the LSI tools: 

 

 megarec -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin

megarec -cleanflash 0 

 

 

 

 Reboot and carry on to the EFI shell below 

 

 

 Using an EFI Shell to Flash your LSI9220-8i 

 

 Download a  x86-64 (64-bit) shell  and place on the USB key. Name the file  shellx64.efi 

 My motherboard, a ASROCK Z77 Extreme 3 has an option to  Boot to EFI shell on Removable Device 

 

 Using the UEFI Shell 

 

 Use the  map  command to list block devices 

 To access the USB Key,  mount fs0: 

 Then use the device name to select the device  fs0: 

 Use the DOS style  cd  and  dir  to manovure around the USB key 

 

 Erasing the existing firmware 

 There are only a few steps to change your firmware. The ROM is only really required if you want to boot from a drive on this controller. Otherwise it will just slowdown your boot times as the ROM Scans the SAS bus. With a number of cards in your system, it can really add to the boot time. 

 

 

 Erase the existing firmware 

 

 sas2flash.efi -o -e -6 

 

 

 

 Flash the new firmware 

 To Flash  without  the optionROM: 

 

 sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118it.bin 

 

 With the optionROM: 

 

 sas2flash.efi -o -f 2118it.bin -b mptsas2.rom 

 

 

 

 Grab the SAS address off the card, it’s on the back on a green sticker (ie 500605B0xxxxxxxx) 

 

 sas2flsh -o -sasadd 500605b0xxxxxxxx 

 

 

 

 Once that is complete, the card is ready to host your disks for your ZFS filesystem.