******************************************************************** * IBM ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update Diskette 1 * * Version 3.50C * ******************************************************************** Update Diskette 1 Version 3.50C contains BIOS Level 3.50.12 and the following firmware levels: o Firmware Level 3.50.25 for the ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter. o Firmware Level 2.88.08 for the ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter. o Firmware Level 2.88.08 for the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards. o Firmware Level 2.25.01 for the ServeRAID Adapter. For more information about IBM ServeRAID and server products, visit http://www.pc.ibm.com/netfinity on the World Wide Web. ______________________________________________________________ CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Updating the BIOS and Firmware 2.0 BIOS Setup 3.0 Descriptions of the Current ServeRAID Diskettes 4.0 Changes to the BIOS, Firmware, and Configuration Program ... 4.21 Changes from Level 3.50.22 to 3.50.25 ... 4.20 Changes from Level 3.50.19B to 3.50.22 ... 4.19 Changes from Level 3.11.00 to 3.50.19B ... 4.18 Changes from Level 3.10.08 to 3.11.00 ... 4.17 Changes from Level 3.01 to 3.10.08 ... 4.16 Changes from Level 2.88.06 to 2.88.08 ... 4.15 Changes from Level 2.88.00 to 2.88.06 ... 4.14 Changes from Level 2.87.03 to 2.88.00 ... 4.13 Changes from Level 2.86.03 to 2.87.03 ... 4.12 Changes from Level 2.25.00 to 2.25.01 ... 4.11 Changes from Level 2.23S to 2.25.01 ... 4.10 Changes from Level 2.82 to 3.01 ... 4.09 Changes from Level 2.80.07 to 2.82.00 ... 4.08 Changes from Level 2.70.08 to 2.80.07 ... 4.07 Changes from Level 2.70 to 2.71 ... 4.06 Changes from Level 2.40.14 to 2.70.08 ... 4.05 Changes from Level 2.40.16 to 2.40.21 ... 4.04 Changes from Level 97326 to Level 2.40.14 ... 4.03 Changes from Level 2.30 to 2.40 ... 4.02 Changes from Level 2.30 to 2.31 ... 4.01 Information about the Level 2.30/2.23s Update 5.0 Trademarks and Notices ____________________________________________________________ 1.0 Updating the BIOS and Firmware ___________________________________ NOTE: If you are running a ServeRAID 3L with Write Back enabled and 64k Logical Block Size, you may experience a hang condition. This behavior will be corrected in the first half 2000 firmware release. The workaround is to change the cache setting to Write Through. Otherwise, do not create logical drives with a block size of 64k. Once the block size is set with the creation of the array, it cannot be changed without losing data. If customers need to run in Write Back mode, they will need to back up data, recreate arrays and logical drives, and then restore the data. To update the ServeRAID BIOS and firmware: NOTE: When upgrading the BIOS/Firmware to 3.50, you must also upgrade to 3.50 version drivers and utilities. 1. Insert the IBM ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update diskette into the diskette drive; then, turn on the system. If the system is already turned on, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. 2. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. 3. After the update completes, use either the ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Program or the Command Line Utility program to erase the soft, hard, and device event logs. Instructions for the ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Program are below. Refer to Problem-Isolation and Debug Commands section of Chapter 7 in the User's Guide for syntax for the ERASEEVENT command used in the commandline utility to erase the soft, hard, and device event logs. Instructions for ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Program: a. Click on the controller on the Main screen of the Administration and Monitoring Program. b. Select an event log button from the bottom of the screen. c. Select Erase Event log button from the bottom of the screen. d. Perform steps b and c for all three event logs: soft, hard, and device. ____________________________________________________________ 2.0 BIOS Setup ______________ If your server contains multiple ServeRAID adapters or controllers, only one copy of the ServeRAID BIOS is used. If multiple copies of the BIOS are detected, they will be handled based on how each one is configured. The instructions to configure the BIOS settings is found in the Advanced Functions section of the Mini-Configuration program. It is called the Multiple Controller mode which has two settings: Erase and Shrink. When the parameter is set to Erase, redundant copies of the ServeRAID BIOS are erased. When this parameter is set to shrink, the extra copies of the ServeRAID BIOS are removed from memory, but stored for future use. When you have multiple ServeRAID adapters and controllers installed, you need only one active copy of ServeRAID BIOS. However, to ensure that you will have a copy of the ServeRAID BIOS available if your active copy becomes defective or unavailable, leave the Multiple Controller parameter set to Shrink. _____________________________________________________________________ 3.0 Descriptions of the Current ServeRAID Diskettes and ServeRAID Option CD ___________________________________________________________________ This section provides a brief description of the current ServeRAID diskettes and ServeRAID Option CD. Refer to the README files on each of these diskettes and CD for more detailed information. The current ServeRAID diskettes include the following: o IBM ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update Diskette, which contains the files needed to update the BIOS and firmware on the IBM ServeRAID 3H/3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter, the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter, the integrated IBM ServeRAID Controller, and the ServeRAID Adapter. o IBM ServeRAID Device Drivers Diskette, which contains the device drivers and administration and monitoring utility programs that you can use with the following operating systems: o IBM OS/2 Warp Server and OS/2 LAN Server version 4.0 o Novell NetWare 3.12, 4.1X and 5.0 o Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 This diskette also provides DOS CD-ROM drive device drivers. o IBM ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Program Diskette, which contains the IBM ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Utility Program for Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 95. This version of the ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Utility Program is referred to as the WIN32-Based Utility Program. o IBM ServeRAID Device Drivers for SCO Operating Systems Diskette, which contains the files needed to install the IBM ServeRAID device driver and Background Server component for SCO OpenServer 5.0.0, 5.0.2, and 5.0.4, and SCO Unixware 7.0. o IBM ServeRAID Command Line Programs Diskette, which contains the files needed to install and use the IBM ServeRAID IPSSEND and IPSMON command-line interface programs. o IBM ServeRAID Cluster Solution for Windows NT Diskette, which contains the files needed to install Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) when using Windows NT and an IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter or ServeRAID 3H Adapter. Refer to the "IBM Netfinity High-Availability Cluster Solution Installation and User's Guide" for detailed instructions. NOTE: You can obtain a copy of the "IBM Netfinity High-Availability Cluster Solution Installation and User's Guide" from http://www.pc.ibm.com/netfinity/clustering on the World Wide Web. o Netfinity 7000 IBM Class Monolithic ServeRAID Device Driver and Utility Diskette Version 1.00. This diskette contains the files needed to install and use the Class Monolithic ServeRAID (CMRAID) device driver and utility programs. NOTE: These files are for use only with an IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter installed in an IBM Netfinity 7000. Multiprocessing environments where high CPU utilization and high disk I/O are typical might benefit from using this monolithic device driver. A version of this device driver was used in the TPC-C benchmarks recently conducted with the IBM Netfinity 7000. Refer to the README file on the IBM Class Monolithic ServeRAID Device Driver and Utility Program Diskette for more information. The ServeRAID Option CD Includes the following: o The IBM ServeRAID Configuration Program and ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update Program. These programs start automatically when the CD is booted. o The ServeRAID Manager which provides an easy-to-use interface for online configuration, administration, and monitoring of the RAID subsystem in the Windows NT and UnixWare environments. See Section 4.18 Changes from Level 3.11.00 to 3.50.21 for more information on this new program. o The IBM ServeRAID Administration and Monitoring Program. o The IBM ServeRAID Command Line Programs. o The IBM ServeRAID Cluster Solution for Windows NT. o The IBM ServeRAID Fault Tolerent Control Panel Applet. _____________________________________________________________________ 4.0 Changes to the BIOS, Firmware, and Configuration Utility Program _____________________________________________________________________ 4.21 Changes from Level 3.50.22 to 3.50.25 -------------------------------------------- The 3.50.25 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter only: o Fix of rare, but potential failure that may result under repeated manual movement of cluster resources from one node to another under MSCS o Fix of potential hang conditions resulting from the handling of the ServeRAID battery backed cache o Enhancement of rebuild operation during drive rebuilding while LDM is in progress o Fix of various operating system level traps reported on but not limited to OS2 and UnixWare 7.1 o Improvement of handling of drives that exceeded PFA threshold 4.20 Changes from Level 3.50.19B to 3.50.22 -------------------------------------------- The 3.50.22 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter only: o Rebuild recovery enhancements o Clustering error recovery enhancements 4.19 Changes from Level 3.11.00 to 3.50.19B ------------------------------------------- The 3.50.19B Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter only: - ServeRAID Manager: This new program provides an easy-to-use interface for online configuration, administration, and monitoring of the RAID subsystem in the Windows NT and UnixWare environments. You can do the following: o Configure and monitor your enterprise of ServeRAID subsystems from a central console. o Receive immediate notification of any problems. o Remotely view the source of the problem and see detailed corrective action for each problem reported. o Learn a single, unified interface for your administration and monitoring needs. o Use the same interface for the out-of-box configuration and the on-line configuration and monitoring functions. - RAID level-5E This new RAID level supported on the ServeRAID 3H and the ServeRAID 3L adapters uses distributed hot-spare drives to spread data across all the drives in the array, instead of industry "dormant" hot-spare drive model. RAID level-5E provides the following: o Reliability and performance o The elimination of degraded performance during a drive failure - Logical Drive numbering that starts with 1, instead of 0. - Support for 12 Adapters with Windows NT. - FlashCopy If you are using Windows NT with a ServeRAID 3H or ServeRAID 3L adapter, you can use this new feature to create a copy of an existing logical drive. When you issue the FlashCopy command, this feature sets up a link between the source and target logical drives, and then creates a snapshot impression of the source data on the target drive. Once the link is set up and the snapshot impression is created, you can select from the following two choices: 1. Start the background process that immediately copies all source logical drive data to the target logical drive. 2. Start the background process that waits until the data on the source logical drive changes before starting the background copy process. When a change to the data occurs, the snapshot impression of the source logical drive data gets copied to the target logical drive; then, the new data gets written to the source logical drive. - Adaptive Read Ahead supported on ServeRAID 3H and 3L adapters automatically turns off read ahead where not useful to improve efficiency. - Identify Drive Menu Item in the ServeRAID Manager and IBM ServeRAID Configuration Program supported on ServeRAID 3H and 3L adapters allows the user to identify physical drives by blinking the lights on the drives. - When running Microsoft Cluster Server(MSCS) software, you can now attach internal or external drives to Channel 3 of your ServeRAID 3H and 3L controllers. You no longer need to configure Channel 3 of your controllers as a dedicated quorum-arbitration link. - When creating a hot-spare drive, old ServeRAID configuration data is now automatically deleted from the hard disk drive. Both the IBM ServeRAID Configuration Program and the ServeRAID Manager provide this useful feature. Note: Clustering users no longer have to remove configuration data from hot-spare drives through low-level formatting. - Easy to read and understand terminology. Physical Drive States: Old Term New Term -------- -------- RDY Ready ONL Online DDD Defunct HSP Hot Spare DHS Defunct SBY Standby RBL Rebuilding SHS Standby Hot Spare EMP Empty Logical Drive States: Old Term New Term -------- -------- FRE Free OFL Offline OKY Okay CRT Critical LDM Migrating SYS System CRM Critical Migrating CRS Critical System Adapter Terms: Old Term New Term -------- -------- Adapter Controller NVRAM Cache Battery Backup Write Cache WT Write Through WB Write Back - Enhanced import configuration path when importing a configuration with a non-default stripe size - Corrected NT installation problems with more than 7 drives in RAID5 array - Clustering error recovery enhancements - RAID1 rebuild error recovery enhancements - LDM stress test enhancements with Netware 4.2 - Corrected system hang condition for PC Server 704 - Message to the user added when voltage drop or removal of Battery Backup Cache option 4.18 Changes from Level 3.10.08 to 3.11.00 ------------------------------------------- The 3.11.00 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter only: o Standby Hot Spare and Hot Spare Monitoring This feature's monitoring frequency of Standby Hot Spares and Hot Spares has been increased. o 2 Drive RAID1 Write-Back mode fix 4.17 Changes from Level 3.01 to 3.10.08 ---------------------------------------- The 3.10.08 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter only: o New enhanced download utility "flashman" o Improved check consistency with auto restore o BIOS support for no logical drives o BIOS update for NT Boot CDROM o Enhanced diagnostics in the SELFTEST command for IPSSEND. o Improved version of IPSSEND for the GETEVENT command for Windows NT o Corrected a problem in IPSMON whereby the utility does not find the adapter when running under Netware SFT III mode. o The Windows NT 4.0 driver supports active-passive failover in any Netfinity server. Also supported are hot add and hot replace in Netfinity servers that have hotplug PCI slots (such as the 5500 or 7000-M10) when the appropriate system hotplug software for Windows NT 4.0 is also loaded. 4.16 Changes from Level 2.88.06 to 2.88.08 ------------------------------------------- The 2.88.08 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter and the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: o Rebuild recovery enhancements o Clustering error recovery enhancements 4.15 Changes from Level 2.88.00 to 2.88.06 ------------------------------------------- The 2.88.06 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter and the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: o Enhanced import configuration path when importing a configuration with a non-default stripe size o Corrected NT installation problems with more than 7 drives in RAID5 array o Clustering error recovery enhancements o RAID1 rebuild error recovery enhancements o LDM stress test enhancements with Netware 4.2 o Corrected system hang condition for PC Server 704 o Message to the user added when voltage drop or removal of Battery Backup Cache option 4.14 Changes from Level 2.87.03 to 2.88.00 ------------------------------------------- The 2.88.00 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter and the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: o Standby Hot Spare/Hot Spare Monitoring frequency increased o 2 Drive RAID1 Write-Back mode fix 4.13 Changes from Level 2.86.03 to 2.87.03 ------------------------------------------- The 2.87.03 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter and the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: o New enhanced download utility "flashman" o Improved check consistency with auto restore o Performance enhancements o Optimization of RAID1 reads o Enhanced error recovery when NVram battery removed 4.12 Changes from Level 2.25.00 to 2.25.01 ------------------------------------------- The 2.25.01 Update applies to the ServeRAID adapter. This update included the following new support and feature: o RAID1 rebuild error recovery enhancements o LDM stress test enhancements with Netware 4.2 4.11 Changes from Level 2.23S to 2.25.00 ----------------------------------------- The 2.25.00 Update applies to the ServeRAID adapter. This update included the following new support and feature: o New enhanced download utility "flashman" o Improved check consistency with auto restore o Enhanced error recovery when NVram battery removed 4.10 Changes from Level 2.82 to 3.01 ------------------------------------- The 3.01 Update provides the following new support and functions for the IBM ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter Adapter only: o Firmware support for the SCSI Ultra 2 protocol and LVDS. o Unattended mode setup is now in BIOS. o 8 Adapter support. o Convert "bays" to "SID". o Support for shrinking BIOS, not erasing BIOS. o Remove the 8GB limit on boot drives. o POST error codes now logged into System POST error log. o 32MB Battery Backup Cache support added. (only on ServeRAID 3H/3L) o Enhanced BOOT CD to allow image to be emulated as a hard file. o Unixware Support. The 2.82.00 to 2.86.03 Update applies only to the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter and the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards. This update provides the following new support and functions: o Hot Swap enhancements. o Performance enhancements. 4.09 Changes from Level 2.80.07 to 2.82.00 ------------------------------------------- The 2.80.07 to 2.82.00 Update provides the following new support and functions: o BIOS changes needed to obtain Microsoft Windows NT Certification. 4.08 Changes from Level 2.70.08 to 2.80.07 ------------------------------------------- The 2.70.08 to 2.80.07 Update provides the following new support and functions: o Hot Plug support for PCI adapters installed in Netfinity 5500 servers that are using Novell Netware. 4.07 Changes from Level 2.70 to 2.71 ------------------------------------- The 2.70 to 2.71 Update provides the following new support and functions: o BIOS changes needed to obtain Microsoft Windows NT Certification. 4.06 Changes from Level 2.40.14 to 2.70.08 ------------------------------------------- The 2.40.14 to 2.70.08 Update provides the following new support and functions: o Several performance enhancements that affect all three RAID levels. The greatest performance improvement, however, is seen in RAID level-5 write-back mode. o The AUTOSYNC command has been added to the IPSSEND program. The 2.40.14 to 2.70.08 Update also contains the following software enhancements: o Corrected problems in viewing the hard and soft error logs under certain boundary conditions. o Added support to allow you to deselect a drive when using the "Copy Logical Drive" function in the ServeRAID Configuration Utility Program. o Modified the Administration and Monitoring utility program so that it reverts to the stand-alone mode when the cancel button fails in the host dialog box. o Added support to disable the Quick Rebuild feature until the automatic synchronization of the drives completes. 4.05 Changes from Level 2.40.16 to 2.40.21 ------------------------------------------- The 2.40.16 to 2.40.21 Update applies only to the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter. This update provides the following new support and functions: o Support for Microsoft Cluster Server, Version 1.00. 4.04 Changes from Level 97326 to Level 2.40.14 ----------------------------------------------- The 2.40.14 Update for the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 models 8640-PM0,-PB0, and -PT0 provided the following new support and functions: o Automatic Background Synchronization, which removes the need to synchronize a RAID level-5 logical drive before using it. Instead, you can use the drive immediately, while automatically synchronizing the drive in the background. The default setting for this feature is Enabled. o Data Scrubbing, which eliminates the need for you to manually synchronize drives weekly. Instead, you can use this feature to continuously synchronize all RAID level-5 logical drives in the background, without impacting performance. The default setting for this feature is Enabled. o Hot-Swap Rebuild, which in a system where no hot-spare is defined, automatically detects the replacement of a defunct physical drive that is part of a RAID level-1 or RAID level-5 logical drive; then, this feature starts the rebuild of the drive, without requiring your intervention. The default setting for this feature is enabled. 4.03 Changes from Level 2.30 to 2.40 ------------------------------------- The 2.30 to 2.40 Update applied only to the ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter. This update provided the following new support and functions: o Support for IBM Netfinity Cluster Pack by Vinca with Novell Netware 4.11, part number 01K8018. o Support for formatting drives that are in the Standby (SBY) or Empty (EMP) states. Previous releases of the Configuration Utility Program required that the drives be in the Ready (RDY) state. o Automatic synchronization of newly created RAID level-5 logical drives. This enhancement eliminates the need for you to manually synchronize drives. o Automatic restart of RAID level-5 and RAID level-1 logical-drive rebuild operations after a power failure or an unexpected power off. o Battery-backup cache is now automatically enabled for all logical drives configured in the write-back mode. The 2.30 to 2.40 Update also provides the following software enhancements: o A new method of checking for adequate drive size before starting the rebuild operation. This new method returns an error message faster than previous versions. o A new method of queuing hot-spare-rebuild operations if multiple, concurrent drive failures occur in different arrays on the same ServeRAID adapter or controller. o When the system is configured for the Unattended Mode, the ServeRAID BIOS now allows access to the CTRL-I function during system startup. o Modifications for the ServeRAID BIOS and the ASPI device driver to work with the expanded memory manager for the 80386 (EMM386) o Modifications to the Configuration Utility Program to no longer accept physical drive state changes from Defunct (DDD) to Online (ONL) for RAID level-5 logical drives in the critical state. When a RAID level-5 logical drive is critical, you must rebuild it for the logical drive to change from DDD to ONL. o When multiple drive failures occur within the same array, the hot-swap rebuild operation will no longer start automatically. If multiple drives fail within the same array, you now must start the rebuild process manually. o Added support to disable the integrated ServeRAID controller on the PC Server 330 models 8640-PM0, -PB0, and -PT0. o Added error-recovery enhancements for drive errors found while reading or writing drive configurations. 4.02 Changes from Level 2.30 to 2.31 ------------------------------------- The 2.30 to 2.31 Update applied only to the integrated ServeRAID controller on PC Server 330 models 8640-PM0, -PB0, and -PT0. This firmware update corrected a problem that was found during product-evaluation tests. The problem symptoms included operating-system hangs, errors opening files, or other file errors. ATTENTION: If you have a PC Server 330 model 8640-PM0, -PB0, or -PT0 and you are using the integrated ServeRAID controller, install the 2.31 or 2.70.08 Firmware Update immediately. For more information about the 2.31 update, call the IBM HelpCenter at 1-800-772-2227 and reference ECA015. 4.01 Information about the Level 2.30/2.23s Update --------------------------------------------------- The 2.30/2.23s Update applies to both the ServeRAID and ServeRAID II adapters. This update included the following new feature: o Hot-Swap Rebuild, which in a system where no hot-spare is defined, automatically detects the replacement of a defunct physical drive that is part of a RAID level-1 or RAID level-5 logical drive; then, this feature starts the rebuild of the drive, without requiring your intervention. The default setting for this feature is Disabled. See section 5.0 below for the instructions needed to enable this feature. ____________________________________________________________________ 5.0 Trademarks and Notices _________________________ The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM HelpCenter Netfinity Server