Hard drives not recognized or operating system fails to load after flashing down system BIOS - Servers

Resolving The Problem

RETAIN tip: H182244

Upon rebooting after flashing the BIOS down from versions released on or after June 2004 to before June 2004, the server may not recognize hard drives (HDDs) and/or may not load the installed operating system.

The system may be any of the following IBM eServer servers:

• BladeCenter HS20, type 8843, any model
• xSeries 445, type 8870, any model
• xSeries 365, type 8861, any model
• xSeries 345, type 8670, any model
• xSeries 335, type 8676, any model
• xSeries 235, type 8671, any model
• xSeries 225, type 8649, any model

The BIOS levels affected are:

• BladeCenter HS20 - version 1.06
• xSeries 445 BIOS - version 1.15
• xSeries 365 BIOS - version 1.08
• xSeries 345 BIOS - version 1.17
• xSeries 335 BIOS - version 1.12
• xSeries 235 BIOS - version 1.13
• xSeries 225 BIOS - version 1.07

If you need to go to a previous version of BIOS, use the instructions provided in the workaround section.

To avoid losing LSI mirror configuration, following the following instructions for returning a system to an older BIOS version:

1. Before returning to the previous BIOS level, it is recommended to backup any system data in case of accidental loss.
2. It is recommended to record the current Integrated Mirroring configuration so that it may be accurately reconfigured later:
   1. Reboot the system.
   2. When the SCSI BIOS is loading, press Ctrl+C when the message "Press Ctrl-C to start LSI Logic Setup Utility..." appears.
   3. Select the appropriate adapter and press Enter.
   4. Select <RAID Properties> and press Enter.
   5. Record which drives are marked as Primary, Secondary, and Hot Spare (if any).
      Note: Use the ID of each drive to identify them. The primary drive is the one that reports "Primary" in the Status field. The secondary drive is the other drive that is part of the array, no Status is shown. The hotspare (if any) is marked as such.
   6. Press the Esc key 4 times to exit without saving.
   7. Select <Exit Setup Utility> and press Enter.
3. Flash the system to the desired BIOS level.
   1. The RAID configuration will be lost, but copies of the data are still stored on the drives.
   2. Do not boot into the operating system at this point because data may be changed on one drive and not the other.
   3. Use only DOS flash update diskettes to flash the system BIOS at this point.
   4. Continue with the steps that follow to restore the RAID configuration.
4. Restore the RAID configuration:
   1. Reboot the system.
   2. When the SCSI BIOS is loading, press Ctrl+C when the message "Press Ctrl-C to start LSI Logic Configuration Utility" appears.
   3. Select the appropriate adapter and press Enter.
   4. Select <Restore Defaults> and press Enter.
   5. Select <Mirroring Properties> and press Enter.
   6. If a "Mirrored Pair" is defined already, it is necessary to wipe it clean. Delete it by selecting the Primary drive and pressing + or - until it says No.That will erase the configuration.
   7. If no "Mirrored Pair" and/or Hotspare drive has been defined, go to step 4k.
   8. If a Hot Spare has been defined, delete it by selecting it and pressing + or - until it says No.
   9. Press Escape and select <Save changes then exit this menu>.
   10. Reselect the same controller and press Enter.
   11. Select <Mirroring Properties> and press Enter. No configuration whatsoever should be displayed.
   12. Select each drive and press + or - to change the drive to Primary, Secondary, or Hot Spare as it was previously listed in step 2e.
   13. Press Escape.
   14. A warning message may appear to indicate that data on the Secondary or Hot Spare drives will be overwritten. Press Escape.
   15. Select <Save changes then exit this menu> and press Enter.
   16. Press Escape.
   17. Select <Exit the Configuration Utility> and press Enter.

For customers using the Integrated Mirroring feature on the integrated SCSI controller, the RAID configuration will be converted to a new format when upgrading to this level of system BIOS (LSI BIOS IME 5.04.06). This new format is unreadable by earlier levels of code. If it is necessary to return the system to the previous system BIOS level, the Integrated Mirroring settings will need to be reconfigured.