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April 29th, 2020 18:00
Help with firmware upgrades
Hi all,
A recent iDRAC update attempt brick the motherboard on my R320. I purchased a replacement board on eBay. The new board is listed as a PowerVault NX400 in the bios, however it is compatible with my chassis so it will do.
Since I've had a previous bad experience with firmware updates, I would like to ask the experts for some help.
The current versions for the various systems as reported by idrac are as follows:
| BIOS Version |
1.5.2
|
| Firmware Version |
1.40.40 (Build 17)
|
| Lifecycle Controller Firmware |
1.1.5.165
|
I hear that skipping firmware versions when upgrading is a bad idea. What order should I apply updates so I avoid bricking this board? I would like to upgrade to the latest stable version of all firmware.
Also, can I use R320 firmware on this board? Or is that just asking for trouble? I wouldn't mind if the new firmware reported the model as R320 instead of NX400 (that would be preferable, actually).
Thank you in advance,
Frnot
DELL-Joey C
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April 29th, 2020 23:00
Hi,
If the main board is showing NX400, it cannot me reflash to be R320. My recommendation would be to download most of your updates from NX400 support page.
You can get the list of firmware to update first at our White Paper listing @ https://dell.to/3aMZxcL;
Search for "iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller: Recommended Workflow for Performing Firmware Updates on PowerEdge Servers"
Frnot
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April 30th, 2020 10:00
Hi @DELL-Joey C ,
That link was helpful, but I would also like to know if there is a certain versions of firmware that cannot be skipped. I believe that some versions have dependencies on older versions, and it is not wise to skip them. If this is true, could you provide me a list of what versions I need to flash and cannot skip?
I tried to find the oldest firmware versions on the nx400 support page:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/powervault-nx400/drivers
but there seems to be much less here than for the R320. I would really like to know where to begin before I break another board.
Also, since this server does not have an operating system installed yet. I would like to use a bootable update ISO if one exists for the nx400. However I cannot find one.
Udpating via ftp in the lifecycle controller does not seem to work, and since it is such an old version, I do not believe I can update via https.
I hope you can provide additional guidance
Thanks,
Frnot
DELL-Joey C
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May 3rd, 2020 19:00
Hi,
Any firmware which is out dated, must be updated. There is no skipping. Unless there are some feature in certain hardware that you need it to be there. But majority of firmware updates is a must, in order for the hardware to function well when any OS updates happens. Unless, you need to install ESXi, then you will need to refer to VMware''s HCL to check which firmware is needed to be patched.
You can refer to this article in which option fits your situation: https://dell.to/2WgztBy , my opinion may be DRM.