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Go to SolutionPowerEdge 2900, SUU help!
Hi Everyone,
New to the forums, having a little trouble identifying the best source of firmware updates for my Dell PowerEdge 2900 Tower Server. I am planning on using the SUU CD/DVD to perform all the required updates (Having some trouble with raid controller and in the planning phase for upgrading to server 2008).
As far as I know, my 2900 is an original version, not the III version, although not entirely sure how I go about identifying this for certain.
There are several options in the dell support section which I have listed below, could somebody advise on the best course of action so as to not turn my server into a breeze block? The text in the 5.2.1 release below, worries me that, the later versions 6.5.0/6.5.1 have firmware upgrades in them that will render my 2900 useless, so do I just use 5.2.1, assuming i can correctly identify my server version? 2900 III or 2900 vanilla... Do I need the SBUU and the DSU dvd? or just one of them?
Name: OM_5.2.1_SUU_WIN_A00.ISO
Version: 5.2.1, A00
Description: CD ISO - PowerEdge Updates
Information: Attention: The newest version is now a DVD ISO image. Look for “Dell – DVD ISO Images : DVD ISO – Dell Server Updates” in Drivers & Download to get the latest PowerEdge Server update contents. Warning: If you have a PowerEdge 1950 III, 2900 III, or 2950 III system, do not download this CD ISO image. The old contents on the CD ISO intended for the earlier generation of these systems could make your newer systems inoperable. Use the DVD ISO image instead.
Name: cdu_1.6_core_173_A01.iso
Version: 6.5.0, 173_A01
Description: Systems Build and Update Utility
Name: om651_suu_a00.iso.001
Version: 6.5.1, A00
Description: DVD ISO - Dell Server Updates
Thanks!
theflash1932
11 Legend
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16255 Posts
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Posted February 6th, 2012 08:00
As these guys have mentioned, the actual revision of your 2900 doesn't matter when it comes to firmware/drivers updates, as they all use the same BIOS, ESM, and other devices/firmware. Various revisions of the 2900 have slightly different specs (III supports better processors and more RAM, for example), so if you want to confirm which revision of the 2900 you have, you can do so in OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA), by going to System, Main System Chassis, Information tab ... look under System Revision.
I dont see any indications of a III anywhere on the system. So making the assumption this is a vanilla 2900 server, running 6.5.1 updates on it will be ok? It's not likely to brick anything with firmware that was designed for the III system?
DELL-Rey G
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Posted February 6th, 2012 07:00
8g is 8th generation, which for example would be 2800, 2850, 1850. 9G would be 1900, 1950, 2900, 2950. The versions dont matter unless you are changing systems boards or doing some trouble shooting with a tech on the phone. I would suggest that if you already have the 6.5.1, go with that. it wont have the latest nic driver and fw, but the rest should be up to date as we havnt changed much else on that system. The nics should be only 1 version back (if that). To your other question, the compatibility list is not correct and I'm trying to get the person here to fix that. if you look at the readme.txt (1st in the list of downloads) it will show the 2900 is supported :)
I realise that maybe the 9 in 2900 specifies the generation, as i have a poweredge 2500 and 2600 which i guess are 5th and 6th generation respectively... 2900 is not in the compatibility list for 6.5.3 but your saying i could download that and run it on my 2900 safely? Is there a OS driver update disk for the respective firmwares within 6.5.1 and 6.5.3?
I got the readme, it does indeed show it is supported, I don't mind re-downloading, i'll just set it going overnight (not the fastest of internet connections).
Does this DVD include OS drivers aswell as firmware updates? (fantastic if it does)
I really appreciate your support, i'll be running this on 5 servers next week so i'll post back with my results!
Thanks!
DELL-Rey G
4 Apprentice
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1068 Posts
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Posted February 6th, 2012 07:00
SUU 6.5.3 (latest) is applicalble to any version of 2900, further, 6.5.3 is supported on 8G and up. When SUU 7.0 comes out., only 9G and up will be supported. Here is the link to the 6.5.3 version which is the latest. I'm trying to get the 9G systems added to the SUU 6.5.3 downloads section. www.dell.com/.../DriverFileFormats BTW, you will need a DUAL layer dvd, or extract the contents of the concatenated ISO to a USB key.
Ah thats great, i'll go with just running the SUU from the OS, as I am only in the planning phase for moving over to 2008 at the moment (some of these servers are DCs) so a long way off actual implementation, although I will keep this documented for a procedure to run with when we get there, thanks again! :)
DELL-Rey G
4 Apprentice
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1068 Posts
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Posted February 6th, 2012 07:00
The DVD will update firmware and sofware drivers for the supported OS's, Windows 2003, 2008 and some flavors of Linux. The caveat to this is that if you boot to the SBUU and then insert the SUU, this will only update system firmware (since the OS is not running). if you boot into the OS and run SUU, it will update the firmware AND the drivers in one shot. But if you are going to update the OS anyway, I wouldnt worry about the driver updates and only would do the firmware updates. Running from within the OS is normally the easiset method and keeps you from having to dnload the SBUU. I should note though, if you are going to do a clean install of the OS when you go to 2008, download the SMTD dvd (Systems Management Tools & Documentation) instead of the SBUU, as this will make your installation go much easier. Like the SUU, it has 2 segments that need to be concatenated and needs to be burned to a normal DVD. if you already donwloaded the SBUU and want to use that to install 2008, also download the OS install pack and burn to cd.
www.dell.com/.../DriverDetails
Also, if you use the SBUU, be sure to uncheck the box that says to install Server Administrator (if the box is there).