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PowerEdge: Dell Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9 (iDRAC9) Firmware Downgrade Failures RAC0181

Summary: Dell EMC PowerEdge servers with the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9 (iDRAC9) that shipped after June 01, 2021 may fail to downgrade iDRAC9 firmware with Informational event RAC0181 recorded in the Lifecycle Log. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

Dell EMC PowerEdge servers with the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9 (iDRAC9) that shipped with iDRAC9 firmware version 4.40.40.00 (or newer) require a two-step downgrade path to install older versions of iDRAC9 firmware. When attempting to downgrade the iDRAC9 firmware to firmware versions pre-February 2021, the firmware update fails. In the Lifecycle Log, an Informational RAC0181 event is recorded during iDRAC reboot.

Lifecycle Log RAC0181 example:

2021-07-29 13:04:38 65 SUP1901 Firmware update initializing.
2021-07-29 13:04:38 66 SUP1911 Firmware update initialization complete.
2021-07-29 13:04:38 67 SUP1904 Firmware update checksumming image.
2021-07-29 13:04:38 68 SUP1903 Firmware update verify image headers.
2021-07-29 13:04:49 69 SUP1905 Firmware update programming flash.
2021-07-29 13:05:23 70 SUP1906 Firmware update successful.
2021-07-29 13:08:20 72 RAC0182 The iDRAC firmware was rebooted with the following reason: user initiated.
2021-07-29 13:08:23 75 RAC0181 The iDRAC recovered from a firmware boot loader error with the following reason : Boot-time failover. 


Repeated failed downgrade attempts result in a SUP0517 error event to be recorded also in the Lifecycle Log.

Lifecycle Log SUP0517 example:

2021-07-30 03:36:12 315 SUP0517 Unable to update the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller firmware to version 4.22.00.53 because the operation is not supported or the device is in a locked state.

 

This downgrade issue is encountered under the following common use case scenarios:

  • New server orders where deployment includes downgrading iDRAC9 firmware to an older baseline.
  • System board replacements for warranty service calls

 

Note: Lifecycle Controller automated 'PartFirmwareUpdate' feature fails on system boards that are installed with iDRAC9 4.40.40.00 and try to downgrade to older iDRAC9 firmware versions.

Cause

Dell Technologies PowerEdge 14th generation servers introduced a hardware root of trust security feature that requires firmware images to validate with certificate embedded into the system board. Starting with iDRAC9 4.40.40.00, a new hardware certificate has to be validated in the firmware image in order to apply to iDRAC. Older iDRAC firmware images do not contain the latest hardware certificate image.

Resolution

In order to downgrade the iDRAC9 to pre-February 2021 firmware versions, the iDRAC will require a downgrade to iDRAC9 firmware version 4.40.10.00. This firmware version supports the legacy hardware root of trust certificate and allow downgrades to earlier versions.

Affected Products

iDRAC9 - 4.xx Series, iDRAC9 - 5.xx Series

Products

iDRAC9, Poweredge C4140, PowerEdge C6420, PowerEdge FC640, PowerEdge M640, PowerEdge M640 (for PE VRTX), PowerEdge MX740C, PowerEdge R240, PowerEdge R340, PowerEdge R440, PowerEdge R540, PowerEdge R640, PowerEdge R6415, PowerEdge R740 , PowerEdge R740XD, PowerEdge R740XD2, PowerEdge R7415, PowerEdge R7425, PowerEdge R840, PowerEdge R940, PowerEdge R940xa, PowerEdge T140, PowerEdge T340, PowerEdge T440, PowerEdge T640 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000190151
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 11 Dec 2024
Version:  4
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