How to crossflash Dell H330 to IT mode firmware

In this video, I'm going to show you how to flash a Dell H330 MegaRAID controller with HBA IT mode firmware from the HBA330 controller. This method is brought to you by ServeTheHome member "sleyk" who contacted me and asked me to make this video to share his method.
The programs you will need to follow this tutorial:
1) MegaCli (DOS version)
2) MegaRec (DOS version, must be version 01.02-020 Aug 04, 2015)
3) sas3flsh (DOS version)
The files you will need:
1) SMC3108.ROM
2) EMPTY448.SBR (artofserver.co...)
3) HBA330.FW (Dell's HBA330 firmware)
4) MPTX64.ROM
To see Sleyk's original thread on STH:
forums.serveth...
You can buy this card pre-flashed with IT mode firmware here: ebay.to/38D1Bpy
If you'd like to support this channel, please consider shopping at my eBay store: ebay.to/2ZKBFDM
eBay Partner Affiliate disclosure:
The eBay links in this video description are eBay partner affiliate links. By using these links to shop on eBay, you support my channel, at no additional cost to you. Even if you do not buy from the ART OF SERVER eBay store, any purchases you make on eBay via these links, will help support my channel. Please consider using them for your eBay shopping. Thank you for all your support! :-)

[@Goof23]

You are a legend! been looking for a guide for my Poweredge T430 to run unraid or Truenas... Thanks again

[@ArtofServer]

Glad I could help

[@hatsuneadc]

You're the goat, just flashed my H330 -> HBA330 on and it's running on PowerEdge T440. I had to flash the card on different computer (Haswell) and in the last sasflsh step I had to use EFI shell instead.

[@ArtofServer]

Glad this helped! But credit mostly goes to Sleyk!

[@craigsmith9285]

Done loads of these back in the old days with the SAS2 cards I could do them with my eyes shut but I struggled a bit getting this one to work with the SAS3109 quirk Thanks so much for this video it helped me get me sorted

[@ArtofServer]

Glad this helped! :-)

[@chrisryan3445]

Thank you so much for this - similar to others, the last sas3flsh step will likely need to be done using the EFI version of the app as it always shows an error relating to PAL no initialized otherwise on modernish hardware

[@ArtofServer]

yeah, the FreeDOS sas2flash often doesn't work with machines that support UEFI. In those cases, the UEFI version is available.

[@aerialplatforms2053]

Awesome work man! thanks to you and Sleyk!

[@ArtofServer]

glad this was helpful! :-)

[@justinbhaire]

Good tutorial. It would have been helpful to touch on the issue of SAS3FLSH.exe throwing the error "ERROR: Failed to initialize PAL." It has to do with the SAS3FLSH.exe program having a compatibility issue with the host machine hardware as opposed to being indicative of an issue with the files, controller, or commands. That error explicitly occurs on more recent boards with UEFI support when booting DOS. The work around is to either boot UEFI and run commands using the EFI version of the program or to use a different host. I had to try several different legacy servers before finding one that could interact with the newer card, boot into dos, and successfully run the command. It can be problematic getting a UEFI system to boot into DOS if legacy mode is disabled in the UEFI bios and it's worth noting that the crossflash utilities need DOS not just a preboot command line so they cannot be successfully run from bootable USB's that use the newer WinPE boot image; a DOS or FreeDOS boot image is a hard requirement. For what it's worth, the process worked for me as expected on an old Dell 2950 GIII but for simplicity I suggest unseat other existing controllers. There were some accuracy and context issues at the end of video when you attempted to speak to an HBA running a pure 'IT Mode' \ HBA firmware (ie. HBA330) vs using a Raid controller (i.e. H330) running 'HBA mode' \ HBA 'personality mode'. The 'HBA Mode' function on RAID cards isn't the same as a proper dedicated HBA firmware. RAID cards in 'HBA Mode' (i.e. H330) still detect the former RAID set memberships of drives and will interject, ignoring the HBA mode persona, and will treat those drives like a foreign config RAID VD as opposed to simply passing all the drives through to the OS. In such scenarios, the Raid controller (i.e. H330) running 'HBA mode' will NOT present those drives to the OS. They remain in libo and drive access is retained / reserved by the controller hardware in a non-imported 'foreign VD state' thus inaccessibly from the host OS. If you are repurposing drives or attempting to conduct a software recovery of a raid set; RAID controllers in 'HBA mode' (i.e. H330) fail at the task and deviate from expected behavior. Alternately, an HBA running a pure 'IT Mode' \ HBA firmware (ie. HBA330) will simply present the drives to the OS without attempting to supersede or applying additional constraints.

[@ArtofServer]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and knowledge! It's appreciated and welcome to the channel! :-)

[@agenttank]

thank you! so if i dont repurpose raid disks i might as well just set h330 to hba mode without any performance losses?

[@Stev.3n]

I need to do this. I've flashed two older H200s / LSI-9211s as well as two PERC H710s to HBA mode and they have been good. Only thing is now I care about the status within the iDRAC on the gen 14 servers when running a flashed H710. I used to not care - I still have a flashed H710 in my TrueNAS T340 lol. I just acquired a T440 from work that is going to be my new main Proxmox build, I really want the iDRAC to be happy lol. I know lots have complained about iDRAC 9 but I don't mind it lol.

[@ArtofServer]

I don't know about idrac9, but I know the older idrac software have limited ability to communicate with the LSI IT mode firmware. The fix is to add that capability to the iDRAC software. I'm sure it can be reverse engineered so good luck!

[@Stev.3n]

@@ArtofServer Just finished flashing the H330 to HBA330 and I can confirm that iDRAC 9 reports it as Dell HBA 330 Adp with no errors. Seems like all OOB management info for the controller and disks is correct. Huge thanks to you and Sleyk over at STH. I have ordered an actual HBA330 for my T340 now that I know the iDRAC is happy lol. It was cheaper that way, ~55 bucks USD. I did have to use an older T420 to actually get megarec to work properly - wasn't detecting controller on a newer UEFI board. Cheers!

[@hatsuneadc]

@@Stev.3n Did you use T440 to perform the flash? Or did you put it into an older computer? I want to perform the same action, but I am afraid to brick the card when using T440 for the flash.

[@Stev.3n]

@@hatsuneadc I used another PowerEdge I had lying around. Think it was at T420, and that has iDRAC7. Think I noted above megarec didn't work with a newer UEFI board. Then once flashed swapped it into the T440 and it recognized it as a HBA330 right away. Been using it for a year no issues with it.

[@tack-support]

There you go saving my butt again! Had to play it fast and loose as grep and more commands weren't working, and I had to use a different firmware as mine was a mini mono. But you got me there!

[@aerialplatforms2053]

What firmware did you use? I have mini mono as well and sas3flsh wont write the hba330mini file to it. Thanks.

[@aerialplatforms2053]

I went on dells site and downloaded and have it up and running.

[@yzrenge]

12:49 Hi, I was trying to flash my H330 but it won't pass the RAID BIOS, I have waited for an hour....

[@ArtofServer]

Try disabling the Option ROM on the PCIe slot.

[@RobbieBott]

What is the difference between the HBA330 and the H330? Do they use the same chip? I can't seem to located anything that compares them. Is it the same controller just already in HBA mode? Is there a performance difference between the two?

[@ArtofServer]

Both H330 and HBA330 are identical hardware wise. The H330 is configured with MegaRAID firmware, while the HBA330 has IT mode firmware.

[@agenttank]

it worked :) sadly my t330 didnt boot anymore after step one with the card inserted. i had to resort to continue flashing with my HP microserver gen8.

[@ArtofServer]

glad you figured it out! :-)

[@zeeter82]

Is Sleyk's thread dead or maybe removed now? It's no longer accessible. Is there another resource for the guide/instructions?

[@ArtofServer]

Great question. I'm trying to figure out what is going on at STH myself. Sleyk's account got disabled and his posts deleted. I've contacted the admin but no response yet.

[@zeeter82]

​@@ArtofServereither way, I was able to get my mini mono H330 flashed yesterday to IT mode. Thanks again for the video and info!

[@homunculus2824]

Is this process the same for the mono non-pcie H330 version? If we want to skip the flashing can we just get the HBA330 mini and swap it? They are like 16 bucks

[@Physics072]

Why not put the H330 in HBA mode? No flashing required its just a setting, no need to flash to IT mode. It has no cache and HBA is pass through mode that should work with ZFS NAS software.

[@ArtofServer]

You could do that and it will work. But it doesn't change the PCIe ID, so it will still load the megasas driver instead of the HBA driver like mpt3sas. This is problematic for certain OSes and the software integration on top of that. But, I've demonstrated the use of even full on RAID controllers using SDR0 and it is all usable.

[@Physics072]

@@ArtofServer Hmmm I don't do not know that xigmaNas will even have that driver to load. Windows OS yes. Or are you talking about loaded from the H330/H730 built in firmware/bios boot loader? Yea that will load no matter what. Will flashing it to IT mode upset the Dell Idrac or monitoring hardware? Thought I read someplace that it does, is why I was thinking just putting it in HBA mode might be better. But maybe just buying a cheap Dell HBA330 would be best and pulling the H330/H730. Its not here yet, just going to combine two sets of old ZFS XigmaNas raid1 zfs to a new box with more expansion. Im just trying to avoid issues as I have not actually done this type of swap before and dells can be picky about changing things. Should I just get a HBA330 for the smoothest less fiddling around experience? I have read a few people claiming the HBA mode is not exactly the same like they lost their pool due to it. but did not elaborate why/how. That is a bit concerning to me.

[@dimitristsoutsouras2712]

6:59 Does the SMC3108 also is more LSI or SMC stands for SuperMicroAdapter. Because you mentioned about the LSI roms that are for LSI but didn t mention about the SMC3108 Instead you explained what it does and how

[@beadlesastout]

Can you not just use a hba330 instead of getting another card and flashing or do the hba330 not work with a tower?

[@ArtofServer]

Yes, you can get a HBA330 (mini or PCIe card) and that should be fine. This video was just showing how to convert the H330 to a HBA330 basically. For those who already have a H330 but want it in IT mode firmware.

[@jj-icejoe6642]

Nice 👍 Thank you

[@ArtofServer]

Thank you for watching! :-)

[@RyderUwU]

not sure what this does. i just assume it makes it able to be detected by a regular pc?

[@ArtofServer]

Converts the RAID card to an HBA card. To understand RAID vs HBA, watch this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnbFgqKerpupbrc

[@RyderUwU]

@@ArtofServer I know what raid is, just had to know it since this version is cheaper then the HBA version. Does it support UEFI by any chance?, I saw things like that fly by

[@soulp0wer]

Can the controller still be used as normal after doing this? I mean do we lose any functionality or basically just win the pass through functionality for TrueNAS?

[@ArtofServer]

The controller will no longer have RAID capability after flashing to IT firmware.

[@soulp0wer]

@@ArtofServer Thank you for replying 👍

[@bijeshbalakrishnan9118]

i have a query. I have a dell R510 server and i bought a dell perc H800 sas controller to connect to my HP storage array D2700. I use proxmox as my hpervisor. But when i configure pass throught to my sas controller through truenas vm it freezes..is that the H800 is compatible or is it because its not in IT mode?

[@zrnohr_svetoch]

Hi, friend. When trying to flash, I got the following error - DELLH330>SAS3FLSH.EXE -o -f HBA330.FW -b MPTX64.ROM before this team everything was according to plan ERROR: Failed to initialize PAL. Exiting Program. Help !!

[@zrnohr_svetoch]

Found an ancient computer on socket 775, (FreeDos) works on it. But with the H330 controller, the motherboard does not boot into the DOS.

[@TrungNguyen-lf4tl]

Great video, Can you flash back from IT model to H330 and or IR model?

[@ArtofServer]

Don't know.

[@yuyukosaigyouji111]

Thanks for the tutorial! May I know how to get those tools for flashing the card that I can use for my H200? Thanks!

[@ArtofServer]

Most of the files can be downloaded from Broadcom.com.

[@yuyukosaigyouji111]

​@@ArtofServer Thanks for reply! I tried to find the old version of firmware on broadcom but their website really confuses people. I found several tools such as MegaCli/MegaRec on there but it is dos version. Is there a UEFI/Linux version of that? Thanks!

[@yuyukosaigyouji111]

@@ArtofServer Before I watch this video(kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4bFqoiNpdOBntk) I believe that broadcom's website don't have the legacy firmware, but after I watch that video I see. Thanks for your awesome video! You save my life!!!!

[@ArtofServer]

Glad it helped!

[@samanthahuizheng1246]

Hi, great video. i have few of the lsi 9361 can you cross flash to it mode?

[@ArtofServer]

I'm not sure it is possible to flash IT mode firmware to SAS3108 controllers. However, the regular SAS3108 firmware has a built-in "HBA mode" option you can use.

[@samanthahuizheng1246]

I write the empty SBR to my lsi 9361 ( 3108 Chip ) when I try to load the Firmware. It says the device ID not match. lsi 9361 has device ID 91. the 3008 Firmware need id 97. How do I change the device ID ?

[@dimitristsoutsouras2712]

Any change to have an idea why even though it flashed successfully (h330 mini mono) in each step I had the message: Warning! IO Base address high. Currently not supported Warning! IO Base address high. Currently not supported Warning! IO Base address high. Currently not supported It was 3 times each time. That is why I ve wrote it as much

[@ArtofServer]

Sorry, no idea. Never seen that before.

[@Big7Cheese]

Following the guide and noticed this for me too. Has it affected you at all since?

[@dimitristsoutsouras2712]

@@Big7Cheese Hi. Nope and I m using it in a production environment 2 years now.

[@simonsparks6959]

Can you do this with the H330 Mini Monolithic Onboard Controller ?

[@ArtofServer]

yes

[@electronicparadiseonline2103]

I have a dell t330 with a perc h330. Got the files. Followed the first part of the video. Then.... Card Bricked. Restart as server was set up before flashing 3108 brings about : a crash notification on the enumerating boot options done page. -->rip 86F3ADFB Unkown(xfvbc) +00EDFB post happens and im able to boot to rufus freedos in bios not UEFI(as before when I flashed it) Disabled all options in lifecycle controller and installed card again. Still stuck at crash screen. cannot reach boot.

[@ArtofServer]

I recommend you visit Sleyk's thread on servethehome.com. Link in the video description. I don't flash these on a regular basis, so I'm less familiar with the things that can go wrong.

[@antonismarcou9326]

Hello Friend have the same model same error. Did u manage to resolve?

[@nekromantik2009]

@@antonismarcou9326 same here i got a spare dell t120 but not sure if the h330 will work in that so may try putting in that and seeing if I can finish the cross flashing

[@reyiiteleco]

First of all, what is IT mode and what is used for?

[@ArtofServer]

I guess I need to make a video about that some day... IT mode stands for "Initiator-Target" mode and refers to SAS controllers that pass-through the SCSI commands directly between storage devices and the OS. This type of SAS controller is often required for software based storage management technologies, like ZFS, software RAID, unraid, storage spaces direct, etc.

[@michaelgrodecki4159]

Does this eliminate the need to use dell certified drives?

[@ArtofServer]

There hasn't been the need to use Dell certified drives since the 11th gen Dell servers. What makes you think you need to use Dell certified drives?

[@michaelgrodecki4159]

@@ArtofServer drives are never recognized. I have a bunch of dell r330 1u servers with dell h330 . Wont recognize my intel 1tb ssd i replaced 300gb 15k sas drives with.

[@ArtofServer]

@@michaelgrodecki4159 that's probably not an issue of "Dell certified" drive, but probably some other issue.

[@thoongchinglee4905]

Will this steps work with H730P ? I wonder.

[@thoongchinglee4905]

ok, forum says NO to 3108 card / H730P

[@ArtofServer]

that is correct. different controller chip.