Firmware update on Samsung SSD in R740 fails

Jabuzz,

I am not seeing anything that would show a widespread problem with the download itself. What I would want to confirm is if the remainder of the server is up to date on BIOS, iDrac, H730, etc. The reason being is that it may be another device being behind causing that specific update to fail.

Let me know.

They are all latest and greatest firmware, except for the SSD's and the iDRAC service module. Some are showing up as

Dell EMC iDRAC Service Module Embedded Package v4.1.0.0, A00

and others 

iDRAC Service Module Installer 3.3.1, A00

I don't seem to be able to upgrade that either. However, it is not really of consequence, and I can't see why it should make a difference.  The only unusual thing about these servers is the Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX 25GbE OCP NIC and three P100 GPU's and associated GPU enable kit using riser option 16. The riser option 16 is because there is talk of money for better GPU's. They are used for undergraduate teaching and final year projects. We where using the P100's in C410x's with C6220's but the C410x is finicky so we got some money to move them to R740's instead and increase the number of P100's we are hosting.

So the problem is the HF58 firmware updater DOES NOT work when the drives are behind a Perc H730 array controller. I turned the server off, removed a drive, and stuck it in a C6420, which is SATA-based, so the drive was directly on the SATA bus and bingo, it upgraded just fine, using the very same firmware update file that does not work on the R740/H730 combination.

I have also then taken the HF57 firmware package (Serial-ATA_Firmware_NKCP0_LN_HF57_A00.BIN) unpacked it and replaced the payload with the HF58.fwh file and the PIEConfig.sh and PIEConfig.txt from the Serial-ATA_Firmware_3J3JR_LN64_HF58_A00_02.BIN package ran the spsetup.sh script, it did it's thing, rebooted the server and lo and behold the drives are now showing running HF58 firmware.

So despite any protestations by Dell, the problem most assuredly IS the firmware file, and the packaging of the HF58 firmware has been done badly by whoever did it at Dell.

@jabuzz​

Hello could you please send us this? 
https://www.dell.com/community/en/direct-messaging

In the meantime we will check with the internal team who is packaging those files. Thank you.

@jabuzz​ Your suggestion fixed the problem.  Thanks for figuring this out.

I'm having the same issue trying with my R740XD running Samsung drives behind a H730P. 

Only difference is I'm trying to upgrade to the HJ62 firmware, but getting the same error message - Invalid image file.

Would love to hear some updates from Dell on this

Hello Hazzzaa could you send us your service tag please? https://www.dell.com/community/en/direct-messaging

@jabuzz, @Hazzzaa

With this, the best course of action is to raise the case so we can capture all details and escalate it properly. We need to test each case and if needed, we will modify the DUP.
https://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/en-us/contactus/dynamic

Respectfully,

@Hazzzaa​ You don't mention what drive you are trying to update. From the firmware version it suggests a Samsung PM893?

I would suggest trying to repeat what I did. Take the Serial-ATA_Firmware_NKCP0_LN_HF57_A00.BIN firmware update (it doesn't matter that it is for a different drive) and extract it to a folder. Then take the HJ62 update and extract that to a folder. Move the PIEConfig.sh and PIEConfig.txt to the extracted HF57 firmware folder and the contents of the payload folder over and then run spsetup.sh in the extracted HF57 folder.

Dell would appear to have updated the code in the DUP package that does the firmware update at some point and broken it in some configurations. It would appear that the combination of an R740 and a Perc H730 is broken looking at the responses on this thread.

There is no point in my supplying my service tag for two reasons. Firstly the server is out of support. Secondly the server has been significantly modified from it's shipping configuration.

Finally Dell don't actually need it, I have provided a good enough diagnosis of the problem with several people now saying my fix worked for them that clearly there is a problem and to suggest otherwise is flying in the face of facts.

The problem is with certain (Samsung SATA SSD's?) firmware updates on at least a R740 with drives behind a Perc H730, though I suspect it's broken on any server with a H730.

@jabuzz​ 

Thank you! I will give that a try. I did share my service tag with old mate up there, but haven't heard anything further for 2 days now... so I'm not sure what he's doing.

I'll report back with how I go.

@jabuzz​ 

Just gave this a try, it was unsuccessful for me. I got an error saying the update package is not compatible with your system configuration.

I'm running windows on metal for this server, I was able to extract the .exe files with 7zip and move the PIEconfig.xml and PIEinfo.txt from one package to another, as well as the contents of the payload folder. However running the spsetup.exe still gives the above error.

I'll do some extra research and see if I can find anything from there. Failing that I'll log a support ticket I guess.