FALSASMP Midplane - Couple Questions

[TFods]

Hello,

I apologize if any information is incorrect or if I sound like an idiot beforehand. Anyway, I have a FALSASMP midplane sitting inside of an Intel SR2500 2u case which is paired with an Intel S5000XAL motherboard. This machine has been built from scratch and is running perfectly, however, I am unable to set up a HW (Hardware) RAID using my new FALSASMP Active Midplane.

When I first purchased the midplane, I was under the assumption and the sway of an Intel tech that I would not require the AXXMINIDIMM or the AXXRAK18E (Raid Activation Key) in order to build a RAID 10 array. I did not purchase these so I am currently running the FALSASMP without a RAK or MINIDIMM and it's working fine as a pass-through device (IT mode if I am correct). However, I want it to run in IR mode, and I can't seem to figure out why I can't get it into this mode. My questions are listed below, I did a ton of research online about this but I was unable to find much. Many thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

1.) The firmware on the FALSASMP is the 1.11 - IT, I found what I believe is a firmware update at the link below. I did download and make an attempt to flash the firmware, but when using the EFI shell to run the script I get an error stating "No LSI adapters found! Limited Command Set Available! SASFlash Version is: 1.20.00.00." Is there something I am missing here? Do I need to update the firmware to the 1.20 version on the midplane?

Firmware downloaded:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=19804 Download Center

2.) Do I require the AXXRAK18E and the AXXMINIDIMM?

Extra Notes:

- No this is NOT the FALSASMP2 midplane

- No warranty available

- I want use this box for an ESXi setup, so a SW (Software) RAID is not an option. (Unless someone knows a way around this, please let me know).

- I am not sure on the type of back-plane being used (what model) but if it's required, I can find it. I do know it's SATA and I have 4 1TB sata drives installed.

- Yes I understand these parts are old, but what was originally going to be a developer's play house turned into a more serious build (Won't be production but will house several very useful business tools).

http://ark.intel.com/products/49591/Intel-RAID-Activation-Key-AXXRAK18E ARK | Intel&# 174; RAID Activation Key AXXRAK18E

http://ark.intel.com/products/54549/128MB-Mini-DIMM-Registered-DDR2-for-RAID-Cache-AXXMINIDIMM ARK | 128MB Mini DIMM Registered DDR2 for RAID Cache AXXMINIDIMM

Once again, any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

[TFods]

***UPDATE***

I was capable of finally updating the FALSASMP midplane by performing updates on the BIOS via bootable media into FreeDOS. Once the BIOS updates completed, I downloaded brand new firmware for the midplane (Version 1.33) and it still is in IT mode. So my conclusion may be that I have to purchase a RAK (Raid Activation Key) and an AXXMINIDIMM? If anyone knows, that would be great. I guess as of now I am going to try to flash version 1.20 on the midplane and perform tests from there.

[Edward_Z_Intel]

You can use ESRT2 SW RAID with the active midplane. In BIOS, go to Advanced => Mass Storage Controller Configuration => Direct SAS => Configure SAS as SW RAID.

Save settings and reboot, press Ctrl-E to configure RAID.