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SG_SES_MICROCODE(8) SG3_UTILS SG_SES_MICROCODE(8)
NAME
sg_ses_microcode - send microcode to a SCSI enclosure
SYNOPSIS
sg_ses_microcode [--bpw=CS] [--dry-run] [--ealsd] [--help] [--id=ID] [--in=FILE]
[--length=LEN] [--mode=MO] [--non] [--offset=OFF] [--skip=SKIP] [--subenc=MS]
[--tlength=TLEN] [--verbose] [--version] DEVICE
DESCRIPTION
This utility attempts to download microcode to an enclosure (or one of its sub-enclosures)
associated with the DEVICE. The process for doing this is defined in the SCSI Enclosure
Services (SES) standards and drafts maintained by the T10 committee.
The process is to send one or more sequences containing a SCSI SEND DIAGNOSTIC command
followed optionally by a RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command. The former sends a Download
microcode Control diagnostic page (dpage) and the latter fetches a Download microcode sta-
tus dpage which can be viewed as a report on the former command.
The default action (i.e. when the --mode=MO option is not given) is to fetch the Download
microcode status dpage and decode it. This does not require the microcode (firmware) it-
self so the --in=FILE option is not required.
The most recent reference for this utility is the draft SCSI Enclosure Services 3 (SES-3)
document T10/2149-D Revision 7 at http://www.t10.org . Existing standards for SES and
SES-2 are ANSI INCITS 305-1998 and ANSI INCITS 448-2008 respectively.
Most other support for SES in this package (apart from downloading microcode) can be found
in the sg_ses utility. Another way of downloading firmware to a SCSI device is with the
WRITE BUFFER command defined in SPC-4, see the sg_write_buffer utility.
OPTIONS
Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well.
-b, --bpw=CS
where CS is the chunk size in bytes and should be a multiple of 4. This will be
the maximum number of bytes sent per SEND DIAGNOSTIC command. So if CS is less
than the effective length of the microcode then multiple SEND DIAGNOSTIC commands
are sent, each taking the next chunk from the read data and increasing the buffer
offset field in the Download microcode control dpage by the appropriate amount. The
default is a chunk size of 0 which is interpreted as a very large number hence only
one SEND DIAGNOSTIC command will be sent.
The number in CS can optionally be followed by ",act" or ",activate". In this case
after the microcode has been successfully sent to the DEVICE, an additional Down-
load microcode control dpage with its mode set to "Activate deferred microcode"
[0xf] is sent.
-d, --dry-run
the actual calls to perform SEND DIAGNOSTIC and RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS commands
are skipped when this option is given. No SCSI commands are sent to the DEVICE but
it is still opened and is required to be given. A dummy device such as /dev/null
(in Unix) can be used.
This utility expects a "sensible" response to the RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS com-
mand it sends (and will abort if it doesn't receive one). So this option supplies
dummy responses with one primary enclosure and three sub-enclosures. The dummy re-
sponses include good status values.
-e, --ealsd
exit after last SEND DIAGNOSTIC command. A SES device should not start its firmware
update immediately after the last received "chunk" of its firmware. Rather it
should wait till at least one RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command is sent to give
the device a chance to report any error. However some devices do start the firmware
update immediately which causes the trailing RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command to
be held up and often be aborted with a "target reset" error.
This option causes the trailing RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command to be skipped.
This option would be typically used with the --bpw=CS option.
Prior to version 1.10 of this utility [20180112] this (i.e. skipping the last RE-
CEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command) was the default action.
-h, --help
output the usage message then exit. If used multiple times also prints the mode
names and their acronyms.
-i, --id=ID
this option sets the BUFFER ID field in the Download microcode control dpage. ID is
a value between 0 (default) and 255 inclusive.
-I, --in=FILE
read data from file FILE that will be sent with the SEND DIAGNOSTIC command. If
FILE is '-' then stdin is read until an EOF is detected (this is the same action as
--raw). Data is read from the beginning of FILE except in the case when it is a
regular file and the --skip=SKIP option is given.
-l, --length=LEN
where LEN is the length, in bytes, of data to be written to the device. If not
given (and the length cannot be deduced from --in=FILE or --raw) then defaults to
zero. If the option is given and the length deduced from --in=FILE or --raw is less
(or no data is provided), then bytes of 0xff are used as fill bytes.
-m, --mode=MO
this option sets the MODE. MO is a value between 0 (which is dmc_status and the de-
fault) and 255 inclusive. Alternatively an abbreviation can be given. See the MODES
section below. To list the available mode abbreviations at run time give an invalid
one (e.g. '--mode=xxx') or use the '-h' option.
-N, --non
allow for non-standard implementations that reset their Download microcode engine
after a RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command with the Download microcode status dpage
is sent. When this option is given sending that command and dpage combination is
avoided unless an error has already occurred.
-o, --offset=OFF
this option sets the BUFFER OFFSET field in the Download microcode control dpage.
OFF is a value between 0 (default) and 2**32-1 . It is a byte offset. This option
is ignored (and a warning sent to stderr) if the --bpw=CS option is also given.
-s, --skip=SKIP
this option is only active when --in=FILE is given and FILE is a regular file,
rather than stdin. Data is read starting at byte offset SKIP to the end of file (or
the amount given by --length=LEN). If not given the byte offset defaults to 0
(i.e. the start of the file).
-S, --subenc=SEID
SEID is the sub-enclosure identify. It defaults to 0 which is the primary enclosure
identifier.
-t, --tlength=TLEN
TLEN is the total length in bytes of the microcode to be (or being) downloaded. It
defaults to 0 which is okay in most cases. This option only comes into play when
TLEN is greater than LEN. In this case TLEN is sent to the SES DEVICE so that it
knows when it only receives LEN bytes from this invocation, that it should expect
more to be sent in the near future (e.g. by another invocation). This option is
only needed when sections of microcode are being sent in separate invocations of
this utility (e.g. the microcode is spread across two files).
-v, --verbose
increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output).
-V, --version
print the version string and then exit.
MODES
Following is a list accepted by the MO argument of this utility. First shown is an acro-
nym followed in square brackets by the corresponding decimal and hex values that may also
be given for MO.
dmc_status [0, 0x0]
Use RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS to fetch the Download microcode status dpage and
print it out.
dmc_offs [6, 0x6]
Download microcode with offsets and activate.
dmc_offs_save [7, 0x7]
Download microcode with offsets, save, and activate.
dmc_offs_defer [14, 0xe]
Download microcode with offsets, save, and defer activate.
activate_mc [15, 0xf]
Activate deferred microcode. There is no follow-up RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS to
fetch the Download microcode status dpage since the DEVICE might be resetting.
Apart from dmc_status, these are placed in the Download microcode mode field in the Down-
load microcode control dpage. In the case of dmc_status the Download microcode status
dpage is fetched with the RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS command and decoded.
WHEN THE DOWNLOAD FAILS
Firstly, if it succeeds, this utility should stay silent and return. Typically vendors
will change the "revision" string (which is 4 characters long) whenever they release new
firmware. That can be seen in the response to a SCSI INQUIRY command, for example by using
the sg_inq utility. It is possible that the device needs to be power cycled before the
new microcode becomes active. Also if mode dmc_offs_defer [0xe] is used to download the
microcode, then another invocation with activate_mc may be needed.
If something goes wrong, there will typically be messages printed out by this utility. The
first thing to check is the microcode (firmware) file itself. Is it designed for the de-
vice model; has it been corrupted, and if downgrading (i.e. trying to reinstate older
firmware), does the vendor allow that?
Getting new firmware on a device is a delicate operation that is not always well defined
by T10's standards and drafts. One might speculate that they are deliberately vague. In
testing this utility one vendor's interpretation of the standard was somewhat surprising.
The --non option was added to cope with their interpretation. So if the above suggestions
don't help, try adding the --non option.
NOTES
This utility can handle a maximum size of 128 MB of microcode which should be sufficient
for most purposes. In a system that is memory constrained, such large allocations of mem-
ory may fail.
The user should be aware that most operating systems have limits on the amount of data
that can be sent with one SCSI command. In Linux this depends on the pass through mecha-
nism used (e.g. block SG_IO or the sg driver) and various setting in sysfs in the Linux lk
2.6/3 series (e.g. /sys/block/sda/queue/max_sectors_kb). Devices (i.e. logical units) also
typically have limits on the maximum amount of data they can handle in one command. These
two limitations suggest that modes containing the word "offset" together with the --bpw=CS
option are required as firmware files get larger and larger. And CS can be quite small,
for example 4096 bytes, resulting in many SEND DIAGNOSTIC commands being sent.
The exact error from the non-standard implementation was a sense key of ILLEGAL REQUEST
and an asc/ascq code of 0x26,0x0 which is "Invalid field in parameter list". If that is
seen try again with the --non option.
Downloading incorrect microcode into a device has the ability to render that device inop-
erable. One would hope that the device vendor verifies the data before activating it.
A long (operating system) timeout of 7200 seconds is set on each SEND DIAGNOSTIC command.
All numbers given with options are assumed to be decimal. Alternatively numerical values
can be given in hexadecimal preceded by either "0x" or "0X" (or has a trailing "h" or
"H").
EXAMPLES
If no microcode/firmware file is given then this utility fetches and decodes the Download
microcode status dpage which could possibly show another initiator in the process of up-
dating the microcode. Even if that is happening, fetching the status page should not cause
any problems:
sg_ses_microcode /dev/sg3
Download microcode status diagnostic page:
number of secondary sub-enclosures: 0
generation code: 0x0
sub-enclosure identifier: 0 [primary]
download microcode status: No download microcode operation in progress [0x0]
download microcode additional status: 0x0
download microcode maximum size: 1048576 bytes
download microcode expected buffer id: 0x0
download microcode expected buffer id offset: 0
The following sends new microcode/firmware to an enclosure. Sending a 1.5 MB file in one
command caused the enclosure to lock up temporarily and did not update the firmware.
Breaking the firmware file into 4 KB chunks (an educated guess) was more successful:
sg_ses_microcode -b 4k -m dmc_offs_save -I firmware.bin /dev/sg4
The firmware update occurred in the following enclosure power cycle. With a modern enclo-
sure the Extended Inquiry VPD page gives indications in which situations a firmware up-
grade will take place.
EXIT STATUS
The exit status of sg_ses_microcode is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise see the
sg3_utils(8) man page.
AUTHORS
Written by Douglas Gilbert.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2014-2018 Douglas Gilbert
This software is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO warranty; not even for
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
SEE ALSO
sg_ses, sg_write_buffer, sg_inq(sg3_utils)
sg3_utils-1.43 January 2018 SG_SES_MICROCODE(8)
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