We get feedback that some users have issues flashing Supermicro X9SCM-F, X9SCM, X9SCL, X9SCL-F, and X9SCL+-F BIOS. This is especially important since these boards share the same BIOS file and have been around for awhile. These Supermicro motherboards that came out with Sandy Bridge need a BIOS update to support Intel Ivy Bridge based Xeon E3 CPUs. The first step is ensuring that if one is using a v1.x BIOS motherboard, one must use a Sandy Bridge generation CPU to flash, such as the Intel Xeon E3-1230. Beyond this, even having done this process to several motherboards just as the Ivy Bridge Xeon E3-1200 series CPUs were launched, I still was left scratching my head at some times. I decided to write something up to help folks.
The common way to flash BIOS these days is to make a bootable USB drive. I was on my Macbook Air 11″ and frankly did not feel like going through that process. After making the BIOS flash USB drive, I would then have to go to the lab to perform the BIOS flash. With onboard IPMI 2.0, there had to be a better way. After downloading the BIOS zip from Supermicro, I realized it was too large for a floppy disk. By the way, who has a Supermicro X9SCM-F based Intel Xeon E3 server and a floppy disk anyway? CD-ROMs are almost out of fashion at this point and the floppy died years ago. Alas, there was my answer, I decided to make a bootable DOS ISO with all of the items I needed for the BIOS flash. You can find information on the Supermicro BIOS Flash LiveCD here.
Common Errors During the BIOS Flash
I saw a few common errors when working on this guide. Here is a quick list:
Error: BIOS doesn’t support process ME information.
Error when sending Enable Message to ME !!
File not found – AFUDOSU.SMC
Follow the guide, and you will not have to worry about these.
Supermicro X9SCx BIOS Flash Quick Guide
There are a bunch of pictures on the Supermicro BIOS Flash process for the Supermicro X9SCM-F, X9SCM, X9SCL, X9SCL-F, and X9SCL+-F motherboards. For those looking for a quick guide, here are the twelve steps:
Supermicro Motherboard Flashing Steps:
- Download ISO
- Mount ISO through IPMI
- Boot from IPMI CD-ROM
- Wait until you get to the A:> prompt
- Type C:
- That should take you to the C:> Prompt, now type cd FLASH
- Type ami.bat X9SCM2.608
- Reboot
- Wait until you get to the A:> prompt
- Type C:
- That should take you to the C:> Prompt, now type cd FLASH
- Type ami2.bat x9scm2.608
Yes, it is that easy. I also had my LSI BIOS on that for various LSI SAS 2008 and SAS 2108 RAID cards and HBAs I am constantly flashing. One ISO, lots of uses.
Supermicro X9SCx BIOS Flash Pictorial Guide
For those like me that like pictures, I decided to add a few in the second part of the Supermicro X9SCx BIOS flash guide.
After getting the ISO and mounting it via IPMI (steps 1 and 2 above), the next step is to ensure you are booting to the ISO. This is important because the guide is based off of a DOS flash. Go into the BIOS and ensure that your IPMI Virtual CDROM is what you will boot to.
After the ISO boots, you need to move to the C:\Flash directory (steps 4-6 above.)
Once this is done type ami.bat X9SCM2.608
![Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F Flash Step 1 AMI.bat Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F Flash Step 1 AMI.bat](http://www.servethehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Supermicro-X9SCM-F-X9SCL-Flash-Step-1-AMI.png)
Wait for the process to stop. Then reboot the server.
![Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F BIOS Writing Flash Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F BIOS Writing Flash](http://www.servethehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Supermicro-X9SCM-F-X9SCL-F-BIOS-Writing-Flash.png)
Navigate back to C:\flash (steps 9-11 above) and type ami2.bat x9scm2.608 and wait for that to finish before rebooting.
![Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F Flash Step 2 AMI2 Supermicro X9SCM-F X9SCL-F Flash Step 2 AMI2](http://www.servethehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Supermicro-X9SCM-F-X9SCL-Flash-Step-2-AMI2.png)
You may be wondering what that ami2.bat is, because it is not in the standard download. Because the CD-ROM is not writable, I created a one line batch file to do the second part of the flash, the ME update.
Conclusion
For all of those wondering how to quickly do a Supermicro X9SCx BIOS flash, this is a simple way to go about it. I decided to make this guide because I needed it myself. If you do happen to see a new BIOS come up, please let me know on this forum post and I will update the ISO for my own personal use.
I did not know that the Supermicro IPMI could mount a remote ISO image. I’ll be downloading the ISO you built very soon. Thank you!
No ISO, I register for nothing
The ISO download link is bad and redirects to the forum home. For anyone else looking for it, you can now find it here:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/new-project-supermicro-ipmi-2-0-bios-update-live-cd.851/