Alacritech - Updating Flash Code

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Flash Update

Updating Flash Code

Updating or changing the configuration of the iSCSI boot flash on iSCSI boot capable Alacritech cards, SEN2X00 Series and SEN1800 Series, (Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the SEN3000 Series is not iSCSI boot capable) is accomplished via the slicuser program for ATCP drivers, and through the driver configuration panel for SNP drivers. The PXE/UNDI drivers for Alacritech Accelerators allow PXE and iSCSI software boot solutions to work. The latest PXE/UNDI drivers are available from our support website

SNP Drivers: Updating an accelerator that is not currently being used for iSCSI boot.
ATCP Drivers: Updating an accelerator that is not currently being used for iSCSI boot.
Updating an accelerator that is currently being used for iSCSI boot.

Release 9: To update the flash code on an Alacritech Accelerator that is not currently being used for iSCSI boot, follow these steps:

Open the network properties pane for the "A" port on the Alacritech card that you wish to flash and select the Configure button. Even if you want to boot off of port B, C, or D of an SES2104 card, you must select port A in order to update the card. The actual selection of the iSCSI boot port occurs later.
Select the Flash Update tab.
Select the desired iSCSI boot port. Only one port can be enabled for iSCSI boot. All others on the card will be automatically disabled for boot. Do not change the default values for Link Speed, Link Duplex, or Boot Selection unless specifically instructed to by Alacritech support.
Click the Update Flash Image button. A file browser window will open to allow you to specify the flash image source directory. The Alacritech PXE/UNDI binary image files are located in the Flashimage folder of the driver distribution media.
Once the path is specified, click the Update Flash button to complete the flash process.

NOTE: The Accelerator will not be available or operational during the flash update process and will disrupt all ports of the Accelerator being flashed in the server. This means your host will crash and possibly become unrecoverable if you try this on an system that is already doing iSCSI boot
After flashing the latest PXE drivers, click the Close button to exit the properties pane.

Release 7: To update the flash code on an Alacritech Accelerator that is not currently being used for iSCSI boot, follow these steps:

Open the slicuser application ( start->programs->Alacritech->slicuser ) and select the "A" port of the desired network card. Even if you want to boot off of some port other than port, you should select port A in order to update the card. The actual selection of the iSCSI boot port occurs later.
Select the Flash Update tab.
Specify the flash image directory. The Alacritech PXE/UNDI binary image files are located in the Flashimage folder of the driver distribution media. Note that even if you only want to change the boot port, you must still do the entire flash process.
Select the desired iSCSI boot port. Only one port can be enabled for iSCSI boot. All others on the card will be automatically disabled for boot. Do not change the default values for Link Speed, Link Duplex, or Boot Selection unless specifically instructed to by Alacritech support.
Once the port and path are specified, click the Update Flash button to complete the flash process.
NOTE: The Accelerator will not be available or operational during the flash update process and will disrupt all ports of the Accelerator being flashed in the server. This means your host will crash and possibly become unrecoverable if you try this on an system that is already doing iSCSI boot
After flashing the latest PXE drivers, click the Close button to exit the slicuser application.

Existing iSCSI Boot Environment or Prior to OS Installation.
Because the flash update process disables all ports on the card being updated, it is not possible to directly update the flash on a system that is actively being used for iSCSI boot. This also applies to systems that have never had an OS installed at all. To update the flash code on an Alacritech Accelerator that is being used for iSCSI boot, you have three choices:

Shut down the system. Remove the Alacritech Accelerator and install it into a system that is not being used for iSCSI boot. Update the flash on the new system IAW the instructions above. Place the Accelerator back into the iSCSI boot system.

If the iSCSI boot system still has a local disk with a bootable image, set the system to boot off of the local disk. This can be done either through the BIOS, or by changing the client configuration on the netBoot/i server to boot from local. Once the system is booted from the local disk, Update the flash on the new system IAW the instructions above.

For Enterprise Accelerators only, you can also undate the flash from a Pre-Installation Environmnet. To do so, create a BartPE Pre-installation Environment CD and boot the system from the CD. Open a CMD window, and cd to X:\Alacritech and run slicuser from the command line. Then Follow the instructions above.