Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 2.1 / IPMI 3.86 released, how to upgrade with ease!

Posted by Paul Braren on Jan 21 2020 (updated on Dec 2 2021) in
  • CPU
  • HomeLab
  • HomeServer
  • ESXi

    • This article has been replaced by this newer article:

    supermicro-superserver-bios-2-3-and-ipmi-388-released

    Article as it originally appeared below.

    Step-by-step walk through video is now available!

    The only information I have about this 2.1 BIOS release is from a helpful TinkerTry commenter who said:

    I reached out to Supermicro, and they gave me some rather vague info: "BIOS 2.1 update info for SYS-5028D-TN4T/ X10SDV MB BIOS 2.1 has Intel security fix and some bug fix.

    We suggest our customer to update it if they can."

    Supermicro restricts me from publishing their BIOS release notes, unfortunately. If I run into issues, or others leave comments to report their issues, I'll update this article accordingly.

    Initial testing of BIOS 2.1 has gone well so far for me on my Xeon D-1541 SuperServer, and on my Xeon D-1567 is next. I do have a report of one TinkerTry visitor having no issues with it, seen in the TinkerTry comments here.

    Months of testing of IPMI 3.86 is going well so far too, see also Release Notes. One commenter reported a Chrome browser on Mac certificate issue, but I was unable to replicate.

    Wiredzone will soon be shipping all Bundles with BIOS 2.1 and IPMI 3.86, once I've fully "TinkerTry'd" both firmware levels on both systems.

    Here's the current Supermicro Xeon D-1500 systems with X10SDV motherboards with RJ45 10GbE, in form factors suited for home and small business (single PSU), eligible for these new releases:

    Note, as of BIOS 2.1, the Flex ATX E300-8D with the X10SDV-TP8F motherboard have the same release numbers, but may have a different file to download. I don't own a Flex ATX system to test, so my focus is on the SYS-5028D-TN4T with its X10SDV-TLN4F motherboard used in all Bundles.

    Latest BIOS and IPMI Versions

    Last updated Jan 21 2020

    SYS-5028D-TN4T
    Mini Tower
    Mini ITX
    		 SYS-5018D-FN4T
    1U
    Mini ITX
    		 SYS-E200-8D
    Mini 1U
    Mini ITX
    		 SYS-E300-8D
    Mini 1U
    Flex ATX
    BIOS Nov 22 2019 / 2.1 Nov 22 2019 / 2.1 Nov 22 2019 / 2.1 Nov 08 2019 / 2.1
    IPMI Mar 20 2018 / 3.86 Mar 20 2018 / 3.86 Mar 20 2018 / 3.86 Mar 20 2018 / 3.86
    superservers-ready-for-bios-upgrades.JPG
    I managed to borrow one of each X10SDV system, for VMworld 2016. As for updating your BIOS and IPMI firmware to the latest release, you might not have to. For all SuperServer Bundle customers, Wiredzone handles these upgrades for you prior to shipment, along with the DIMM install, and 4 hour burn-in test with certificate. Nice touches that save you about 45 minutes while reducing your risk.

    Here's Supermicro's Disclaimer:

    Please do not download / upgrade the BIOS/Firmware UNLESS your system has a BIOS/firmware-related issue. Flashing the wrong BIOS/firmware can cause irreparable damage to the system.

    Here's a copy of TinkerTry's Disclaimer, exactly as posted below every article:

    Disclaimer

    Emphasis is on home test labs, not production environments. No free technical support is implied or promised, and all best-effort advice volunteered by the author or commenters are on a use-at-your-own risk basis. Properly caring for your data is your responsibility. TinkerTry bears no responsibility for data loss. It is up to you to follow all local laws and software EULAs.

    This all boils down to you needing to contact Supermicro's SuperServer Technical Support if something goes wrong, with no guarantees that they can help you if you bricked your system. I would add that you should be sure to run your SuperServer off an uninterruptable power supply during any firmware upgrades, and be sure you use a stable network connection, or a known-good USB flash drive for bootable media.

    Backstory

    Right here at TinkerTry, there's full release notes that go all the way back to the beginning. It would be even better if Supermicro published them themselves, but having them here is a good start. Just one of those little victories, trying to help everybody out there, and I'm so very glad I'm able to share these notes with everybody here:

    BIOS 2.1 Known Issues

    IPMI 3.86 Known Issues

    IPMI 3.86 RELEASE NOTES (Jun 09 2017)

    Download

    Download BIOS and IPMI updates, the easy way

    FlashBIOS

    BIOS 2.1 Upgrade Procedure - Bootable Media

    There is a way to upgrade the BIOS over IPMI that I describe here and show on video here, but it may require waiting a day or two for a license key from $25 Supermicro Update Manager, unless you bought it already.

    Then there's the old school safest way to upgrade your BIOS(s), anytime:

    1. make sure your SuperServer is on UPS-protected power
    2. power on or reboot your SuperServer, then enter the BIOS setup by pressing Del when prompted
    3. document all your BIOS settings that aren't default, in case they're lost, see also Recommended BIOS Settings for Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T
    4. to (temporarily) turn UEFI OFF, going into the BIOS's Boot tab, and choosing Legacy mode
    5. to turn CSM ON (Compatibility Support Mode) to On (it's on by default), see details here
    6. create a bootable USB flash drive on another Windows workstation using Rufus
    7. extract all X10SDVF9_B22.zip files to the root directory of the USB drive, which includes the BIOS image itself named X10SDVF9.B22
    8. properly eject the USB drive using the Windows Taskbar Safely Remove... icon.
    9. insert the USB drive into any available USB port on your SuperServer
    10. power up or reboot, and get ready to press that F11 key to choose alternative boot device, then choose the USB drive from the list
    11. Using either a locally attached keyboard and mouse, or over iKVM, at the DOS command line, type:
      FLASH X10SDVF9.B22 (you can use type-ahead to auto-complete)
    12. wait until it's done, takes about 5 minutes, it will tell you when it's done
    13. unplug the power cord from the SuperServer for about 15 seconds
    14. remove the USB flash drive
    15. plug the power cord back into your SuperServer
    16. power on your SuperServer
    17. you will notice it boots, finishes POST but doesn't prompt you to press any buttons, then it auto-reboots again, this is normal
    18. press Del to enter the BIOS setup again, you will see you've been reset to factory default BIOS settings. Switch back to UEFI mode, and turn CSM back to off if you like, see the rest of the Recommended BIOS Settings and differences between UEFI and BIOS
    19. reboot, make sure your default boot device comes up, you're done!
    20. if you encounter issues, you can go back to the prior BIOS level 1.1c, found here.
    FlashIPMI

    IPMI 3.86 Upgrade Procedure

    1. on another PC, use a browser and type in the IP address of your BMC/IPMI/iKVM management interface in the URL area
    2. login, default is ADMIN/ADMIN
    3. you should gracefully shut down any OS you may have running on this system, and leave it powered off, or use iKVM's Power Off button
    4. under Maintenance, IPMI Configuration, you may wish to use the Save IPMI Configuration feature to save a config file for possible restore later, since you are about to lose all of your IPMI configuration settings
      2.1-with-uncheck-IPMI-preserve-boxes-with-callout
    5. under Maintenance, Firmware Update, select the Enter Update Mode button and follow the instructions, using the IPMI file downloaded called REDFISH_X10_386_20191115_unsigned.zip that you extracted, choosing REDFISH_X10_386_20191115_unsigned.bin inside the extraction folder, then make sure to Un-check both checkboxes when prompted to preserve your configuration, as seen pictured at right. Keeping your certificate or not is up to you, I went with unchecking all 3 boxes. If you don't uncheck those first two, you may get voltage alerts or critical sensor error / 5V Dual warnings in VMware ESXi, or other problems, which folks resolved by reflashing to the same level again, making sure to uncheck the boxes this time.
    6. wait until it's done with the IPMI upgrade, takes about 5 minutes, when done, it will prompt you to wait another minute, click OK and wait some more as it says "Rebooting..." and once the IPMI Web Interface starts to respond to login again, you can continue
    7. unplug the power cord from the SuperServer for at least 15 seconds (optional but recommended, more difficult if you're remote, I realize)
    8. plug the power cord back in to your SuperServer
    9. power on your SuperServer, wait a minute for IPMI to boot up
    10. on another PC, use a browser and type in the IP address of your BMC/IPMI/iKVM management interface in the URL area
    11. optional - under Maintenance, IPMI Configuration, you may wish to use the Reload IPMI Configuration feature to choose your saved file, and restore it

    Optional - Download BIOS and IPMI updates, the Supermicro ways

    Method 1 - Start with the Product Page

    You are actually supposed to first find the product for your Embedded/IoT Solution here:

    or your X10 IPC & Embedded motherboard here:

    then Ctrl+F to seek out those BIOS and IPMI download links, which will make you read this End User License Agreement before allowing you to download.

    Method 2 - Start with the Support page

    Another way is at supermicro.com, jump into Support > BIOS & IPMI Downloads > Intel here:

    In the box where it says Enter Model Search Text, type X10SDV then click Search, it should look a lot like this:

    Supermicro-download-page-for-X10SDV-2017-09-11-by-TinkerTry

    Notice that this same page used to mention the series of Xeon D systems and motherboards that the BIOS release applies to:

    Intel® Xeon® processor D-1518/1528/1520/1521/1540/1541; Single socket FCBGA 1667

    Intel® Xeon® processor D-1537/1557/1587, Single socket FCBGA 1667; 8/12/16-Core, 16/24/32 Threads, 35/45/65W

    Video

    TinkerTry - Apr 18 2020 - Supermicro SuperServer Xeon D BIOS 2.1 and IPMI 3.68 updates via browser
    How to upgrade to Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 1.1c using Rufus & bootable DOS USB drive, procedure for going to BIOS 2.1 is very similar.
    With Supermicro iKVM/HTML5 Remote Console, avoid Java by booting from a network share ISO

    Apr 18 2020 Update

    VMware vSphere / ESXi 7.0 is here, and no issues have been noticed with this BIOS 2.1 release.

    Months of BIOS 2.10 and IPMI 3.86 experience reflected in updates to the wording of the article above.

    Oct 18 2020 Update

    IPMI 3.88 came out early this year, and I've been testing it for months, works fine. New Bundles are shipping with it, and it seems to be a very minor release.

    See also at TinkerTry

    supermicro-superserver-redfish-api-cropped
    How to upgrade to Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 1.1c over the IPMI Web UI

    See also

    TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here, not my employer's.

    Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2024, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.

    Support TinkerTry

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    After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.

    Easily update VMware ESXi at TinkerTry.com/easy-update-to-latest-esxi