Looking for Pegasus2 Firmware 5.04.0000.36

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Stephen Butler posted this 5 days ago

Apple has declared all my Intel Macs that I connect my Pegasus2 units to are now "vintage" so I have turned to loading Linux on them to maintain security updates and keep the Macs and the Pegasus2 units from the eWaste graveyards.

I have 3 Pegasus2 units:

R8 - firmware 5.04.0000.36 - works with the Linux Kernel STEX driver

R8 - firmware 5.04.0000.64 - does not work reliably with the Linux kernel STEX driver

M4 - firmware 5.04.0000.62 - does not work reliably with the Linux kernel STEX driver

A few years ago I emailed Promise support asking for the 5.04.0000.36 firmware to be made available from the Promise Download Center in their Legacy Products section.

I went back and forth with the Promise tech, but he couldn't seem to grasp why I wanted to load an older firmware onto devices that had newer firmwares. In the end Promise never made the older firmware file available to me via the Download Center or any other mechanism.

So out of desperation, I am posting this to see if there is a community stalwart out there that has archived all their firmware upgrade files, and has a copy of firmware 5.04.0000.36 that could be made available to me.

In case no such stalwart community member exists out there, I will make another appeal to Promise to:

1) make the 5.04.0000.36 driver file available on the Download center, since it works with the latest (quite old) version of the Linux Kernel STEX driver

or

2) have a developer update the STEX kernel driver to work with the Pegasus2 5.04.0000.64 firmware, since that is the recommended firmware for the Pegasus2 units. I don't think its too much to ask that at least one of the available firmware files for the Pegasus2 be supported in the Linux Kernel STEX driver, if Promise won't make the old firmware file available. 5.04.0000.64 makes sense to be that version since it is currently the latest (and presumably last) version of the Pegasus2 firmware.

In my mind the simplest thing is for Promise to add the requested firmware file to the Download center - I mean what is the downside to that? If someone flashes their Pegasus2 with the old firmware, they can still flash it with the new firmware at a later date (say when they can afford an Apple Silicon Mac).

 

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R P posted this 4 days ago

Hi Stephen,

After doing some research 5.04.0000.36 is the second Pegasus2 firmware release and the first release that supports the Pegasus2 M4. It's not clear why 5.04.0000.36 is not on the downloads page as it usually has all the releases since FCS (First Customer Ship).

Regardless, a request was made and I have attached v5.04.0000.36 to this post.

Note loading this firmware will take about 4 minutes as both the CPLD and firmware need to be updated. Be patient.

Also, you will need to use Promise Utility v4.06.0000.01 to load the firmware. Due to hardware changes in the Pegasus32 if you use the latest Promise Utility to do a firmware update on a Pegasus1 or Pegasus2 it will error out with a CRC error even though the file is fine.

If all your Macs are running Linux it's not clear how you can do the firmware update.

Attached Files

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Stephen Butler posted this 4 days ago

I can make the above work, I have no problem loading an old mac mini with a compatible Mac OS to use Promise Utility v4.06.0000.01 to load the 5.04.0000.36 firmware file you provided. Then once the unit reboots, I can connect it to one of the Macs loaded with Linux to determine if the firmware change fixes the problem - which if it doesn't I will be very puzzled.  

Thank you for your prompt and thorough response.

When I go to the Download Center, SR3.4.14 (4.06.0000.01) is actually the latest version of the Pegasus2 Mac OS Utility, I assume your warning is to ensure that I don't use a Pegasus3 version of the Mac Os Utility.

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