storcli

storcli will only interact with broadcom controllers and devices connected to those.

storcli is the tool to interact with your broadcom card.

why

needed for most interaction like:

updating fw
checking controller
checking disks

where

can be downloaded from https://www.broadcom.com/support/download-search. make sure your version somewhat matches your firmware. i’m using “storcli_sas3.5_p37” with a 9500-16e running “p36 mixed fw bios uefi”.

how

unzip the file, the binaries are a few levels deep in the windows directory.

naming

while broadcom refers to this program as “storcli”, the actual binary can also be called storcli64 or storcli2, as you can see in several examples.

basic commandline switches

/c0 will select the first controller
/eall will select all expanders, including the default virtual one
/sall will select all disks, to be used with /e

bugs

hangs and aborts to quick

whenever storcli encounters a situation that differs from what it expects, even by a small amount, it tends to stop printing output. this makes troubleshooting quite frustrating now and then

example 1: sas expander has issues connecting

expected output: working expander and drive still shown

>storcli64 /c0 show all
CLI Version = 007.3503.0000.0000 Aug 05, 2025
Operating system = Windows 11
Controller = 0
Status = Success
Description = None


Basics :
======
Controller = 0
Adapter Type =   SAS3816(A0)
Model = HBA 9500-16e
Serial Number = SPE4909773
Current System Date/time = 10/09/2025 01:25:00
Concurrent commands supported = 6656
SAS Address =  500062b2205fea80
PCI Address = 00:01:00:00


Version :
=======
Firmware Package Build = 36.00.00.00
Firmware Version = 36.00.00.00
Bios Version = 09.71.00.00_36.00.00.00
NVDATA Version = 36.00.00.14
PSOC FW Version = 0x006E
PSOC Part Number = 14790
Driver Name = ItSas35
Driver Version = 2.61.82.00


PCI Version :
===========
Vendor Id = 0x1000
Device Id = 0xE6
SubVendor Id = 0x1000
SubDevice Id = 0x4070
Host Interface = PCIE
Device Interface = SAS-12G
Bus Number = 1
Device Number = 0
Function Number = 0
Domain ID = 0


Pending Images in Flash :
=======================
Image name = No pending images


Status :
======
Controller has booted into certificate provision mode = No
Package Stamp Mismatch = No


Supported Adapter Operations :
============================
Support more than 8 Phys = Yes
Support Enclosure Enumeration = Yes
Support Allowed Operations = Yes
Support Multipath = Yes
Support Security = Yes
support EKM = No
Support Secure Boot = Yes
Support Platform Security = No
Support Package Stamp Mismatch Reporting = Yes
Support PSOC Update = Yes
Support PSOC Part Information = Yes
Support PSOC Version Information = Yes


Supported PD Operations :
=======================
Support Physical Link Speed = Yes


HwCfg :
=====
ChipRevision =  A0
BatteryFRU = N/A
Front End Port Count = 1
Backend Port Count = 21
Serial Debugger = Absent
NVRAM Size = 0KB
Flash Size = 16MB
Temperature Sensor for ROC = Present
Temperature Sensor for Controller = Absent
ROC temperature(Degree Celsius) = 50


Boot :
====
Max Drives to Spinup at One Time = 2
Maximum number of direct attached drives to spin up in 1 min = 60
Delay Among Spinup Groups (sec) = 2


Capabilities :
============
Supported Drives = SAS, SATA
Enable JBOD = Yes
Max Parallel Commands = 6656
Max SGE Count = 128
Max Data Transfer Size = 32 sectors


Secure Boot :
===========
Secure Boot Enabled = Yes
Controller in Soft Secure Mode = No
Controller in Hard Secure Mode = Yes
Key Update Pending = No
Remaining Secure Boot Key Slots = 7


Security Protocol properties :
============================
Security Protocol = None


Enclosure Information :
=====================

------------------------------------------------------------------
EID State Slots PD PS Fans TSs Alms SIM ProdID     VendorSpecific
------------------------------------------------------------------
  0 OK       16  1  0    0   0    0   0 VirtualSES
------------------------------------------------------------------


Physical Device Information :
===========================

Drive /c0/e0/s12 :
================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
EID:Slt DID State DG      Size Intf Med SED PI SeSz Model            Sp
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0:12      1 JBOD  -  13.972 TB SAS  SSD -   -  512B X670_S164315TATE -
------------------------------------------------------------------------

EID-Enclosure Device ID|Slt-Slot No|DID-Device ID|DG-DriveGroup
UGood-Unconfigured Good|UBad-Unconfigured Bad|Intf-Interface
Med-Media Type|SED-Self Encryptive Drive|PI-Protection Info
SeSz-Sector Size|Sp-Spun|U-Up|D-Down|T-Transition


Drive /c0/e0/s12 - Detailed Information :
=======================================

Drive /c0/e0/s12 State :
======================
Shield Counter = N/A
Media Error Count = N/A
Other Error Count = N/A
Predictive Failure Count = N/A
S.M.A.R.T alert flagged by drive = N/A


Drive /c0/e0/s12 Device attributes :
==================================
Manufacturer Id = NETAPP
Model Number = X670_S164315TATE
NAND Vendor = NA
SN = S40TNY0M105275
WWN = 5002538B09134AB3
Firmware Revision = NA55
Raw size = 13.972 TB [0x6fc7cd2af Sectors]
Coerced size = 13.972 TB [0x6fc7cd2af Sectors]
Non Coerced size = 13.972 TB [0x6fc7cd2af Sectors]
Device Speed = 12.0Gb/s
Link Speed = 12.0Gb/s
Negotiated Physical Link Rate = 12.0Gb/s
Sector Size = 512B
Config ID = NA
Number of Blocks = 30005842607
Connector Name = C3   x1


Drive /c0/e0/s12 Policies/Settings :
==================================
Enclosure position = 0
Connected Port Number = 8(path0)
Sequence Number = 0
Commissioned Spare = No
Emergency Spare = No
Last Predictive Failure Event Sequence Number = N/A
Successful diagnostics completion on = N/A
SED Capable = N/A
SED Enabled = N/A
Secured = N/A
Needs EKM Attention = N/A
PI Eligible = N/A
Certified = N/A
Wide Port Capable = N/A
Multipath = No

Port Information :
================

-----------------------------------------
Port Status Linkspeed SAS address
-----------------------------------------
   0 Active 12.0Gb/s  0x5002538b09134ab1
-----------------------------------------


Inquiry Data =
00 00 07 12 c5 00 10 03 4e 45 54 41 50 50 20 20
58 36 37 30 5f 53 31 36 34 33 31 35 54 41 54 45
4e 41 35 35 30 4d 31 30 35 32 37 35 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 a0 0c 60 05 c0
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
56 46 54 35 57 46 41 51 32 32 31 31 30 38 5f 48
5f 30 f0 f8 30 56 30 30 53 41 4d 53 55 4e 47 20

actual output: does not show any driver or expanders anymore

>storcli64.exe /c0 show all
CLI Version = 007.3503.0000.0000 Aug 05, 2025
Operating system = Windows 11
Controller = 0
Status = Success
Description = None


Basics :
======
Controller = 0
Adapter Type =   SAS3816(A0)
Model = HBA 9500-16e
Serial Number = SPE4909773
Current System Date/time = 10/08/2025 22:02:34
Concurrent commands supported = 6656
SAS Address =  500062b2205fea80
PCI Address = 00:01:00:00


Version :
=======
Firmware Package Build = 36.00.00.00
Firmware Version = 36.00.00.00
Bios Version = 09.71.00.00_36.00.00.00
NVDATA Version = 36.00.00.14
PSOC FW Version = 0x006E
PSOC Part Number = 14790
Driver Name = ItSas35
Driver Version = 2.61.82.00


PCI Version :
===========
Vendor Id = 0x1000
Device Id = 0xE6
SubVendor Id = 0x1000
SubDevice Id = 0x4070
Host Interface = PCIE
Device Interface = SAS-12G
Bus Number = 1
Device Number = 0
Function Number = 0
Domain ID = 0


Pending Images in Flash :
=======================
Image name = No pending images


Status :
======
Controller has booted into certificate provision mode = No
Package Stamp Mismatch = No


Supported Adapter Operations :
============================
Support more than 8 Phys = Yes
Support Enclosure Enumeration = Yes
Support Allowed Operations = Yes
Support Multipath = Yes
Support Security = Yes
support EKM = No
Support Secure Boot = Yes
Support Platform Security = No
Support Package Stamp Mismatch Reporting = Yes
Support PSOC Update = Yes
Support PSOC Part Information = Yes
Support PSOC Version Information = Yes


Supported PD Operations :
=======================
Support Physical Link Speed = Yes


HwCfg :
=====
ChipRevision =  A0
BatteryFRU = N/A
Front End Port Count = 1
Backend Port Count = 21
Serial Debugger = Absent
NVRAM Size = 0KB
Flash Size = 16MB
Temperature Sensor for ROC = Present
Temperature Sensor for Controller = Absent
ROC temperature(Degree Celsius) = 52


Boot :
====
Max Drives to Spinup at One Time = 2
Maximum number of direct attached drives to spin up in 1 min = 60
Delay Among Spinup Groups (sec) = 2


Capabilities :
============
Supported Drives = SAS, SATA
Enable JBOD = Yes
Max Parallel Commands = 6656
Max SGE Count = 128
Max Data Transfer Size = 32 sectors


Secure Boot :
===========
Secure Boot Enabled = Yes
Controller in Soft Secure Mode = No
Controller in Hard Secure Mode = Yes
Key Update Pending = No
Remaining Secure Boot Key Slots = 7


Security Protocol properties :
============================
Security Protocol = None

example 2: show information from the always present virtual expander with other expander acting up

expected output: expander details show

>storcli64.exe /c0/e0 show all
CLI Version = 007.3503.0000.0000 Aug 05, 2025
Operating system = Windows 11
Controller = 0
Status = Success
Description = None


Enclosure /c0/e0  :
=================

Information :
===========
Device ID = 0
Position = 0
Enclosure Type = SES
Status = OK
FRU Part Number = N/A
Enclosure Serial Number = 300062B22011EA80
ESM Serial Number = N/A
Enclosure Zoning Mode = N/A
Partner Device ID = Unavailable
Device Type = Backplane
EnclLogicalID = 0x300062B22011EA80


Inquiry Data :
============
Vendor Identification = BROADCOM
Product Identification = VirtualSES
Product Revision Level = 03


EnclSasAddress :
==============

-------------------------
Index SAS address
-------------------------
    0 0x300162B2205FEA80
-------------------------


Properties :
==========

------------------------------------------------------------------
EID State Slots PD PS Fans TSs Alms SIM ProdID     VendorSpecific
------------------------------------------------------------------
  0 OK       16  1  0    0   0    0   0 VirtualSES
------------------------------------------------------------------


EID-Enclosure Device ID |PD-Physical drive count |PS-Power Supply count
TSs-Temperature sensor count |Alms-Alarm count |SIM-SIM Count| ProdID=Product ID

actual output: even targetted query fails

>storcli64.exe /c0/e0 show all
CLI Version = 007.3503.0000.0000 Aug 05, 2025
Operating system = Windows 11
Controller = 0
Status = Failure
Description = Failed to get enclosure information