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Created May 11, 2026 14:15
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Firmware versions for ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion cards
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asm1064-firmware.md

Firmware versions for ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion cards

Most of this information should apply to ASM1166-based PCIE SATA expansion cards, too.

Summary

Use firmware FW 221118-0000-00 (from Nov 18, 2022), which is the firmware file 11180000.ROM. See overview table below for additional firmware versions.

My own PCIE SATA card shipped with FW 221118-0048-00, which I subsequently updated to the recommended 221118-0000-00. The card has since been used without problems in a ZFS pool of 4x 12TB HDD on FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE.

How to flash

Windows PC required: The application RomUpdWin.exe to view and to write the ASM1064 firmware is Windows-only.

  1. On your Windows PC, download the firmware file(s) you need.
  2. Shutdown the Windows PC and turn power off. Disconnect power cables.
  3. Insert the ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion card into a compatible PCIE slot. IMPORTANT: Do NOT connect any drives to the PCIE SATA card while flashing!
  4. Start (power on) the Windows PC.
  5. Start RomUpdWin.exe . It will take a few seconds for the app to scan and discover your PCIE card.
  6. Click the "FW Browser" button and select the 11180000.ROM firmware file for firmware version FW 221118-0000-00 (2022-11-18). This firmware file is in the same sub-folder as RomUpdWin.exe.
  7. Leave all other settings at their default. Do not change anything.
  8. Click the "Start" button to write/flash the firmware to the expansion card.
  9. If the firmware was written successfully, you must restart the Windows PC.
  10. After rebooting you should run RomUpdWin.exe again and check that the firmware has been updated. If successful, the FW ver. column should show 221118-0000-00.
  11. Shutdown the Windows PC and turn power off. Remove the PCIE card. Done!

Firmware Overview

Hot-plugging means you can add devices while a machine is running, but you can't remove them. Hot-swapping means you can add and/or remove devices while a machine is running.

In general, FW xxxxxx-0000-00 versions are safer choices (with exceptions).

FW version ROM file Date Notes
241224-0000-00 12240000.ROM 2024-12-24 Hot-plug support, but only 35%-40% disk throughput compared to 221118-0000-00 (11180000.ROM)
221118-0000-00 11180000.ROM 2022-11-18 RECOMMENDED: Hot-plug support, faster startup as 221118-003E-00, fixes L1 error of 221118-0048-00
221118-0048-00 2022-11-18 No hotplug support (beta version?), shows PCIe Bus error for ASPM L1. My PCIE card had this version.
221118-003E-00 2022-11-18 No hot-plug support (beta version?)
220419-0000-00 2022-04-19 Reported stock version for some cards
211108-0000-00 11080000.ROM 2021-11-08 Silverstone (silverstonetek.com) ECS06 ASM1166 standard firmware
211108-003E-00 2021-11-08 Reported stock version for some cards
201105-0018-00 2020-11-05 Reported stock version for some cards
201105-000A-03 2020-11-05 DO NOT USE: Causes crashes
201105-0000-00 11050000.ROM 2020-11-05 DO NOT USE: Causes crashes

Firmware details

Firmware 241224-0000-00 (12240000.ROM), 2024-12-24

Summary:

  • Do not use. Instead use firmware FW 221118-0000-00 (11180000.ROM) instead.
  • Firmware works, no errors during a 12-hour disk stress-test (see below). But performance of connected drives was much slower than what the hardware should theoretically support (disk throughput was only 35%-40%; i.e., 95 MB/s vs. 250 MB/s).

Results from my own 12-hour disk stress-testing on FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE in March 2026:

# Drives reached only 95 MB/s with firmware FW 241224-0000-00.
#
# Same drives reached 255 MB/s with firmware FW 221118-0000-00 (see above),
# which is close to the theoretical maximum for the controller+drive
# combination.
#
# Tested with:
# 2x Seagate IronWolf 12TB (model ST12000VN0008)
# 2x WD Red Pro 12TB       (model WD122KFBX-68CCHN0)
#
$ sudo systat -vmstat
MB/s   0.58  0.58   246   243   95.27  95.27  0.00
                    ^^^^^^^^^   ^^^^^^^^^^^^
         Seagate/WD connected   Seagate/WD connected
       to on-board controller   to ASM1064 expansion card

Feedback from other users:

  • Firmware was confirmed to work for an ASM1064-based 4-port PCIE SATA expansion card by a user in Dec 2025.
  • A 4-port ASM1064 PCIE SATA expansion card seemed to work, but showed up as 6-port card in UEFI bios as reported by another user in Dec 2025.

Firmware 221118-0000-00 (11180000.ROM), 2022-11-18

NOTE: There are two similarly named firmwares: FW 221118-0000-00 (11180000.ROM, 2022) in this section and FW 211108-0000-00 (11080000.ROM, 2021): 1118...ROM vs. 1108...ROM.

Summary:

  • Recommended! Use this firmware for your ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion cards.
  • Firmware works, no errors during a 12-hour disk stress-test (see below). Performance of connected drives was close to what the hardware should theoretically support.

Results of my own 12-hour disk stress-testing on FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE in March 2026:

# Drives reached 255 MB/s with firmware FW 221118-0000-00, which is close to the
# theoretical maximum for the controller+drive combination.
#
# Tested with:
# 2x Seagate IronWolf 12TB (model ST12000VN0008)
# 2x WD Red Pro 12TB       (model WD122KFBX-68CCHN0)
#
$ sudo systat -vmstat
MB/s   0.00  0.00   274   269   268   257  0.00
                    ^^^^^^^^^   ^^^^^^^^^
         Seagate/WD connected   Seagate/WD connected
       to on-board controller   to ASM1064 expansion card

Firmware 211108-0000-00 (11080000.ROM), 2021-11-08

NOTE: There are two similarly named firmwares: FW 211108-0000-00 (11080000.ROM, 2021) in this section and FW 221118-0000-00 (11180000.ROM, 2022): 1108...ROM vs. 1118...ROM.

Summary: Seems to work.

I did not test this firmware version myself.

Feedback from other users:

  • User reported in Jan 2025 that firmware FW 211108-0000-00 (11080000.ROM) showed no errors during an 11-hour parity check for an ASM1166-based PCIE SATA expansion card (6 ports). They argued that the same firmware should also work for ASM1064-based cards (4 ports).

Firmware 201105-000A-03 (???.ROM), 2020-11-05

Summary: DEFINITELY DO NOT USE. Causes crashes.

I did not test this firmware myself.

Feedback from other users:

  • User reported in Jan 2025 for an ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion card that firmware FW 201105-000A-03 crashed their storage array while running powertop --auto-tune, and one drive was kicked from the array ("missing disk").

Firmware 201105-0000-00 (11050000.ROM), 2020-11-05

Summary: DEFINITELY DO NOT USE. Causes crashes.

I did not test this firmware myself.

Feedback from other users:

  • User reported in Jan 2025 for an ASM1064-based PCIE SATA expansion card that firmware FW 201105-0000-00 crashed their storage array while running powertop --auto-tune, and one drive was kicked from the array ("missing disk").

References

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