LSI did provide me their oldest bios still available: 7.15.0.0
I have been able to flash it using another PC (from within Windows), and now, all my problems are gone :D
Conclusion: SLI firmware 15.0.0.0 and bios 7.15.0.0 for SAS adapter 9201-16i are fully compatible with my motherboard Asus...
I have a HBA SAS 9201-16i. The very same as silkshadow.
I did visit the download page yet, but when I see the list of bios for my card, I see only one. And if I click on "archive", there is nothing :(
I did sent a email to LSI as well as a request (submitted online) but didn't get any...
This is a very old post but I am sad to not read any conclusion (after the RMA)
I did upgrade my own LSI from 7.5.0.0 to 7.29.0.0 to solve a "warning" displayed the end of the initialization:(
Bad idea... Now, I don't have the warning anymore and the initialization completes successfully, but...