download.boulder.ibm.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
170.225.126.19
Public Scan
URL:
https://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/SC-Firmware-Hist.html
Submission: On May 02 via api from US — Scanned from DE
Submission: On May 02 via api from US — Scanned from DE
Form analysis 0 forms found in the DOM
Text Content
POWER8 SYSTEM FIRMWARE FIX HISTORY - RELEASE LEVELS SC8XX
Firmware Description and History
SC860
For Impact, Severity and other Firmware definitions, Please refer to the below
'Glossary of firmware terms' url:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/power5cm/home.html#termdefs
SC860_243_165 / FW860.B1
06/02/22 Impact: Data Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: For systems with an IBM i partition with native SR-IOV at
firmware levels FW810.00 through FW860.B0, a problem was fixed for data
incorrectly written to PowerVM/LPAR memory during a DLPAR remove of a native
SR-IOV Virtual Function (VF) or Concurrent Maintenance (CM) of the SR-IOV
adapter. This may cause undetected data corruption in a partition or a
PowerVM crash.
SC860_240_165 / FW860.B0
01/21/22 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect SRC logged for a #EXM0 PCIe expansion
drawer power fault found on the low CXP cable. An SRC B7006A85 (AOCABLE,
PCICARD) is logged instead of the correct SRC of B7006A86 (PCICARD,
AOCABLE). This happens every time there is a power fault on the low CXP
cable.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) hang during LPM
validation on the target system. This is a rare system problem triggered
during an LPM migration that causes LPM attempts to fail as well as other
functionality such as configuration changes and partition shutdowns.
To recover from this problem to be able to do LPM and other operations such
as configuration changes and shutting down partitions, the system must be
re-IPLed.
* A problem was fixed for the HMC Repair and Verify (R&V) procedure failing
with "Unable to isolate the resource" during concurrent maintenance of the
#EMX0 Cable Card. This could lead one to take disruptive action in order to
do the repair. This should occur infrequently and only with cases where a
physical hardware failure has occurred which prevents access to the PCIe
reset line (PERST) but allows access to the slot power controls. As a
workaround, pulling both cables from the Cable Card to the #EMX0 expansion
drawer will result in a completely failed state that can be handled by
bringing up the "PCIe Hardware Topology" screen from either ASMI or the HMC.
Then retry the R&V operation to recover the Cable Card.
* A problem was fixed for a partition with an SR-IOV logical port (VF) having a
delay in the start of the partition. If the partition boot device is an
SR-IOV logical port network device, this issue may result in the partition
failing it boot with SRCs BA180010 and BA155102 logged and then stuck on
progress code SRC 2E49 for an AIX partition. This problem is infrequent
because it requires multiple error conditions at the same time on the SR-IOV
adapter. To trigger this problem, multiple SR-IOV logical ports for the same
adapter must encounter EEH conditions at roughly the same time such that a
new logical port EEH condition is occurring while a previous EEH condition's
handling is almost complete but not notified to the hypervisor yet. To
recover from this problem, reboot the partition.
* A problem was fixed for a system hypervisor hang and an Incomplete state on
the HMC after a logical partition (LPAR) is deleted that has an active
virtual session from another LPAR. This problem happens every time an LPAR
is deleted with an active virtual session. This is a rare problem because
virtual sessions from an HMC (a more typical case) prevent an LPAR deletion
until the virtual session is closed, but virtual sessions originating from
another LPAR do not have the same check.
* The following problems were fixed for certain SR-IOV adapters:
1) An error was fixed that occurs during a VNIC failover where the VNIC
backing device has a physical port down due to an adapter internal error with
an SRC B400FF02 logged. This is an improved version of the fix delivered in
earlier service pack FW860.A0 for adapter firmware 11.4.415.37 and it
significantly reduces the frequency of the error being fixed.
2) An adapter in SR-IOV shared mode may cause a network interruption and SRCs
B400FF02 and B400FF04 logged. The problem occurs infrequently during normal
network traffic.
These fixes update the adapter firmware to 11.4.415.41 for the following
Feature Codes and CCINs: #EN15/#EN16 with CCIN 2CE3, #EN17/#EN18 with CCIN
2CE4, #EN0H/#EN0J with CCIN 2B93, #EN0M/#EN0N with CCIN 2CC0, and #EN0K/#EN0L
with CCIN 2CC1.
Update instructions:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
* For a system with an AIX or Linux partition. a problem was fixed for Platform
Error Logs (PELs) that are truncated to only eight bytes for error logs
created by the firmware and reported to the AIX or Linux OS. These PELs may
appear to be blank or missing on the OS. This rare problem is triggered by
multiple error log events in the firmware occurring close together in time
and each needing to be reported to the OS, causing a truncation in the
reporting of the PEL. As a problem workaround, the full error logs for the
truncated logs are available on the HMC or using ASMI on the service
processor to view them.
* A problem was fixed for Platform Error Logs (PELs) not being logged and shown
by the OS if they have an Error Severity code of "critical error". The
trigger is the reporting by a system firmware subsystem of an error log that
has set an Event/Error Severity in the 'UH' section of the log to a value in
the range, 0x50 to 0x5F. The following error logs are affected:
B200308C ==> PHYP ==> A problem occurred during the IPL of a partition. The
adapter type cannot be determined. Ensure that a valid I/O Load Source is
tagged.
B700F104 ==> PHYP ==> Operating System error. Platform Licensed Internal
Code terminated a partition.
B7006990 ==> PHYP ==> Service processor failure
B2005149 ==> PHYP ==> A problem occurred during the IPL of a partition.
B700F10B ==> PHYP ==> A resource has been disabled due to hardware problems
A7001150 ==> PHYP ==> System log entry only, no service action required. No
action needed unless a serviceable event was logged.
B7005442 ==> PHYP ==> A parity error was detected in the hardware Segment
Lookaside Buffer (SLB).
B200541A ==> PHYP ==> A problem occurred during a partition Firmware Assisted
Dump
B7001160 ==> PHYP ==> Service processor failure.
B7005121 ==> PHYP ==> Platform LIC failure
BC8A0604 ==> Hostboot ==> A problem occurred during the IPL of the system.
BC8A1E07 ==> Hostboot ==> Secure Boot firmware validation failed.
Note that these error logs are still reported to the service processor and
HMC properly. This issue does not affect the Call Home action for the error
logs.
* A problem was fixed for the Device Description in a System Plan related to
Crypto Coprocessors and NVMe cards that were only showing the PCI vendor and
device ID of the cards. This is not enough information to verify which card
is installed without looking up the PCI IDs first. With the fix, more
specific/useful information is displayed and this additional information does
not have any adverse impact on sysplan operations. The problem is seen every
time a System Plan is created for an installed Crypto Coprocessor or NVMe
card.
* A problem was fixed for correct ASMI passwords being rejected when accessing
ASMI using an ASCII terminal with a serial connection to the server. This
problem always occurs for systems at firmware level FW860.A0 and later.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) hang while performing the migration of an IBM i partition.
In some situations, there is a timing issue when the hypervisor is managing
IBM i software licenses. When a subsequent LPM operation is performed, the
LPM operation hangs. To recover from this problem to be able to do LPM, the
system must be re-IPLed.
* For a system with an IBM i partition. a problem was fixed for an IBM i
partition running in P7 or P8 processor compatibility mode failing to boot
with SRCs BA330002 and B200A101 logged. This problem can be triggered as
larger configurations for processors and memory are added to the partition.
A circumvention for this problem could be to reduce the number of processors
and memory in the partition, or booting in P9 or later compatibility mode
will also allow the partition to boot.
SC860_236_165 / FW860.A2
12/07/21 Impact: Security Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Non-Pervasive: A security problem was fixed to prevent an attacker
that gains service access to the FSP service processor from reading and
writing PowerVM system memory using a series of carefully crafted service
procedures. This problem is Common Vulnerability and Exposure number
CVE-2021-38917.
* HIPER/Non-Pervasive: A problem was fixed for the IBM PowerVM Hypervisor
where through a specific sequence of VM management operations could lead to a
violation of the isolation between peer VMs. This Common Vulnerability and
Exposure number is CVE-2021-38918.
SC860_234_165 / FW860.A1
09/16/21 Impact: Data Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER: A problem was fixed which may occur on a target system following a
Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of an AIX partition utilizing Active
Memory Expansion (AME) with 64 KB page size enabled using the vmo tunable:
"vmo -ro ame_mpsize_support=1". The problem may result in AIX termination,
file system corruption, application segmentation faults, or undetected data
corruption.
Note: If you are doing an LPM migration of an AIX partition utilizing AME
and 64 KB page size enabled involving a POWER8 or POWER9 system, ensure you
have a Service Pack including this change for the appropriate firmware level
on both the source and target systems.
SC860_231_165 / FW860.A0
07/08/21 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support added to Redfish to provide a command to set the ASMI user passwords
using a new AccountService schema. Using this service, the ASMI admin, HMC,
and general user passwords can be changed.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for Time of Day (TOD) being lost for the real-time clock
(RTC) with an SRC B15A3303 logged when the service processor boots or
resets. This is a very rare problem that involves a timing problem in the
service processor kernel. If the server is running when the error occurs,
there will be an SRC B15A3303 logged, and the time of day on the service
processor will be incorrect for up to six hours until the hypervisor
synchronizes its (valid) time with the service processor. If the server is
not running when the error occurs, there will be an SRC B15A3303 logged, and
If the server is subsequently IPLed without setting the date and time in ASMI
to fix it, the IPL will abort with an SRC B7881201 which indicates to the
system operator that the date and time are invalid.
* A problem was fixed in ASMI to allow setting static routes with two default
gateway IP addresses. Without the fix, ASMI always fails with "Invalid
entry. Gateway address" for this configuration. As a workaround, the static
routes could be created using the ASMI command line and the "route add"
command.
* A problem was fixed for intermittent failures for a reset of a Virtual
Function (VF) for SR-IOV adapters during Enhanced Error Handling (EEH) error
recovery. This is triggered by EEH events at a VF level only, not at the
adapter level. The error recovery fails if a data packet is received by the
VF while the EEH recovery is in progress. A VF that has failed can be
recovered by a partition reboot or a DLPAR remove and add of the VF.
* A problem was fixed for time-out issues in Power Enterprise Pools 1.0 (PEP
1.0) that can affect performance by having non-optimal assignments of
processors and memory to the server logical partitions in the pool. For this
problem to happen, the server must be in a PEP 1.0 pool and the HMC must take
longer than 2 minutes to provide the PowerVM hypervisor with the information
about pool resources owned by this server. The problem can be avoided by
running the HMC optmem command before activating the partitions.
* A problem was fixed where the Floating Point Unit Computational Test, which
should be set to "staggered" by default, has been changed in some
circumstances to be disabled. If you wish to re-enable this option, this fix
is required. After applying this service pack, do the following steps:
1) Sign into the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
2) Select Floating Point Computational Unit under the System Configuration
heading and change it from disabled to what is needed: staggered (run once
per core each day) or periodic (a specified time).
3) Click "Save Settings".
* The following problems were fixed for certain SR-IOV adapters:
1) An error was fixed that occurs during a VNIC failover where the VNIC
backing device has a physical port down or read port errors with an SRC
B400FF02 logged.
2) A problem was fixed for adding a new logical port that has a PVID assigned
that is causing traffic on that VLAN to be dropped by other interfaces on the
same physical port which uses OS VLAN tagging for that same VLAN ID. This
problem occurs each time a logical port with a non-zero PVID that is the same
as an existing VLAN is dynamically added to a partition or is activated as
part of a partition activation, the traffic flow stops for other partitions
with OS configured VLAN devices with the same VLAN ID. This problem can be
recovered by configuring an IP address on the logical port with the non-zero
PVID and initiating traffic flow on this logical port. This problem can be
avoided by not configuring logical ports with a PVID if other logical ports
on the same physical port are configured with OS VLAN devices.
This fix updates the adapter firmware to 11.4.415.37 for the following
Feature Codes and CCINs: #EN15/#EN16 with CCIN 2CE3, #EN17/#EN18 with CCIN
2CE4, #EN0H/#EN0J with CCIN 2B93, #EN0M/#EN0N with CCIN 2CC0, and #EN0K/#EN0L
with CCIN 2CC1.
Update instructions:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
* A problem was fixed for some serviceable events specific to the reporting of
EEH errors not being displayed on the HMC. The sending of an associated call
home event, however, was not affected. This problem is intermittent and
infrequent.
* A problem was fixed for newer hardware record names (hardware delivered after
the original POWER8 GA) not being displayed correctly in the ASMI
deconfiguration records. For example, Capp is displayed as "Unknown".
* A problem was fixed for a system termination with SRC B700F107 following a
time facility processor failure with SRC B700F10B. With the fix, the
transparent replacement of the failed processor will occur for the B700F10B
if there is a free core, with no impact to the system.
* A problem was fixed for possible partition errors following a concurrent
firmware update from FW810 or later. A precondition for this problem is that
DLPAR operations of either physical or virtual I/O devices must have occurred
prior to the firmware update. The error can take the form of a partition
crash at some point following the update. The frequency of this problem is
low. If the problem occurs, the OS will likely report a DSI (Data Storage
Interrupt) error. For example, AIX produces a DSI_PROC log entry. If the
partition does not crash, it is also possible that some subsequent I/O DLPAR
operations will fail.
* A problem was fixed for spurious out-of-range (greater than 127 C)
temperatures being reported for the processor with SRC B1112A10. With the
fix, only valid temperature sensor readings are used when reporting
processors that have exceeded the Over Temperature (OT) value.
* A problem was fixed in ASMI for setting a static route with a network address
for the IP such as "xxx.xxx.xxx.0". Without the fix, ASMI always fails with
"Invalid entry. IP address" for this network address format. As a
workaround, the static route could be created with the individual IP endpoint
entered instead of the network address. or created using the ASMI command
line and the "route add" command.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for physical I/O
property data not being able to be collected for an inactive partition booted
in "IOR" mode with SRC B200A101 logged. This can happen when making a system
plan (sysplan) for an IBM i partition using the HMC and the IBM i partition
is inactive. The sysplan data collection for the active IBM i partitions is
successful.
* On systems with only Integrated Facility for Linux ( IFL) processors and AIX
or IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed for performance issues for IFL VMs
(Linux and VIOS). This problem occurs if AIX or IBM i partitions are active
on a system with IPL only cores. As a workaround, AIX or IBM i partitions
should not be activated on an IFL only system. With the fix, the activation
of AIX and IBM i partitions are blocked on an IFL only system. If this fix is
installed concurrently with AIX or IBM i partitions running, these partitions
will be allowed to continue to run until they are powered off. Once powered
off, the AIX and IBM i partitions will not be allowed to be activated again
on the IFL-only system.
SC860_226_165 / FW860.90
12/09/20 Impact: Data Severity: HIPER
New features and functions
* Enable periodic logging of internal component operational data for the PCIe3
expansion drawer paths. The logging of this data does not impact the normal
use of the system.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for certain SR-IOV adapters for a
condition that may result from frequent resets of adapter Virtual Functions
(VFs), or transmission stalls and could lead to potential undetected data
corruption.
The following additional fixes are also included:
1) The VNIC backing device goes to a powered off state during a VNIC failover
or Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration. This failure is intermittent and
very infrequent.
2) Adapter time-outs with SRC B400FF01 or B400FF02 logged.
3) Adapter time-outs related to adapter commands becoming blocked with SRC
B400FF01 or B400FF02 logged
4) VF function resets occasionally not completing quickly enough resulting in
SRC B400FF02 logged.
This fix updates the adapter firmware to 11.4.415.33 for the following
Feature Codes and CCINs: #EN15/#EN16 with CCIN 2CE3, #EN17/#EN18 with CCIN
2CE4, #EN0H/#EN0J with CCIN 2B93, #EN0M/#EN0N with CCIN 2CC0, and #EN0K/#EN0L
with CCIN 2CC1.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A rare problem was fixed for a checkstop during an IPL that fails to isolate
and guard the problem core. An SRC is logged with B1xxE5xx and an extended
hex word 8 xxxxDD90. With the fix, the suspected failing hardware is guarded
and a node is possibly deconfigured to allow the subsequent IPLs of the
system to be successful.
* A problem was fixed for the REST/Redfish interface to change the success
return code for object creation from "200" to "201". The "200" status code
means that the request was received and understood and is being processed. A
"201" status code indicates that a request was successful and, as a result, a
resource has been created. The Redfish Ruby Client, "redfish_client" may
fail a transaction if a "200" status code is returned when "201" is expected.
* A problem was fixed to allow quicker recovery of PCIe links for the #EMXO
PCIe expansion drawer for a run-time fault with B7006A22 logged. The time
for recovery attempts can exceed six minutes on rare occasions which may
cause I/O adapter failures and failed nodes. With the fix, the PCIe links
will recover or fail faster (in the order of seconds) so that redundancy in a
cluster configuration can be used with failure detection and failover
processing by other hosts, if available, in the case where the PCIe links
fail to recover.
* A problem was fixed for a concurrent maintenance "Repair and Verify" (R&V)
operation for a #EMX0 fanout module that fails with an "Unable to isolate the
resource" error message. This should occur only infrequently for cases where
a physical hardware failure has occurred which prevents access to slot power
controls. This problem can be worked around by bringing up the "PCIe
Hardware Topology" screen from either ASMI or the HMC after the hardware
failure but before the concurrent repair is attempted. This will avoid the
problem with the PCIe slot isolation These steps can also be used to
recover from the error to allow the R&V repair to be attempted again.
* A problem was fixed for a B7006A96 fanout module FPGA corruption error that
can occur in unsupported PCIe3 expansion drawer(#EMX0) configurations that
mix an enhanced PCIe3 fanout module (#EMXH) in the same drawer with legacy
PCIe3 fanout modules (#EMXF, #EMXG, #ELMF, or #ELMG). This causes the FPGA
on the enhanced #EMXH to be updated with the legacy firmware and it becomes a
non-working and unusable fanout module. With the fix, the unsupported #EMX0
configurations are detected and handled gracefully without harm to the FPGA
on the enhanced fanout modules.
* A problem was fixed for possible dispatching delays for partitions running in
POWER8 processor compatibility mode.
* A problem was fixed for system memory not returned after create and delete of
partitions, resulting in slightly less memory available after configuration
changes in the systems. With the fix, an IPL of the system will recover any
of the memory that was orphaned by the issue.
* A problem was fixed for utilization statistics for commands such as HMC
lslparutil and third-party lpar2rrd that do not accurately represent CPU
utilization. The values are incorrect every time for a partition that is
migrated with Live Partition Mobility (LPM). Power Enterprise Pools 2.0 is
not affected by this problem. If this problem has occurred, here are three
possible recovery options:
1) Re-IPL the target system of the migration.
2) Or delete and recreate the partition on the target system.
3) Or perform an inactive migration of the partition. The cycle values get
zeroed in this case.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 expansion drawer cable that has hidden error
logs for a single lane failure. This happens whenever a single lane error
occurs. Subsequent lane failures are not hidden and have visible error logs.
Without the fix, the hidden or informational logs would need to be examined
to gather more information for the failing hardware.
* A problem was fixed for a DLPAR remove of memory from a partition that fails
if the partition contains 65535 or more LMBs. With 16MB LMBs, this error
threshold is 1 TB of memory. With 256 MB LMBs, it is 16 TB of memory. A
reboot of the partition after the DLPAR will remove the memory from the
partition.
* A problem was fixed for extraneous B400FF01 and B400FF02 SRCs logged when
moving cables on SR-IOV adapters. This is an infrequent error that can occur
if the HMC performance monitor is running at the same time the cables are
moved. These SRCs can be ignored when accompanied by cable movement.
* A problem was fixed for B400FF02 errors for certain SR-IOV adapters during
adapter initialization or error recovery. This is a rare error that can
occur because of a race condition in the firmware.
This fix pertains to adapters with the following Feature Codes and CCINs:
#EN15/#EN16 with CCIN 2CE3, #EN17/#EN18 with CCIN 2CE4, #EN0H/#EN0J with CCIN
2B93, #EN0M/#EN0N with CCIN 2CC0, and #EN0K/#EN0L with CCIN 2CC1.
* A problem was fixed for not logging SRCs for certain cable pulls from the
#EMXO PCIe expansion drawer. With the fix, the previously undetected cable
pulls are now detected and logged with SRC B7006A8B and B7006A88 errors.
* A problem was fixed for a rare system hang that can occur when a page of
memory is being migrated. Page migration (memory relocation) can occur for a
variety of reasons, including predictive memory failure, DLPAR of memory, and
normal operations related to managing the page pool resources.
* A problem was fixed for running PCM on a system with SR-IOV adapters in
shared mode that results in an "Incomplete" system state with certain
hypervisor tasks deadlocked. This problem is rare and is triggered when
using SR-IOV adapters in shared mode and gathering performance statistics
with PCM (Performance Collection and Monitoring) and also having a low level
error on an adapter. The only way to recover from this condition is to
re-IPL the system.
* A problem was fixed for an SRC B7006A99 informational log now posted as a
Predictive with a call out of the CXP cable FRU, This fix improves FRU
isolation for cases where a CXP cable alert causes a B7006A99 that occurs
prior to a B7006A22 or B7006A8B. Without the fix, the SRC B7006A99 is
informational and the latter SRCs cause a larger hardware replacement even
though the earlier event identified a probable cause for the cable FRU.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for only seeing 50%
of the total Power Enterprise Pools (PEP) 1.0 memory that is provided. This
happens when querying resource information via QAPMCONF which calls MATMATR
0x01F6. With the fix, an error is corrected in the IBM i MATMATR option
0X01F6 that retrieves the memory information for the Collection Services.
SC860_215_165 / FW860.81
03/04/20 Impact: Security Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for an HMC "Incomplete" state for a
system after the HMC user password is changed with ASMI on the service
processor. This problem can occur if the HMC password is changed on the
service processor but not also on the HMC, and a reset of the service
processor happens. With the fix, the HMC will get the needed "failed
authentication" error so that the user knows to update the old password on
the HMC.
SC860_212_165 / FW860.80
12/17/19 Impact: Security Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support was added for improved security for the service processor password
policy. For the service processor, the "admin", "hmc" and "general" password
must be set on first use for newly manufactured systems and after a factory
reset of the system. The REST/Redfish interface will return an error saying
the user account is expired in these scenarios. This policy change helps to
enforce the service processor is not left in a state with a well-known
password. The user can change from an expired default password to a new
password using the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
* Support was added for real-time data capture for PCIe3 expansion drawer
(#EMX0) cable card connection data via resource dump selector on the HMC or
in ASMI on the service processor. Using the resource selector string of
"xmfr -dumpccdata" will non-disruptively generate an RSCDUMP type of dump
file that has the current cable card data, including data from cables and the
retimers.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for SR-IOV adapters to provide a consistent Informational
message level for cable plugging issues. For transceivers not plugged on
certain SR-IOV adapters, an unrecoverable error (UE) SRC B400FF03 was changed
to an Informational message logged. This affects the SR-IOV adapters with
the following feature codes and CCINs: #EC2R/EC2S with CCIN 58FA; #EC2T/EC2U
with CCIN 58FB; and #EC3L/EC3M with CCIN 2CEC.
For copper cables unplugged on certain SR-IOV adapters, a missing message was
replaced with an Informational message logged. This affects the SR-IOV
adapters with the following feature codes and CCINs: #EN17/EN18 with CCIN
2CE4; and #EN0K/EN0L with CCIN 2CC1.
* The following problem related to SR-IOV was fixed: If the SR-IOV logical
port's VLAN ID (PVID) is modified while the logical port is configured, the
adapter will use an incorrect PVID for the Virtual Function (VF). This
problem is rare because most users do not change the PVID once the logical
port is configured, so they will not have the problem.
This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1940 for the following Feature
Codes and CCINs: #EN15/EN16 with CCIN 2CE3; #EN17/EN18 with CCIN 2CE4;
#EN0H/EN0J with CCIN 2B93; #EN0M/EN0N with CCIN 2CC0; and #EN0K/EN0L with
CCIN 2CC1.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for Novalink failing to activate partitions that have
names with character lengths near the maximum allowed character length. This
problem can be circumvented by changing the partition name to have 32
characters or less.
* A problem was fixed where a Linux or AIX partition type was incorrectly
reported as unknown. Symptoms include: IBM Cloud Management Console (CMC)
not being able to determine the RPA partition type (Linux/AIX) for partitions
that are not active; and HMC attempts to dynamically add CPU to Linux
partitions may fail with a HSCL1528 error message stating that there are not
enough Integrated Facility for Linux ( IFL) cores for the operation.
* A problem was fixed for a possible system crash with SRC B7000103 if the HMC
session is closed while the performance monitor is active. As a
circumvention for this problem, make sure the performance monitor is turned
off before closing the HMC sessions.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of a large
memory partition to a target system that causes the target system to crash
and for the HMC to go to the "Incomplete" state. For servers with the
default LMB size (256MB), if a partition is >=16TB and if desired memory is
different than the maximum memory, LPM may fail on the target system.
Servers with LMB sizes less than the default could hit this problem with
smaller memory partition sizes. A circumvention to the problem is to set the
desired and maximum memory to the same value for the large memory partition
that is to be migrated.
* A problem was fixed for system hangs or incomplete states displayed by HMC(s)
caused by a loop in the handling of Segment Lookaside Buffer (SLB) cache
memory parity errors where SRC B7005442 may be logged. This problem has a
low frequency of occurrence as it requires severe errors in the SLB cache
that are not cleared by an error flush of the entries. A re-IPL of the
system can be used to recover from this error.
* A problem was fixed for a failed clock card causing a node to be guarded
during the IPL of a multi-node system. With the fix, the redundant clock
card allows all the nodes to IPL in the case of a single clock card failure.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a D-mode IPL
failure when using a USB DVD drive in an IBM 7226 multimedia storage
enclosure. Error logs with SRC BA16010E, B2003110, and/or B200308C can
occur. As a circumvention, an external DVD drive can be used for the D-mode
IPL.
* On systems with a single node, a problem was fixed for unknowingly running at
lower (the default) frequencies when changing into Fixed Max Frequency (FMF)
mode. This problem should be unlikely to happen because it requires that the
system already is in FMF mode, and then the user requesting a change into FMF
mode. This request is not handled correctly as the tunable parameters get
reset to default which allows the processor frequency to be reduced to the
minimum value. The recovery for this problem is to change the power mode to
"Nominal" and then change it to FMF.
* On systems with IBM i partitions, a rare problem was fixed for an
intermittent failure of a DLPAR remove of an adapter. In most cases, a retry
of the operation will be successful.
* On systems with Integrated Facility for Linux ( IFL) processors and
Linux-only partitions, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise Pools (PEP)
1.0 not going back into "Compliance" when resources are moved from Server 1
to Server 2, causing an expected "Approaching Out Of Compliance", but not
automatically going back into compliance when the resources are no longer
used on Server 1. As a circumvention, the user can do an extra "push" and
"pull" of one resource to make the Pool discover it is back in "Compliance",
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a possibly
incorrect number of Memory COD (Capacity On Demand) resources shown when
gathering performance data with IBM i Collection Services. Memory resources
activated by Power Enterprise Pools (PEP) 1.0 will be missing from the data.
An error was corrected in the IBM i MATMATR option 0X01F6 that retrieves the
Memory COD information for the Collection Services.
SC860_205_165 / FW860.70
06/18/19 Impact: Availability Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: The following problems related to SR-IOV were fixed:
1) A problem was fixed for new or replacement SR-IOV adapters with feature
codes EN15, EN16, EN17, and EN18 being rendered non-functional when moved to
SR-IOV mode. This includes cards moved from dedicated device mode, newly
installed adapters, and FRU replacements. This problem occurs when the
adapter firmware is updated to the 10.2.252.x levels from 11.x adapter
firmware levels.
2) A problem was fixed for certain SR-IOV adapters where SRC B400FF01 errors
are seen during vNIC failovers and Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of
vNIC clients. This may also result in errors seen in partitions (for example,
some partitions may show LNC2ENT_TX_ERR).
3) A problem was fixed where network multicast traffic is not received by a
SR-IOV logical port (VF) network interface for a Linux partition. The failure
can occur when the partition transitions the network interface out of
promiscuous or multicast promiscuous mode.
These fixes update adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1939 for the following
Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, and
EN0L.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* DEFERRED: PARTITION_DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for repeated CPU DLPAR
remove operations by Linux (Ubuntu, SUSE, or RHEL) OSes possibly resulting in
a partition crash. No specific SRCs or error logs are reported. The
problem can occur on any DLPAR CPU remove operation if running on Linux. The
occurrence is intermittent and rare. The partition crash may result in one
or more of the following console messages (in no particular order):
1) Bad kernel stack pointer addr1 at addr2
2) Oops: Bad kernel stack pointer
3) ******* RTAS CALL BUFFER CORRUPTION *******
4) ERROR: Token not supported
This fix does not activate until there is a reboot of the partition.
* A problem was fixed for a loss of service processor redundancy if an attempt
is made to boot from a corrupted flash side on the primary service
processor. Although the primary service processor recovers, the backup
service processor ends up stuck in the IPLing state. The backup service
processor must be reset to recover from the IPL hang and restore service
processor redundancy.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect SRC B150F138 being logged against the
backup service processor when service processor redundancy has been
disabled. This SRC is logged at system run-time when the backup service
processor is in the standby or termination state. This is the expected state
of backup service processor with redundancy is disabled, so no SRC should be
logged and it can be ignored.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe Hub checkstop with SRC B138E504 logged that
fails to guard the errant processor chip. With the fix, the problem hardware
FRU is guarded so there is not a recurrence of the error on the next IPL.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect SRC of B1810000 being logged when a
firmware update fails because of Entitlement Key expiration. The error
displayed on the HMC and in the OS is correct and meaningful. With the fix,
for this firmware update failure the correct SRC of B181309D is now logged.
* A problem was fixed for informational logs flooding the error log if a "Get
Sensor Reading" is not working.
* A problem was fixed for a Redfish (REST) Patch request for PowerSaveMode with
an unsupported mode value returning an error code "500" instead of the
correct error code of "400".
* A problem was fixed for a rare Live Partition Mobility migration hang with
the partition left in VPM (Virtual Page Mode) which causes performance
concerns. This error is triggered by a migration failover operation
occurring during the migration state of "Suspended" and there has to be
insufficient VASI buffers available to clear all partition state data waiting
to be sent to the migration target. Migration failovers are rare and the
migration state of "Suspended" is a migration state lasting only a few
seconds for most partitions, so this problem should not be frequent. On the
HMC, there will be an inability to complete either a migration stop or a
recovery operation. The HMC will show the partition as migrating and any
attempt to change that will fail. The system must be re-IPLed to recover
from the problem.
* A problem was fixed for shared processor partitions going unresponsive after
changing the processor sharing mode of a dedicated processor partition from
"allow when partition is active" to either "allow when partition is inactive"
or "never". This problem can be circumvented by avoiding disabling processor
sharing when active on a dedicated processor partition. To recover if the
issue has been encountered, enable "processor sharing when active" on the
dedicated partition.
* A problem was fixed for an error in deleting a partition with the virtualized
Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) enabled and SRC B7000602 logged. When this
error occurs, the encryption process in the hypervisor may become unusable.
The problem can be recovered from with a re-IPL of the system.
* A problem was fixed in Live Partition Mobility (LPM) of a partition to a
shared processor pool, which results in the partition being unable to consume
uncapped cycles on the target system. To prevent the issue from occurring,
partitions can be migrated to the default shared processor pool and then
dynamically moved to the desired shared processor pool. To recover from the
issue, do one of the following four steps:
1) Either use DLPAR to add or remove a virtual processor to/from the affected
partition;
2) or dynamically move the partition between shared processor pools;
3) or reboot the partition;
4) or re-IPL the system.
* A problem was fixed for a boot failure using a N_PORT ID Virtualization
(NPIV) LUN for an operating system that is installed on a disk of 2 TB or
greater, and having a device driver for the disk that adheres to a non-zero
allocation length requirement for the "READ CAPACITY 16". The IBM partition
firmware had always used an invalid zero allocation length for the return of
data and that had been accepted by previous device drivers. Now some of the
newer device drivers are adhering to the specification and needing an
allocation length of non-zero to allow the boot to proceed.
* A problem was fixed for a clock card failure with SRC B158CC62 logged calling
out the wrong clock card and not calling out the cable and system backplane
as needed. This fix does not add processors to the callout but in some cases
the processor has also been identified as the cause of the clock card
failure.
* A problem was fixed for failing to boot from an AIX mksysb backup on a USB
RDX drive with SRCs logged of BA210012, AA06000D, and BA090010. The problem
trigger is a boot attempt from the RDX device. The boot error does not occur
if a serial console is used to navigate the SMS menus.
* A problem was fixed for a system IPLing with an invalid time set on the
service processor that causes partitions to be reset to the Epoch date of
01/01/1970. With the fix, on the IPL, the hypervisor logs a B700120x when
the service processor real time clock is found to be invalid and halts the
IPL to allow the time and date to be corrected by the user. The Advanced
System Management Interface (ASMI) can be used to correct the time and date
on the service processor. On the next IPL, if the time and date have not
been corrected, the hypervisor will log a SRC B7001224 (indicating the user
was warned on the last IPL) but allow the partitions to start, but the time
and date will be set to the Epoch value.
* A security problem was fixed in the service processor Network Security
Services (NSS) services which, with a man-in-the-middle attack, could provide
false completion or errant network transactions or exposure of sensitive data
from intercepted SSL connections to ASMI, Redfish, or the service processor
message server. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2018-12384.
* A problem was fixed for hypervisor task getting deadlocked if partitions are
powered on at the same time that SR-IOV is being configured for an adapter.
With this problem, workloads will continue to run but it will not be possible
to change the virtualization configuration or power partitions on and off.
This error can be recovered by doing a re-IPL of the system.
* A problem was fixed for hypervisor tasks getting deadlocked that cause the
hypervisor to be unresponsive to the HMC ( this shows as an incomplete state
on the HMC) with SRC B200F011 logged. This is a rare timing error. With
this problem, OS workloads will continue to run but it will not be possible
for the HMC to interact with the partitions. This error can be recovered by
doing a re-IPL of the system with a scheduled outage.
* A problem was fixed for false indication of a real time clock (RTC) battery
failure with SRC B15A3305 logged. This error happens infrequently. If the
error occurs, and another battery failure SRC is not logged within 24 hours,
ignore the error as it was caused by a timing issue in the battery test.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DEFERRED: On systems with a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) , a problem
was fixed for the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer links to improve stability.
Intermittent training failures on the links occurred during the IPL with SRC
B7006A8B logged. With the fix, the link settings were changed to lower the
peak link signal amplification to bring the signal level into the middle of
the operating range, thus improving the high margin to reduce link training
failures. The system must be re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* On a system witn an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a DLPAR
force-remove of a physical IO adapter from an IBM i partition and a
simultaneous power off of the partition causing the partition to hang during
the power off. To recover the partition from the error, the system must be
re-IPLed. This problem is rare because there is only a 2-second timing
window for the DLPAR and power off to interfere with each other.
* On a system with an active IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a SPCN
firmware download to the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (feature #EMX0) Chassis
Management Card (CMC) that could possibly get stuck in a pending state. This
failure is very unlikely as it would require a concurrent replacement of the
CMC card that is loaded with a SPCN level that is older than 2015
(01MEX151012a). The failure with the SPCN download can be corrected by a
re-IPL of the system.
* On a system with an AMS (Active Memory Sharing) partition, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration failure when migrating
from P9 to a pre-FW860 P8 or P7 system. This failure can occur if the P9
partition is in dedicated memory mode, and the Physical Page Table (PPT)
ratio is explicitly set on the HMC (rather than keeping the default value)
and the partition is then transitioned to AMS mode prior to the migration to
the older system. This problem can be avoided by using dedicated memory in
the partition being migrated back to the older system.
* On a system with a vNIC configuration with multiple backing Virtual Functions
(VFs), a problem was fixed for a backing VF failure after a sequence of
repeated failovers where one of the VF backing devices goes to a powered off
state. This problem is infrequent and only occurs after many vNIC
failovers. A reboot of the partition with the affected VF will recover it.
* On systems with PCIe3 expansion drawers (feature code #EMX0), a problem was
fixed for a UE B700BA01 logged after a FRU was replaced in the PCIe Expansion
drawer. The log should have been informational instead of unrecoverable
because it is normal to have this log for a replaced part in the expansion
drawer that has a different serial number from the old part. If a part in
the expansion drawer has been replaced, the UE error log can be ignored.
* On systems with IBMi partitions, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migrations that could have incorrect hardware resource
information (related to VPD) in the target partition if a failover had
occurred for the source partition during the migration. This failover would
have to occur during the Suspended state of the migration, which only lasts
about a second, so this should be rare. With the fix, at a minimum the
migration error will be detected to abort the migration so it can be
restarted. And at a later IBMi OS level, the fix will allow the migration to
complete even though the failover has occurred during the Suspended state of
the migration.
* On systems with PCIe3 expansion drawers (feature #EMX0), a problem was fixed
for PCI link recovery failure during a PCI Host Bridge (PHB) reset with SRCs
of B7006A80, B7006A22, B7006A8B, and B7006970 logged. This causes the cable
card to fail, losing all slots in the expansion drawer. This is a rare
problem. If this error occurs, a concurrent maintenance operation could
reboot the expansion drawer or a re-IPL of the system could be done to
recover the drawer.
* On systems with an IBM i partition with greater than 9999 GB installed, a
problem was fixed for on/Off COD memory-related amounts not being displayed
correctly. This only happens when retrieving the On/Off COD numbers via a
particular IBMi MATMATR MI command option value.
* On systems with PCIe3 expansion drawers(feature code #EMX0), a problem was
fixed for a concurrent exchange of a PCIe expansion drawer cable card,
although successful, leaves the fault LED turned on.
* A problem was fixed for shared processor pools where uncapped shared
processor partitions placed in a pool may not be able to consume all
available processor cycles. The problem may occur when the sum of the
allocated processing units for the pool member partitions equals the maximum
processing units of the pool.
SC860_180_165 / FW860.60
10/31/18 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A security problem was fixed in the Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP)
client on the service processor for an out-of-bound memory access flaw that
could be used by a malicious DHCP server to crash the DHCP client process.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2018-5732.
* A problem was fixed for certain hypervisor error logs being slow to report to
the OS. The error logs affected are those created by the hypervisor
immediately after the hypervisor is started and if there is more than 128
error logs from the hypervisor to be reported. The error logs at the end of
the queue take a long time to be processed, and may make it appear as if
error logs are not being reported to the OS.
* A problem was fixed for an IPL system termination with SRC B181345A logged.
This is an infrequent problem related to a time-out in the synchronization of
data to the backup service processor. The problem can be recovered from by a
re-IPL of the system.
* A problem was fixed for the periodic guard reminder function to not re-post
error logs of failed FRUs on each IPL. Instead, a reminder SRC is created to
call home the list of FRUs that have failed and require service. This puts
the system to back to original behavior of only posting one error log for
each FRU that has failed.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface being unable
to show the details of a clock card error log without failing with a SRC
B1818A12. This is a very infrequent problem that needs the failing error log
entry to be truncated at exactly the maximum size of an error log entry.
* For a HMC managed system, a problem was fixed for a rare, intermittent
NetsCMS core dump that could occur whenever the system is doing a deferred
shutdown power off. There is no impact to normal operations as the power off
completes, but there are extra error logs with SRC B181EF88 and a service
processor dump.
* A problem was fixed for the Redfsih "Manager" request returning duplicate
object URIs for the same HMC. This can occur if the HMC was removed from the
managed system and then later added back in. The Redfish objects for the
earlier instances of the same HMC were never deleted on the remove.
* Hardware data collection performance was improved for platform-level dumps.
* A problem was fixed a service processor reset that can occur after 30 or more
Administrative Failovers to the backup service processor without an AC power
cycle or soft reset of the service processor. After a large number of
failovers, a memory leak causes an out of memory condition on the service
processor. There is no impact to normal operations as the reset causes an
error failover to the backup service processor that is successful.
* A problem was fixed for an enclosure fault LED being stuck on after a repair
of a fan. This problem only occurs after the second concurrent repair of a
fan.
* A problem was fixed for a concurrent EMX0 PCIe3 expansion CXP (120 Gb/s 12x
Small Form-factor Pluggable) cable adapter add or repair that fails with a
hypervisor 0x030A error after a previous add or repair failure. The affected
CXP cable adapter has feature code #EJ07. A system IPL will recover from the
problem.
* A problem was fixed for a dedicated processor partition hanging during a
shutdown. This is a very rare problem with only a small timing window in the
shutdown that can cause the hang.
* A problem was fixed for a Novalink enabled partition not being able to
release master from the HMC that results in error HSCLB95B. To resolve the
issue, run a rebuild managed server operation on the HMC and then retry the
release. This occurs when attempting to release master from HMC after the
first boot up of a Novalink enabled partition if Master Mode was enforced
prior to the boot.
* A problem was fixed for resource dumps that use the selector "iomfnm" and
options "rioinfo" or "dumpbainfo". This combination of options for resource
dumps always fails without the fix.
* A problem was fixed for a Virtual Network Interface Controller (vNIC) client
adapter to prevent a failover when disabling the adapter from the HMC. A
failover to a new backing device could cause the client adapter to
erroneously appear to be active again when it is actually disabled. This
causes confusion and failures on the OS for the device driver. This problem
can only occur when there is more than a single backing device for the vNIC
adapter and if a commands are issued from the HMC to disable the adapter and
enable the adapter.
* A problem was fixed for all variants (this was partially fixed in an earlier
release) for the SR-IOV firmware adapter updates using the HMC GUI or CLI to
only reboot one SR-IOV adapter at a time. If multiple adapters are updated
at the same time, the HMC error message HSCF0241E may occur: "HSCF0241E
Could not read firmware information from SR-IOV device ...". This fix
prevents the system network from being disrupted by the SR-IOV adapter
updates when redundant configurations are being used for the network. The
problem can be circumvented by using the HMC GUI to update the SR-IOV
firmware one adapter at a time using the following steps:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm
* A problem was fixed for the callout of SRC BA188002 so it does not display
three trailing extra garbage characters in the location code for the FRU.
The string is correct up to the line ending white space, so the three extra
characters after that should be ignored. This problem is intermittent and
does not occur for all BA188002 error logs.
* A problem was fixed for when booting a large number of LPARs with Virtual
Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) capability, some partitions may post a SRC
BA54504D time-out for taking too long to start. With the fix, the time
allowed to boot a vTPM LPAR is increased. If a time-out occurs, the
partition can be booted again to recover. The problem can be avoided by
auto-starting fewer vTPM LPARs, or booting them a couple at a time to prevent
flooding the vTPM device server with requests that will slow the boot time
while the LPARs wait on the vTPM device server responses.
* A problem was fixed for SMS menus to limit reporting on the NPIV and vSCSI
configuration to the first 511 LUNs. Without the fix, LUN 512 through the
last configured LUN report with invalid data. Configurations in excess of
511 LUNs are very rare, and it is recommended for performance reasons (to be
able search for the boot LUN more quickly) that the number of LUNs on a
single targeted be limited to less than 512.
* The following two errors in the SR-IOV adapter firmware were fixed: 1) The
adapter resets and there is a B400FF01 reference code logged. This error
happens in rare cases when there are multiple partitions actively running
traffic through the adapter. System firmware resets the adapter and recovers
the system with no user-intervention required; 2) SR-IOV VFs with defined
VLANs and an assigned PVID are not able to ping each other.
This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1933, for the following Feature
Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, and EN0L,.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for an IPL that ends with the HMC in the "Incomplete"
state with SRCs B182951C and A7001151 logged. Partitions may start and can
continue to run without the HMC services available. In order to recover the
HMC session, a re-IPL of the system is needed (however, partition workloads
could continue running uninterrupted until the system is intentionally
re-IPLed at a scheduled time.). The frequency of this problem is very low as
it rarely occurs.
* A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) failing along with
other hypervisor tasks, but the partitions continue to run. This is an
extremely rare failure where a re-IPL is needed to restore HMC or Novalink
connections to the partitions, or to do any system configuration changes.
* A problem was fixed for partition SMS menus to display certain network
adapters that were unviewable and not usable as boot and install devices
after a microcode update. The problem network adapter is still present and
usable at the OS. The adapters with this problem have the following featiure
codes: EN0A, EN0B, EN0H, EN0J, EN0K, EN0L, EN15, EN16, EN17, and EN18.
* A problem was fixed for platform dumps failing for HWPROC checkstops, causing
the system to terminate instead of re-IPLing after the processor failure. To
recover, the system can be powered off and then IPLed. Any problem hardware
will be guarded during the IPL to allow normal system operations.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On a system with an AIX partition, a problem was fixed for a partition time
jump that could occur after doing an AIX Live Update. This problem could
occur if the AIX Live Update happens after a Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
migration to the partition. AIX applications using the timebase facility
could observe a large jump forwards or backwards in the time reported by the
timebase facility. A circumvention to this problem is to reboot the
partition after the LPM operation prior to doing the AIX Live Update. An AIX
fix is also required to resolve this problem. The issue will no longer occur
when this firmware update is applied on the system that is the target of the
LPM operation and the AIX partition performing the AIX Live Update has the
appropriate AIX updates installed prior to doing the AIX Live Update.
* For a shared memory partition, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migration hang after a Mover Service Partition (MSP) failover
in the early part of the migration. To recover from the hang, a migration
stop command must be given on the HMC. Then the migration can be retryed.
* For a shared memory partition, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migration failure to an indeterminate state. This can occur
if the Mover Service Partition (MSP) has a failover that occurs when the
migrating partition is in the state of "Suspended." To recover from this
problem, the partition must be shutdown and restarted.
* On a system attached to a Cloud Management Console (CMC) via a Cloud
Connector on the HMC, a problem was fixed for Redfish queries to the service
processor resulting in memory leaks and out of memory (OOM) resets of the
service processor.
SC860_165_165 / FW860.51
05/22/18 Impact: Security Severity: SPE
Response for Recent Security Vulnerabilities
* DISRUPTIVE: In response to recently reported security vulnerabilities, this
firmware update is being released to address Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures issue number CVE-2018-3639. In addition, Operating System updates
are required in conjunction with this FW level for CVE-2018-3639.
SC860_160_056 / FW860.50
05/03/18 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support was added to allow V9R910 and later HMC levels to query Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) performance data after an LPM operation.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to
provide customer control over speculative execution in response to
CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5715 (collectively known as Spectre) and
CVE-2017-5754 (known as Meltdown). The ASMI "System
Configuration/Speculative Execution Control" provides two options that can
only be set when the system is powered off:
1) Speculative execution controls to mitigate user-to-kernel and user-to-user
side-channel attacks. This mode is designed for systems that need to
mitigate exposures of the hypervisor, operating systems, and user application
data to untrusted code. This mode is set as the default.
2) Speculative execution fully enabled: This optional mode is designed for
systems where the hypervisor, operating system, and applications can be fully
trusted.
Note: Enabling this option could expose the system to CVE-2017-5753,
CVE-2017- 5715, and CVE-2017-5754. This includes any partitions that are
migrated (using Live Partition Mobility) to this system.
* Support was added to allow a periodic data capture from the PCIe3 I/O
expansion drawer (with feature code #EMX0) cable card links.
* On systems with an IBM i partition, support was added for multipliers for
IBM i MATMATR fields that are limited to four characters. When retrieving
Server metrics via IBM MATMATR calls, and the system contains greater than
9999 GB, for example, MATMATR has an architected "multiplier" field such that
10,000 GB can be represented
by 5,000 GB * Multiplier of 2, so '5000' and '2' are returned in the quantity
and multiplier fields, respectively, to handle these extended values. The
IBM i OS also requires a PTF to support the MATMATR field multipliers.
* On systems with redundant service processors, a health check was added for
the state of the secondary service processor to verify it matches the state
of the primary service processor. If the state of the secondary service
processor is an unexpected value such as in termination, an SRC is logged and
a call home is done for service processor FRU that has failed.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (with feature
code #EMX0) where control path stability issues may cause certain SRCs to be
logged. Systems using copper cables may log SRC B7006A87 or similar SRCs,
and the fanout module may fail to become active. Systems using optical
cables may log SRC of B7006A22 or similar SRCs. For this problem, the errant
I/O drawer may be recovered by a re-IPL of the system.
* A problem was fixed for error logs being collected twice by the HMC,
potentially causing an extra call home for an issue that was already
resolved. This problem was caused by a failover to the backup service
processor whose error log was missing the acknowledgement from the HMC that
error logs had been collected. This resulted in the error logs being copied
onto the HMC as PELs for a second time.
* A problem was fixed in which deconfigured-resource records can become
malformed and cause the loss of service processor for both redundant and
non-redundant service processor systems. These failures can occur during or
after firmware updates to the FW860.40, FW860.41, or FW860.42 levels. The
complete loss of service processor results in the loss of HMC (or FSP
stand-alone) management of the server and loss of any further error logging.
The server itself will continue to run. Without the fix, the loss of the
service processor could happen within one month of the deconfiguration
records being encountered. It is highly recommended to install the fix.
Recovery from the problem, once encountered, requires a full server AC power
cycle and clearing of deconfiguration records to avoid reoccurrence.
Clearing deconfiguration records exposes the server to repeat hardware
failures and possible unplanned outages.
* A problem was fixed for the guard reminder processing of garded FRUs and
error logs that can cause a system power off to hang and time out with a
service processor reset.
* A problem was fixed for a system termination that can occur when doing a
concurrent code update from the FW860.30 level with a clock card deconfigured
in the system. Without the fix, this problem can be avoided by repairing the
clock card prior to the code update or by doing a disruptive code update.
* A problem was fixed for a Coherent Accelerator Processor Proxy (CAPP) unit
hardware failure that caused a hypervisor hang with SRC B7000602. This
failure is very rare and can only occur during the early IPL of the
hypervisor, before any partitions are started. A re-IPL will recover from
the problem.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration hang that could
occur if one of its VIOS Mover Service Partitions (MSPs) goes into a failover
at the start of the LPM operation. This problem is rare because it requires
a MSP error to force a MSP failover at the very start of the LPM migration to
get the LPM timing error. The LPM hang can be recovered by using the
"migrlpar -o s" and "migrlpar -o r" commands on the HMC.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect low affinity scores for a partition
reported from the HMC "lsmemopt" command when a partition has filled an
entire drawer. A low score indicates the placement is poor but in this case
the placement is actually good. More information on affinity scores for
partitions and the Dynamic Platform Optimizer can be found at the IBM
Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hat/p8hat_dpoovw.htm.
* A problem was fixed to allow the management console to display the Active
Memory Mirroring (AMM) licensed capability. Without the fix, the AMM
licensed capability of a server will always show as "off" on the management
console, even when it is present.
* A problem was fixed for a rare hypervisor hang for systems with shared
processors with a sharing mode of uncapped. If this hang occurs, all
partitions of the system will become unresponsive and the HMC will go to an
"Incomplete" state.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration abort that could
occur if one of its VIOS Mover Service Partitions (MSPs) goes into a failover
during the LPM operation. This problem is rare because it requires a MSP
error to force a MSP failover during the LPM migration to get the LPM timing
error. The LPM abort can be recovered by retrying the LPM migration.
* A problem was fixed for the FRU callouts for the BA188001 and BA188002 EEH
errors to include the PCI Host Bridge (PHB) FRU which had been excluded. For
the P8 systems, these rare errors will more typically isolate to the
processor instead of the adapter or slot planar. In the pre-P8 systems, the
I/O planar also included the PHB, but for P8 systems, the PHB was moved to
the processor complex.
* A problem was fixed for an internal error in the SR-IOV adapter firmware that
resets the adapter and logs a B400FF01 reference code. This error happens in
rare cases when there are multiple partitions actively running traffic
through the adapter and a subset of the partitions are shutdown hard. The
error causes a temporary disruption of traffic but recovery from the error is
automatic with no user intervention needed.
This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1931, for the following Feature
Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, and EN0L.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for the wrong Redfish method (PATCH or POST) passed for a
valid Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) causing an incorrect error message of
" 501 - Not Implemented". With the fix, the message returned is "Invalid
Method on URI" which is more helpful to the user.
* A problem was fixed for SRC call home reminders for bad FRUs causing service
processor dumps with SRC B181E911 and reset/reloads. This occurred if the
FRU callout was missing a CCIN number in the error log. This can happen
because some error logs only have have "Symbolic FRUs" and these were not
being handled correctly.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (with feature code
#EMX0) failing to initialize during the IPL with a SRC B7006A88 logged. The
error is infrequent. The errant I/O drawer can be recovered by a re-IPL of
the system.
* A problem was fixed for the SR-IOV firmware adapter updates using the HMC GUI
or CLI to only reboot one SR-IOV adapter at a time. If multiple adapters are
updated at the same time, the HMC error message HSCF0241E may occur:
"HSCF0241E Could not read firmware information from SR-IOV device ...". This
fix prevents the system network from being disrupted by the SR-IOV adapter
updates when redundant configurations are being used for the network. The
problem can be circumvented by using the HMC GUI to update the SR-IOV
firmware one adapter at a time using the following steps:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/8247-22L/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with a shared processor pool, a very rare problem was fixed for
the hypervisor not responding to partition requests such as power off and
LIve Partiton Mobility (LPM). This error is caused by a request for a guard
of a failed processor (when there are not any available spare processors)
that has hung.
* On systems with mirrored memory running IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed
for un-mirrored nodal memory errors in the partition that also caused the
system to crash. With the fix, the memory failure is isolated to the
impacted partition, leaving the rest of the system unaffected. This fix
improves on an earlier fix delivered for IBM i memory errors in FW840.60 by
handling the errors in nodal memory.
* On systems with Huge Page (16 GB) memory enabled for a AIX partition, a
problem was fixed for the OS failing to boot with an 0607 SRC displayed.
This error occurs on systems with FW860.40, FW860.41 or FW860.42 installed.
To circumvent the problem, disable Huge Pages for the AIX partition. For
information on viewing and setting values for AIX huge-page memory
allocation, see the following link in the IBM Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hat/p8hat_aixviewhgpgmem.htm
* On systems with an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for 64 bytes
overwritten in a portion of the IBM i Main Storage Dump (MSD). Approximately
64 bytes are overwritten just beyond the 17 MB (0x11000000) address on P8
systems. This problem is cosmetic as the dump is still readable for problem
diagnostics and no customer operations are affected by it.
* On systems with a partition with a Fibre Channel Adapter (FCA) or a Fibre
Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adapter, a problem was fixed for bootable disks
attached to the FCA or FCoE adapter not being seen in the System Management
Services (SMS) menus for selection as boot devices. This problem is likely
to occur if the only I/O device in the partition is a FCA or FCoE adapter.
If other I/O devices are present, the problem may still occur if the FCA or
FCoE is the first adapter discovered by SMS. A work-around to this problem
is to define a virtual Ethernet adapter in the partition profile. The
virtual adapter does not need to have any physical backing device, as just
having the VLAN defined is sufficient to avoid the problem. The FCA has
feature codes #EN0A, #EN0B, #EN0F, #EN0G, #EN0Y, #EN12, #5729, #5774, #5735,
and #5723. The FCoE adapter has feature codes #5708, #EN0H, #EN0J, #EN0K,
and #EN0L.
* On systems with a partition with a 3.0 USB controller, a problem was fixed
for a partition boot failure. The USB 3.0 controller adapter card with
feature code #EC45 or #EC46. The boot failure is triggered by a fault in the
USB controller but instead of the just the USB controller failing, the entire
partition fails. With the fix, the failure is limited to the USB controller.
* On a system in a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP) with Mobile Resources, a
problem was fixed for Mobile Resource not being restored after an IPL. The
missing resources can be started temporarily with Trial COD or some other
methods, or the PEP recovery steps can be used to get the Mobile Resources
restored. For more information, see the Change CoD Pool command on the HMC:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8edm/chcodpool.html.
SC860_138_056 / FW860.42
01/09/18 Impact: Security Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* In response to recently reported security vulnerabilities, this firmware
update is being released to address Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
issue numbers CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5754. Operating
System updates are required in conjunction with this FW level for
CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5754.
SC860_127_056 / FW860.41
12/08/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM firmware that are co-managed with HMC and PowerVM
NovaLink, a problem was fixed for the HMC going into the Incomplete state
after deleting a NovaLink partition or after using the HMC "chsyscfg
powervm_mgmt_capable=0" command to remove the NovaLink attribute from a
partition. Partitions will continue running but cannot be changed by the
management console and the Live Partitiion Mobility (LPM) will not function
in this state. A power off of the system will remove it from the Incomplete
state, but the NovaLink partition will not have been deleted. To force the
delete of the NovaLink partition or partitions without the fix, erase the
service processor NVRAM and then restore the HMC partition data.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PowerVM NovaLink, a problem was fixed
for the HMC going into the incomplete state when restoring HMC profile data
after deleting a NovaLink partition. This fix will prevent but not repair
the problem once it has occurred. Recovery from the problem is to erase the
service processor NVRAM and then restore the HMC partition data.
SC860_118_056 / FW860.40
11/08/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) for
providing an "All of the above" cable validation display option so that each
individual cable option does not have to be selected to get a full report on
the cable status. Select "System Service Aids -> Cable Validation ->
Display Cable Status" "All of the above" and click "Continue" to see the
status of all the cables.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for recovery from clock card loss of lock failures that
resulted in a clock card FRU unnecessarily being called out for repair. This
error happened whenever there was a loss of lock (PLL or CRC) for the clock
card. With the fix, the firmware will not be calling out the failing clock
card, but rather it will be reconfigured as the new backup clock card after
doing a clock card failover. Customers will see a benefit from improved
system availability by the avoidance of disruptive clock card repairs.
* A problem was fixed for the "Minimum code level supported" not being shown by
the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) when selecting the "System
Configuration/Firmware Update Policy" menu. The message shown is "Minimum
code level supported value has not been set". The workaround to find this
value is to use the ASMI command line interface with the "registry -l
cupd/MinMifLevel" command.
* A problem was fixed for "sh: errl: not found " error messages to the service
processor console whenever the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
was used to display error logs. These messages did not cause any problems
except to clutter the console output as seen in the service processor traces.
* A problem was fixed for the LineInputVoltage and LastPowerOutputWatts being
displayed in millivolts and milliwatts, respectively, instead of volts and
watts for the output from the Redfish API for power properties for the
chassis. The URL affected is the following: "https://<fsp
ip>/redfish/v1/Chassis/<id>/Power"
* A problem was fixed for system node fans going to maximum RPM speeds after a
service processor failover that needed the On-Chip Controllers (OCC) to be
reloaded. Without the fix, the system node fan speeds can be restored to
normal speed by changing the Power Mode in the Advanced System Management
Interface using steps from the IBM Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hby/areaa_pmms.htm.
After changing the Power Mode, wait about 10 minutes to change the Power Mode
back to the original setting.
If the fix is applied without rebooting the system, the system node fan
speeds can be corrected by either changing the Power Mode as above or using
the HMC to do an Administrative Failover (AFO).
* A problem was fixed for a Power Supply Unit (PSU) failure of SRC 110015xF
logged with a power supply fan call out when doing a hot re-plug of a PSU.
The power supply may be made operational again by doing a dummy replace of
the PSU that was called out (keeping the same PSU for the replace
operation). A re-IPL of the system will also recover the PSU.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor low-level boot code always
running off the same side of the flash image, regardless of what side has
been selected for boot ( P-side or T-side). Because this low-level boot code
rarely changes, this should not cause a problem unless corruption occurs in
the flash image of the boot code. This problem does not affect firmware
side-switches as the service processor initialization code (higher-level code
than the boot code) is running correctly from the selected side. Without the
fix, there is no recovery for boot corruption for systems with a single
service processor as the service processor must be replaced.
* A problem was fixed for a missing serviceable event from a periodic call home
reminder. This occurred if there was an FRU deconfigured for the serviceable
event.
* A problem was fixed for help text in the Advanced System Management Interface
(ASMI) not informing the user that system fan speeds would increase if the
system Power Mode was changed to "Fixed Maximum Frequency" mode. If ASMI
panel function "System Configuration->Power Management->Power Mode Setup"
"Enable Fixed Maximum Frequency mode" help is selected, the updated text
states "...This setting will result in the fans running at the maximum speed
for proper cooling."
* A problem was fixed for a degraded PCI link causing a Predictive SRC for a
non-cacheable unit (NCU) store time-out that occurred with SRC B113E540 or
B181E450 and PRD signature "(NCUFIR[9]) STORE_TIMEOUT: Store timed out on
PB". With the fix, the error is changed to be an Informational as the
problem is not with the processor core and the processor should not be
replaced. The solution for degraded PCI links is different from the fix for
this problem, but a re-IPL of the CEC or a reset of the PCI adapters could
help to recover the PCI links from their degraded mode.
* A problem was fixed for a Redfish Patch on the "Chassis"
"HugeDynamicDMAWindowSlotCount" for the validation of incorrect values.
Without the fix, the user will not get proper error messages when providing
bad values to the patch.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for DPO
(Dynamic Platform Optimizer) operations taking a very long and impacting the
server system with a performance degradation. The problem is triggered by a
DPO operation being done on a system with unlicensed processor cores and a
very high I/O load. The fix involves using a different lock type for the
memory relocation activities (to prevent lock contention between memory
relocation threads and partition threads) that is created at IPL time, so an
IPL is needed to activate the fix. More information on the DPO function can
be found at the IBM Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/8247-42L/p8hat/p8hat_dpoovw.htm
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an intermittent
service processor core dump and a callout for netsCommonMSGServer with SRC
B181EF88. The HMC connection to the service processor automatically
recovers with a new session.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed where the Power
Enterprise Pool (PEP) grace period expired early, being short by one hour.
For example, 71 hours may be provided instead of 72 hours in some cases. See
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8ha2/entpool_cod_compliance.htm
for more information about the PEP grace period.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a concurrent
firmware update failure with HMC error message
"E302F865-PHYPTooBusyToQuiesce". This error can occur when the error log is
full on the hypervisor and it cannot accept more error logs from the service
processor. But the service processor keeps retrying the send of an error
log, resulting in a "denial of service" scenario where the hypervisor is kept
busy rejecting the error logging attempts. Without the fix, the problem may
be circumvented by starting a logical partition (if none are running) or by
purging the error logs on the service processor.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with mirrored memory running IBM i
partitions, a problem was fixed for memory fails in the partition that also
caused the system to crash. The system failure will occur any time that IBM
i partition memory towards the beginning of the partition's assigned memory
fails. With the fix, the memory failure is isolated to the impacted
partition, leaving the rest of the system unaffected.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for failures
deconfiguring SR-IOV Virtual Functions (VFs). This can occur during Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations with HMC error messages of HSCLAF16,
HSCLAF15 and HSCLB602 shown. This results in an LPM migration failure and a
system reboot is required to recover the VFs for the I/O adapters. This
error may occur more frequently in cases where the I/O adapter has pending
I/O at the time of the deconfigure request for the VF.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a vNIC client that
has backing devices being assigned an active server that was not the one
intended by an HMC user failover for the client adapter. This only can
happen if the vNIC client adapter had never been activated. A circumvention
is to activate the client OS and initialize the vNIC device (ifconfig "xxx"
up) and an active backing device will then be selected.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for partitions with
more than 32TB memory failing to IPL with memory space errors. This can
occur if the logical memory block (LMB) size is small as there is a memory
loss associated with each LMB. The problem can be circumvented by reducing
the amount of partition memory or increasing the LMB size to reduce the total
number of LMBs needed for the memory allocation.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the error
handling of EEH events for the SR-IOV Virtual Functions (VFs) that can result
in IPL failure with B7006971, B400FF05, and BA210000 SRCs logged. In these
cases, the partition console stops at an OFDBG prompt. Also, a DLPAR add of
a VF may result in a partition crash due to a 300 DSI exception because of a
low-level EEH event. A circumvention for the problem would be to debug the
EEH events which should be recovered errors and eliminate the cause of the
EEH events. With the fix, the EEH events still log Predictive Errors but do
not cause a partition failure.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) "not applicable" error messages being displayed when re-entering
PEP XML files for PEP updates, in which one of the XML operations calls for
Conversion of Perm Resources to PEP Resources. There is no error as the PEP
key was accepted on the first use. The following message may be seen on the
HMC and can be ignored: "...HSCL0520 A Mobile CoD processor conversion code
to convert 0 permanently activated processors to Mobile CoD processors on the
managed system has been entered. HSCL050F This CoD code is not valid for
your managed system. Contact your CoD administrator."
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) busy errors from the system anchor card when creating or updating
a PEP pool. The error returned by the HMC is "HSCL9015 The managed system
cannot currently process this operation. This
condition is temporary. Please try the operation again." To try again, the
customer needs to update the pool again. Typically on the second PEP update,
the code is accepted.
The problem is intermittent and occurs only rarely.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an invalid date
from the service processor causing the customer date and time to go to the
Epoch value (01/01/1970) without a warning or chance for a correction. With
the fix, the first IPL attempted on an invalid date will be rejected with a
message alerting the user to set the time correctly in the service
processor. If the warning is ignored and the date/time is not corrected, the
next IPL attempt will complete to the OS with the time reverted to the Epoch
time and date. This problem is very rare but it has been known to occur on
service processor replacements when the repair step to set the date and time
on the new service processor was inadvertently skipped by the service
representative.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) system losing its assigned processor and memory resources after an
IPL of the system. This is an intermittent problem caused by a small timing
window that makes it possible for the server to not get the IPL-time
assignment of resources from the HMC. If this problem occurs, it can be
corrected by the HMC to recover the pool without needing another IPL of the
system.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PowerVM NovaLink, a problem was fixed
for a lost of a communications channel between the hypervisor and the PowerVM
NovaLink during a reset of the service processor. Various NovaLink tasks,
including deploy, could fail with a "No valid host was found" error. With
the fix, PowerVM NovaLink prevents normal operations from being impacted by a
reset of the service processor.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a rare system hang
caused by a process dispatcher deadlock timing window. If this problem
occurs, the HMC will also go to an "Incomplete" state for the managed system.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for communication
failures on adapters in SR-IOV shared mode. This communication failure only
occurs when a logical port's VLAN ID ( PVID) is dynamically changed from
non-zero to zero. An SR-IOV logical port is an I/O device created for a
partition or a partition profile using the management console (HMC) when a
user intends for the partition to access an SR-IOV adapter Virtual Function.
The error can be recovered from by a reboot of the partition.
This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1929, for the following Feature
Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, EL38,
EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for error logs not
getting sent to the OS running in a partition. This problem could occur if
the error log buffer was full in the hypervisor and then a re-IPL of the
system occurred. The error log full condition was persisting across the
re-IPL, preventing further logs from being sent to the OS.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed in the text for the
Firmware License agreement to correct a link that pointed to a URL that was
not specific to microcode licensing. The message is displayed for a machine
during its initial power on. Once accepted, the message is not displayed
again. The fixed link in the licensing agreement is the following:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1025362.
SC860_103_056 / FW860.30
06/30/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support was added for Redfish API to allow the ISO 8610 extended format for
the time and date so that the date/time can be represented as an offset from
UTC (Universal Coordinated Time).
* Support for the Redfish API for power and thermal properties for the
chassis. The new URIs are as follows::
https://<fsp ip>/redfish/v1/Chassis/<id>/Power : Provides fan data
https://<fsp ip>/redfish/v1/Chassis/<id>/Thermal : Provides power supply data
Only the Redfish GET operation is supported for these resources.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for service actions with SRC B150F138 missing an Advanced
System Management Interface (ASMI) Deconfiguration Record. The
deconfiguration records make it easier to organize the repairs that are
needed for the system and they need to be consistent with the periodic
maintenance reminders that are logged for the failed FRUs.
* A problem was fixed for a false 1100026B1 (12V power good failure) caused by
an I2C bus write error for a LED state. This error can be triggered by the
fan LEDs changing state.
* A problem was fixed for a fan LED turning amber on solid when there is no fan
fault, or when the fan fault is for a different fan. This error can be
triggered anytime a fan LED needs to change its state. The fan LEDs can be
recovered to a normal state concurrently using the following link steps for a
soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for sporadic blinking amber LEDs for the system fans with
no SRCs logged. There was no problem with the fans. The LED corruption
occurred when two service processor tasks attempted to update the LED state
at the same time. The fan LEDs can be recovered to a normal state
concurrently using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service
processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for a Redfish Patch on the "Chassis" or
"IBMEnterpriseComputerSystem" with empty data that caused a "500 Internal
Server Error". Validation for the empty data case has been added to prevent
the server error.
* A problem was fixed for hardware dumps only collecting data for the master
processor if a run-time service processor failover had occurred prior to the
dump. Therefore, there would be only master chip and master core data in the
event of a core unit checkstop. To recover to a system state that is able to
do a full collection of debug data for all processors and cores after a
run-time failover, a re-IPL of the system is needed.
* A problem was fixed for a Redfish Patch on power mode to "MaxPowerSaver" that
caused a "500 Internal Server Error" when that power mode was not supported
on the system. With the fix, the Redfish server response is a list of the
valid power modes that be used for the system.
* A problem was fixed for the loss of Operations Panel function 30 (displaying
ethernet port HMC1 and HMC2 IP addresses) after a concurrent repair of the
Operations Panel. Operations Panel function 30 can be restored concurrently
using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for a core dump of the rtiminit (service processor time
of day) process that logs an SRC B15A3303 and could invalidate the time on
the service processor. If the error occurs while the system is powered on,
the hypervisor has the master time and will refresh the service processor
time, so no action is needed for recovery. If the error occurs while the
system is powered off, the service processor time must be corrected on the
systems having only a single service processor. Use the following steps from
the IBM Knowledge Center to change the UTC time with the Advanced System
Management Interface:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hby/viewtime.htm.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor boot watch-dog timer expiring
too soon during DRAM initialization in the reset/reload, causing the service
processor to go unresponsive. On systems with a single service processor,
the SRC B1817212 was displayed on the control panel. For systems with
redundant service processors, the failing service processor was
deconfigured. To recover the failed service processor, the system will need
to be powered off with AC powered removed during a regularly scheduled system
service action. This problem is intermittent and very infrequent as most of
the reset/reloads of the service processor will work correctly to restore the
service processor to a normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for host-initiated resets of the service processor
causing the system to terminate. A prior fix for this problem did not work
correctly because some of the host-initiated resets were being translated to
unknown reset types that caused the system to terminate. With this new
correction for failed host-initiated resets, the service processor will still
be unresponsive but the system and partitions will continue to run. On
systems with a single service processor, the SRC B1817212 will be displayed
on the control panel. For systems with redundant service processors, the
failing service processor will be deconfigured. To recover the failed
service processor, the system will need to be powered off with AC powered
removed during a regularly scheduled system service action. This problem is
intermittent and very infrequent as most of the host-initiated resets of the
service processor will work correctly to restore the service processor to a
normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor reset triggered by a spurious
false IIC interrupt request in the kernel. On systems with a single service
processor, the SRC B1817201 is displayed on the Operator Panel. For systems
with redundant service processors, an error failover to the backup service
processor occurs. The problem is extremely infrequent and does not impact
processes on the running system.
* A problem was fixed for the System Attention LED failing to light for an
error failover for the redundant service processors with an SRC B1812028
logged.
* A problem was fixed for a system failure at run time with SRC B111E450
corefir(55) that could not reIPL. A system node should have been
deconfigured for an ABUS error on a processor chip but instead, the system
was terminated. To recover from this problem, manually guard the node
containing the failed processor and then the IPL will be successful.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect Redfish error message when trying to use
the $metadata URI: "The resource at the URI
https://<systemip>/redfish/v1/%24metadata was not found.". This %24 is
meaningless. The "%24" has been replaced with a "$" in the error message.
The Redfish $metadata URI is not supported.
* A problem was fixed for a system failure caused by Host boot problems with
one node but the other nodes good. With the fix, the node that is failing
the Hostboot is deconfigured and the system is able to IPL on the remaining
nodes. To recover from this problem, manually guard the node that is failing
and reIPL.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe3
I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved stability. The settings for the
continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was updated for all the PCIe
adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer. The system must be
re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with a Linux Little Endian (LE) partition,
a problem was fixed for system reset interrupts returning the wrong values in
the debug output for the NIP and MSR registers. This problem reduces the
ability to debug hung Linux partitions using system reset interrupts. The
error occurs every time a system reset interrupt is used on a Linux LE
partition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for "Time Power On"
enabled partitions not being capable of suspend and resume operations. This
means Live Partition Mobility (LPM) would not be able to migrate this type of
partition. As a workaround, the partition could be transitioned to a
"Non-time Power On" state and then made capable of suspend and resume
operations.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for manual vNIC
failovers (from the HMC, manually "Make the Backing Device Active") so that
the selected server was chosen for the failover, regardless of its priority.
With the problem, the server chosen for the VNIC failover will be the one
with the most favorable priority.
There are two possible workarounds to the problem:
(1) Disable auto-priority-failover; Change priority to the server that is
needed as the target of the failover; Force the vNIC failover; Change
priority back to original setting.
(2) Or use auto-priority-failover and change the priority so the server that
is needed as the target of the failover is favored.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for extra error logs
in the VIOS due to failovers taking place while the client vNIC is inactive.
The inactive client vNIC failovers are skipped unless the force flag is on.
With the problem occurring, Enhanced Error Handling (EEH) Freeze/Temporary
Error/Recovery logs posted in the VIOS error log of the client partition boot
can be ignored unless an actual problem is experienced.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migration abort and reboot on the FW860 target CEC caused by
a mismatched address space for the source and target partition. The
occurrence of this problem is very rare and related to performance
improvements made in the memory management on the FW860 system that exposed a
timing window in the partition memory validation for the migration. The
reboot of the migrated partition recovers from the problem as the migration
was otherwise successful.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for reboot retries for
IBM i partitions such that the first load source I/O adapter (IOA) is retried
instead of bypassed after the first failed attempt. The reboot retries are
done for an hour before the reboot process gives up. This error can occur if
there is more than one known load source, and the IOA of the first load
source is different from the IOA of the last load source. The error can be
circumvented by retrying the boot of the partition after the load source
device has become available.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for adapters failing
to transition to shared SR-IOV mode on the IPL after changing the adapter
from dedicated mode. This intermittent problem could occur on systems using
SR-IOV with very large memory configurations.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for SR-IOV adapters
in shared mode for a transmission stall or time out with SRC B400FF01
logged. The time out happens during Virtual Function (VF) shutdowns and
during Function Level Resets (FLRs) with network traffic running.
This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1927, for the following Feature
Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, EL38,
EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems with maximum memory configurations (where every DIMM slot is
populated - size of DIMM does not matter), a problem has been fixed for
systems losing performance and going into Safe mode (a power mode with
reduced processor frequencies intended to protect the system from overheating
and excessive power consumption) with B1xx2AC3/B1xx2AC4 SRCs logged. This
happened because of On-Chip Controller (OCC) timeout errors when collecting
Analog Power Subsystem Sweep (APSS) data, used by the OCC to tune the
processor frequency. This problem occurs more frequently on systems that are
running heavy workloads. Recovery from Safe mode back to normal performance
can be done with a re-IPL of the system, or concurrently using the following
link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm.
To check or validate that Safe mode is not active on the system will require
a dynamic celogin password from IBM Support to use the service processor
command line:
1) Log into ASMI as celogin with dynamic celogin password generated by IBM
Support
2) Select System Service Aids
3) Select Service Processor Command Line
4) Enter "tmgtclient --query_mode_and_function" from the command line
The first line of the output, "currSysPwrMode" should say "NOMINAL" and this
means the system is in normal mode and that Safe mode is not active.
* A problem has been fixed for systems losing performance and going into Safe
mode (a power mode with reduced processor frequencies intended to protect the
system from overheating and excessive power consumption) with
B1xx2AC3/B1xx2AC4 SRCs logged. This happened because of an On-Chip
Controller (OCC) internal queue overflow. The problem has only been observed
for systems running heavy workloads with maximum memory configurations (where
every DIMM slot is populated - size of DIMM does not matter), but this may
not be required to encounter the problem. Recovery from Safe mode back to
normal performance can be done with a re-IPL of the system, or concurrently
using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm.
To check or validate that Safe mode is not active on the system will require
a dynamic celogin password from IBM Support to use the service processor
command line:
1) Log into ASMI as celogin with dynamic celogin password generated by IBM
Support
2) Select System Service Aids
3) Select Service Processor Command Line
4) Enter "tmgtclient --query_mode_and_function" from the command line
The first line of the output, "currSysPwrMode" should say "NOMINAL" and this
means the system is in normal mode and that Safe mode is not active.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a partition boot
from a USB 3.0 device that has an error log SRC BA210003. The error is
triggered by an Open Firmware entry to the trace buffer during the partition
boot. The error log can be ignored as the boot is successful to the OS.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a partition boot
fail or hang from a Fibre Channel device having fabric faults. Some of the
fabric errors returned by the VIOS are not interpreted correctly by the Open
Firmware VFC drive, causing the hang instead of generating helpful error
logs.
* On systems with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for an
extra SRC B150F138 logged for a power supply that had already been replaced.
The problem was triggered by a service processor failover and an old power
supply fault event that was not cleared on the backup service processor.
This caused the SRC B150F138 to be logged for a second time. This problem
can be circumvented by clearing the error log associated with the bad FRU
when the FRU is replaced.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) resource Grace Period not being reset when the server is in the
"Out of Compliance" state and the resource has been returned to put the
server back in Compliance. The Grace Period was not being reset after a
double-commit of a resource (doing an "remove" of an active resource) was
resolved by restarting the server with the double-committed resource. When
Grace Period ends, the "double-committed" resources on the server have to
have been freed up from use to prevent the server from going to "Out of
Compliance". If the user fails to free up the resource, the PEP is in an
"Out of Compliance" state, and the only PEP actions allowed are ones to free
up the double-commit. Once that is completed, the PEP is back In Compliance.
The loss of the Grace Period for the error makes it difficult to move
resources around in the PEP. Without the fix, the user can "Add" another PEP
resource to the server, and the action of adding a PEP resource resets the
Grace Period timer. One could then "Remove" that one PEP resource just
added, and then any further "removes" of PEP resources would behave as
expected with the full Grace Period in effect.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) IFL processors assignments causing an "Out of Compliance" for
normal processor licenses. The number of IFL processors purchased was first
credited as satisfying any "unreturned" PEP processor resources, thus
potentially leaving the system "Out Of Compliance" since IFL processors
should not be taking the place of the normal (expensive) processor usage. In
this situation, without the fix, the user will need to either purchase more
"expensive" non-IFL processors to satisfy the non-IFL workloads or adjust the
partitions to reduce the usage of non-IFL processors. This is a very
infrequent problem for the following reasons:
1) PEP processors are infrequently left "unreturned" for short periods of
time for specialized operations such as LPM migrations
2) The user would have to purchase IFL processors from IBM, which is not a
common occurrence.
3) The user would have to put in a COD key for IFL processors while a PEP
processor is still "unreturned"
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a power off
hanging at D200C1FF caused by a vNIC VF failover error with SRC B200F011.
The power off hang error is infrequent because it requires that a VF failover
error having occurred first. The system can be recovered by using the power
off immediate option from the Hardware Management Console (HMC).
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the incorrect
reporting of the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) to the OS, which
prevented the tracking of a partition as it moved within a data center. The
UUID value as seen on HMC or the NovaLink did not match the value as
displayed in the OS.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an error finding
the partition load source that has a GPT format. GUID Partition Table (GPT)
is a standard for the layout of the partition table on a physical storage
device used in the server, such as a hard disk drive or solid-state drive,
using globally unique identifiers (GUID). Other drives that are working may
be using the older master boot record (MBR) partition table format. This
problem occurs whenever load sources utilizing the GPT format occur in other
than the first entry of the boot table. Without the fix, a GPT disk drive
must be the first entry in the boot table to be able to use it to boot a
partition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an SRC BA090006
serviceable event log occurring whenever an attempt was made to boot from an
ALUA (Asymmetric Logical Unit Access) drive. These drives are always busy by
design and cannot be used for a partition boot, but no service action is
required if a user inadvertently tries to do that. Therefore, the SRC was
changed to be an informational log.
SC860_082_056 / FW860.20
03/17/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for the Redfish API for provisioning of Power Management tunable
(EnergyScale) parameters. The Redfish Scalable Platforms Management API
("Redfish") is a DMTF specification that uses RESTful interface semantics to
perform out-of-band systems management.
(http://www.dmtf.org/standards/redfish).
Redfish service enables platform management tasks to be controlled by client
scripts developed using secure and modern programming paradigms.
For systems with redundant service processors, the Redfish service is
accessible only on the primary service processor. Usage information for the
Redfish service is available at the following IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hdx/p8_workingwithconsoles.htm.
The IBM Power server supports DMTF Redfish API (DSP0266, version 1.0.3
published 2016-06-17) for systems management.
A copy of the the Redfish schema files in JSON format published by the DMTF
(http://redfish.dmtf.org/schemas/v1/) are packaged in the firmware image.
The schema files are distributed on chip to enable proper functioning in
deployments with no WAN connectivity.
IBM extensions to the Redfish schema are published at
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/power/redfish/schemas/v1. Copyright notices
for the DMTF Redfish API and schemas are at: (a)
http://www.dmtf.org/about/policies/copyright, and (b)
http://redfish.dmtf.org/schemas/README8010.html.
* Support added to reduce memory usage for shared SR-IOV adapters.
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
allow the special characters of "I", "O", and "Q" to be entered for the
serial number of the I/O Enclosure under the Configure I/O Enclosure option.
These characters have only been found in an IBM serial number rarely, so
typing in these characters will normally be an incorrect action. However,
the special character entry is not blocked by ASMI anymore so it is able to
support the exception case. Without the enhancement, the typing of one of
the special characters causes message "Invalid serial number" to be
displayed.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) "System
Service Aids => Cable Validation" to add a timestamp for when the last time
the cables were validated.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for the setting the disable of a periodic notification
for a call home error log SRC B150F138 for Memory Buffer resources (membuf)
from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
* A problem was fixed for the call home data for the B1xx2A01 SRC to include
the min/max/average readings for more values. The values for processor
utilization, memory utilization, and node power usage were added.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect callouts of the Power Management Controller
(PMC) hardware with SRC B1112AC4 and SRC B1112AB2 logged. These extra
callouts occur when the On-Chip Controller (OCC) has placed the system in the
safe state for a prior failure that is the real problem that needs to be
resolved.
* A problem was fixed for System Vital Product Data (SVPD) FRUs being guarded
but not having a corresponding error log entry. This is a failure to commit
the error log entry that has occurred only rarely.
* A problem was fixed for the failover to the backup PNOR on a Hostboot Self
Boot Engine (SBE) failure. Without the fix, the failed SBE causes loss of
processors and memory with B15050AD logged. With the fix, the SBE is able to
access the backup PNOR and IPL successfully by deconfiguring the failing PNOR
and calling it out as a failed FRU.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
"System Service Aids => Error/Event Logs" panel not showing the "Clear" and
"Show" log options and also having a truncated error log when there are a
large number of error logs on the system.
* A problem was fixed a system going into safe mode with SRC B1502616 logged as
informational without a call home notification. Notification is needed
because the system is running with reduced performance. If there are
unrecoverable error logs and any are marked with reduced performance and the
system has not been rebooted, then the system is probably running in safe
mode with reduced performance. With the fix, the SRC B1502616 is a
Unrecoverable Error (UE).
* A problem was fixed for valid IPv4 static IP addresses not being allowed to
communicate on the network and not being allowed to be configured.
The Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) static IPv4 address
configuration was not allowing "255" in the IP address subfields. The
corrected range checking is as follows:
Allowed values: x.255.x.x, x.x.255.x, x.255.255.x
Disallowed values: x.x.x.255
The failure for the communication on the network is seen if the problematic
IP addresses are in use prior to a firmware update to 860.00, 860.10, 860.11,
or 860.12. After the firmware update, the service processor is unable to
communicate on the network. The problem can be circumvented by changing the
service processor to use DHCP addressing, or by moving the IP address to a
different static IP range, prior to doing the firmware update.
* A problem was fixed for corrupt service processor error log entries caused by
incorrect error log synchronization between primary and backup service
processor during firmware updates. At the time of the corruption an B1818601
is logged with a fipsdump generated. Then during normal operations,
periodic B1818A12 SRC may be logged as the corrupted error log entries are
encountered. No service action is needed for the corrupted error logs as the
old corrupted entries will be deleted as new error logs are added as part of
the error log housekeeping.
* A problem was fixed for an unneeded service action request for a
informational VRM redundant phase fail error logged with SRC 11002701. If
reminders for service action with SRC B150F138 are occurring for this
problem, then firmware containing the fix needs to be installed and ASMI
error logs need to be cleared in order to stop the periodic reminder.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a blank SRC in
the LPA dump for user-initiated non-disruptive adjunct dumps. The A2D03004
SRC is needed for problem determination and dump analysis.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware with an IBM i partition and VIOS, a
problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration for a IBM i
partition that fails if there is a VIOS failover during the migration
suspended window.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware and VIOS, a problem was fixed for a HMC
"Incomplete State" after a Live Partition Mobility migration followed by a
VIOS failover. The error is triggered by a delete operation on a migration
adapter on the VIOS that did the failover. The HMC "Incomplete State" can be
recovered from by doing a re-IPL of the system. This error can also prevent
a VIOS from activating.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed with SR-IOV adapter
error recovery where the adapter is left in a failed state in nested error
cases for some adapter errors. The probability of this occurring is very low
since the problem trigger is multiple low-level adapter failures. With the
fix, the adapter is recovered and returned to an operational state.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared mode, a problem was fixed for the hypervisor
SR-IOV adjunct partition failing during the IPL with SRCs B200F011 and
B2009014 logged. The SR-IOV adjunct partition successfully recovers after it
reboots and the system is operational.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared-mode in a PCIe slot with Enlarged IO Capacity
and 2TB or more of system memory, a problem was fixed for the hypervisor
SR-IOV adjunct partition failing during the IPL with SRCs B200F011 and
B2009014 logged. In this configuration, it is possible the SR-IOV adapter
will not become functional following a system reboot or when an adapter is
first configured into shared-mode. Larger system memory configurations of
2TB or more than 1TB are more likely to encounter the problem. The problem
can be avoided by reducing the number of PCIe slots with Enlarged IO Capacity
enabled so it does not include adapters in SR-IOV shared-mode. Another
circumvention option is to move the adapter to an SR-IOV capable PCIe slot
where Enlarged IO Capacity is not enabled.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware and VIOS, a problem was fixed for a Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migration for an Active Memory Sharing (AMS)
partition that hangs if there is a VIOS failover during the migration.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the PCIe3 Optical
Cable Adapter for the PCIe3 Expansion Drawer failing with SRC B7006A84 error
logged during the IPL. The failed cable adapter can be recovered by using a
concurrent repair operation to power it off and on. Or the system can be
re-IPLed to recover the cable adapter. The affected optical cable adapters
have feature codes #EJ05, #EJ06, and #EJ08 with CCINs 2B1C, 6B52, and 2CE2,
respectively.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, the hypervisor "vsp" macro was enhanced to
show the type of the adjunct partition. The "vsp -longname" macro option was
also updated to list the location codes for the SR-IOV adjunct partitions.
The hypervisor macros are used by IBM support to help debug Power system
problems.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe Host Bridge
(PHB) outages and PCIe adapter failures in the PCIe I/O expansion drawer
caused by error thresholds being exceeded for the LEM bit [21] errors in the
FIR accumulator. These are typically minor and expected errors in the PHB
that occur during adapter updates and do not warrant a reset of the PHB and
the PCIe adapter failures. Therefore, the threshold LEM[21] error limit has
been increased and the LEM fatal error has been changed to a Predictive Error
to avoid the outages for this condition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe3 I/O
expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved stability. The settings for the
continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was updated for all the PCIe
adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer. The CEC must be re-IPLed
for the fix to activate.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed
for frequent logging of informational B7005120 errors due to communications
path closed conditions during messaging from HMCs to IBMi partitions. In the
majority of cases these errors are due to normal operating conditions and not
due to errors that require service or attention. The logging of
informational errors due to this specific communications path closed
condition that are the result of normal operating conditions has been
removed.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware with an IBM i partition, a problem was
fixed for a D-mode boot failure for IBM i from an USB RDX cartridge. There
is a hang at the LPAR progress code C2004130 for a period of time and then a
failure with SRC B2004158 logged. There is a USB External Dock (FC #EU04)
and Removable Disk Cartridge (RDX) 63B8-005 attached. The error is
intermittent so the RDX can be powered off and back on to retry the D-mode
boot to recover.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, the following problems were fixed for
SR-IOV adapters:
1) Insufficient resources reported for SR-IOV logical port configured with
promiscuous mode enable and a Port VLAN ID (PVID) when creating new interface
on the SR-IOV adapters.
2) Spontaneous dumps and reboot of the adjunct partition for SR-IOV adapters.
3) Adapter enters firmware loop when single bit ECC error is detected.
System firmware detects this condition as a adapter command time out. System
firmware will reset and restart the adapter to recover the adapter
functionality. This condition will be reported as a temporary adapter
hardware failure.
4) vNIC interfaces not being deleted correctly causing SRC B400FF01 to be
logged and Data Storage Interrupt (DSI) errors with failiure on boot of the
LPAR.
This set of fixes updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1926, for the
following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N,
EN0K, EN0L, EL38 , EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with an IBM i partition, a problem was
fixed for incorrect maximum performance reports based on the wrong number of
"maximum" processors for the system. Certain performance reports that can
be generated on IBMi systems contain not only the existing machine
information, but also "what-if" information, such as "how would this system
perform if it had all the processors possible installed in this system".
This "what-if" report was in error because the maximum number of processors
possible was too high for the system.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for degraded PCIe3
links for the PCIe3 expansion drawer with SRC B7006A8F not being visible on
the HMC. This occurred because the SRC was informational. The problem
occurs when the link attaching a drawer to the system trains to x8 instead of
x16. With the fix, the SRC has been changed to a B70006A8B permanent error
for the degraded link.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a concurrent
exchange of a CAPI adapter that left the new adapter in a deactivated
state. The system can be powered off and IPLed again to recover the new
adapter. The CAPI adapters have the following feature codes: #EC3E, #EC3F,
#EC3L, #EC3M, #EC3T, #EC3U, #EJ16, #EJ17, #EJ18, #EJ1A, and #EJ1B.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware with SR-IOV adapters, a problem was fixed
for a DLPAR remove on a Virtual Function (VF) of a ConnectX-4 (CX4) adapter
that failed with AIX error "0931-013 Unable to isolate the resource". The
HMC reported error is "HSCL12B5 The operation to remove SR-IOV logical port
xx failed because of the following error: HSCL131D The SR-IOV logical port is
still in use by the partition". The failing PCIe3 adapters are sourced from
Mellanox Corporation based on ConnectX-4 technology and have the following
feature codes and CCINs: #EC3E, #EC3F with CCIN 2CEA; #EC3L and #EC3M with
CCIN 2CEC; and #EC3T and #ECTU with CCIN 2CEB. The issue occurs each time a
DLPAR remove operation is attempted on the VF. Restarting the partition
after a failed DLPAR remove recovers from the error.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for NVRAM corruption
that can occur when deleting a partition that owns a CAPI adapter, if that
CAPI adapter is not assigned to another partition before the system is
powered off. On a subsequent IPL, the system will come up in recovery mode
if there is NVRAM corruption. To recover, the partitions must be restored
from the HMC. The frequency of this error is expected to be rare. The CAPI
adapters have the following feature codes: #EC3E, #EC3F, #EC3L, #EC3M,
#EC3T, #EC3U, #EJ16, #EJ17, #EJ18, #EJ1A, and #EJ1B.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for NVRAM corruption
and a HMC recovery state when using Simplified Remote Restart partitions.
The failing systems will have at least one Remote Restart partition and on
the failed IPL there will be a B70005301 SRC with word 7 being 0X00000002.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a group of shared
processor partitions being able to exceed the designated capacity placed on a
shared processor pool. This error can be triggered by using the DLPAR move
function for the shared processor partitions, if the pool has already reached
its maximum specified capacity. To prevent this problem from occurring when
making DLPAR changes when the pool is at the maximum capacity, do not use the
DLPAR move operation but instead break it into two steps: DLPAR remove
followed by DLPAR add. This gives enough time for the DLPAR remove to be
fully completed prior to starting the DLPAR add request.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for partition boot
failures and run time DLPAR failures when adding I/O that log BA210000,
BA210003, and/or BA210005 errors. The fix also applies to run time failures
configuring an I/O adapter following an EEH recovery that log BA188001
events. The problem can impact IBMi partitions running in any processor mode
or AIX/Linux partitions running in P7 (or older) processor compatibility
modes. The problem is most likely to occur when the system is configured in
the Manufacturing Default Configuration (MDC) mode. The trigger for the
problem is a race-condition between the hypervisor and the physical
operations panel with a very rare frequency of occurrence.
SC860_070_056 / FW860.12
01/13/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On a system using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the System
Management Services (SMS) SAS utility showing very large (incorrect) disk
capacity values depending on the size of the disk or Volume Set/Array. The
problem occurs when the number of blocks on a disk is 2 G or more.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware running a Linux OS, a problem was fixed
for support for Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI) adapters.
The CAPI related RTAS h-calls for the CAPI devices could not be made by the
Linux OS, impacting the CAPI adapter functionality and usability. This
problem involves the following adapters: the PCIe3 LP CAPI Accelerator
Adapter with F/C #EJ16 that is used on the S812L(8247-21L) and S822L
(8247-22L) models; the PCIe3 CAPI FlashSystem Acclerator Adapter with F/C
#EJ17 that is used on the S814(8286-41A) and S824(8286-42A) models; and the
PCIe3 CAPI FlashSystem Accelerator Adapter with F/C #EJ18 that is used on the
S822(8284-22A), E870(9119-MME), and E880(9119-MHE) models. This problem does
not pertain to PowerVM AIX partitions using CAPI adapters.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migrations to FW860.10 or FW860.11 from any other level of
firmware (i.e. not FW 860.10 or FW860.11) that caused errors in the output of
the AIX "lsattr -El mem0" command and Dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) operations. The
"lsattr" command will report the partition only has one logical memory block
(LMB) of memory assigned to it, even though there is more memory assigned to
the partition. Also, as a result of this problem, DLPAR operations will fail
with an error indicating the request could not be completed. This issue
affects AIX 5.3, AIX 6.1, AIX 7.1, AIX 7.2 TL 0, and may result in AIX DLPAR
error message "0931-032 Firmware failure. Data may be out of sync and the
system may require a reboot." This issue also affect all levels of Linux.
Not affected by this issue are AIX 7.2 TL 1, VIOS and IBM i partitions.
In addition, after performing LPM from FW860 to earlier versions of
firmware, the DLPAR of Virtual Adapters will fail with HMC error message
HSCL294C, which contains text similar to the following: "0931-007 You have
specified an invalid drc_name."
Without the fix, a reboot of the migrated partition will correct the problem.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for I/O DLPARs that
result in partition hangs. To trigger the problem, the DLPAR operation must
be performed on a partition which has been migrated via a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) operation from a P6 or P7 system to a P8 system.
Additionally, DLPAR of I/O will fail when performed on a partition which has
been migrated via an LPM operation from a P8 system to a P6 or P7 system.
The failure will produce HMC error message HSCL2928, which contains text
similar to the following: "0931-011 Unable to allocate the resource to the
partition." DLPAR operations for memory or CPU are not affected. This issue
affects all Linux and AIX partitions. IBMi partitions are not affected.
SC860_063_056 / FW860.11
12/05/16 Impact: N/A Severity: N/A
* This Service Pack contained updates for MANUFACTURING ONLY.
SC860_056_056 / FW860.10
11/18/16 Impact: New Severity: New
New features and functions
* Support enabled for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operations.
* Support enabled for partition Suspend and Resume from the HMC.
* Support enabled for partition Remote Restart.
* Support enabled for PowerVM vNIC. PowerVM vNIC combined many of the best
features of SR-IOV and PowerVM SEA to provide a network solution with options
for advanced functions such as Live Partition Mobility along with better
performance and I/O efficiency when compared to PowerVM SEA. In addition
PowerVM vNIC provided users with bandwidth control (QoS) capability by
leveraging SR-IOV logical ports as the physical interface to the network.
* Support for dynamic setting of the Simplified Remote Restart VM property,
which enables this property to be turned on or off dynamically with the
partition running.
* Support for PowerVM and HMC to get and set the boot list of a partition.
* Support for PowerVM partition restart in a Disaster Recovery (DR)
environment.
* Support on PowerVM for a partition with 32 TB memory. AIX, IBM i and Linux
are supported but IBM i must be IBM i 7.3. TR1 IBM i 7.2 has a limit of 16
TB per partition and IBM i 7.1 has a limit of 8 TB per partition. AIX level
must be 7.1S or later. Linux distributions supported are RHEL 7.2 P8, SLES
12 SP1, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, RHEL 7.3 P8, SLES 12 SP2, Ubuntu 16.04.1, and
SLES 11 SP4 for SAP HANA.
* Support for PowerVM and PowerNV (non-virtualized or OPAL bare-metal) booting
from a PCIe Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) flash adapter. The adapters
include feature codes #EC54 and #EC55 - 1.6 TB, and #EC56 and #EC57 - 3.2 TB
NVMe flash adapters with CCIN 58CB and 58CC respectively.
* Support for PowerVM NovaLink V1.0.0.4 which includes the following features:
- IBM i network boot
- Live Partition Mobility (LPM) support for inactive source VIOS
- Support for SR-IOV configurations, vNIC, and vNIC failover
- Partition support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
* Support for a decrease in the amount of PowerVM memory needed to support Huge
Dynamic DMA Window (HDDW) for a PCI slot by using 64K pages instead of 4K
pages. The hypervisor only allocates enough storage for the Enlarged IO
Capacity (Huge Dynamic DMA Window) capable slots to map every page in main
storage with 64K pages rather than 4K pages as was done previously. This
affects only the Linux OS as AIX and IBM i do not use HDDW.
* Support added to reduce the number of error logs and call homes for the
non-critical FRUs for the power and thermal faults of the system.
* Support for redundancy in the the transfer of partition state for Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migration operations. Redundant VIOS Mover Service
Partitons (MSPs) can be defined along with redundant network paths at the
VIOS/MSP level. When redundant MSP pairs are used, the migrating memory
pages of the logical partition are transferred from the source system to the
target system by using two MSP pairs simultaneously. If one of the MSP pair
fails, the migration operation continues by using the other MSP pair. In some
scenarios, where a common shared Ethernet adapter is not used, use redundant
MSP pairs to improve performance and reliability.
Note: For a LPM migration for a partition using Advanced Memory Sharing
(AMS) in a dual (redundant) MSP configuration the LPM operation may hang if
the MSP connection fails during the LPM migration. To avoid this issue that
applies only to AMS partitions, the AMS migrations should only be done from
the HMC command line using the migrlpar command and specifying --redundentmsp
0 to disable the redundant MSPs.
Note: To use redundant MSP pairs, all VIOS MSPs must be at version 2.2.5.00
or later, the HMC at version 8.6.0 or later, and the firmware level FW860 or
later.
For more information on LPM and VIOS supported levels and restrictions, refer
to the following links on the IBM Knowledge Center:
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/PurePower/p8hc3/p8hc3_firmwaresupportmatrix.htm
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4L4/p8eeo/p8eeo_ipeeo_main.htm
* Support for failover capability for vNIC client adapters in the PowerVM
hypervisor, rather than requiring the failover configuration to be done in
the client OS. To create a redundant connection, the HMC adds another vNIC
server with the same remote lpar ID and remote DRC as the first, giving each
server its own priority.
* Support for SAP HANA with Solution edition with feature code #EPVR on 3.65
GHZ processors and 12-core activations and 512 GB memory activations on SUSE
Linux.. SAP HANA is an in-memory platform for processing high volumes of
data in real-time. HANA allows data analysts to query large volumes of data
in real-time. HANA's in-memory database infrastructure frees analysts from
having to load or write-back data.
* Support for the Hardware Management Console (HMC) to access the service
processor IPMI credentials and to retrieve Performance and Capacity Monitor
(PCM) data for viewing in a tabular format or for exporting as CSV values.
The enhanced HMC interface can now start and stop VIOS Shared Storage Pool
(SSP) monitoring from the HMC and start and stop SSP historical data
aggregation.
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
not create VPD deconfiguration records and call home alerts for hardware FRUs
that have one VPD chip of a redundant pair broken or inaccessible. The
backup VPD chip for the FRU allows continued use of the hardware resource.
The notification of the need for service for the FRU VPD is not provided
until both of the redundant VPD chips have failed for a FRU.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for a failed IPL with SRC UE BC8A090F that does not have
a hardware callout or a guard of the failing hardware. The system may be
recovered by guarding out the processor associated with the error and
re-IPLing the system. With the fix, the bad processor core is guarded and
the system is able to IPL.
* A problem was fixed for an infrequent service processor failover hang that
results in a reset of the backup service processor that is trying to become
the new primary. This error occurs more often on a failover to a backup
service processor that has been in that role for a long period of time (many
months). This error can cause a concurrent firmware update to fail. To
reduce the chance of a firmware update failure because of a bad failover, an
Administrative Failover (AFO) can be requested from the HMC prior to the
start of the firmware update. When the AFO has completed, the firmware
update can be started as normally done.
* A problem was fixed for an Operations Panel Function 04 (Lamp test) during an
IPL causing the IPL to fail. With the fix, the lamp test request is rejected
during the IPL until the hypervisor is available. The lamp test can be
requested without problems anytime after the system is powered on to
hypervisor ready or an OS is running in a partition.
* A problem was fixed for On-Chip Controller (OCC) errors that had excessive
callouts for processor FRUs. Many of the OCC errors are recoverable and do
not required that the processor be called out and guarded. With the fix, the
processors will only be called out for OCC errors if there are three or more
OCC failures during a time period of a week.
* A problem was fixed for the loss of the setting for the disable of a periodic
notification for a call home error log after a failover to the backup service
processor on a redundant service processor system. The call home for the
presence of a failed resource can get re-enabled (if manually disabled in
ASMI on the primary service processor) after a concurrent firmware update or
any scenario that causes the service processor to fail over and change
roles. With the fix, the periodic notification flag is synchronized between
the service processors when the flag value is changed.
* A problem was fixed for the On-Chip Controller (OCC) incorrectly calling out
processors with SRC B1112A16 for L4 Cache DIMM failures with SRC B124E504.
This false error logging can occur if the DIMM slot that is failing is
adjacent to two unoccupied DIMM slots.
* A problem was fixed for CEC drawer deconfiguration during a IPL due to SRCs
BC8A0307 and BC8A1701 that did not have the correct hardware callout for the
failing SCM. With the fix, the failing SCM is called out and guarded so the
CEC drawer will IPL even though there is a failed processor.
* A problem was fixed for device time outs during a IPL logged with a SRC
B18138B4. This error is intermittent and no action is needed for the error
log. The service processor hardware server has allotted more time of the
device transactions to allow the transactions to complete without a time-out
error.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DISRUPTIVE: On systems using the PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for
an "Incomplete" state caused by initiating a resource dump with selector
macros from NovaLink (vio -dump -lp 1 -fr). The failure causes a
communication process stack frame, HVHMCCMDRTRTASK, size to be exceeded with
a hypervisor page fault that disrupts the NovalLink and/or HMC
communications. The recovery action is to re-IPL the CEC but that will need
to be done without the assistance of the management console. For each
partition that has a OS running on the system, shut down each partition from
the OS. Then from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI), power
off the managed system. Alternatively, the system power button may also be
used to do the power off. If the management console Incomplete state
persists after the power off, the managed system should be rebuilt from the
management console. For more information on management console recovery
steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm.
The fix is disruptive because the size of the PowerVM hypervisor must be
increased to accommodate the over-sized stack frame of the failing task.
* DEFERRED: On systems using the PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a
CAPI function unavailable condition on a system with the maximum number of
CAPI adapters and partitions. Not enough bytes were allocated for CAPI for
the maximum configuration case. The problem may be circumvented by reducing
the number of active partitions or CAPI adapters. The fix is deferred
because the size of the hypervisor must be increased to provide the
additional CAPI space.
* DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for cable
card capable PCI slots that fail during the IPL. Hypervisor I/O Bus
Interface UE B7006A84 is reported for each cable card capable PCI slot that
doesn't contain a PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for the PCIe Expansion Drawer
(feature code #EJ05). PCI slots containing a cable card will not report an
error but will not be functional. The problem can be resolved by performing
an AC cycle of the system. The trigger for the failure is the I2C devices
used to detect the cable cards are not coming out of the power on reset
process in the correct state due to a race condition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for network issues,
causing critical situations for customers, when an SR-IOV logical port or
vNIC is configured with a non-zero Port VLAN ID (PVID). This fix updates
adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1922, for the following Feature Codes: EN15,
EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EL38, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using the PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live
Partition Mobility migration that resulted in the source managed system going
to the management console Incomplete state after the migration to the target
system was completed. This problem is very rare and has only been detected
once.. The problem trigger is that the source partition does not halt
execution after the migration to the target system. The management console
went to the Incomplete state for the source managed system when it failed to
delete the source partition because the partition would not stop running.
When this problem occurred, the customer network was running very slowly and
this may have contributed to the failure. The recovery action is to re-IPL
the source system but that will need to be done without the assistance of the
management console. For each partition that has a OS running on the source
system, shut down each partition from the OS. Then from the Advanced System
Management Interface (ASMI), power off the managed system. Alternatively,
the system power button may also be used to do the power off. If the
management console Incomplete state persists after the power off, the managed
system should be rebuilt from the management console. For more information
on management console recovery steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center
link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a shared
processor pool partition showing an incorrect zero "Available Pool Processor"
(APP) value after a concurrent firmware update. The zero APP value means
that no idle cycles are present in the shared processor pool but in this case
it stays zero even when idle cycles are available. This value can be
displayed using the AIX "lparstat" command. If this problem is encountered,
the partitions in the affected shared processor pool can be dynamically moved
to a different shared processor pool. Before the dynamic move, the
"uncapped" partitions should be changed to "capped" to avoid a system hang.
The old affected pool would continue to have the APP error until the system
is re-IPLed.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a latency time of
about 2 seconds being added to a target Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
migration system when there is a latency time check failure. With the fix,
in the case of a latency time check failure, a much smaller default latency
is used instead of two seconds. This error would not be noticed if the
customer system is using a NTP time server to maintain the time.
* On multi-node systems with a incorrect memory configuration of DDR3 and DDR4
DIMMs, a problem was fixed for the IPL hanging for four hours instead of
terminating immediately.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a rare problem was fixed for a system
hang that can occur when dynamically moving "uncapped" partitions to a
different shared processor pool. To prevent a system hang, the "uncapped"
partitions should be changed to "capped" before doing the move.
* On systems using the PowerVM firmware, support was added fora new utility
option for the System Management Services (SMS) menus. This is the SMS SAS
I/O Information Utility. It has been introduced to allow an user to get
additional information about the attached SAS devices. The utility is
accessed by selecting option 3 (I/O Device Information) from the main SMS
menu, and then selecting the option for "SAS Device Information".
* On systems using the PowerVM hypervisor firmware and Novalink, a problem was
fixed for a NovaLink installation error where the hypervisor was unable to
get the maximum logical memory buffer (LMB) size from the service processor.
The maximum supported LMB size should be 0xFFFFFFFF but in some cases it was
initialized to a value that was less than the amount of configured memory,
causing the service processor read failure with error code 0X00000134.
* On systems using the PowerVM hypervisor firmware and CAPI adapters, a problem
was fixed for CAPI adapter error recovery. When the CAPI adapter goes into
the error recovery state, the Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) traffic to the adapter
from the OS continues, disrupting the recovery. With the fix, the MMIO and
DMA traffic to the adapter are now frozen until the CAPI adapter is fully
recovered. If the adapter becomes unusable because of this error, it can be
recovered using concurrent maintenance steps from the HMC, keeping the
adapter in place during the repair. The error has a low frequency since it
only occurs when the adapter has failed for another reason and needs
recovery.
* On systems using the PowerVM hypervisor firmware, when using affinity groups,
if the group includes a VIOS, ensure the group is placed in the same drawer
where the VIOS physical I/O is located. Prior to this change, if the VIOS
was in an affinity group with other partitions, the partitions placement
could over-ride the VIOS adapter placement rules and the VIOS could end up in
a different drawer from the IO adapters.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed to improve error
recovery when attempting to boot an iSCSI target backed by a drive formatted
with a block size other than 512 bytes. Instead of stopping on this error,
the boot attempt fails and then continues with the next potential boot
device. Information regarding the reason for the boot failure is available
in an error log entry. The 512 byte block size for backing devices for iSCSI
targets is a partition firmware requirement.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for extra resources
being assigned in a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). This only occurs if all of
these things happen:
o Power server is in a PEP pool
o Power server has PEP resources assigned to it
o Power server powered down
o User uses HMC to 'remove' resources from the powered-down server
o Power server is then restarted. It should come up with no PEP resources,
but it starts up and shows it still is using PEP resources it should not
have.
To recover from this problem, the HMC 'remove' of the PEP resources from the
server can be performed again.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a false thermal
alarm in the active optical cables (AOC) for the PCIe3 expansion drawer with
SRCs B7006AA6 and B7006AA7 being logged every 24 hours. The AOC cables have
feature codes of #ECC6 through #ECC9, depending on the length of the cable.
The SRCs should be ignored as they call for the replacement of the cable,
cable card, or the expansion drawer module. With the fix, the false AOC
thermal alarms are no longer reported.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware that have an attached HMC, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration that resulted in a system hang
when an EEH error occurred simultaneously with a request for a page migration
operation. On the HMC, it shows an incomplete state for the managed system
with reference code A181D000. The recovery action is to re-IPL the source
system but that will need to be done without the assistance of the HMC. From
the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI), power off the managed
system. Alternatively, the system power button may also be used to do the
power off. If the HMC Incomplete state persists after the power off, the
managed system should be rebuilt from the HMC. For more information on HMC
recovery steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
SC840
For Impact, Severity and other Firmware definitions, Please refer to the below
'Glossary of firmware terms' url:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/power5cm/home.html#termdefs
SC840_177_056 / FW840.60
09/29/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for a false 110026B1 (12V power good failure) caused by
an I2C bus write error for a LED state. This error can be triggered by the
fan LEDs changing state.
* A problem was fixed for a fan LED turning amber on solid when there is no fan
fault, or when the fan fault is for a different fan. This error can be
triggered anytime a fan LED needs to change its state. The fan LEDs can be
recovered to a normal state concurrently using the following link steps for a
soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for sporadic blinking amber LEDs for the system fans with
no SRCs logged. There was no problem with the fans. The LED corruption
occurred when two service processor tasks attempted to update the LED state
at the same time. The fan LEDs can be recovered to a normal state
concurrently using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service
processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for the loss of Operations Panel function 30 (displaying
ethernet port HMC1 and HMC2 IP addresses) after a concurrent repair of the
Operations Panel. Operations Panel function 30 can be restored concurrently
using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for a core dump of the rtiminit (service processor time
of day) process that logs an SRC B15A3303 and could invalidate the time on
the service processor. If the error occurs while the system is powered on,
the hypervisor has the master time and will refresh the service processor
time, so no action is needed for recovery. If the error occurs while the
system is powered off, the service processor time must be corrected on the
systems having only a single service processor. Use the following steps from
the IBM Knowledge Center to change the UTC time with the Advanced System
Management Interface:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hby/viewtime.htm.
* A problem was fixed for the "Minimum code level supported" not being shown by
the Advanced System Menu Interface when selecting the "System
Configuration/Firmware Update Policy" menu. The message shown is "Minimum
code level supported value has not been set". The workaround to find this
value is to use the ASMI command line interface with the "registry -l
cupd/MinMifLevel" command.
* A problem was fixed for a degraded PCI link causing a Predictive SRC for a
non-cacheable unit (NCU) store time-out that occurred with SRC B113E540 or
B181E450 and PRD signature "(NCUFIR[9]) STORE_TIMEOUT: Store timed out on
PB". With the fix, the error is changed to be an Informational as the
problem is not with the processor core and the processor should not be
replaced. The solution for degraded PCI links is different from the fix for
this problem, but a re-IPL of the CEC or a reset of the PCI adapters could
help to recover the PCI links from their degraded mode.
* A problem was fixed for system node fans going to maximum RPM speeds after a
service processor failover that needed the On-Chip Controllers (OCC) to be
reloaded. Without the fix, the system node fan speeds can be restored to
normal speed by changing the Power Mode in the Advanced System Menu Interface
using steps from the IBM Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hby/areaa_pmms.htm.
After changing the Power Mode, wait about 10 minutes to change the Power Mode
back to the original setting.
If the fix is applied concurrently and the fans are already in the maximum
RPM speed condition, the system node fan speeds can be corrected by either
changing the Power Mode as above, or using the HMC to do an Administrative
Failover (AFO).
* A problem was fixed for the System Attention LED failing to light for an
error failover for the redundant service processors with an SRC B1812028
logged.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor reset triggered by a spurious
false IIC interrupt request in the kernel. On systems with a single service
processor, the SRC B1817201 is displayed on the Operator Panel. For systems
with redundant service processors, an error failover to the backup service
processor occurs. The problem is extremely infrequent and does not impact
processes on the running system.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor low-level boot code always
running off the same side of the flash image, regardless of what side has
been selected for boot ( P-side or T-side). Because this low-level boot code
rarely changes, this should not cause a problem unless corruption occurs in
the flash image of the boot code. This problem does not affect firmware
side-switches as the service processor initialization code (higher-level code
than the boot code) is running correctly from the selected side. Without the
fix, there is no recovery for boot corruption for systems with a single
service processor as the service processor must be replaced.
* A problem was fixed for a system failure caused by Hostboot problems with one
node but where the other nodes are good. With the fix, the node that is
failing the Hostboot is deconfigured and the system is able to IPL on the
remaining nodes. To recover from this problem, manually guard the node that
is failing and re-IPL.
* A problem was fixed for help text in the Advanced System Management Interface
(ASMI) not informing the user that system fan speeds would increase if the
system Power Mode was changed to "Fixed Maximum Frequency" mode. If ASMI
panel function "System Configuration->Power Management->Power Mode Setup"
"Enable Fixed Maximum Frequency mode" help is selected, the updated text
states "...This setting will result in the fans running at the maximum speed
for proper cooling."
* A problem was fixed for a Power Supply Unit (PSU) failiure of SRC 110015xF
logged with a power supply fan call out when doing a hot re-plug of a PSU.
The power supply may be made operational again by doing a dummy replace of
the PSU that was called out (keeping the same PSU for the replace
operation). A re-IPL of the system will also recover the PSU.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from clock card loss of lock failures that
resulted in a clock card FRU unnecessarily being called out for repair. This
error happened whenever there was a loss of lock (PLL or CRC) for the clock
card. With the fix, firmware will not be calling out the failing clock card,
but rather it will be re-configured as the new backup clock card after doing
a clock card failover. Customers will see a benefit from improved system
availability by the avoidance of disruptive clock card repairs.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe3
I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved stability. The settings for the
continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was updated for all the PCIe
adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer. The CEC must be
re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an intermittent
service processor core dump and callout for netsCommonMSGServer with SRC
B181EF88. The HMC connection to the service processor automatically
recovers with a new session.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with a Linux Little Endian (LE) partition,
a problem was fixed for system reset interrupts returning the wrong values in
the debug output for the NIP and MSR registers. This problem reduces the
ability to debug hung Linux partitions using system reset interrupts. The
error occurs every time a system reset interrupt is used on a Linux LE
partition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for "Time Power On"
enabled partitions not being capable of suspend and resume operations. This
means Live Partition Mobility (LPM) would not be able to migrate this type of
partition. As a workaround, the partition could be transitioned to a
"Non-time Power On" state and then made capable of suspend and resume
operations.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) IFL processors assignments causing an "Out of Compliance" for
normal processor licenses. The number of IFL processors purchased was first
credited as satisfying any "unreturned" PEP processor resources, thus
potentially leaving the system "Out Of Compliance" since IFL processors
should not be taking the place of the normal (expensive) processor usage. In
this situation, without the fix, the user will need to either purchase more
"expensive" non-IFL processors to satisfy the non-IFL workloads or adjust the
partitions to reduce the usage of non-IFL processors. This is a very
infrequent problem for the following reasons:
1) PEP processors are infrequently left "unreturned" for short periods of
time for specialized operations such as LPM migrations
2) The user would have to purchase IFL processors from IBM, which is not a
common occurrence.
3) The user would have to put in a COD key for IFL processors while a PEP
processor is still "unreturned"
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) resource Grace Period being short by one hour with 71 hours
provided instead of 72 hours. The Grace Period is provided when all PEP
resources are assigned and the user double-uses these resources (typically
this is done for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration). This
"borrowing" is temporarily permitted in this case even if there are not
enough licenses to cover resources in both servers. The PEP goes into
"Approaching Out Of Compliance", indicating the user has a certain amount of
time to resolve this double-use. The problem here is that the time length of
this Grace Period lasts one hour less than stated. For a 72-hour Grace
Period (the standard setting), the user only gets 71 hours. The user sees
"71 hours remaining" (correct) on first display at start, then right away,
if the user displays again, 70 hours is shown remaining. But thereafter, the
Grace Period time decrements correctly for the time remaining.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) non-applicable error messages being displayed when re-entering PEP
XML files for PEP updates, in which one of the XML operations calls for
Conversion of Perm Resources to PEP Resources. There is no error as the PEP
key was accepted on the first use. The following message may be seen on the
HMC and can be ignored: "...HSCL0520 A Mobile CoD processor conversion code
to convert 0 permanently activated processors to Mobile CoD processors on the
managed system has been entered. HSCL050F This CoD code is not valid for
your managed system. Contact your CoD administrator."
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for reboot retries for
IBM i partitions such that the first load source I/O adapter (IOA) is retried
instead of bypassed after the first failed attempt. The reboot retries are
done for an hour before the reboot process gives up. This error can occur if
there is more than one known load source, and the IOA of the first load
source is different from the IOA of the last load source. The error can be
circumvented by retrying the boot of the partition after the load source
device has become available.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with mirrored memory running IBM i
partitions, a problem was fixed for memory fails in the partition that also
caused the system to crash. The system failure will occur any time that IBM
i partition memory towards the beginning of the partition's assigned memory
fails. With the fix, the memory failure is isolated to the impacted
partition, leaving the rest of the system unaffected.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for failures
deconfiguring SR-IOV Virtual Functions (VFs). This can occur during Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations with HMC error messages of
HSCLAF16,HSCLAF15 and HSCLB602 shown. This results in a LPM migration
failure and a system reboot is required to recover the VFs for the I/O
adapters. This error may occur more frequently in cases where the I/O
adapter has pending I/O at the time of the deconfigure request for the VF.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the incorrect
reporting of the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) to the OS, which
prevented the tracking of a partition as it moved within a data center. The
UUID value as seen on HMC or the NovaLink did not match the value as
displayed in the OS.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a partition boot
from a USB 3.0 device that has an error log SRC BA210003. The error is
triggered by an Open Firmware entry to the trace buffer during the partition
boot. The error log can be ignored as the boot is successful to the OS.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a partition boot
fail or hang from a Fibre Channel device having fabric faults. Some of the
fabric errors returned by the VIOS are not interpreted correctly by the Open
Firmware VFC drive, causing the hang instead of generating helpful error
logs.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, problems were fixed for communication
failures on adapters in SR-IOV shared mode:
1) A problem was fixed for SR-IOV adapters in shared mode for a transmission
stall or time out with SRC B400FF01 logged. The time out happens during
Virtual Function (VF) shutdowns and during Function Level Resets (FLRs) with
network traffic running.
2) A problem was fixed for an SR-IOV logical port whose Port VLAN ID (PVID)
changing from non-zero to zero causes a communication failure under certain
conditions. The communication failure only occurs when a logical port's PVID
is dynamically changed from non-zero to zero. An SR-IOV logical port is an
I/O device created for a partition or a partition profile using the
management console (HMC) when a user intends for the partition to access an
SR-IOV adapter Virtual Function. The error can be recovered from by a reboot
of the partition.
These fixes updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1929, for the following
Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L,
EL38, EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PowerVM NovaLink, a problem was fixed
for a lost of a communications channel between the hypervisor and the PowerVM
NovaLink during a reset of the service processor. Various NovaLink tasks,
including deploy, could fail with a "No valid host was found" error. With
the fix, PowerVM NovaLink prevents normal operations from being impacted by a
reset of the service processor.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PowerVM NovaLink, a problem was fixed
for returning to HMC-only management from co-management when a Novalink
partition is deleted holding the master mode. A circumvention is to release
master mode before deleting the NovaLink partition and then reconnect the
disconnected management console. Please refer to IBM Knowledge Center link
"http://ibm.biz/novalink-kc" for more information on the PowerVM NovaLink
feature and changing the master authority when doing co-management.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PowerVM NovaLink, a problem was fixed
for a master management console becoming disconnected and blocking other
management consoles from performing virtualization changes. A circumvention
is to use the HMC CLI on another management console to request the master
mode with the force option. Please refer to IBM Knowledge Center link
"http://ibm.biz/novalink-kc" for more information on the PowerVM NovaLink
feature and changing the master authority when doing co-management.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) busy errors from the system anchor card when creating or updating
a PEP pool. The error returned by the HMC is "HSCL9015 The managed system
cannot currently process this operation. This condition is temporary.
Please try the operation again." To try again, the customer needs to update
the pool again. Typically on the second PEP update, the code is accepted.
The problem is intermittent and occurs only rarely.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an invalid date
from the service processor causing the customer date and time to go to the
Epoch value (01/01/1970) without a warning or chance for a correction. With
the fix, the first IPL attempted on an invalid date will be rejected with a
message alerting the user to set the time correctly in the service
processor. If the warning is ignored and the date/time is not corrected, the
next IPL attempt will complete to the OS with the time reverted to the Epoch
time and date. This problem is very rare but it has been known to occur on
service processor replacements when the repair step to set the date and time
on the new service processor was inadvertently skipped by the service
representative.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP) system losing its assigned processor and memory resources after an
IPL of the system. This is an intermittent problem caused by a small timing
window that makes it possible for the server to not get the IPL-time
assignment of resources from the HMC. If this problem occurs, it can be
corrected by the HMC to recover the pool without needing another IPL of the
system.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the error
handling of EEH events for the SR-IOV Virtual Functions (VFs) that can result
in IPL failure with B7006971, B400FF05, and BA210000 SRCs logged. In these
cases, the partition console stops at an OFDBG prompt. Also a DLPAR add of a
VF may result in a parttion crash due to a 300 DSI exception because of a
low-level EEH event. A circumvention for the problem would be to debug the
EEH events which should be recovered errors and eliminate the cause of the
EEH events. With the fix, the EEH events still log Predictive Errors but do
not cause a partition failure.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an error finding
the partition load source that has a GPT format. GUID Partition Table (GPT)
is a standard for the layout of the partition table on a physical storage
device used in the server, such as a hard disk drive or solid-state drive,
using globally unique identifiers (GUID). Other drives that are working may
be using the older master boot record (MBR) partition table format. This
problem occurs whenever load sources utilizing the GPT format occur in other
than the first entry of the boot table. Without the fix, a GPT disk drive
must be the first entry in the boot table to be able to use it to boot a
partition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an SRC BA090006
serviceable event log occurring whenever an attempt was made to boot from an
ALUA (Asymmetric Logical Unit Access) drive. These drives are always busy by
design and cannot be used for a partition boot, but no service action is
required if a user inadvertently tries to do that. Therefore, the SRC was
changed to be an informational log.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migrations from FW860.12 or later to the FW840.50 level of
firmware. Subsequent DLPAR add operations of Virtual Adapters will fail with
HMC error message HSCLAB2B, which contains text similar to the following:
"The operation to add a virtual NIC in slot 8 on partition 9 failed. The
requested amounts of slot(s) to be added is 1 and the completed amount is
0." The AIX OS standard error message with return code 3 is the following:
"0931-007 You have specified an invalid drc_name." This issue affects
partitions installed with AIX 7.2 TL 1 and later. Not affected by this
issue are partitions installed with VIOS, IBM i, or earlier levels of AIX.
The error can be recovered by a reboot of the affected partition.
SC840_168_056 / FW840.50
04/21/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
allow the special characters of "I", "O", and "Q" to be entered for the
serial number of the I/O Enclosure under the Configure I/O Enclosure option.
These characters have only been found in an IBM serial number rarely, so
typing in these characters will normally be an incorrect action. However,
the special character entry is not blocked by ASMI anymore so it is able to
support the exception case. Without the enhancement, the typing of one of
the special characters causes message "Invalid serial number" to be
displayed.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, support was added for the Universally
Unique IDentifier (UUID) property for each partition. The UUID provides each
partition with an identifier that is persisted by the platform across
partition reboots, reconfigurations, OS reinstalls, partition migration, and
hibernation.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for the setting the disable of a periodic notification
for a call home error log SRC B150F138 for Memory Buffer resources (membuf)
from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
* A problem was fixed for incorrect callouts of the Power Management Controller
(PMC) hardware with SRC B1112AC4 and SRC B1112AB2 logged. These extra
callouts occur when the On-Chip Controller (OCC) has placed the system in the
safe state for a prior failure that is the real problem that needs to be
resolved.
* A problem was fixed for device time outs during a IPL logged with a SRC
B18138B4. This error is intermittent and no action is needed for the error
log. The service processor hardware server has allotted more time of the
device transactions to allow the transactions to complete without a time-out
error.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
"System Service Aids => Error/Event Logs" panel not showing the "Clear" and
"Show" log options and also having a truncated error log when there are a
large number of error logs on the system.
* A problem was fixed for the failover to the backup PNOR on a Hostboot Self
Boot Engine (SBE) failure. Without the fix, the failed SBE causes loss of
processors and memory with B15050AD logged. With the fix, the SBE is able to
access the backup PNOR and IPL successfully by deconfiguring the failing PNOR
and calling it out as a failed FRU.
* A problem was fixed for System Vital Product Data (SVPD) FRUs being guarded
but not having a corresponding error log entry. This is a failure to commit
the error log entry that has occurred only rarely.
* A problem was fixed for a system going into safe mode with SRC B1502616
logged as informational without a call home notification. Notification is
needed because the system is running with reduced performance. If there are
unrecoverable error logs and any are marked with reduced performance and the
system has not been rebooted, then the system is probably running in safe
mode with reduced performance. With the fix, the SRC B1502616 is a
Unrecoverable Error (UE).
* A problem was fixed for the service processor boot watch-dog timer expiring
too soon during DRAM initialization in the reset/reload, causing the service
processor to go unresponsive. On systems with a single service processor,
the SRC B1817212 was displayed on the control panel. For systems with
redundant service processors, the failing service processor was
deconfigured. To recover the failed service processor, the system will need
to be powered off with AC powered removed during a regularly scheduled system
service action. This problem is intermittent and very infrequent as most of
the reset/reloads of the service processor will work correctly to restore the
service processor to a normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for host-initiated resets of the service processor
causing the system to terminate. A prior fix for this problem did not work
correctly because some of the host-initiated resets were being translated to
unknown reset types that caused the system to terminate. With this new
correction for failed host-initiated resets, the service processor will still
be unresponsive but the system and partitions will continue to run. On
systems with a single service processor, the SRC B1817212 will be displayed
on the control panel. For systems with redundant service processors, the
failing service processor will be deconfigured. To recover the failed
service processor, the system will need to be powered off with AC powered
removed during a regularly scheduled system service action. This problem is
intermittent and very infrequent as most of the host-initiated resets of the
service processor will work correctly to restore the service processor to a
normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for hardware dumps only collecting data for the master
processor if a run-time service processor failover had occurred prior to the
dump. Therefore, there would be only master chip and master core data in the
event of a core unit checkstop. To recover to a system state that is able to
do a full collection of debug data for all processors and cores after a
run-time failover, a re-IPL of the system is needed.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect error messages from the Advanced System
Management Interface (ASMI) functions when the system is powered on but in
the "Incomplete State". For this condition, ASMI was assuming the system was
powered off because it could not communicate to the PowerVM hypervisor. With
the fix, the ASMI error messages will indicate that ASMI functions have
failed because of the bad hypervisor connection instead of falsely stating
that the system is powered off.
* A problem was fixed for a single node failure on a multi-node system
preventing an IPL. The error occurred if Hostboot hung on a node and timed
out without calling out problem hardware. With the fix, a service processor
failover is used to IPL on an alternate path to recover from the error. And
an error log has been added for the IPL timeout for the node with SRC
B111BAAB and a callout for the master processor and PNOR.
* A problem has been fixed for systems losing performance and going into Safe
mode (a power mode with reduced processor frequencies intended to protect the
system from over-heating and excessive power consumption) with
B1xx2AC3/B1xx2AC4 SRCs logged. This happened because of an On-Chip
Controller (OCC) internal queue overflow. The problem has only been observed
for systems running heavy workloads with maximum memory configurations (where
every DIMM slot is populated - size of DIMM does not matter), but this may
not be required to encounter the problem. Recovery from Safe mode back to
normal performance can be done with a re-IPL of the system, or concurrently
using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm.
To check or validate that Safe mode is not active on the system will require
a dynamic celogin password from IBM Support to use the service processor
command line:
1) Log into ASMI as celogin with dynamic celogin password generated by IBM
Support
2) Select System Service Aids
3) Select Service Processor Command Line
4) Enter "tmgtclient --query_mode_and_function" from the command line
The first line of the output, "currSysPwrMode" should say "NOMINAL" and this
means the system is in normal mode and that Safe mode is not active.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for cable card (PCIe3
Optical Cable Adapter for the PCIe3 Expansion Drawer) capable PCI slots that
fail during the IPL. Hypervisor I/O Bus Interface UE B7006A84 is reported
for each cable card capable PCI slot that doesn't contain a cable card. PCI
slots containing a cable card will not report an error but will not be
functional. The problem can be resolved by doing a "power off/power on"
re-IPL of the system. The trigger for the failure is the I2C devices used to
detect the cable cards are not coming out of the power on reset process in
the correct state due to a race condition. The affected optical cable
adapters have feature codes #EJ05, #EJ07, and #EJ08 with CCINs 2B1C, 6B52,
and 2CE2, respectively.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a blank SRC in
the LPA dump for user-initiated non-disruptive adjunct dumps. The SRC is
needed for problem determination and dump analysis.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed with SR-IOV adapter
error recovery where the adapter is left in a failed state in nested error
cases for some adapter errors. The probability of this occurring is very low
since the problem trigger is multiple low-level adapter failures. With the
fix, the adapter is recovered and returned to an operational state.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared mode, a problem was fixed for the hypervisor
SR-IOV adjunct partition failing during the IPL with SRCs B200F011 and
B2009014 logged. The SR-IOV adjunct partition successfully recovers after it
reboots and the system is operational.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe Host Bridge
(PHB) outages and PCIe adapter failures in the PCIe I/O expansion drawer
caused by error thresholds being exceeded for the LEM bit [21] errors in the
FIR accumulator. These are typically minor and expected errors in the PHB
that occur during adapter updates and do not warrant a reset of the PHB and
the PCIe adapter failures. Therefore, the threshold LEM[21] error limit has
been increased and the LEM fatal error has been changed to a Predictive Error
to avoid the outages for this condition.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with a large memory configuration (greater
than 8 TB), a problem was fixed for a SR-IOV adjunct failure during the IPL,
causing loss of SR-IOV function. The large system memory space causes an
overflow in the space calculations for SR-IOV adapters in PCIe slots with
Enlarged IO Capacity enabled. The problem can be avoided by reducing the
number of PCIe slots with Enlarged IO Capacity enabled so it does not include
adapters in SR-IOV shared-mode. Another circumvention option is to move the
SR-IOV adapters to SR-IOV capable PCIe slots where Enlarged IO Capacity is
not enabled. Reducing system physical memory to below 8 TB will also work
as a circumvention.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migrations from FW860.10 or FW860.11 to older levels of
firmware. Subsequent DLPAR of Virtual Adapters will fail with HMC error
message HSCL294C, which contains text similar to the following: "0931-007
You have specified an invalid drc_name." This issue affects partitions
installed with AIX 7.2 TL 1 and later. Not affected by this issue are
partitions installed with VIOS, IBM i, or earlier levels of AIX.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware running a Linux OS, a problem was fixed
for support for Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI) adapters.
The CAPI related RTAS h-calls for the CAPI devices could not be made by the
Linux OS, impacting the CAPI adapter functionality and usability. This
problem involves the following adapters: the PCIe3 LP CAPI Accelerator
Adapter with F/C #EJ16 that is used on the S812L(8247-21L) and S822L
(8247-22L) models; the PCIe3 CAPI FlashSystem Acclerator Adapter with F/C
#EJ17 that is used on the S814(8286-41A) and S824(8286-42A) models; and the
PCIe3 CAPI FlashSystem Accelerator Adapter with F/C #EJ18 that is used on the
S822(8284-22A), E870(9119-MME), and E880(9119-MHE) models. This problem does
not pertain to PowerVM AIX partitions using CAPI adapters.
* On a system using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for corruption of the
partition data in the service processor NVRAM during a power off that causes
the managed system to go into the HMC "Recovery" error state. A
circumvention for the error is to restore partition data from the HMC. If
using Novalink to manage the partition, a recovery can be done from the
Novalink backup. The error is very infrequent but more likely to occur on an
immediate power off of the system. Instead, if a delayed powered off is
used, that would allow the hypervisor to complete all pending operations
before shutting down cleanly.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a group of shared
processor partitions being able to exceed the designated capacity placed on a
shared processor pool. This error can be triggered by using the DLPAR move
function for the shared processor partitions, if the pool has already reached
its maximum specified capacity. To prevent this problem from occurring when
making DLPAR changes when the pool is at the maximum capacity, do not use the
DLPAR move operation but instead break it into two steps: DLPAR remove
followed by DLPAR add. This gives enough time for the DLPAR remove to be
fully completed prior to starting the DLPAR add request.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for NVRAM corruption
and a HMC recovery state when using Simplified Remote Restart partitions.
The failing systems will have at least one Remote Restart partition and on
the failed IPL there will be a B70005301 SRC with word 7 being 0X00000002.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with an IBM i partition, a problem was
fixed for incorrect maximum performance reports based on the wrong number of
"maximum" processors for the system. Certain performance reports that can
be generated on IBMi systems contain not only the existing machine
information, but also "what-if" information, such as "how would this system
perform if it had all the processors possible installed in this system".
This "what-if" report was in error because the maximum number of processors
possible was too high for the system.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for NVRAM corruption
that can occur when deleting a partition that owns a CAPI adapter, if that
CAPI adapter is not assigned to another partition before the system is
powered off. On a subsequent IPL, the system will come up in recovery mode
if there is NVRAM corruption. To recover, the partitions must be restored
from the HMC. The frequency of this error is expected to be rare. The CAPI
adapters have the following feature codes: #EC3E, #EC3F, #EC3L, #EC3M,
#EC3T, #EC3U, #EJ16, #EJ17, #EJ18, #EJ1A, and #EJ1B.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe3 I/O
expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved stability. The settings for the
continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was updated for all the PCIe
adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer. The CEC must be re-IPLed
for the fix to activate.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, the following problems were fixed for
SR-IOV adapters:
1) Insufficient resources reported for SR-IOV logical port configured with
promiscuous mode enable and a Port VLAN ID (PVID) when creating new interface
on the SR-IOV adapters.
2) Spontaneous dumps and reboot of the adjunct partition for SR-IOV adapters.
3) Adapter enters firmware loop when single bit ECC error is detected.
System firmware detects this condition as a adapter command time out. System
firmware will reset and restart the adapter to recover the adapter
functionality. This condition will be reported as a temporary adapter
hardware failure.
4) vNIC interfaces not being deleted correctly causing SRC B400FF01 to be
logged and Data Storage Interrupt (DSI) errors with failiure on boot of the
LPAR.
This set of fixes updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1926, for the
following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N,
EN0K, EN0L, EL38 , EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for partition boot
failures and run time DLPAR failures when adding I/O that log BA210000,
BA210003, and/or BA210005 errors. The fix also applies to run time failures
configuring an I/O adapter following an EEH recovery that log BA188001
events. The problem can impact IBMi partitions running in any processor mode
or AIX/Linux partitions running in P7 (or older) processor compatibility
modes. The problem is most likely to occur when the system is configured in
the Manufacturing Default Configuration (MDC) mode. The trigger for the
problem is a race-condition between the hypervisor and the physical
operations panel with a very rare frequency of occurrence.
* On systems with maximum memory configurations (where every DIMM slot is
populated - size of DIMM does not matter), a problem has been fixed for
systems losing performance and going into Safe mode (a power mode with
reduced processor frequencies intended to protect the system from
over-heating and excessive power consumption) with B1xx2AC3/B1xx2AC4 SRCs
logged. This happened because of On-Chip Controller (OCC) time out errors
when collecting Analog Power Subsystem Sweep (APSS) data, used by the OCC to
tune the processor frequency. This problem occurs more frequently on systems
that are running heavy workloads. Recovery from Safe mode back to normal
performance can be done with a re-IPL of the system, or concurrently using
the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm.
To check or validate that Safe mode is not active on the system will require
a dynamic celogin password from IBM Support to use the service processor
command line:
1) Log into ASMI as celogin with dynamic celogin password generated by IBM
Support
2) Select System Service Aids
3) Select Service Processor Command Line
4) Enter "tmgtclient --query_mode_and_function" from the command line
The first line of the output, "currSysPwrMode" should say "NOMINAL" and this
means the system is in normal mode and that Safe mode is not active.
SC840_147_056 / FW840.40
10/28/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* The requirement to upgrade the managing HMCs from HMC 840 to HMC 850 before
installing FW840.40 on the E870 (9119-MME), E880 (9119-MHE), E870C (9080-MME)
and E880C (9080-MHE) systems has been removed. However, to properly manage
the E870C and E880C systems, the managing HMC(s) must be at V8 R8.5.0 SP1 or
later.
* Support was added to protect the service processor from booting on a level of
firmware that is below the minimum MIF level. If this is detected, a SRC
B18130A0 is logged. A disruptive firmware update would then need to be done
to the minimum firmware level or higher. This new support has no effect on
the system being updated with the service pack but has been put in place to
provide an enhanced firmware level for the IBM field stock service
processors.
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
not create VPD deconfiguration records and call home alerts for hardware FRUs
that have one VPD chip of a redundant pair broken or inaccessible. The
backup VPD chip for the FRU allows continued use of the hardware resource.
The notification of the need for service for the FRU VPD is not provided
until both of the redundant VPD chips have failed for a FRU.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed the for an infrequent IPL hang and terminate that can
occur if the backup clock card is failing. The following SRCs may be logged
with this termination: B1813450, B181460B, B181BA07, B181E6C7 and B181E6F1.
If the IPL error occurs, the system can be re-IPLed to recover from the
problem.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface "Network
Services/Network Configuration" "Reset Network Configuration" button that was
not resetting the static routes to the default factory setting. The
manufacturing default is to have no static routes defined so the fix clears
any static routes that had been added. A circumvention to the problem is to
use the ASMI "Network Services/Network Configuration/Static Route
Configuration" "Delete" button before resetting the network configuration.
* A problem was fixed for a partial callout for a failed SPIVID (Serial
Peripheral Interface Voltage Identification) interface on the power supply
VRM (Voltage Regulator Module). The SPVID interface allows the processor to
to control it's external voltage supply level, but if it fails, only the
processor FRU (SCM) is called out but not the VRM.
The system IPL will complete with a CEC drawer deconfigured. The error log
will only contain the processor but not the defective processor VRM.
Hostboot does not detect a SPIVID error, but fails on a SCOM operation to the
processor chip. The errors show up with SRC BCxx090F logged by Hostboot and
word 7 containing one of three error values for a SPIVID_SLAVE_PART callout:
1) RC_SBE_SET_VID_TIMEOUT = 0x005ec1b2
2) RC_SBE_SPIVID_STATUS_ERROR = 0x00902aac
3) RC_SBE_SPIVID_WRITE_RETURN_STATUS_ERROR = 0x0045d3cd with HWP Error
description : "Procedure: proc_sbe_setup_evid SPIVID Device did not return
good status the Boot Voltage Write operation" and HWSV RC of BA24.
Without the fix, replace both the identified SCM and the associated VRM.
* A problem was fixed for the HMC Exchange FRU procedure for DVD drive with MTM
7226-1U3 and feature codes 5757/5762/5763 where it did not verify the DVD
drive was plugged in at the end of the exchange procedure. Without the fix,
the user must manually verify that the DVD drive is plugged in.
* A problem was fixed for a 3.3V power fault on the primary system clock card
causing a failover to the backup clock without an error log and a call out
for the primary clock card. This clock card is part of a redundant set in
the System Control Unit with CCIN 6B49.
* A problem was fixed for a PLL unlock error on the backup clock card by using
spread spectrum to maintain the phased locked loop for the clock frequency.
This technique was already in use for the primary clock card. The PLL unlock
error is rare in the backup clock for the Power systems but it has been seen
more frequently for the same part in other IBM systems. This clock card is
part of a redundant set in the System Control Unit with CCIN 6B49.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
incorrectly showing the Anchor card as guarded whenever any redundant VPD
chip is guarded.
* A problem was fixed for the health monitoring of the NVRAM and DRAM in the
service processor that had been disabled. The monitoring has been
re-established and early warnings of service processor memory failure is
logged with one of the following Predictive Error SRCs: B151F107, B151F109,
B151F10A, or B151F10D.
* A problem was fixed for infrequent VPD cache read failures during an IPL
causing an unnecessary guarding of DIMMs with SRC B123A80F logged. With the
fix, the VPD cache read fails cause a temporary deconfiguration of the
associated DIMM but the DIMM is recovered on the next IPL.
* A problem was fixed for a processor hang where the error recovery was not
guarding the failing processor. The failure causes a SRC B111E540 to be
logged with Signature Description of " ex(n0p3c1) (COREFIR[55])
NEST_HANG_DETECT: External Hang detected". With the fix, the failure
processor FRU is called out and guarded so that the error does not re-occur
when the system is re-IPLed.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor recovery from intermittent
MAX31760 fan controller faults logged with SRC B1504804. The fan controller
faults caused an out of memory condition on the service processor, forcing it
to reset and failover to the backup service processor with SRCs B181720D,
B181E6E9, and B182951C logged. With the fix, the fan controller faults are
handled without memory loss and the only SRC logged is B1504804 for each fan
controller fault.
* A problem was fixed for a DDR4 memory training step during hostboot that
incorrectly failed DIMMs on the timing margins for the HOLD limit. The DIMMs
may be recovered by manually unguarding the failed DIMM hardware. This
affects the 256GB DDR4 memory DIMM with feature code #EM8Y.
* A problem was fixed for a failed IPL with SRC UE BC8A090F that does not have
a hardware callout or a guard of the failing hardware. The system may be
recovered by guarding out the processor associated with the error and
re-IPLing the system. With the fix, the bad processor core is guarded and
the system is able to IPL.
* A problem was fixed for the loss of the setting for the disable of a periodic
notification for a call home error log after a failover to the backup service
processor on a redundant service processor system. The call home for the
presence of a failed resource can get re-enabled (if manually disabled in
ASMI on the primary service processor) after a concurrent firmware update or
any scenario that causes the service processor to fail over and change
roles. With the fix, the periodic notification flag is synchronized between
the service processors when the flag value is changed.
* A problem was fixed for a shortened "Grace Period" for "Out of Compliance"
users of a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). The "Grace Period" is short by one
hour, so the user has one less hour to resolve compliance issues before the
HMC disallows any more borrowing of PEP resources. For example, if the
"Grace Period" should have been 48 hours as shown in the "Out of Compliance"
message, it really is 47 hours in the hypervisor firmware. The borrowing of
PEP resources is not a common usage scenario. It is most often found in Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations where PEP resources are borrowed from the
source server and loaned to the target server.
* A problem was fixed for an infrequent service processor failover hang that
results in a reset of the backup service processor that is trying to become
the new primary. This error occurs more often on a failover to a backup
service processor that has been in that role for a long period of time (many
months). This error can cause a concurrent firmware update to fail. To
reduce the chance of a firmware update failure because of a bad failover, an
Administrative Failover (AFO) can be requested from the HMC prior to the
start of the firmware update. When the AFO has completed, the firmware
update can be started as normally done.
* A problem was fixed for On-Chip Controller (OCC) errors that had excessive
callouts for processor FRUs. Many of the OCC errors are recoverable and do
not required that the processor be called out and guarded. With the fix, the
processors will only be called out for OCC errors if there are three or more
OCC failures during a time period of a week.
* A problem was fixed for an Operations Panel Function 04 (Lamp test) during an
IPL causing the IPL to fail. With the fix, the lamp test request is rejected
during the IPL until the hypervisor is available. The lamp test can be
requested without problems anytime after the system is powered on to
hypervisor ready or an OS is running in a partition.
* A problem was fixed for a false thermal alarm in the active optical cables
(AOC) for the PCIe3 expansion drawer with SRCs B7006AA6 and B7006AA7 being
logged every 24 hours. The AOC cables have feature codes of #ECC6 through
#ECC9, depending on the length of the cable. The SRCs should be ignored as
they call for the replacement of the cable, cable card, or the expansion
drawer module. With the fix, the false AOC thermal alarms are no longer
reported.
* A problem was fixed for CEC drawer deconfiguration during a IPL due to SRCs
BC8A0307 and BC8A1701 that did not have the correct hardware callout for the
failing SCM. With the fix, the failing SCM is called out and guarded so the
CEC drawer will IPL even though there is a failed processor.
* A problem was fixed for extra resources being assigned in a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP). This only occurs if all of these things happen:
o Power server is in a PEP pool
o Power server has PEP resources assigned to it
o Power server powered down
o User uses HMC to 'remove' resources from the powered-down server
o Power server is then restarted. It should come up with no PEP resources,
but it starts up and shows it still is using PEP resources it should not
have.
To recover from this problem, the HMC 'remove' of the PEP resources from the
server can be performed again.
* A problem was fixed for the On-Chip Controller (OCC) incorrectly calling out
processors with SRC B1112A16 for L4 Cache DIMM failures with SRC B124E504.
This false error logging can occur if the DIMM slot that is failing is
adjacent to two unoccupied DIMM slots.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for network issues,
causing critical situations for customers, when an SR-IOV logical port or
vNIC is configured with a non-zero Port VLAN ID (PVID). This fix updates
adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1922, for the following Feature Codes: EN15,
EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EL38, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On systems using the PowerVM hypervisor firmware and Novalink, a problem was
fixed for a NovaLink installation error where the hypervisor was unable to
get the maximum logical memory buffer (LMB) size from the service processor.
The maximum supported LMB size should be 0xFFFFFFFF but in some cases it was
initialized to a value that was less than the amount of configured memory,
causing the service processor read failure with error code 0X00000134.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with a system partition with more than 64
cores, a problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration
operations failing with HSCL365C. The partition migration is stopped because
the platform detects a firmware error anytime the partition has more than 64
cores.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an AIX or Linux
partition failing with a SRC B2008105 LP 00005 on a re-IPL after a dump
(firmware assisted or error generated dump) following a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migration operation. The problem does not occur if the
migrated partition completes a normal IPL after the migration.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed to prevent NovaLink
managed or co-managed systems from blocking SR-IOV configurations. When
configuring or deconfiguring SR-IOV, it is highly likely that the Novalink
VMC virtual device will interfere with SR-IOV virtual devices. Without the
fix, SR-IOV is ignoring the NovaLink VMC device and trying to use the same
virtual slot.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for intermittent long
delays in the NX co-processor for asynchronous requests such as NX 842
compressions. This problem was observed for AIX DB2 when it was doing
hardware-accelerated compressions of data but could occur on any asynchronous
request to the NX co-processor.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware that have an attached HMC, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration that resulted in the source
managed system going to the Hardware Management Console (HMC) Incomplete
state after the migration to the target system was completed. This problem
is very rare and has only been detected once.. The problem trigger is that
the source partition does not halt execution after the migration to the
target system. The HMC went to the Incomplete state for the source managed
system when it failed to delete the source partition because the partition
would not stop running. When this problem occurred, the customer network was
running very slowly and this may have contributed to the failure. The
recovery action is to re-IPL the source system but that will need to be done
without the assistance of the HMC. For each partition that has a OS running
on the source system, shut down each partition from the OS. Then from the
Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI), power off the managed system.
Alternatively, the system power button may also be used to do the power off.
If the HMC Incomplete state persists after the power off, the managed system
should be rebuilt from the HMC. For more information on HMC recovery steps,
refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a latency time of
about 2 seconds being added to a target Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
migration system when there is a latency time check failure. With the fix,
in the case of a latency time check failure, a much smaller default latency
is used instead of two seconds. This error would not be noticed if the
customer system is using a NTP time server to maintain the time.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware that have an attached HMC, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration that resulted in a system hang
when an EEH error occurred simultaneously with a request for a page migration
operation. On the HMC, it shows an incomplete state for the managed system
with reference code A181D000. The recovery action is to re-IPL the source
system but that will need to be done without the assistance of the HMC. From
the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI), power off the managed
system. Alternatively, the system power button may also be used to do the
power off. If the HMC Incomplete state persists after the power off, the
managed system should be rebuilt from the HMC. For more information on HMC
recovery steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a system dump
post-dump IPL that resulted in adjunct partition errors of SRC BA54504D,
B7005191, and BA220020 when they could not be created due to false space
constraints. These adjunct partition failures will prevent normal operations
of the hypervisor such as creating new partitions, so a power off and power
on of the system is needed to recover it. If the customer system is
experiencing this error (only some systems will be impacted), it is expected
to occur for each system dump post-dump IPL until the fix is applied.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a shared
processor pool partition showing an incorrect zero "Available Pool Processor"
(APP) value after a concurrent firmware update. The zero APP value means
that no idle cycles are present in the shared processor pool but in this case
it stays zero even when idle cycles are available. This value can be
displayed using the AIX "lparstat" command. If this problem is encountered,
the partitions in the affected shared processor pool can be dynamically moved
to a different shared processor pool. Before the dynamic move, the
"uncapped" partitions should be changed to "capped" to avoid a system hang.
The old affected pool would continue to have the APP error until the system
is re-IPLed.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a rare problem was fixed for a system
hang that can occur when dynamically moving "uncapped" partitions to a
different shared processor pool. To prevent a system hang, the "uncapped"
partitions should be changed to "capped" before doing the move.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a DLPAR add of
the USB 3.0 adapter (#EC45 and #EC46) to an AIX partition where the adapter
could not be configured with the AIX "cfgmgr" command that fails with EEH
errors and an outstanding illegal DMA transaction. The trigger for the
problem is the DLPAR add operation of the USB 3.0 adapter that has a USB
External Dock (#EU04) and RDX Removable Disk Drives attached, or a USB 3.0
adapter that has a flash driver attached. The PCI slot can be powered off
and on to recover the USB 3.0 adapter.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a missing OF
trace buffer in the resource dump. This happens any time a resource dump is
requested. The missing FFDC data may require that problems be recreated
before they can be debugged.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) error where the target partition migration is failed with
HSCLB98C error. Frequency of this error can be moderate with source
partitions that have a vNIC resource but extremely low if the source
partition does not have a vNIC resource. The failure originates at the VIOS
VF level, so recovery from this error may need a re-IPL of the system to
regain full use of the vNIC resources.
SC840_139_056 / FW840.30
09/28/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for the E870C (9080-MME) and E880C (9080-MHE) systems. These systems
are cloud-enabled and require a minimum HMC level of V8.R8.5.0 SP1.
* The certificate store on the service processor has been upgraded to include
the changes contained in version 2.6 of the CA certificate list published by
the Mozilla Foundation at the mozilla.org website as part of the Network
Security Services (NSS) version 3.21.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for host-initiated resets of the service processor that
can cause the service processor to terminate. In this state, the service
processor will be unresponsive but the system and partitions will continue to
run. On systems with a single service processor, the SRC B1817212 will be
displayed on the control panel. For systems with redundant service
processors, the failing service processor will be deconfigured. To recover
the failed service processor, the system will need to be powered off with AC
powered removed during a regularly scheduled system service action. The
problem is intermittent and very infrequent as most of the host-initiated
resets of the service processor will work correctly to restore the service
processor to a normal operating state.
SC840_132_056 / FW840.24
08/31/16 Impact: Availability Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/Non-Pervasive: For a system using PowerVM firmware at a FW840 level and
having an AIX partition or VIOS partition at specific back levels, a problem
was fixed for PCI adapters not getting configured in the OS. DVD boots hang
with status code 518 when attempts are made to boot off the AIX or VIOS DVD
image. NIM installs hang with status code 608. If the firmware is updated
to 840_104 through 840_118 for a SAS booted system, the subsequent reboot
will hang with status code 554.
The failing AIX and VIOS levels are as follows:
AIX:
AIX 7100-02-06 - AIX 7100-02-07
AIX 6100-08-06 - AIX 6100-08-07
VIOS:
VIOS 2.2.2.6 - VIOS 2.2.2.70
Without the fix, the problem may be circumvented by upgrading the AIX to
7100-03-03 or 6100-09-03 and the VIOS to 2.2.3.4.
Depending on the adapter not getting configured, the error may result in
Defined devices, EEH errors, and/or failure to boot the partition (if the
failing adapter is the boot device). These errors may also be seen for a
rebooted partition after a LPM migration to FW840.
With the fix applied, the error state for some of the adapters in the running
OS may persist and it will be necessary to reboot the OS to recover from
those errors.
SC840_118_056 / FW840.23
07/28/16 Impact: Data Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/NON-PERVASIVE: DEFERRED: On systems with DDR4 memory installed, a
problem was fixed for the handling of data errors in the L4 cache. If a
data error occurs in the L4 cache of the memory buffer on an affected system
and it is pushed out to mainline memory, the data error will not be correctly
handled. A data error originating in the L4 cache may result in incorrect
data being stored into memory. The DDR4 DRAM has feature code (FC) EM8Y for
a 256GB 1600 MHz CDIMM.
At this firmware level, DDR4 and DDR3 memory cannot be mixed in the system.
At FW860.10, DDR4 and DDR3 can be mixed in a system, but each system node
must have either DDR3 or DDR4 only.
IBM strongly recommends that the customer should plan an outage to install
the firmware fix immediately. Fix activation requires a subsequent platform
IPL following the installation of the firmware fix to eliminate any exposure
to this issue.
SC840_113_056 / FW840.22
07/06/16 Impact: Availability Severity: ATT
New features and functions
* Support was added to Live Partition Mobility to allow migrations between
partitions at firmware level FW760 and FW840.22 or later. Previously,
migration operations were not allowed between FW760 and FW840 partitions.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* Support was added for additional First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) data for
processor clock failover errors provided by creating daily clock status
reports with SRC B150CCDA informational error logs. This clock status SRC
log is written into the Hardware Management Console (HMC) iqyylog.log as a
platform error log (PEL) event. The PEL event contains a dump of the clock
registers. If a processor clock fails over with SRC B158CC62 posted to the
serviceable events log, the iqyylog.log file on the HMC should be collected
to help debug the clock problem using the B150CCDA data. This support had
been dropped in FW840.21 because of a IPL initialization conflict that has
been resolved and the support is now re-instated.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a sequence of two
or more Live Partition Mobility migrations that caused a partition to crash
with a SRC BA330000 logged (Memory allocation error in partition firmware).
The sequence of LPM migrations that can trigger the partition crash are as
follows:
The original source partition level can be any FW760.xx, FW763.xx, FW770.xx,
FW773.xx, FW780.xx, or FW783.xx P7 level or any FW810.xx, FW820.xx, FW830.xx,
or FW840.xx P8 level. It is migrated first to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW730.70 or later 730 firmware or
2) FW740.60 or later 740 firmware
And then a second migration is needed to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW760.00 - FW760.20 or
2) FW770.00 - FW770.10
The twice-migrated system partition is now susceptible to the BA330000
partition crash during normal operations until the partition is rebooted. If
an additional LPM migration is done to any firmware level, the
thrice-migrated partition is also susceptible to the partition crash until it
is rebooted.
With the fix applied, the susceptible partitions may still log multiple
BA330000 errors but there will be no partition crash. A reboot of the
partition will stop the logging of the BA330000 SRC.
SC840_111_056 / FW840.21
06/24/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
NOTE:
Critical firmware update for FW840.20 (SC840_104) level systems
System IPLed with FW840.20: A critical firmware update is required for all
9119-MME and 9119-MHE that have been IPLed with FW840.20 (SC840_104). The
FW840.20 level can cause a failed IPL or a potential unplanned outage. If the
server is already in production, then customer should plan an outage at a
convenient time to apply FW 840.21 (SC840_111) or higher and IPL.
System had FW840.20 concurrently applied: If firmware level FW840.20 was
concurrently installed (i.e. system was NOT IPL'ed after installing the level)
customers are not impacted by this issue provided they apply FW840.21
(SC840_111) or higher prior to next planned system reboot. NOTE: FW 840.21 can
be applied concurrently.
System IPLed with any other version of Firmware: If the current firmware level
of the system is not FW840.20, the system is not exposed to this issue.
Customers can install this level or later at the next scheduled update window.
To verify the firmware level installed on the server, select “Updates” from the
left side of the HMC and place a check mark on the server of interest. Then
select “View system information” from the bottom view, select “None - Display
current values”. The Platform IPL Level will indicate the last level the system
was booted on.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent failure in Hostboot during the system
IPL resulting in SRCs BC70090F and BC8A1701 logged with a hardware procedure
return code of "RC_PROC_BUILD_SMP_ADU_STATUS_MISMATCH". The system
terminates with a Terminate Immediate (TI) condition. The system must be
re-IPLed to recover. The failure is very infrequent and was caused by a race
condition introduced as part of clock card failure data collection procedure
which has now been removed (see below).
* Support was removed for additional First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) data for
processor clock failover errors added in FW840.20. The FFDC was provided by
creating daily clock status reports with SRC B150CCDA informational error
logs. This change was removed because it could trigger intermittent IPL &
initialization failures.
SC840_104_056 / FW840.20
05/31/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for a system control unit (SCU) with three fans instead of four on
the E870 (9119-MME) and E880 (9119-MHE) system models. The SCU fan has CCIN
6B44 with part number 00FV798.
* Support was added for the Stevens6+ option of the internal tray loading
DVD-ROM drive with F/C #EU13. This is an 8X/24X(max) Slimline SATA DVD-ROM
Drive. The Stevens6+ option is a FRU hardware replacement for the
Stevens3+. MTM 7226-1U3 (Oliver) FC 5757/5762/5763 attaches to IBM Power
Systems and lists Stevens6+ as optional for Stevens3+. If the Stevens6+ DVD
drive is installed on the system without the required firmware support, the
boot of an AIX partition will fail when the DVD is used as the load source.
Also, an IBM i partition cannot consistently boot from the DVD drive using
D-mode IPL. A SRC C2004130 may be logged for the load source not found
error.
* Support for the IBM PCIe3 12GB cache RAID plus SAS dual 4-port 6Gb x8 adapter
with feature code #EJ14 and CCIN 57B1. This adapter is very similar to the
#EJ0L SAS adapter, but it uses a second chip in the card to provide more IOPS
capacity (significant performance improvement) and can attach more SSD. This
adapter uses integrated flash memory to provide protection of the write
cache, without need for batteries, in case of power failure.
* Support for PowerVM vNIC extended to Linux OS Ubuntu 16.04 LE with up to ten
vNIC client adapters for each partition. PowerVM vNIC combines many of the
best features of SR-IOV and PowerVM SEA to provide a network solution with
options for advanced functions such as Live Partition Mobility along with
better performance and I/O efficiency when compared to PowerVM SEA. In
addition PowerVM vNIC provides users with bandwidth control (QoS) capability
by leveraging SR-IOV logical ports as the physical interface to the network.
* PowerVM CoD was enhanced to eliminate the yearly Utility CoD renewal on
systems using Utility COD. The Utility CoD usage is already monitoring to
make sure systems are running within the prescribed threshold limit of
unreported usage, so a yearly customer renewal is not needed to manage the
Utility CoD processor usage.
* Support was added to the DHCP client on the service processor for non-random
backoff mode needed for Data Center Manageability Interface (DCMI) V1.5
compliance. By default, the DHCP client does random backoff delays for
retries during DHCP discovery. For DCMI V1.5, non-random backoff delays were
introduced as an option. Disabling the random back-off mode is not required
for normal operations, but if wanted, the system administrator can override
the default and disable the random back-off mode by sending the “SET DCMI
Configuration Parameters” for the random back-off property of the Discovery
Configuration parameter. A value of "0" for the bit means "Disabled". Or,
the DHCP configuration file can be modified to add "random-backoff off",
causing the non-random mode for the retry delays to be used during DHCP
discovery.
* Support was added for enhanced diagnostics for PowerVM Simplified Remote
Restart (SRR) partitions. This service pack level is recommended when using
SRR partitions. You can learn more about SSR partitions at the IBM Knowledge
Center: "
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4P4/p8hat/p8hat_createremotereslpar.htm".
* Support was added for auto-correction in the Advanced System Manager
Interface (ASMI) for the "Feature Code/Sequence Number" field of the "System
Configuration/Program Vital Product Data/System Enclosures" menu selection.
Lower case letters are invalid in the "Feature Code/Sequence Number" field so
these are now changed to upper case letters to help form a valid entry. For
example, if "78c9-001" was entered, it would be changed to "78C9-001".
* Support was added for HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) compliance for
The Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) web connection. Even without
this feature, any attempt to access ASMI with the HTTP protocol was rejected
because the service processor firewall blocks port 80 (HTTP). But enabling
HSTS for ASMI prevents HSTS security warnings for the service processor
during network scans by security scanner programs such as IBM AppScan.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed in the dynamic ram (DRAM) initialization to
update the VREF on the dimms to the optimal settings and to add an additional
margin check test to improve the reliability of the DRAM by screening out
more marginal dimms before they can result in a run-time memory fault.
* A problem was fixed for a degraded PCI link causing a processor core to be
guarded if a non-cacheable unit (NCU) store time-out occurred with SRC
B113E540 and PRD signature "(NCUFIR[9]) STORE_TIMEOUT: Store timed out on
PB". With the fix, the processor core is not guarded because of the NCU
error. If this problem occurs and a core is deconfigured. clear the guard
record and re-IPL to regain the processor core. The solution for degraded
PCI links is different from the fix for this problem, but a re-IPL of the CEC
or a reset of the PCI adapters could help to recover the PCI links from their
degraded mode.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect reduction in FRU callouts for Processor
Run-time Diagnostic (PRD) errors after a reference oscillator clock (OSCC)
error has been logged. Hardware resources are not called out and guarded as
expected. Some of the missing PRD data can be found in the secondary SRC of
B181BAF5 logged by hardware services. The callouts that PRD would have made
are in the user data of that error log.
* A problem was fixed for a Qualys network scan for security vulnerabilities
causing a core dump in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
process on the service processor with SRC B181EF88. The error occurs anytime
the Qualys scan is run because it sends an invalid IPMI session id that
should have been handled and discarded without a core dump.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during RSA PPS signature verification.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2015-3194.
* A security problem was fixed in the lighttpd server on the service processor,
where a remote attacker, while attempting authentication, could insert
strings into the lighttpd server log file. Under normal operations on the
service processor, this does not impact anything because the log is disabled
by default. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2015-3200.
* Support for cable validation option in the Advanced System Management
Interface (ASMI). A new panel option called "Cable Validation" has been
added to the "System Service Aids" menu. The cable validation can be
performed on the FSP, Clock, UPIC, and SMP cables.
* A problem was fixed for a missing error log when a clock card fails over to
the backup clock card. This problem causes loss of redundancy on the clock
cards without a callout notification that there is a problem with the FRU.
If the fix is applied to a system that had a failed clock, that condition
will not be known until the system is IPLed again when a errorlog and callout
of the clock card will occur if it is in a persisted failed state.
* A problem was fixed for the Hardware Management Console (HMC) "chpwrmgmt"
command not providing a meaningful error message when used to try enable an
invalid power saver mode of "dynamic_favor_power" on the 9119-MME or 9119-MHE
models. This power saver mode is not available on these models but the error
message issued was "HSCL1400 An error has occurred during the operation to
the managed system. Try the task again." The following is the corrected
error message: "HSCL1402 This operation failed due to the following reasons:
HSCL02F3 The managed system does not support the specified power saver mode."
* A problem was fixed for a secondary clock card (CCIN 6B49 ) failure on the
system control unit (SCU) being called out as a local clock card (CCIN 6B2D)
failure on the node with SRC B158E504. For this failure to occur, the
primary clock card on the SCU must have been previously failed and guarded.
* Support was added for additional First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) data for
processor clock failover errors provided by creating daily clock status
reports with SRC B150CCDA informational error logs. This clock status SRC
log is written into the Hardware Management Console (HMC) iqyylog.log as a
platform error log (PEL) event. The PEL event contains a dump of the clock
registers. If a processor clock fail over with SRC B158CC62 occurs on the
service processor, the iqyylog.log file on the HMC should be collected to
help debug the clock problem using the B150CCDA data.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor going to the reset state
instead of the termination state when the anchor card is missing or broken.
At the termination state, the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI) can be
used to collect failure data and debug the problem with the anchor card.
* A problem was fixed for error log entries created by Hostboot not getting
written to the error log in some situations. This can cause hardware
detected as failed by Hostboot to not get reported or have a call-home
generated. This problem will occur whenever Hostboot commits a recovered or
informational error as its last error log in the current IPL. In the next
IPL, one or more error logs from Hostboot will be lost.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor failure during a system power off
that causes a reset of the service processor. The service processor is in
the correct state for a normal system power on after the error. The
frequency for this error should be low as it is caused by a very rare race
condition in the power off process.
* A problem was fixed so that service processor NVRAM bit flips are now
detected and reported as predictive errors after a certain threshold of
failures have occurred. The SRCs reported are B151F109 (threshold of NVRAM
errors was reached) or B151F10A (a NVRAM address has failed multiple times).
Previously, these normal wear errors in the NVRAM were ignored. The bit flip
is self-corrected and does not cause a problem but a high occurrence of these
could mean that a service processor card FRU or system backplane FRU, as
called out in the SRC, is in need of service.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during SSL certificate management. The
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2016-0797.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a performance improvement was
made by disabling the Hot/Cold Affinity (HCA) hardware feature, which gathers
memory usage statistics for consumption by partition operating system memory
management algorithms. The statistics gathering can, in rare cases, cause
performance to degrade. The workloads that may experience issues are
memory-intensive workloads that have little locality of reference and thus
cannot take advantage of hardware memory cache. As a consequence, the
problem occurs very infrequently or not at all except for very specific
workloads in a HPC environment. This performance fix requires an IPL of the
system to activate it after it is applied.
* DEFERRED: On systems using 256GB DDR4 dimms, a problem was fixed in the 3DS
packaging that could result in a recoverable memory error. This fix requires
an IPL of the system to take effect. Any system with DDR4 dimms should be
re-IPLed at the next opportunity to do so after applying this service pack to
provide the best running conditions for the DDR4 dimms for reliable
operation.
* On systems with DDR4 memory DIMMs install, a fix was made for the longer IPL
times needed to initialize DDR4 memory. The time needed for the IPL has been
reduced to be comparable to systems using other DIMM types such as DDR3.
* On systems with a PowerVM Active Memory Sharing (AMS) partition with AIX
Level 7.2.0.0 or later with Firmware Assisted Dump enabled, a problem was
fixed for a Restart Dump operation failing into KDB mode. If "q" is entered
to exit from KDB mode, the partition fails to start. The AIX partition must
be powered off and back on to recover. The problem can be circumvented by
disabling Firmware Assisted Dump (default is enabled in AIX 7.2).
* On a PowerVM system, a problem was fixed for an incorrect date in partitions
created with a Simplified Remote Restart-Capable (SRR) attribute where the
date is created as Epoch 01/01/1970 (MM/DD/YYYY). Without the fix, the user
must change the partition time of day when starting the partition for the
first time to make it correct. This problem only occurs with SRR partitions.
* On a PowerVM system with licensed Power Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL)
processors, a problem was fixed for a system hang that could occur if the
system contains both 1) dedicated processor partitions configured to share
processors while active and 2) shared processor partitions. This problem is
more likely to occur on a system with a low number of non-IFL processors.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with dedicated processor partitions, a
problem was fixed for the dedicated processor partition becoming
intermittently unresponsive. The problem can be circumvented by changing the
partition to use shared processors. This is a follow-on to the fix provided
in 840.11 for a different issue for delays in dedicated processor partitions
that were caused by low I/O utilization.
* A problem was fixed for transmit time-outs on a Virtual Function (VF) during
stressful network traffic, on systems using PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared-mode. This fix updates adapter firmware to
10.2.252.1918, for the following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H,
EN0J, EL38, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* On PowerVM systems using Elastic Capacity on Demand (CoD) (also known as
On/Off CoD), a problem was fixed for losing entitlement amounts when
upgrading from FW820 or FW830. If you upgrade to a service pack level that
does not have this fix and lose the entitlement, you can get another On/Off
(Elastic) CoD Enablement code from IBM Support. This problem only pertains
to the E850 (8408-E8E), E870 (9119-MME), and E880 (9119-MHE) models.
SC840_087_056 / FW840.11
03/18/16 Impact: Availability Severity: ATT
New features and functions
* The default setting for the "Enlarged I/O Memory Capacity" feature was
disabled on newly manufactured E850, E870 & E880 models to reduce hypervisor
memory usage. Customers of the new systems using PCI adapters that leverage
"Enlarged I/O Memory Capacity" will need to explicitly enable this feature
for the supported PCI slots, using ASMI Menus while the system is powered
off. Existing systems will not see a change in their current setting. For
existing systems with only AIX and IBM i partitions that do not benefit from
this feature, it can be disabled by using the Advanced System Management
Interface (ASMI) for the "System Configuration-> I/O Adapter Enlarged
Capacity" panel to uncheck the option for the "I/O Adapter Enlarged Adapter
Capacity" feature.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using PowerVM partitions, a problem was fixed for error recovery
from failed Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations. The recovery error is
caused by a partition reset that leaves the partition in an unclean state
with the following consequences: 1) A retry on the migration for the failed
source partition may not not be allowed; and 2) With enough failed migration
recovery errors, it is possible that any new migration attempts for any
partition will be denied. This error condition can be cleared by a re-IPL of
the system. The partition recovery error after a failed migration is much
more likely to occur for partitions managed by NovaLink but it is still
possible to occur for Hardware Management Console (HMC) managed partitions.
SC840_079_056 / FW840.10
03/04/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for a 256GB DDR4 memory DIMM. Memory feature code #EM8Y provides a
total of 1024GB of memory with 4 each 256GB CDIMMs (1600 MHz, 8GBIT DDR4).
Note that DDR4 and DDR3 DIMMs cannot be mixed in a system for FW840. Also,
the minimum firmware level needed for DDR4 usage is FW840.23 due to a fix
needed for a data integrity problem. At firmware level FW860.10, DDR4 and
DDR3 DIMMs can be mixed in a system, but no mixing is allowed in a node.
* Support was added to block a full Hardware Management Console (HMC)
connection to the service processor when the HMC is at a lower firmware major
and minor release level than the service processor. In the past, this check
was done only for the major version of the firmware release but it now has
been extended to the minor release version level as well. The HMC at the
lower firmware level can still make a limited connection to the higher
firmware level service processor. This will put the CEC in a "Version
Mismatch" state. Firmware updates are allowed with the CEC in the "Version
Mismatch" state so that the condition can be corrected with either a HMC
update or a firmware update of the CEC.
* Support for PowerVM vNIC with more vNIC client adapters for each partition,
up to 10 from a limit of 6 at the FW840.00 level. PowerVM vNIC combines many
of the best features of SR-IOV and PowerVM SEA to provide a network solution
with options for advanced functions such as Live Partition Mobility along
with better performance and I/O efficiency when compared to PowerVM SEA. In
addition PowerVM vNIC provides users with bandwidth control (QoS) capability
by leveraging SR-IOV logical ports as the physical interface to the network.
* Support for a 10-core 4.19 GHz Power8 processor with feature code #EPBS on
the IBM Power System E880 (9119-MHE). This feature provides a 40-core
processor planar containing four ten-core processor SCMs. Each processor
core has 512KB of L2 cache and 8MB of L3 cache.
* The default setting for the "Enlarged I/O Memory Capacity" feature was
disabled on newly manufactured E850, E870 & E880 models to reduce hypervisor
memory usage. Customers using PCI adapters that leverage "Enlarged I/O
Memory Capacity" will need to explicitly enable this feature for the
supported PCI slots, using ASMI Menus while the system is powered off.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* On multi-node systems with a power fault, a problem was fix for On-Chip
Controller errors caused by the power fault being reported as predictive
errors for SRC B1602ACB. These have been corrected to be informational error
logs. If running without the fix, the predictive and unrecoverable errors
logged for the OCC on loss of power to the node can be ignored.
* A problem was fixed for a system IPL hang at C100C1B0 with SRC 1100D001 when
the power supplies have failed to supply the necessary 12-volt output for the
system. The 1100D001 SRC was calling out the planar when it should have
called out the power supplies. With the fix, the system will terminate as
needed and call out the power supply for replacement. One mode of power
supply failure that could trigger the hang is sync-FET failures that disrupt
the 12-volt output.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) not getting all
error logs reported when its error log queue is full. In the case where the
error log queue is full with 16 entries, only one entry is returned to the
hypervisor for reporting. This error log truncation only occurs during
periods of high error activity in the expansion drawer.
* A problem was fixed for the callout of a VPD collection fault and system
termination with SRC 11008402 to include the 1.2vcs VRM FRU. The power good
fault fault for the 1.2 volts would be a primary cause of this error.
Without the fix, the VRM is missing in the callout list and only has the
VPDPART isolation procedure.
* A problem was fixed for excessive logging of the SRC 11002610 on a power good
(pgood) fault when detected by the Digital Power Subsystem Sweep (DPSS).
Multiple pgood interrupts are signaled by the DPSS in the interval between
the first pgood failure and the node power down. A threshold was added to
limit the number of error logs for the condition.
* A problem was fixed for redundant logging of the SRC B1504804 for a fan
failure, once every five seconds. With the fix, the failure is logged only
at the initial time of failure in the IPL.
* A problem was fixed to speed recovery for VPD collection time-out errors for
PCIe resources in an I/O drawer logged with SRC 10009133 during concurrent
firmware updates. With the fix, the hypervisor is notified as soon as the
VPD collection has finished so the PCIe resources can report as available .
Without the fix, there is a delay as long as two hours for the recovery to
complete.
* A problem was fixed to allow IPMI entity IDs to be used in ipmitool raw
commands on the service processor to get the temperature reading. Without
the fix, the DCMI entity IDs have to be used in the raw command for the "Get
temperature" function.
* A problem was fixed for a false unrecoverable error (UE) logged for B1822713
when an invalid cooling zone is found during the adjustment of the system fan
speeds. This error can be ignored as it does not represent a problem with
the fans.
* A problem was fixed for a processor clock failover error with SRC B158CC62
calling out all processors instead of isolating to the suspect processor.
The callout priority correctly has a clock and a procedure callout as the
highest priority, and these should be performed first to resolve the problem
before moving on to the processors.
* A problem was fixed for loss of back-level protection during firmware updates
if an anchor card has been replaced. The Power system manufacturing process
sets the minimum code level a system is allowed to have for proper
operation. If a anchor card is replaced, it is possible that the replacement
anchor card is one that has the Minimum MIF Level (MinMifLevel) given as
"blank", and this removes the system back-level protection. With the fix,
blanks or nulls on the anchor card for this field are handled correctly to
preserve the back-level protection. Systems that have already lost the
back-level protection due to anchor card replacement remain vulnerable to a
accidental downgrade of code level by operator error, so code updates to a
lower level for these systems should only be performed under guidance from
IBM Support. The following command can be run the Advanced Management
Management Interface (ASMI) to determine if the system has lost the
back-level protection with the presence of "blanks" or ASCII 20 values for
MinMifLevel:
"registry -l cupd/MinMifLevel" with output:
"cupd/MinMifLevel:
2020202020202020 2020202020202020 [ ]
2020202020202020 2020202020202020 [ ]"
* A problem was fixed for a code update error from FW830 to a FW840 level
causes temperature sensors to be lost so that the ipmitool command to list
the temperature sensors fails with a IPMI program core dump. If the
temperature sensors are already corrupted due to a preceding code update,
this fix adds back in the temperature sensors to allow the ipmitool to work
for listing the temperature sensors.
* A problem was fixed for a system checkstop caused by a L2 cache
least-recently used (LRU) error that should have been a recoverable error for
the processor and the cache. The cache error should not have caused a L2 HW
CTL error checkstop.
* A problem was fixed for a re-IPL with power on failure with B181A40F SRC
logged for VPD not found for a DIMM FRU. The DIMM had been moved to another
slot or just removed. In this situation, a IPL of the system from power off
will work without errors, but a re-IPL with power on, such as that done
after processing a hardware dump, will fail with the B181A40F. Power off the
system and IPL to recover. Until the fix is applied, the problem can be
circumvented after a DIMM memory move by putting the PNOR flash memory in
genesis mode by running the following commands in ASMI with the CEC powered
off:
1) hwsvPnorCmd -c
2) hwsvPnorCmd -g
* A problem was fixed for the service processor becoming inaccessible when
having a dynamic IP address and being in DCMI "non-random" mode for DHCP
discovery by customer configuration. The problem can occur intermittently
during a AC power on of the system. If the service processor does not
respond on the network, AC power cycle to recover. Without the fix, the
problem can be circumvented by using the DHCP client in the DCMI "random"
mode for DHCP discovery, which is the default on the service processor.
* A problem was fixed for priority callouts for system clock card errors with
SRC B158CC62. These errors had high priority callouts for the system clock
card and medium callouts for FRUs in the clock path. With the fix, all
callouts are set to medium priority as the clock card is not the most
probable FRU to have failed but is just a candidate among the many FRUs along
the clock path.
* A problem was fixed for a memory initialization error reported with SRC
BC8A0506 that terminates the IPL. This problem is unlikely to occur because
it depends on a specific memory location being used by the code load. The
system can be recovered from the error by doing another IPL.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On PowerVM systems a problem was fixed to address a performance degradation.
The problem surfaces under the following conditions:
1) There is at least one VIOS or Linux partition that is running with
dedicated processors AND
2) There is at least one VIOS or Linux partition running with shared
processors AND
3) There is at least one AIX or IBMi partitions configured with shared
processors.
If ALL the above conditions are met AND one of the following actions occur,
1) VIOS/Linux dedicated processor partition is configured to share
processors while active OR
2) A dynamic platform optimization operation (HMC 'optmem' command) is
performed OR
3) Processors are unlicensed via a capacity on demand operation
there is an exposure for a loss in performance.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe switch
recovery to prevent a partition switch failure during the IPL with error logs
for SRC B7006A22 and B7006971 reported. This problem can occur when doing
recovery for an informational error on the switch. If this problem occurs,
the partition must be restarted to recover the affected I/O adapters.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a concurrent FRU
exchange of a CAPI (Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface) adapter for a
standard I/O adapter that results in a vary off failure. If this failure
occurs, the system needs to be re-IPLed to fix the adapter. The trigger for
this failure is a dual exchange where the CAPI adapter is exchanged first for
a standard (non-like-typed) adapter. Then an attempt is made to exchange the
standard adapter for a CAPI adapter which fails.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a CAPI (Coherent
Accelerator Processor Interface) device going to a "Defined" state instead of
"Available" after a partition boot. If the CAPI device is doing recovery and
logging error data at the time of the partition boot, the error may occur.
To recover from the error, reboot the partition. With the fix, the
hypervisor will wait for the logging of error data from the CAPI device to
finish before proceeding with the partition boot.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a hypervisor
adjunct partition failed with "SRC B2009008 LP=32770" for an unexpected
SR-IOV adapter configuration. Without the fix, the system must be re-IPLed
to correct the adjunct error. This error is infrequent and can only occur if
an adapter port configuration is being changed at the same time that error
recovery is occurring for the adapter.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware and PCIe adapters in SR-IOV mode, the
following problem was addressed with a Broadcom Limited (formerly known as
Avago Technologies and Emulex) adapter firmware update to 10.2.252.1913:
Transmit time-outs on a Virtual Function (VF) during stressful network
traffic.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with an invalid P-side or T-side in the
firmware, a problem was fixed in the partition firmware Real-Time Abstraction
System (RTAS) so that system Vital Product Data (VPD) is returned at least
from the valid side instead of returning no VPD data. This allows AIX host
commands such as lsmcode, lsvpd, and lsattr that rely on the VPD data to work
to some extent even if there is one bad code side. Without the fix, all the
VPD data is blocked from the OS until the invalid code side is recovered by
either rejecting the firmware update or attempting to update the system
firmware again.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware without a HMC (and in Manufacturing Default
Configuration (MDC) mode with a single host partition), a problem was fixed
for missing dumps of type SYSDUMP. FSPDUMP. LOGDUMP, and RSCDUMP that were
not off-loaded to the host OS. This is an infrequent error caused by a
timing error that causes the dump notification signal to the host OS to be
lost. The missing/pending dumps can be retrieved by rebooting the host OS
partition. The rebooted host OS will receive new notifications of the dumps
that have to be off-loaded.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for truncation on the
memory fields displayed in the Advanced System Management Interface on the
COD panels. ASMI shows three fields of memory called "Installed memory",
Permanent memory", and "Inactive memory". The largest value that can be
displayed in the fields was "9999" GB. This has been expanded to a maximum
of "999999" GB for each of the ASMI fields. The truncation was only in the
displayed memory value, not in the actual memory size being used by the
system which was correct.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware and a partition using Active memory Sharing
(AMS), a problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of
the AMS partition that can hang the hypervisor on the target CEC. When an
AMS partition migrates to the target CEC, a hang condition can occur after
processors are resumed on the target CEC, but before the migration operation
completes. The hang will prevent the migration from completing, and will
likely require a CEC reboot to recover the hung processors. For this problem
to occur, there needs to be memory page-based activity (e.g. AMS dedup or
Pool paging) that occurs exactly at the same time that the Dirty Page
Manager's PSR data for that page is being sent to the target CEC.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware and having a IBM i partition with more than
64 cores, a performance problem was fixed with the choice of processor cores
assigned to the partition.
This problem only applies to the E870 (9119-MME) and E880 (9119-MHE) models.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe adapter hangs
and network traffic error recovery during Live Partition Mobility (LPM) and
SR-IOV vNIC (virtual ethernet adapter) operations. An error in the PCI Host
Bridge (PHB) hardware can persist in the L3 cache and fail all subsequent
network traffic through the PHB. The PHB error recovery was enhanced to
flush the PHB L3 cache to allow network traffic to resume.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with AIX or Linux partitions with greater
than 8TB of memory, a problem was fixed for Dynamic DMA Window (DDW) enabled
adapters IPLing into a "Defined" state, instead of "Available", and unusable
with a "0" size DMA window. If a DDW enabled adapter is plugged into an HDDW
(Huge Dynamic DMA Window) slot in a partition with the large memory size, the
OS changes the default DMA window to "0" in size. To prevent this problem,
the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) in the service processor can
be used to set "I/O Enlarged Capacity" to "0" (which is off), and all the DDW
enabled adapters will work on the next IPL.
* On a multi-node system, a problem was fixed for a power fault with SRC
11002610 having incorrect FRU callouts. The wrong second FRU callout is made
on nodes 2, 3, and 4 of a multi-node system. Instead of calling out the
processor FRU, the enclosure FRU is called out. The first FRU callout is
correct.
* On PowerVM systems with partitions running Linux, a problem was fixed for
intermittent hangs following a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of a
Linux partition. A partition migrating from a source system running FW840.00
to a system running any other supported firmware level may become
unresponsive and unusable once it arrives on the target system. The problem
only affects Linux partitions and is intermittent. Only partitions that have
previously been migrated to a FW840.00 system are susceptible to a hang on
subsequent migration to another system. If a partition is hung following a
LPM migration, it must be rebooted on the target system to resume operations.
* On systems using OPAL firmware, a problem was fixed that prevented multiple
NVIDIA Tesla K80 GPUs from being attached to one PCIe adapter. This
prevented using a PCIe attached GPU drawer. This fix increases the PCIe MMIO
(memory-mapped I/O) space to 1 TB from a previous maximum of 64 GB per
PHB/PCIe slot.
* On PowerVM systems with dedicated processor partitions with low I/O
utilization, the dedicated processor partition may become intermittently
unresponsive. The problem can be circumvented by changing the partition to
use shared processors.
* On systems using OPAL firmware, a problem was fixed in OPAL to identify the
PCI Host Bridge (PHB) on CAPI adapter errors and not always assume PHB0.
* On systems using OPAL firmware, a problem was fixed in the OPAL gard utility
to remove gard records after guarded components have been replaced, Without
the fix, Hostboot and the gard utility could be in disagreement on the
replaced components, causing some components to still display as guarded
after a repair.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with partitions with very large number of
PCIe adapters, a problem was fixed for partitions that would hang because the
partition firmware ran out of memory for the OpenFirmware FCode device
drivers for PCIe adapters. With the fix, the hypervisor is able to
dynamically increase the memory to accommodate the larger partition
configurations of I/O slots and adapters.
* On PowerVM systems with vNIC adapters, a problem was fixed for doing a
network boot or install from the adapter using a VLAN tag. Without the fix,
the support is missing for doing a network boot from the VLAN tag from the
SMS RIPL menu.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) migration of a partition with large memory that had a
migration abort when the partition took longer than five minutes to suspend.
This is a rare problem and is triggered by an abnormally slow response time
from the migrating partition. With the fix, the five minute time limit on
the suspend operation has been removed.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware at FW840.00 with an AIX VIO client
partition at level 7.1 TL04 SP03 or 7.2 TL01 SP00 or later, a problem was
fixed for virtual ethernet adapters adapters with a IPv6 largesend packet
(-i.e., data packets of size greater than the maximum transmission unit
(MTU)) that hung and/or ran slow because largesend packets were discarded by
the hypervisor. For example, telnet and ping commands for the system will
be working but as soon as a send of a large packet of data is attempted, the
network connection hangs. This firmware fix requires AIX levels 7.1 TL04
SP03 or 7.2 TL01 SP00 or later for the largesend feature to work.
The problem can be circumvented by disabling "mtu_bypass" (largesend) on the
AIX VIO client. The "mtu_bypass" is disabled by default but many network
administrators enable it for a performance gain. To disable " mtu_bypass" on
the AIX VIO client, use the following steps:
(0) This change may impact existing connections so shut down the affected NIC
cards (where X is the interface number) prior to the change
(1) Login to AIX VIO client from console as root
(2) ifconfig enX down;ifconfig enX detach
(3) chdev -l enX -a mtu_bypass=off
(4) chdev -l enX -a state=up
(5) mkdev -l inet0
SC840_056_056 / FW840.00
12/04/15 Impact: New Severity: New
New Features and Functions
NOTE:
* POWER8 (and later) servers include an “update access key” that is checked
when system firmware updates are applied to the system. The initial update
access keys include an expiration date which is tied to the product warranty.
System firmware updates will not be processed if the GA date of the desired
firmware level occurred after the update access key’s expiration date. As
these update access keys expire, they need to be replaced using either the
Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Advanced Management Interface (ASMI)
on the service processor. Update access keys can be obtained via the key
management website: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess/index.wss.
* Support for allowing the PowerVM hypervisor to continue to run when
communication between the service processor and platform firmware has been
lost and cannot be re-established. A SRC B1817212 may be logged and any
active partitions will continue to run but they will not be able to be
managed by the management console. The partitions can be allowed to run
until the next scheduled service window at which time the service processor
can be recovered with an AC power cycle or a pin-hole reset from the operator
panel. This error condition would only be seen on a system that had been
running with a single service processor (no redundancy for the service
processor).
* Support in the Advanced Systems Management Interface (ASMI) for managing
certificates on the service processor with option "System
Configuration/Security/Certificate Management". Certificate management
includes 1) Generation of Certificate Signing Request (CSR) 2) Download of
CSR and 3) Upload of signed certificates. For more information on managing
certificates, go to the IBM KnowledgeCenter link for "Certificate Management"
(https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/P8ESS/p8hby/p8hby_securitycertificate.htm)
* Support for concurrent add of the PCIe expansion drawer (F/C #EMX0) and
concurrent add of PCIe optical cable adapters (F/C EJ07 and CCIN 6B52). For
concurrent add guidance, go to the IBM KnowledgeCenter links for "Connecting
a PCIe Gen3 I/O expansion drawer to your
system"(https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/9119-MHE/p8egp/p8egp_connect_kickoff.htm?lang=en-us)
and for "PCIe adapters for the 9119-MHE and 9119-MME"
(https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/9119-MHE/p8hak/p8hak_87x_88x_kickoff.htm?lang=en-us).
* Support for concurrent repair/exchange of the PCIe3 6-slot Fanout module for
the PCIe3 Expansion Drawer, PCIe Optical Cable adapters and PCIe3 Optical
Cable. For concurrent repair/exchange guidance for these parts, go to the
IBM KnowledgeCenter link for "Removing and replacing parts in the PCIe Gen3
I/O expansion
drawer"(https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/9119-MHE/p8egr/p8egr_emx0_kickoff.htm?lang=en-us).
Below are the feature codes for the affected parts:
#EMX0 - PCIe3 Expansion Drawer
#EMXF - PCIe3 6-Slot Fanout Module for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer (all server
models)
#EJ07 (CCIN 6B52) - PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer
#ECC6 - 2M Optical Cable Pair for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer
#ECC8 - 10M Optical Cable Pair for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer
#ECC9 - 20M Optical Cable Pair for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer
* PowerVM support for Support for Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface
(CAPI) adapters. The PCIe3 LP CAPI Accelerator Adapter with F/C #EJ16 is
used on the S812L(8247-21L) and S822L (8247-22L) models. The PCIe3 CAPI
FlashSystem Acclerator Adapter with F/C #EJ17 is used on the S814(8286-41A)
and S824(8286-42A) models. The PCIe3 CAPI FlashSystem Accelerator Adapter
with F/C #EJ18 is used on the S822(8284-22A), E870(9119-MME), and
E880(9119-MHE) models. This feature does not apply to the S824L (8247-42L)
model.
* Management console enhancements for support of concurrent maintenance of
CAPI-enabled adapters.
* Support for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer (#EMX0) lower cable failover, using lane
reversal mode to bring up the expansion drawer from the top cable. This
eliminates a single point of failure by supporting lane reversal in case of
problems with the lower cable.
* Expanded support of Virtual Ethernet Large send from IPv4 to the IPv6
protocol in PowerVM.
* Support for IBM i network install on a IEEE 802.1Q VLAN. The OS supported
levels are IBM i.7.2.TR3 or later. This feature applies only to S814
(8286-41A), S824(8286-42A), E870 (9119-MME), and E880 (9119-MHE) models.
* Support for PowerVM vNIC with up to six vNIC client adapters for each
partition. PowerVM vNIC combines many of the best features of SR-IOV and
PowerVM SEA to provide a network solution with options for advanced functions
such as Live Partition Mobility along with better performance and I/O
efficiency when compared to PowerVM SEA. In addition PowerVM vNIC provides
users with bandwidth control (QoS) capability by leveraging SR-IOV logical
ports as the physical interface to the network.
Note: If more than six vNIC client adapters are used in a partition, the
partition will run, as there is no check to prevent the extra adapters, but
certain operations such as Live Partition Mobility may fail.
* Enhanced handling of errors to allow partial data in a Shared Storage Pool
(SSP) cluster. Under partial data error conditions, the management console
"Manage PowerVM" gui will correctly show the working VIOS clusters along with
information about the broken VIOS clusters, instead of showing no data.
* Live Partition Mobility (LPM) was enhanced to allow the user to specify VIOS
concurrency level overrides.
* Support was added for PowerVM hard compliance enforcement of the Power
Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL). IFL is an optional lower cost per
processor core activation for Linux-only workloads on IBM Power Systems.
Power IFL processor cores can be activated that are restricted to running
Linux workloads. In contrast, processor cores that are activated for
general-purpose workloads can run any supported operating system. PowerVM
will block partition activation, LPM and DLPAR requests on a system with IFL
processors configured if the total entitlement of AIX and IBMi partitions
exceeds the amount of licensed general-purpose processors. For AIX and IBMi
partitions configured with uncapped processors, the PowerVM hypervisor will
limit the entitlement and uncapped resources consumed to the amount of
expensive processors that are currently licensed.
* Support was added to allow Power Enterprise Pools to convert
permanently-licensed (static) processors to Pool Processors using a CPOD COD
activation code provided by the management console. Previously, only
unlicensed processors were able to become Pool Processors.
* The management console was enhanced to allow a Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
if there is a failed VIOS in a redundant pair. During LPM, if the VIOS is
inactive, the management console will use stored configuration information to
perform the LPM.
* The firmware update process from the management console and from in-band OS
(except for IBM i PTFs) has been enhanced to download new "Update access
keys" as needed to prevent the access key from expiring. This provides an
automatic renewal process for the entitled customer.
* Live Partition Mobility support was added to allow the user to specify a
different virtual Ethernet switch on the target server.
* PowerVM was enhanced to support an AIX Live Update where the AIX kernel is
updated without rebooting the kernel. The AIX OS level must be 7.2 or
later. Starting with AIX Version 7.2, the AIX operating system provides the
AIX Live Update function which eliminates downtime associated with patching
the AIX operating system. Previous releases of AIX
required systems to be rebooted after an interim fix was applied to a running
system. This new feature allows workloads to remain active during a Live
Update operation and the operating system
can use the interim fix immediately without needing to restart the entire
system. In the first release of this feature, AIX Live Update will allow
customers to install interim fixes (ifixes) only. For more information on AIX
Live Update, go to the IBM KnowledgeCenter link for "Live Update"
(https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter//ssw_aix_72/com.ibm.aix.install/live_update_install.htm).
* The management console has been enhanced to use standard FTP in its firmware
update process instead of a custom implementation. This will provide a more
consistent interface for the users.
* Support for setting Power Management Tuning Parameters from the management
console (Fixed Maximum Frequency (FMF), Idle Power Save, and DPS Tunables)
without needing to use the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) on the
service processor. This allows FMF mode to be set by default without having
to modify any tunable parameters using ASMI.
* Support for a Corsa PCIe adapter with accelerator FPGA for low latency
connection using CAPI (Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface) attached to
a FlashSystem 900 using two 8Gb optical SR Fibre Channel (FC) connections.
Supported IBM Power Systems for this feature are the following:
1) E880 (9119-MHE) with CAPI Activation feature #EC19 and Corsa adapter #EJ18
Low profile on AIX.
2) E870 (9119-MME) with CAPI Activation feature #EC18 and Corsa adapter
#EJ18.Low profile on AIX.
3) S822 (8284-22A) with CAPI Activation feature #EC2A and Corsa adapter
#EJ18.Low profile on AIX.
4) S814 (8286-41A) with CAPI Activation feature #EC2A and Corsa adapter #EJ17
Full height on AIX.
5) S824 (8286-42A) with CAPI Activation feature #EC2A and Corsa adapter #EJ17
Full height on AIX.
6) S812L (8247-21L) with CAPI Activation feature #EC2A and Corsa adapter
#EJ16 Low profile on Linux.
7) S822L (8247-22L) with CAPI Activation feature #EC2A and Corsa adapter
#EJ16 Low profile on Linux.
OS levels that support this feature are PowerVM AIX 7.2 or later and OPAL
bare-metal Linux Ubuntu 15.10.
The IBM FlashSystem 900 storage system is model 9840-AE2 (one year warranty)
or 9843-AE2 (three year warranty) at the 1.4.0.0 or later firmware level with
features codes #AF23, #AF24, and #AF25 supported for 1.2 TB, 2.9 TB, 5.7 TB
modules, respectively.
* The Digital Power Subsystem Sweep (DPSS) FPGA, used to control P8 fan speeds
and memory voltages, was enhanced to support the 840 GA level. This DPSS
update is delayed to the next IPL of the CEC and adds 18 to 20 minutes to the
IPL. See the "Concurrent Firmware Updates" section above for details.
* Support for Data Center Manageability Interface (DCMI) V1.5 and Energy Star
compliance. DCMI features were added to the Intelligent Platform Management
Interface (IPMI) 2.0 implementation on the service processor. DCMI adds
platform management capability for monitoring elements such as system
temperatures, power supplies, and bus errors. It also includes automatic and
manually driven recovery capabilities such as local or remote system resets,
power on/off operations, logging of abnormal or "out-of-range‟ conditions for
later examination. And It allows querying for inventory information that can
help identify a failed hardware unit along with power management options for
getting and setting power limits.
Note: A deviation from the DCMI V1.5 specification exists for 840.00 for the
DCMI Configuration Parameters for DHCP Discovery. Random back-off mode is
enabled by default instead of being disabled. The random back-off puts a
random variation delay in the DHCP retry interval so that the DHCP clients
are not responding at the same time. Disabling the back-off time is not
required for normal operations, but if wanted, the system administrator can
override the default and disable the random back-off mode by sending the “SET
DCMI Configuration Parameters” for the random back-off property of the
Discovery Configuration parameter. A value of "0" for the bit means
"Disabled".
SC830
For Impact, Severity and other Firmware definitions, Please refer to the below
'Glossary of firmware terms' url:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/power5cm/home.html#termdefs
SC830_106_048 / FW830.50
04/27/17 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
allow the special characters of "I", "O", and "Q" to be entered for the
serial number of the I/O Enclosure under the Configure I/O Enclosure option.
These characters have only been found in an IBM serial number rarely, so
typing in these characters will normally be an incorrect action. However,
the special character entry is not blocked by ASMI anymore so it is able to
support the exception case. Without the enhancement, the typing of one of
the special characters causes message "Invalid serial number" to be
displayed.
* Support was added for the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) property for
each partition. The UUID provides each partition with an identifier that is
persisted by the platform across partition reboots, reconfigurations, OS
reinstalls, partition migration, and hibernation.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for System Vital Product Data (SVPD) FRUs being guarded
but not having a corresponding error log entry. This is a failure to commit
the error log entry that has occurred only rarely.
* A problem was fixed for a system going into safe mode with SRC B1502616
logged as informational without a call home notification. Notification is
needed because the system is running with reduced performance. If there are
unrecoverable error logs and any are marked with reduced performance and the
system has not been rebooted, then the system is probably running in safe
mode with reduced performance. With the fix, the SRC B1502616 is a
Unrecoverable Error (UE).
* A problem was fixed for the PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for the PCIe3
Expansion Drawer failing with SRC B7006A84 error logged during the IPL. The
failed cable adapter can be recovered by using a concurrent repair operation
to power it off and on. Or the system can be re-IPLed to recover the cable
adapter. The affected optical cable adapters have feature codes #EJ05,
#EJ06, and #EJ08 with CCINs 2B1C, 6B52, and 2CE2, respectively.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe Host Bridge (PHB) outages and PCIe adapter
failures in the PCIe I/O expansion drawer caused by error thresholds being
exceeded for the LEM bit [21] errors in the FIR accumulator. These are
typically minor and expected errors in the PHB that occur during adapter
updates and do not warrant a reset of the PHB and the PCIe adapter failures.
Therefore, the threshold LEM[21] error limit has been increased and the LEM
fatal error has been changed to a Predictive Error to avoid the outages for
this condition.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved
stability. The settings for the continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was
updated for all the PCIe adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer.
The CEC must be re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* The following problems were fixed for SR-IOV adapters:
1) Insufficient resources reported for SR-IOV logical port configured with
promiscuous mode enable and a Port VLAN ID (PVID) when creating new interface
on the SR-IOV adapters.
2) Spontaneous dumps and reboot of the adjunct partition for SR-IOV adapters.
3) Adapter enters firmware loop when single bit ECC error is detected.
System firmware detects this condition as a adapter command time out. System
firmware will reset and restart the adapter to recover the adapter
functionality. This condition will be reported as a temporary adapter
hardware failure.
4) vNIC interfaces not being deleted correctly causing SRC B400FF01 to be
logged and Data Storage Interrupt (DSI) errors with failiure on boot of the
LPAR.
This set of fixes updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1926, for the
following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N,
EN0K, EN0L, EL38 , EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations from
FW860.10 or FW860.11 to older levels of firmware. Subsequent DLPAR of
Virtual Adapters will fail with HMC error message HSCL294C, which contains
text similar to the following: "0931-007 You have specified an invalid
drc_name." This issue affects partitions installed with AIX 7.2 TL 1 and
later. Not affected by this issue are partitions installed with VIOS, IBM i,
or earlier levels of AIX.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect callouts of the Power Management Controller
(PMC) hardware with SRC B1112AC4 and SRC B1112AB2 logged. These extra
callouts occur when the On-Chip Controller (OCC) has placed the system in the
Safe mode state for a prior failure that is the real problem that needs to be
resolved.
* A problem was fixed for a failure in launching the Advanced System Management
Interface (ASMI) from the HMC local console for the HMC levels of V8R8.3.0
SP2 and V8R8.4.0 SP1. There was a frozen window displayed instead of the
ASMI login panel. A circumvention to the problem is to connect to ASMI from
a remote browser session.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
"System Service Aids => Error/Event Logs" panel not showing the "Clear" and
"Show" log options and also having a truncated error log when there are a
large number of error logs on the system.
* A problem was fixed for sporadic blinking amber LEDs for the system fans with
no SRCs logged. There was no problem with the fans. The LED corruption
occurred when two service processor tasks attempted to update the LED state
at the same time. The fan LEDs can be recovered to a normal state
concurrently using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service
processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for hardware dumps only collecting data for the master
processor if a run-time service processor failover had occurred prior to the
dump. Therefore, there would be only master chip and master core data in the
event of a core unit checkstop. To recover to a system state that is able to
do a full collection of debug data for all processors and cores after a
run-time failover, a re-IPL of the system is needed.
* A problem was fixed for the loss of Operations Panel function 30 (displaying
ethernet port HMC1 and HMC2 IP addresses) after a concurrent repair of the
Operations Panel. Operations Panel function 30 can be restored concurrently
using the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm
* A problem was fixed for the service processor boot watch-dog timer expiring
too soon during DRAM initialization in the reset/reload, causing the service
processor to go unresponsive. On systems with a single service processor,
the SRC B1817212 was displayed on the control panel. For systems with
redundant service processors, the failing service processor was
deconfigured. To recover the failed service processor, the system will need
to be powered off with AC powered removed during a regularly scheduled system
service action. This problem is intermittent and very infrequent as most of
the reset/reloads of the service processor will work correctly to restore the
service processor to a normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for host-initiated resets of the service processor
causing the system to terminate. A prior fix for this problem did not work
correctly because some of the host-initiated resets were being translated to
unknown reset types that caused the system to terminate. With this new
correction for failed host-initiated resets, the service processor will still
be unresponsive but the system and partitions will continue to run. On
systems with a single service processor, the SRC B1817212 will be displayed
on the control panel. For systems with redundant service processors, the
failing service processor will be deconfigured. To recover the failed
service processor, the system will need to be powered off with AC powered
removed during a regularly scheduled system service action. This problem is
intermittent and very infrequent as most of the host-initiated resets of the
service processor will work correctly to restore the service processor to a
normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect error messages from the Advanced System
Management Interface (ASMI) functions when the system is powered on but in
the "Incomplete State". For this condition, ASMI was assuming the system was
powered off because it could not communicate to the PowerVM hypervisor. With
the fix, the ASMI error messages will indicate that ASMI functions have
failed because of the bad hypervisor connection instead of falsely stating
that the system is powered off.
* A problem was fixed for a single node failure on a multi-node system
preventing an IPL. The error occurred if Hostboot hung on a node and timed
out without calling out problem hardware. With the fix, a service processor
failover is used to IPL on an alternate path to recover from the error. And
an error log has been added for the IPL timeout for the node with SRC
B111BAAB and a callout for the master processor and PNOR.
* A problem was fixed for the System Attention LED failing to light for an
error failover for the redundant service processors with a SRC B1812028
logged.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)
shared mode, a problem was fixed for the hypervisor SR-IOV adjunct partition
failing during the IPL with SRCs B200F011 and B2009014 logged. The SR-IOV
adjunct partition successfully recovers after it reboots and the system is
operational.
* On systems with maximum memory configurations (where every DIMM slot is
populated - size of DIMM does not matter), a problem has been fixed for
systems losing performance and going into Safe mode (a power mode with
reduced processor frequencies intended to protect the system from
over-heating and excessive power consumption) with B1xx2AC3/B1xx2AC4 SRCs
logged. This happened because of On-Chip Controller (OCC) time out errors
when collecting Analog Power Subsystem Sweep (APSS) data, used by the OCC to
tune the processor frequency. This problem occurs more frequently on systems
that are running heavy workloads. Recovery from Safe mode back to normal
performance can be done with a re-IPL of the system, or concurrently using
the following link steps for a soft reset of the service processor:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/p8hby_softreset.htm.
To check or validate that Safe mode is not active on the system will require
a dynamic celogin password from IBM Support to use the service processor
command line:
1) Log into ASMI as celogin with dynamic celogin password generated by IBM
Support
2) Select System Service Aids
3) Select Service Processor Command Line
4) Enter "tmgtclient --query_mode_and_function" from the command line
The first line of the output, "currSysPwrMode" should say "NOMINAL" and this
means the system is in normal mode and that Safe mode is not active.
SC830_101_048 / FW830.40
12/08/16 Impact: Availability Severity: ATT
New features and functions
* Support for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) was changed to
not create VPD deconfiguration records and call home alerts for hardware FRUs
that have one VPD chip of a redundant pair broken or inaccessible. The
backup VPD chip for the FRU allows continued use of the hardware resource.
The notification of the need for service for the FRU VPD is not provided
until both of the redundant VPD chips have failed for a FRU.
* Support was added for systems to be able to automatically convert permanently
activated resources (processor and memory) to Mobile CoD resources for use in
a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). The ability to do a CoD resource license
conversion requires a minimum HMC level of V8R8.4.0 or later. More
information on how to use a PEP for a group of systems tp share Mobile
Capacity on Demand (CoD) processor resources and memory resources can be
found in the IBM Knowledge Center at the following link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8ha2/systempool_cod.htm
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed the for an infrequent IPL hang and terminate that can
occur if the backup clock card is failing. The following SRCs may be logged
with this termination: B1813450, B181460B, B181BA07, B181E6C7 and B181E6F1.
If the IPL error occurs, the system can be re-IPLed to recover from the
problem.
* A problem was fixed for an infrequent service processor failover hang that
results in a reset of the backup service processor that is trying to become
the new primary. This error occurs more often on a failover to a backup
service processor that has been in that role for a long period of time (many
months). This error can cause a concurrent firmware update to fail. To
reduce the chance of a firmware update failure because of a bad failover, an
Administrative Failover (AFO) can be requested from the HMC prior to the
start of the firmware update. When the AFO has completed, the firmware
update can be started as normally done.
* A problem was fixed for the loss of the setting for the disable of a periodic
notification for a call home error log after a failover to the backup service
processor on a redundant service processor system. The call home for the
presence of a failed resource can get re-enabled (if manually disabled in
ASMI on the primary service processor) after a concurrent firmware update or
any scenario that causes the service processor to fail over and change
roles. With the fix, the periodic notification flag is synchronized between
the service processors when the flag value is changed.
* A problem was fixed for On-Chip Controller (OCC) errors that had excessive
callouts for processor FRUs. Many of the OCC errors are recoverable and do
not required that the processor be called out and guarded. With the fix, the
processors will only be called out for OCC errors if there are three or more
OCC failures during a time period of a week.
* A problem was fixed for an Operations Panel Function 04 (Lamp test) during an
IPL causing the IPL to fail. With the fix, the lamp test request is rejected
during the IPL until the hypervisor is available. The lamp test can be
requested without problems anytime after the system is powered on to
hypervisor ready or an OS is running in a partition.
* A problem was fixed for a 3.3V power fault on the primary system clock card
causing a failover to the backup clock without an error log and a call out
for the primary clock card. This clock card is part of a redundant set in
the System Control Unit with CCIN 6B49.
* A problem was fixed for a Phased Locked Loop (PLL) unlock error on the backup
clock card by using spread spectrum to maintain the phased locked loop for
the clock frequency. This technique was already in use for the primary clock
card. The PLL unlock error is rare in the backup clock for the Power systems
but it has been seen more frequently for the same part in other IBM systems.
This clock card is part of a redundant set in the System Control Unit with
CCIN 6B49.
* A problem was fixed for infrequent VPD cache read failures during an IPL
causing an unnecessary guarding of DIMMs with SRC B123A80F logged. With the
fix, the VPD cache read fails cause a temporary deconfiguration of the
associated DIMM but the DIMM is recovered on the next IPL.
* A problem was fixed for extra resources being assigned in a Power Enterprise
Pool (PEP). This only occurs if all of these things happen:
o Power server is in a PEP pool
o Power server has PEP resources assigned to it
o Power server powered down
o User uses HMC to 'remove' resources from the powered-down server
o Power server is then restarted. It should come up with no PEP resources,
but it starts up and shows it still is using PEP resources it should not
have.
To recover from this problem, the HMC 'remove' of the PEP resources from the
server can be performed again.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) error where the
target partition migration is failed with HSCLB98C error. Frequency of this
error can be moderate with source partitions that have a vNIC resource but
extremely low if the source partition does not have a vNIC resource. The
failure originates at the VIOS VF level, so recovery from this error may need
a re-IPL of the system to regain full use of the vNIC resources.
* A problem was fixed for a latency time of about 2 seconds being added to a
target Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration system when there is a latency
time check failure. With the fix, in the case of a latency time check
failure, a much smaller default latency is used instead of two seconds. This
error would not be noticed if the customer system is using a NTP time server
to maintain the time.
* A problem was fixed for a system dump post-dump IPL that resulted in adjunct
partition errors of SRC BA54504D, B7005191, and BA220020 when they could not
be created due to false space constraints. These adjunct partition failures
will prevent normal operations of the hypervisor such as creating new
partitions, so a power off and power on of the system is needed to recover
it. If the customer system is experiencing this error (only some systems
will be impacted), it is expected to occur for each system dump post-dump IPL
until the fix is applied.
* A problem was fixed for a shared processor pool partition showing an
incorrect zero "Available Pool Processor" (APP) value after a concurrent
firmware update. The zero APP value means that no idle cycles are present in
the shared processor pool but in this case it stays zero even when idle
cycles are available. This value can be displayed using the AIX "lparstat"
command. If this problem is encountered, the partitions in the affected
shared processor pool can be dynamically moved to a different shared
processor pool. Before the dynamic move, the "uncapped" partitions should be
changed to "capped" to avoid a system hang. The old affected pool would
continue to have the APP error until the system is re-IPLed.
* A rare problem was fixed for a system hang that can occur when dynamically
moving "uncapped" partitions to a different shared processor pool. To
prevent a system hang, the "uncapped" partitions should be changed to
"capped" before doing the move.
* A problem was fixed for a DLPAR add of the USB 3.0 adapter (#EC45 and #EC46)
to an AIX partition where the adapter could not be configured with the AIX
"cfgmgr" command that fails with EEH errors and an outstanding illegal DMA
transaction. The trigger for the problem is the DLPAR add operation of the
USB 3.0 adapter that has a USB External Dock (#EU04) and RDX Removable Disk
Drives attached, or a USB 3.0 adapter that has a flash driver attached. The
PCI slot can be powered off and on to recover the USB 3.0 adapter.
* A problem was fixed for network issues, causing critical situations for
customers, when an SR-IOV logical port or vNIC is configured with a non-zero
Port VLAN ID (PVID). This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1922, for
the following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EL38, EN0M,
EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for a failed IPL with SRC UE BC8A090F that does not have
a hardware callout or a guard of the failing hardware. The system may be
recovered by guarding out the processor associated with the error and
re-IPLing the system. With the fix, the bad processor core is guarded and
the system is able to IPL.
* A problem was fixed for the On-Chip Controller (OCC) incorrectly calling out
processors with SRC B1112A16 for L4 Cache DIMM failures with SRC B124E504.
This false error logging can occur if the DIMM slot that is failing is
adjacent to two unoccupied DIMM slots.
* A problem was fixed for host-initiated resets of the service processor that
can cause the service processor to terminate. In this state, the service
processor will be unresponsive but the system and partitions will continue to
run. On systems with a single service processor, the SRC B1817212 will be
displayed on the control panel. For systems with redundant service
processors, the failing service processor will be deconfigured. To recover
the failed service processor, the system will need to be powered off with AC
powered removed during a regularly scheduled system service action. The
problem is intermittent and very infrequent as most of the host-initiated
resets of the service processor will work correctly to restore the service
processor to a normal operating state.
* A problem was fixed for device time outs during a IPL logged with a SRC
B18138B4. This error is intermittent and no action is needed for the error
log. The service processor hardware server has allotted more time of the
device transactions to allow the transactions to complete without a time-out
error.
* A problem was fixed for cable card capable PCI slots that fail during the
IPL. Hypervisor I/O Bus Interface UE B7006A84 is reported for each cable
card capable PCI slot that doesn't contain a PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for
the PCIe Expansion Drawer (feature code #EJ05). PCI slots containing a cable
card will not report an error but will not be functional. The problem can be
resolved by performing an AC cycle of the system. The trigger for the
failure is the I2C devices used to detect the cable cards are not coming out
of the power on reset process in the correct state due to a race condition.
* A problem was fixed with SR-IOV adapter error recovery where the adapter is
left in a failed state in nested error cases for some adapter errors. The
probability of this occurring is very low since the problem trigger is
multiple low-level adapter failures. With the fix, the adapter is recovered
and returned to an operational state.
* A problem was fixed for the setting the disable of a periodic notification
for a call home error log SRC B150F138 for Memory Buffer resources (membuf)
from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
* A problem was fixed for a blank SRC in the LPA dump for user-initiated
non-disruptive adjunct dumps. The SRC is needed for problem determination
and dump analysis.
* A problem was fixed for a missing processor FRU callout for SRC BC8A0307 for
a node deconfiguration during the IPL. The failing SCM is now provided on
the callout when this error occurs during the IPL. This callout allows the
guard of the failing processor to occur so that the IPL is successful.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems using the PowerVM hypervisor firmware and Novalink, a problem was
fixed for a NovaLink installation error where the hypervisor was unable to
get the maximum logical memory buffer (LMB) size from the service processor.
The maximum supported LMB size should be 0xFFFFFFFF but in some cases it was
initialized to a value that was less than the amount of configured memory,
causing the service processor read failure with error code 0X00000134.
* On systems that have an attached HMC, a problem was fixed for a Live
Partition Mobility migration that resulted in the source managed system going
to the Hardware Management Console (HMC) Incomplete state after the migration
to the target system was completed. This problem is very rare and has only
been detected once.. The problem trigger is that the source partition does
not halt execution after the migration to the target system. The HMC went
to the Incomplete state for the source managed system when it failed to
delete the source partition because the partition would not stop running.
When this problem occurred, the customer network was running very slowly and
this may have contributed to the failure. The recovery action is to re-IPL
the source system but that will need to be done without the assistance of the
HMC. For each partition that has a OS running on the source system, shut
down each partition from the OS. Then from the Advanced System Management
Interface (ASMI), power off the managed system. Alternatively, the system
power button may also be used to do the power off. If the HMC Incomplete
state persists after the power off, the managed system should be rebuilt from
the HMC. For more information on HMC recovery steps, refer to this IBM
Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
* On systems that have an attached HMC, a problem was fixed for a Live
Partition Mobility migration that resulted in a system hang when an EEH error
occurred simultaneously with a request for a page migration operation. On
the HMC, it shows an incomplete state for the managed system with reference
code A181D000. The recovery action is to re-IPL the source system but that
will need to be done without the assistance of the HMC. From the Advanced
System Management Interface (ASMI), power off the managed system.
Alternatively, the system power button may also be used to do the power off.
If the HMC Incomplete state persists after the power off, the managed system
should be rebuilt from the HMC. For more information on HMC recovery steps,
refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
SC830_097_048 / FW830.30
08/24/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* The certificate store on the service processor has been upgraded to include
the changes contained in version 2.6 of the CA certificate list published by
the Mozilla Foundation at the mozilla.org website as part of the Network
Security Services (NSS) version 3.21.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) for the
Intelligent Platform Machine Interface (IPMI) to be able to change the IPMI
password. On the "Login Profile/Change Password" menu, a user ID of "IPMI"
can be selected. Changing the password for IPMI changes the password for the
default IPMI user ID. IPMI is not a user ID for logging into ASMI. The IPMI
function on the service processor can be accessed using tool "ipmitool" from
a client system that has a network connection to the service processor.
* Support was added to protect the service processor from booting on a level of
firmware that is below the minimum MIF level. If this is detected, a SRC
B18130A0 is logged. A disruptive firmware update would then need to be done
to the minimum firmware level or higher. This new support has no effect on
the system being updated with the service pack but has been put in place to
provide an enhanced firmware level for the IBM field stock service
processors.
* Support was added for the Stevens6+ option of the internal tray loading
DVD-ROM drive with F/C #EU13. This is an 8X/24X(max) Slimline SATA DVD-ROM
Drive. The Stevens6+ option is a FRU hardware replacement for the
Stevens3+. MTM 7226-1U3 (Oliver) FC 5757/5762/5763 attaches to IBM Power
Systems and lists Stevens6+ as optional for Stevens3+. If the Stevens6+ DVD
drive is installed on the system without the required firmware support, the
boot of an AIX partition will fail when the DVD is used as the load source.
Also, an IBM i partition cannot consistently boot from the DVD drive using
D-mode IPL. A SRC C2004130 may be logged for the load source not found
error.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* DEFERRED: A performance improvement was made by disabling the Hot/Cold
Affinity (HCA) hardware feature which gathers memory usage statistics for
consumption by partition operating system memory management algorithms. The
statistics gathering can, in rare cases, cause performance to degrade. The
workloads that may experience issues are memory-intensive workloads that have
little locality of reference and thus cannot take advantage of hardware
memory cache. As a consequence, the problem occurs very infrequently or not
at all except for very specific workloads in a HPC environment. This
performance fix requires an IPL of the system to activate it after it is
applied.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor going to the reset state
instead of the termination state when the anchor card is missing or broken.
At the termination state, the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) can
be used to collect failure data and debug the problem with the anchor card.
* A problem was fixed for error log entries created by Hostboot not getting
written to the error log in some situations. This can cause hardware
detected as failed by Hostboot to not get reported or have a call-home
generated. This problem will occur whenever Hostboot commits a recovered or
informational error as its last error log in the current IPL. In the next
IPL, one or more error logs from Hostboot will be lost.
* A problem was fixed for the Hardware Management Console (HMC) "chpwrmgmt"
command not providing a meaningful error message when used to try to enable
an invalid power saver mode of "dynamic_favor_power" on the 9119-MME or
9119-MHE models. This power saver mode is not available on these models but
the error message issued was "HSCL1400 An error has occurred during the
operation to the managed system. Try the task again." The following is the
corrected error message: "HSCL1402 This operation failed due to the
following reasons: HSCL02F3 The managed system does not support the specified
power saver mode."
* A problem was fixed for the health monitoring of the NVRAM and DRAM in the
service processor that had been disabled. The monitoring has been
re-established and early warnings of service processor memory failure is
logged with one of the following Predictive Error SRCs: B151F107, B151F109,
B151F10A, or B151F10D.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect date in partitions created with a
Simplified Remote Restart-Capable (SRR) attribute where the date is created
as Epoch 01/01/1970 (MM/DD/YYYY). Without the fix, the user must change the
partition time of day when starting the partition for the first time to make
it correct. This problem only occurs with SRR partitions.
* A problem was fixed for hypervisor task failures in adjunct partitions with a
SRC B7000602 reported in the error log. These failures occur during adjunct
partition reboots for concurrent firmware updates but are extremely rare and
require a re-IPL of the system to recover from the task failure. The adjunct
partitions may be associated with the VIOS or I/O virtualization for the
physical adapters such as done for SR-IOV.
* A problem was fixed for a shortened "Grace Period" for "Out of Compliance"
users of a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). The "Grace Period" is short by one
hour, so the user has one less hour to resolve compliance issues before the
HMC disallows any more borrowing of PEP resources. For example, if the
"Grace Period" should have been 48 hours as shown in the "Out of Compliance"
message, it really is 47 hours in the hypervisor firmware. The borrowing of
PEP resources is not a common usage scenario. It is most often found in Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations where PEP resources are borrowed from the
source server and loaned to the target server.
* A problem was fixed for an AIX or Linux partition failing with a SRC B2008105
LP 00005 on a re-IPL after a dump (firmware assisted or error generated dump)
following a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration operation. The problem
does not occur if the migrated partition completes a normal IPL after the
migration.
* A problem was fixed for intermittent long delays in the NX co-processor for
asynchronous requests such as NX 842 compressions. This problem was observed
for AIX DB2 when it was doing hardware-accelerated compressions of data but
could occur on any asynchronous request to the NX co-processor.
* A problem was fixed for transmit time-outs on a Virtual Function (VF) during
stressful network traffic, on systems using PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared-mode. This fix updates adapter firmware to
10.2.252.1918, for the following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H,
EN0J, EL38, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can only be updated
concurrently by the OS that owns the adapter.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during SSL certificate management. The
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2016-0797.
* A problem was fixed for missing dumps for service processor failures during
firmware updates.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor failure during a system power off
that causes a reset of the service processor. The service processor is in
the correct state for a normal system power on after the error. The
frequency for this error should be low as it is caused by a very rare race
condition in the power off process.
* A problem was fixed for a processor hang where the error recovery was not
guarding the failing processor. The failure causes a SRC B111E540 to be
logged with Signature Description of " ex(n0p3c1) (COREFIR[55])
NEST_HANG_DETECT: External Hang detected". With the fix, the failure
processor FRU is called out and guarded so that the error does not re-occur
when the system is re-IPLed.
* A problem was fixed for a sequence of two or more Live Partition Mobility
migrations that caused a partition to crash with a SRC BA330000 logged
(Memory allocation error in partition firmware). The sequence of LPM
migrations that can trigger the partition crash are as follows:
The original source partition level can be any FW760.xx, FW763.xx, FW770.xx,
FW773.xx, FW780.xx, or FW783.xx P7 level or any FW810.xx, FW820.xx, FW830.xx,
or FW840.xx P8 level. It is migrated first to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW730.70 or later 730 firmware or
2) FW740.60 or later 740 firmware
And then a second migration is needed to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW760.00 - FW760.20 or
2) FW770.00 - FW770.10
The twice-migrated system partition is now susceptible to the BA330000
partition crash during normal operations until the partition is rebooted. If
an additional LPM migration is done to any firmware level, the
thrice-migrated partition is also susceptible to the partition crash until it
is rebooted.
With the fix applied, the susceptible partitions may still log multiple
BA330000 errors but there will be no partition crash. A reboot of the
partition will stop the logging of the BA330000 SRC.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface "Network
Services/Network Configuration" "Reset Network Configuration" button that was
not resetting the static routes to the default factory setting. The
manufacturing default is to have no static routes defined so the fix clears
any static routes that had been added. A circumvention to the problem is to
use the ASMI "Network Services/Network Configuration/Static Route
Configuration" "Delete" button before resetting the network configuration.
* A problem was fixed for a partial callout for a failed SPIVID (Serial
Peripheral Interface Voltage Identification) interface on the power supply
VRM (Voltage Regulator Module). The SPVID interface allows the processor to
to control it's external voltage supply level, but if it fails, only the
processor FRU (SCM) is called out but not the VRM.
The system IPL will complete with a CEC drawer deconfigured. The error log
will only contain the processor but not the defective processor VRM.
Hostboot does not detect a SPIVID error, but fails on a SCOM operation to the
processor chip. The errors show up with SRC BCxx090F logged by Hostboot and
word 7 containing one of three error values for a SPIVID_SLAVE_PART callout:
1) RC_SBE_SET_VID_TIMEOUT = 0x005ec1b2
2) RC_SBE_SPIVID_STATUS_ERROR = 0x00902aac
3) RC_SBE_SPIVID_WRITE_RETURN_STATUS_ERROR = 0x0045d3cd with HWP Error
description : "Procedure: proc_sbe_setup_evid SPIVID Device did not return
good status the Boot Voltage Write operation" and HWSV RC of BA24.
Without the fix, replace both the identified SCM and the associated VRM.
* A problem was fixed for the HMC Exchange FRU procedure for DVD drive with MTM
7226-1U3 and feature codes 5757/5762/5763 where it did not verify the DVD
drive was plugged in at the end of the exchange procedure. Without the fix,
the user must manually verify that the DVD drive is plugged in.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Mangement Interface (ASMI)
incorrectly showing the Anchor card as guarded whenever any redundant VPD
chip is guarded.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* A problem was fixed for the service processor recovery from intermittent
MAX31760 fan controller faults logged with SRC B1504804. The fan controller
faults caused an out of memory condition on the service processor, forcing it
to reset and failover to the backup service processor with SRCs B181720D,
B181E6E9, and B182951C logged. With the fix, the fan controller faults are
handled without memory loss and the only SRC logged is B1504804 for each fan
controller fault.
* On systems with a PowerVM Active Memory Sharing (AMS) partition with AIX
Level 7.2.0.0 or later with Firmware Assisted Dump enabled, a problem was
fixed for a Restart Dump operation failing into KDB mode. If "q" is entered
to exit from KDB mode, the partition fails to start. The AIX partition must
be powered off and back on to recover. The problem can be circumvented by
disabling Firmware Assisted Dump (default is enabled in AIX 7.2).
* For a system partition with more than 64 cores, a problem was fixed for Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migration operations failing with HSCL365C. The
partition migration is stopped because the platform detects a firmware error
anytime the partition has more than 64 cores.
SC830_093_048 / FW830.22
06/28/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
Critical firmware update for FW830.21 (SC830_092) level systems
System IPLed with FW830.21: A critical firmware update is required for all
9119-MME and 9119-MHE systems that have been IPLed with FW830.21 (SC830_092).
The FW830.21 level can cause a failed IPL or a potential unplanned outage. If
the server is already in production, then customer should plan an outage at a
convenient time to apply FW 830.22 (SC830_093) or higher and IPL.
System had FW830.21 concurrently applied: If firmware level FW830.21 was
concurrently installed (i.e. system was NOT IPL'ed after installing the level)
customers are not impacted by this issue provided they apply FW830.22
(SC830_093) or higher prior to next planned system reboot. NOTE: FW 830.22 can
be applied concurrently.
System IPLed with any other version of Firmware: If the current firmware level
of the system is not FW830.21, the system is not exposed to this issue.
Customers can install this level or later at the next scheduled update window.
To verify the firmware level installed on the server, select “Updates” from the
left side of the HMC and place a check mark on the server of interest. Then
select “View system information” from the bottom view, select “None - Display
current values”. The Platform IPL Level will indicate the last level the system
was booted on.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent failure in Hostboot during the system
IPL resulting in SRCs BC70090F and BC8A1701 logged with a hardware procedure
return code of "RC_PROC_BUILD_SMP_ADU_STATUS_MISMATCH". The system
terminates with a Terminate Immediate (TI) condition. The system must be
re-IPLed to recover. The failure is very infrequent and was caused by a race
condition introduced as part of clock card failure data collection procedure
which has now been corrected.
SC830_092_048 / FW830.21
06/01/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* Support for additional First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) data for processor
clock failover errors provided by creating daily clock status reports with
SRC B150CCDA informational error logs. This clock status SRC log is written
into the Hardware Management Console (HMC) iqyylog.log as a platform error
log (PEL) event. The PEL event contains a dump of the clock registers. If a
processor clock fail over with SRC B158CC62 occurs on the service processor,
the iqyylog.log file on the HMC should be collected to help debug the clock
problem using the B150CCDA data.
* A problem was fixed for a missing error log when a clock card fails over to
the backup clock card. This problem causes loss of redundancy on the clock
cards without a callout notification that there is a problem with the FRU.
If the fix is applied to a system that had a failed clock, that condition
will not be known until the system is IPLed again when a error log and
callout of the clock card will occur if it is in a persisted failed state.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with dedicated processor partitions, a
problem was fixed for the dedicated processor partition becoming
intermittently unresponsive. The problem can be circumvented by changing the
partition to use shared processors. This is a follow-on to the fix provided
in 830.20 for a different issue for delays in dedicated processor partitions
that were caused by low I/O utilization.
* A problem was fixed for a secondary clock card (CCIN 6B49 ) failure on the
system control unit (SCU) being called out as a local clock card (CCIN 6B2D)
failure on the node with SRC B158E504. For this failure to occur, the
primary clock card on the SCU must have been previously failed and guarded.
SC830_086_048 / FW830.20
04/01/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New features and functions
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to be
able to add a IPv4 static route definition for each ethernet interface on the
service processor. Using a static route definition, a Hardware Management
Console (HMC) configured on a private subnet that is different from the
service processor subnet is now able to connect to the service processor and
manage the CEC. A static route persists until it is deleted or until the
service processor settings are restored to manufacturing defaults. The
static route is managed with the ASMI panel "Network Services/Network
Configuration/Static Route Configuration" IPv4 radio button. The "Add"
button is used to add a static route (only one is allowed for each ethernet
interface) and the "Delete" button is used to delete the static route.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to
display the environmental info section of error logs in the "System Service
Aids-> Error->Event logs" panel. The following is an example of the
information displayed:
|------------------------------------------------------
| Environmental Info
|------------------------------------------------------
| Section Version : 1
| Sub-section type : 0
| Created by : powr
| Genesis Record Time-Stamp: 03/12/2015 15:31:21
| Genesis Corr-Resistance : 4.687847
| Genesis Ambient-Temp(C) : 28.000000
| Genesis Corrosion-Rate : 0
|
| Corrosion Rate Status : 1
| Presence of UsrDataSec : 1
| Num Corrosion Readings : 1
|
| Daily Corr-Resistance : 4.804206
| Daily Ambient-Tempr(C) : 35.312500
| Daily Corrosion-Rate : 12C
|------------------------------------------------------
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for a power fault on a single node with SRC 11002610 that
terminates the multi-node system. The problem can be circumvented by
unplugging the failing node and the system will IPL. With the fix, the
failing node is guarded on the power fault and the rest of the system is able
to IPL.
* A problem was fixed for Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) TTY to
allow "admin" passwords to be greater than eight characters in length to be
consistent with prior generations of the product. The ASMI web interface
works correctly for user "admin" passwords with no truncation in the length
of the passwords.
* A problem was fixed for the recovery of a failing PCI clock so that a
failover to the backup PCI clock occurs without a node failing and being
deconfigured. Without the fix, the PCI clock does not behave as a redundant
FRU and faults on it will cause the CEC to terminate. A re-IPL of the CEC
recovers it from the PCI clock error with the bad clock guarded so that the
other PCI clock is used,
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent IPL failure with SRC B181E6C7 for a
deadlock condition when testing the clocks during the IPL. The problem state
can be recovered by doing another IPL. The problem is triggered by an error
in the IPL clock test causing a interrupt handler to switch to the redundant
clock and deadlock. With the fix, the clock fault is handled and the bad
clock is guarded, with the IPL completing on the redundant clock.
* A problem was fixed for a system IPL hang at C100C1B0 with SRC 1100D001 when
the power supplies have failed to supply the necessary 12-volt output for the
system. The 1100D001 SRC was calling out the planar when it should have
called out the power supplies. With the fix, the system will terminate as
needed and call out the power supply for replacement. One mode of power
supply failure that could trigger the hang is sync-FET failures that disrupt
the 12-volt output.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from PNOR flash memory corruption that
causes the IPL to fail with SRC D143900C. This is very rare and only has
happened in IBM internal labs. Without the fix, the service processor cannot
correct the corruption in the PNOR. If a system has the problem SRC and
cannot IPL, then that system must be disruptively firmware updated to apply
the fix to be able to IPL again.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) not getting all
error logs reported when its error log queue is full. In the case where the
error log queue is full with 16 entries, only one entry is returned to the
hypervisor for reporting. This error log truncation only occurs during
periods of high error activity in the expansion drawer.
* A problem was fixed for recovering from a misplug of the service processor
FSI cables (U2-P1-C10-T2 and U1-P1-C9-T2) where the plug locations are
reversed from what would be a proper connection. Without the fix, the bad
FSI connections cause the service processors to go to the service processor
stop state. With the fix applied, the error logs call out the bad cables so
they can be repaired and the service processor remains in a working state.
* A problem was fixed for hardware system dump collection after a hardware
checkstop that was missing scan ring data. This is a very infrequent problem
caused by an error with timing in the multi-threaded dump collection
process. Until this fix is applied, the debug of some hardware dump problems
may require doing multiple dump collections to get all the data.
* A problem was fixed for an Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) error
that occurred when trying to display detail on a deconfigured Anchor Card
VPD. If the error log for the selected deconfiguration record had been
deleted, it caused ASMI to core dump. With the fix, if the error log for
deconfiguration record is missing, the error log details such as failing SRC
for the deconfiguration record are returned as blank.
* A problem was fixed for an On-Chip Controller error with SRC B1702AC4 that
was logged as a unrecoverable without hardware callouts. This occurred when
the slave OCC failed to receive any Analog Power Subsystem Sweep (APSS) data
over a long time interval. With the fix, if the OCC fails in the same
manner, the error is predictive with hardware callouts in the error log.
* A problem was fixed in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) for a
FRU exchange of a DVD where the DVD was not being powered off as needed for
the exchange. The missing power off of the FRU could cause a data read or
write error if the DVD is in use when the DVD is removed. With the fix, the
ASMI deactivate DVD button turns off the DVD green power LED during the
exchange procedure, so it is known when it is safe to continue with the
exchange procedure steps and remove the DVD.
* A problem was for fixed so that error logs are now generated for thermal
errors detected by the service processor. Without the fix, thermal errors
such as a temperature over the threshold will not get reported in the error
log but higher fan speeds will be present as an indicator of the thermal
problem. Until the fix is applied, the error log and call home mechanism
cannot be relied on to monitor for system thermal problems.
* A problem was fixed for processor core checkstops that cause an LPAR outage
but do not create hardware errors and service events. The processor core is
deconfigured correctly for the error. This can happen if the hypervisor
forces processor checkstops in response to excessive processor recovery.
* A problem was fixed for the callout of a VPD collection fault and system
termination with SRC 11008402 to include the 1.2vcs VRM FRU. The power good
fault fault for the 1.2 volts would be a primary cause of this error.
Without the fix, the VRM is missing in the callout list and only has the
VPDPART isolation procedure.
* A problem was fixed for excessive logging of the SRC 11002610 on a power good
(pgood) fault when detected by the Digital Power Subsystem Sweep (DPSS).
Multiple pgood interrupts are signaled by the DPSS in the interval between
the first pgood failure and the node power down. A threshold was added to
limit the number of error logs for the condition.
* A problem was fixed for redundant logging of the SRC B1504804 for a fan
failure, once every five seconds. With the fix, the failure is logged only
at the initial time of failure in the IPL.
* A problem was fixed to speed up recovery for VPD collection time-out errors
for PCIe resources in an I/O drawer logged with SRC 10009133 during
concurrent firmware updates. With the fix, the hypervisor is notified as
soon as the VPD collection has finished so the PCIe resources can report as
available . Without the fix, there is a delay as long as two hours for the
recovery to complete.
* A problem was fixed for a false unrecoverable error (UE) logged for B1822713
when an invalid cooling zone is found during the adjustment of the system fan
speeds. This error can be ignored as it does not represent a problem with
the fans.
* A problem was fixed for a processor clock failover error with SRC B158CC62
calling out all processors instead of isolating to the suspect processor.
The callout priority correctly has a clock and a procedure callout as the
highest priority, and these should be performed first to resolve the problem
before moving on to the processors.
* A problem was fixed for loss of back-level protection during firmware updates
if an anchor card has been replaced. The Power system manufacturing process
sets the minimum code level a system is allowed to have for proper
operation. If a anchor card is replaced, it is possible that the replacement
anchor card is one that has the Minimum MIF Level (MinMifLevel) given as
"blank", and this removes the system back-level protection. With the fix,
blanks or nulls on the anchor card for this field are handled correctly to
preserve the back-level protection. Systems that have already lost the
back-level protection due to anchor card replacement remain vulnerable to a
accidental downgrade of code level by operator error, so code updates to a
lower level for these systems should only be performed under guidance from
IBM Support. The following command can be run the Advanced Management
Management Interface (ASMI) to determine if the system has lost the
back-level protection with the presence of "blanks" or ASCII 20 values for
MinMifLevel:
"registry -l cupd/MinMifLevel" with output:
"cupd/MinMifLevel:
2020202020202020 2020202020202020 [ ]
2020202020202020 2020202020202020 [ ]"
* A problem was fixed for a system checkstop caused by a L2 cache
least-recently used (LRU) error that should have been a recoverable error for
the processor and the cache. The cache error should not have caused a L2 HW
CTL error checkstop.
* A problem was fixed that was corrupting the Update Access Key (UAK) date with
a corrupted date of "1900". The user should correct the UAK date, if
needed, to allow the firmware update to proceed, by using the original UAK
key for the system. On the Management Console, enter the original update
access key via the "Enter COD Code" panel. Or on the Advanced System Manager
Interface (ASMI), enter the original update access key via the "On Demand
Utilities/COD Activation" panel.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe switch recovery to prevent a partition switch
failure during the IPL with error logs for SRC B7006A22 and B7006971
reported. This problem can occur when doing recovery for an informational
error on the switch. If this problem occurs, the partition must be restarted
to recover the affected I/O adapters.
* A problem was fixed to correct the error messages for early failures in the
Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of a partition. The management
console might report an unrelated error such as "HSCLA27E The operation to
lock the physical device location for target adapter" when the actual error
might be not enough available memory on the target CEC to run the migration.
With the fix, the correct error code is returned so there is enough
information to correct the error and retry the migration.
* A problem was fixed for a hypervisor task hang during a FRU exchange on the
PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) that requires the entire drawer to power
off and power on again. The activation phase for the power on may never
complete if a very rare sequence of events occurs during the power on step.
The FRUs to exchange that would cause the expansion drawer to power off and
power on are the following: midplane, I/O module, I/O module VRM, chassis
management card (CMC), cable card, and active optical cable.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe adapter hangs and network traffic error recovery
during Live Partition Mobility (LPM) and SR-IOV vNIC (virtual ethernet
adapter) operations. An error in the PCI Host Bridge (PHB) hardware can
persist in the L3 cache and fail all subsequent network traffic through the
PHB. The PHB error recovery was enhanced to flush the PHB L3 cache to allow
network traffic to resume.
* A problem was fixed for a network boot/install failure using bootp in a
network with switches using the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). A network
boot/install using lpar_netboot on the management console was enhanced to
allow the number of retries to be increased. If the user is not using
lpar_netboot, the number of bootp retries can be increased using the SMS
menus. If the SMS menus are not an option, the STP in the switch can be set
up to allow packets to pass through while the switch is learning the network
configuration.
* A problem was fixed for a hypervisor adjunct partition failed with "SRC
B2009008 LP=32770" for an unexpected SR-IOV adapter configuration. Without
the fix, the system must be re-IPLed to correct the adjunct error. This
error is infrequent and can only occur if an adapter port configuration is
being changed at the same time that error recovery is occurring for the
adapter.
* A problem was fixed for recovering from FSI interrupt overruns (too many FSI
interrupts at one time that cause the service processor to go interrupt-bound
and get stuck in a loop) that caused the service processor to go to a failed
state with SRC B1817212 on systems with a single service processor. On
systems with redundant service processors, the failed service processor would
get guarded with a B151E6D0 or B152E6D0 SRC depending on which service
processor fails. With the fix, the FSI interrupt generation is reset if a
threshold is exceeded, allowing the service processor to continue normal
processing. The failure trigger is a rare hardware fault condition that does
not persist in the service processor.
* A problem was fixed for priority callouts for system clock card errors with
SRC B158CC62. These errors had high priority callouts for the system clock
card and medium callouts for FRUs in the clock path. With the fix, all
callouts are set to medium priority as the clock card is not the most
probable FRU to have failed but is just a candidate among the many FRUs along
the clock path.
* A problem was fixed for a degraded PCI link causing a processor core to be
guarded if a non-cacheable unit (NCU) store time-out occurred with SRC
B113E540 and PRD signature "(NCUFIR[9]) STORE_TIMEOUT: Store timed out on
PB". With the fix, the processor core is not guarded for the NCU error. If
this problem occurs and a core is deconfigured. clear the guard record and
re-IPL to regain the processor core. The solution for degraded PCI links is
different from the fix for this problem, but a re-IPL of the CEC or a reset
of the PCI adapters could help to recover the PCI links from their degraded
mode.
* A problem was fixed for a L2 cache error on the service processor that caused
the service processor to reset or go to a failed state with SRC B1817212 on
systems with a single service processor. On systems with redundant service
processors, the failed service processor would get guarded with a B151E6D0 or
B152E6D0 SRC depending on which service processor fails. With the fix, the
L2 cache error is handled with single-bit corrected with no error to the
service processor, so it can continue normal processing. The L2 cache data
error that causes this fail is infrequent and the service processor requires
its limit of three resets in fifteen minutes to be exceeded for the service
processor to fail, so service processor failure rate for this problem is low.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect reduction in FRU callouts for Processor
Run-time Diagnostic (PRD) errors after a reference oscillator clock (OSCC)
error has been logged. Hardware resources are not called out and guarded as
expected. Some of the missing PRD data can be found in the secondary SRC of
B181BAF5 logged by hardware services. The callouts that PRD would have made
are in the user data of that error log.
* A problem was fixed for error recovery from failed Live Partition Mobility
(LPM) migrations. The recovery error is caused by a partition reset that
leaves the partition in an unclean state with the following consequences: 1)
A retry on the migration for the failed source partition may not not be
allowed; and 2) With enough failed migration recovery errors, it is possible
that any new migration attempts for any partition will be denied. This error
condition can be cleared by a re-IPL of the system. The partition recovery
error after a failed migration is much more likely to occur for partitions
managed by NovaLink but it is still possible to occur for Hardware Management
Console (HMC) managed partitions.
* A problem was fixed for a Qualys network scan for security vulnerabilities
causing a core dump in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
process on the service processor with SRC B181EF88. The error occurs anytime
the Qualys scan is run because it sends an invalid IPMI session id that
should have been handled and discarded without a core dump.
* A security problem was fixed in the lighttpd server on the service processor,
where a remote attacker, while attempting authentication, could insert
strings into the lighttpd server log file. Under normal operations on the
service processor, this does not impact anything because the log is disabled
by default. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2015-3200.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during RSA PPS signature verification.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2015-3194.
* A problem was fixed to guard a failed processor core to allow the system to
IPL. The processor core chiplet FRU was failing to be called out and guarded
on a RC_PMPROC_CHKSLW_ADDRESS_MISMATCH error and this prevented the system
from being able to IPL.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On multi-node systems with a power fault, a problem was fix for On-Chip
Controller errors caused by the power fault being reported as predictive
errors for SRC B1602ACB. These have been corrected to be informational error
logs. If running without the fix, the predictive and unrecoverable errors
logged for the OCC on loss of power to the node can be ignored.
* On a multi-node system, a problem was fixed for a power fault with SRC
11002610 having incorrect FRU callouts. The wrong second FRU callout is made
on nodes 2, 3, and 4 of a multi-node system. Instead of calling out the
processor FRU, the enclosure FRU is called out. The first FRU callout is
correct.
* On PowerVM systems with dedicated processor partitions with low I/O
utilization, the dedicated processor partition may become intermittently
unresponsive. The problem can be circumvented by changing the partition to
use shared processors.
* On systems where memory relocation (as done by using Live Partition Mobility
(LPM)) and a partition reboot are occurring simultaneously, a problem for a
system termination was fixed. The potential for the problem existed between
the active migration and the partition reboot.
* On a system running a IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for a machine
check incorrectly issued to an IBM i partition running 7.2 or later with 4K
sector disks. This problem only pertains to the IBM Power System S814
(8286-41A) , S824 (8286-42A), E870 (9119-MME), and E880 (9119-MHE) models.
* A problem was fixed that limited Virtual Functions (VFs) to a maximum of 50
on a single PCIe3 10GbE adapter (feature codes #EN15, #EN16, #EN17, and
#EN18; and CCINs 2CE3 and 2CE4) when 64 should have been allowed. This
problem only occurs for two of the SR-IOV capable slot locations in the Power
Systems: slot C4 in the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) and slot C7 in
the Power System E850 (8408-E8E).
* A problem was fixed for an extraneous PCIe switch SRC B7006A22 being called
out when there is a valid PCIe expansion drawer cable problem with SRC
B7006A88 reported. The callout for SRC B7006A22 should be ignored as the
PCIe switch hardware is working for this case.
* On a system with a AIX partition and a Linux partition, a problem was fixed
for dynamically moving an adapter that uses DMA from the Linux partition to
the AIX partition that caused the AIX to fail by going into KDB mode (0c20
crash). The management console showed the following message for the
partition operation: "Dynamic move of I/O resources failed. The I/O slot
dynamic partitioning operation failed.". The error was caused by Linux using
64K mappings for the DMA window and AIX using 4K mappings for the DMA window,
causing incorrect calculations on the AIX when it received the adapter.
Until the fix is applied, the adapters that use DMA should only be moved from
Linux to AIX when the partitions are powered off. This problem does not
pertain to Power System S812L(8247-21L), S822L(8247-22L), and S824L(8247-42L)
models.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration failure of a time
reference partition (TRP) to a FW830 system when setting partition hibernate
capable "false". This happens any time the TRP partition is attempted to be
migrated. To circumvent the problem, set the partition's Time Reference
Property to disabled and retry the migration.
* On systems with a partition using Active memory Sharing (AMS), a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of the AMS partition that
can hang the hypervisor on the target CEC. When an AMS partition migrates to
the target CEC, a hang condition can occur after processors are resumed on
the target CEC, but before the migration operation completes. The hang will
prevent the migration from completing, and will likely require a CEC reboot
to recover the hung processors. For this problem to occur, there needs to be
memory page-based activity (e.g. AMS dedup or Pool paging) that occurs
exactly at the same time that the Dirty Page Manager's PSR data for that page
is being sent to the target CEC.
* On systems with an invalid P-side or T-side in the firmware, a problem was
fixed in the partition firmware Real-Time Abstraction System (RTAS) so that
system Vital Product Data (VPD) is returned at least from the valid side
instead of returning no VPD data. This allows AIX host commands such as
lsmcode, lsvpd, and lsattr that rely on the VPD data to work to some extent
even if there is one bad code side. Without the fix, all the VPD data is
blocked from the OS until the invalid code side is recovered by either
rejecting the firmware update or attempting to update the system firmware
again.
* On systems using PCIe adapters in SR-IOV mode, a problem was fixed for
occasional B200F011 and B2009008 SRCs that can occur during an IPL, moving a
adapter into SR-IOV mode, or with SR-IOV link up/down activity.
* On systems using PCIe adapters in SR-IOV mode, the following problems were
addressed with a Broadcom Limited (formerly known as Avago Technologies and
Emulex) adapter firmware update to 10.2.252.1905: 1) Eliminating virtual
function (VF) transmit errors during VF resets and 2) Preventing loss of
legacy flow control when an adapter port is connected to a priority flow
control (PFC) capable switch.
* On systems with a AIX or Linux encapsulated state partitions, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration failure for the encapsulated
state partitions. The migration fails on the target CEC when the associated
paging space needed to support the encapsulated state is not available.
Removing the "Encapsulated State" attribute from the partition would allow
the migration to succeed. However, removing this attribute can only be
accomplished if the partition in the powered off state. Encapsulated State
partitions are needed for the remote restart feature. An encapsulated state
partition is a partition in which the configuration information and the
persistent data are stored external to the server on persistent storage. A
partition that supports remote restart can be restarted remotely. For more
information on the remote start feature, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center
link:
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/P8DEA/p8efd/p8efd_lpar_general_props.htm
* Support was added to eliminate the yearly Utility COD renewal on systems
using Utility COD. The Utility COD usage is already monitoring to make sure
systems are running within the prescribed threshold limit of unreported
usage, so a yearly customer renewal is not needed to manage the Utility COD
processor usage.
SC830_075_048 / FW830.11
11/11/15 Impact: Availability Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for recovering from embedded
MultiMediaCard (eMMC) flash NAND errors that caused the service processor to
go to a failed state with SRC B1817212 on systems with a single service
processor. On systems with redundant service processors, the failed service
processor would get guarded with a B151E6D0 or B152E6D0 SRC depending on
which service processor fails.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem associated with workloads using transactional
memory on PowerVM was discovered and is fixed in this service pack. The
effect of the problem is non-deterministic but may include undetected
corruption of data.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for memory on-die termination (ODT) settings
to improve the signal integrity of the memory channel.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from unaligned addresses for MSI interrupts
from PCIe adapters. The recovery prevents an adapter timeout caused by
resource exhaustion. With the fix, the resources for each bad interrupt are
returned, allowing the PCIe adapter to continue to run for the normal
traffic.
* A problem was fixed for an Operations Panel SRC of B1504804 with no FRU
callout. A callout of the failed hardware has been added.
* A problem was fixed to prevent recoverable power faults of short duration
from causing the system to lose power supply redundancy. Without the fix,
the faulted state persisted for the recovered power fault, causing a problem
with a system power off if other power supplies were lost at a later time.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link failure
with SRC B7006A8B . The settings for the continuous time linear equalizers
(CTLE) were adjusted to improve the incoming signal strength to improve the
stability of the links. The expansion drawer must be power cycled or the CEC
can be re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from a processor local bus (PLB) hang on the
service processor. The errant PLB hang recovery would be seen in concurrent
firmware updates that, on rare occasions, fail to do a side switch to
activate to the new level of firmware. On the management console, the error
message would be HSCF010180E Operation failed ... E302F873 is the error
code." Other than the failed code level activation, the firmware update is
successful. If this problem occurs, the system can be set to the new
firmware level by doing a power off from the management console and then
doing a power on with side switch selected in the advanced properties.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* A problem was fixed for the System Feature Code for the E870 (9119-MME) being
displayed as "EPBB" by IBM i "DSPSYSVAL QPRCFEAT" when it should be "EPBA".
This created a problem for certain IBM i software packages whose license was
tied to the System Feature Code. This fix has a concurrent activation. For
FW830.10, a similar, non-concurrent fix for the feature codes was made but
the System Feature Code, as seen in IBM i partitions, did not update
immediately.
SC830_068_048 / FW830.10
09/10/15 Impact: Availability Severity: HIPER
New features and functions
* The firmware code update process was enhanced with a feature to block a
firmware "downgrade" to a level that is below the system's manufactured code
level.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive:DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a TCP/IP performance
degradation on PCIe ethernet adapters with Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA)
over Converged Ethernet (RoCE). By adjusting the system memory caching, a
significant improvement was made to the data throughput speed to restore
performance to expected levels. This fix requires a system re-IPL to take
effect. This problem affects the E850 (8408-E8E), E870 (9119-MME), and E880
(9119-MHE) systems.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for an ethernet adapter hanging on the
service processor. This hang prevents TCP/IP network traffic from the
managment console and the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI)
browsers. It makes it appear as if the service processor is unresponsive and
can be confused with a service processor in the stopped state.. An A/C power
cycle would recover a hung ethernet adapter.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for missing the interrupts for
processor local bus (PLB) time-outs.. This problem could hang the service
processor or cause it to panic with a reset/reload of the service processor.
There is a possibility the reset of the service processor could take it to a
stopped state where the service processor would be unresponsive. In the
service processor stopped state, any active partitions will continue to run
but they will not be able to be managed by the management console. The
partitions can be allowed to run until the next scheduled service window at
which time the service processor can be recovered with an AC power cycle or a
pin-hole reset from the operator panel.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for a system reset to clear the boot
registers to prevent the reset from being mishandled as chip reset. If a
"system reset" is misinterpreted as a "chip reset", the boot of the service
processor can go inadvertently to a stopped state and be unresponsive.
Pin-hole resets from the operations panel could also fail to the service
processor stopped state. In the service processor stopped state, any active
partitions will continue to run but they will not be able to be managed by
the management console. The partitions can be allowed to run until the next
scheduled service window at which time the service processor can be recovered
with an AC power cycle or a pin-hole reset from the operator panel.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed so a corrupted file system partition
table can be recovered and not have the service processor lose the ability to
do P and T-side switches. In error recovery situations, the loss of the
side-switch option could present itself as an unresponsive service processor
if it was needed to prevent a failure to the service processor stopped state.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for a runaway interrupt request (IRQ)
condition that caused the service processor to go to a stopped state. In the
service processor stopped state, any active partitions will continue to run
but they will not be able to be managed by the management console. The
partitions can be allowed to run until the next scheduled service window at
which time the service processor can be recovered with an AC power cycle or a
pin-hole reset from the operator panel.
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for a dump partition full condition
that caused the service processor to go to a stopped state. In the service
processor stopped state, any active partitions will continue to run but they
will not be able to be managed by the management console. The partitions can
be allowed to run until the next scheduled service window at which time the
service processor can be recovered with an AC power cycle or a pin-hole reset
from the operator panel.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link
failure with SRC B7006A8B . Data packet send retries were increased and link
recovery was enabled to improve the stability of the links. The CEC must be
re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
* A problem was fixed for a SRC 11002613 logged during a concurrent repair of a
power supply. This SRC was erroneously logged and did not represent a real
problem.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent SRC B1504804 logged on a re-ipl of
the CEC but that did not result in an IPL failure.
* A problem was fixed for the capture of the registers for the Hostboot
Self-Boot Engine (SBE) for SBE failures. These registers had been missing
from failure data for SBE failures, making these problems more difficult to
debug.
* A problem was fixed to remove an unnecessary delay in the system IPL to
reduce the time needed to IPL by 30 seconds.
* A problem was fixed for an unneeded error log with SRC B181DB04 that occurred
in a failed IPL for a normal condition of lost PNOR flash access after a
reIPL process had started and taken over the access.
* A problem was fixed for an Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI) error
message of "Error in function 'connect", error code 111" when a browser
attempted to connect before the service processor was ready. The browser
connection through the web server is now held off until the ASMI process is
ready after a reset of the service processor or a AC power cycle of the
system.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect call home for SRC B1818A0F. There was
no real problem so this call home should have been ignored.
* A problem was fixed for a dump reIPL that failed with SRC B1818601 and
B181460B after processor checkstops had terminated the system.
* A problem was fixed for an infrequent service processor database corruption
during concurrent firmware update that caused the system to terminate.
* A problem was fixed for a failed PCI oscillator that was not guarded, causing
repeated errors with SRC B15050A6 and B158E504 logged on each IPL of the
system.
* A problem was fixed for a local clock card (LCC) failure with SRC 11001515
that was missing a part number and location code. This information has been
added for LCC faults so the FRU to replace is properly identified.
* A problem was fixed for a defective PCI oscillator in the local clock card
(LCC) with SRC BC58090F that caused a IPL failure for the node instead of
failing over to the redundant LCC.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor dump with error logs B181E911 and
B181D172 during an IPL. The error logs were for the detection of defunct
processes but otherwise the IPL was successful.
* A problem was fixed for Digital Power Subsystem Sweep (DPSS) firmware updates
that caused an error log with SRC B1819906 but otherwise was successful.
* A problem was fixed for missing Keyword (KW) and Resource ID (RID) for SRC
B181A40F.
* A problem was fixed for a I2C bus lock error during a CEC power off that
caused a ten minute delay for the power off and errorlog SRCs B1561314 and
B1814803 with error number (errno) 3E.
* A problem was fixed for the System Feature Code for the E870(9119-MME) being
displayed as "EPBB" by IBM i "DSPSYSVAL QPRCFEAT" when it should be "EPBA".
This created a problem for certain IBM i software packages whose license was
tied to the System Feature Code. The System Feature Code, as seen in IBM i
partitions, does not update immediately with concurrent activation of the fix
pack, but it will eventually change to the correct "EPBA" value within 24
hours. If it is necessary to see the new System Feature Code value
immediately, a re-IPL of the system is needed.
* A problem was fixed for concurrent firmware updates to a system that needed
to be re-IPLed after getting a B113E504 SRC during activation of the new
firmware level on the hypervisor. The code update activate failed if the
Sleep Winkle (SLW) images were significantly different between the firmware
levels. The SLW contains the state of the processor and cache so it can be
restored after sleep or power saving operations.
* A problem was fixed for System Power Control Network (SPCN) failover for a
I/O module A/C power fault on the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0). A
sideband failure on one I/O module was blocking SPCN commands for the entire
drawer instead of SPCN failing over to a working I/O module. The broken SPCN
communications path prevented concurrent maintenance operations on the
expansion drawer.
* A problem was fixed for a possible lack of recovery for an A/C power loss
condition on the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0). If there was an
outstanding problem on the expansion drawer and an A/C loss occurred while
the earlier error was still unprocessed, the auto-recovery for the A/C power
loss would not have happened.
* A problem was fixed for a missing FRU call out for error SRC B7006A87 when
unable to read the drawer module logical flash VPD for the PCIe3 I/O
expansion drawer (#EMX0).
* For a partition that has been migrated with Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
from FW730 to FW740 or later, a problem was fixed for a Main Storage Dump
(MSD) IPL failing with SRC B2006008. The MSD IPL can happen after a system
failure and is used to collect failure data. If the partition is rebooted
anytime after the migration, the problem cannot happen. The potential for
the problem existed between the active migration and a partition reboot.
* A problem was fixed for partial loss of Entitlement for On/Off Memory
Capacity On Demand (also called Elastic COD). Users with large amounts of
Entitlement on the system of greater than "65535 GB * Days" could have had a
truncation of the Entitlement value on a re-IPL of the system. To recover
lost Entitlement, the customer can request another On/Off Enablement Code
from IBM support to "re-fill" their entitlement.
* A problem was fixed for a management console command line failure with a
return code 0x40000147 (invalid lock state) when trying to delete SR-IOV
shared mode configurations. This could have occurred if the adapter slot had
been re-purposed without involvement of the management console and was owned
and operational at the time of the requested delete. With the fix, the
current ownership of the slot is honored and only the SR-IOV shared mode
configuration data is deleted on the force delete.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect restriction on the amount of
"Unreturned" resources allowed for a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). PEP
allows for logical moving of resources (processors and memory) from one
server to another. Part of this is 'borrowing' resources from one server to
move to another. This may result in "Unreturned" resources on the source
server. The management console controls how many total "Unreturned" PEP
resources can exist. For this problem, the user had some "Unreturned" PEP
memory and asked to borrow more but this request was incorrectly refused by
the hypervisor.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) error with SRCs
B7006A82 and B7004137 for a missing FRU location code. The FRU location code
for the Active Optical Cable (AOC) was added to identify the failing drawer
side.
* A problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) failing to IPL
when the IPL includes a FPGA update for the drawer. The FPGA update is
actually good but perceived as a failure when the FPGA resets as part of the
update. For the problem, a re-IPL of the system would have fixed the drawer.
* A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) to prevent a memory
access error during LPM operations with unpredictable affects. When data is
moved by LPM, the underlying firmware code requires that the buffers be 4K
aligned. The fixes made now force the buffers to be 4K aligned and if there
is still an alignment issue, the LPM operation will fail without impacting
the system.
* A problem was fixed for an On-Chip Controller (OCC) failure after a system
dump with SRCs B18B2616 and BC822024 reported. This resulted in the system
running with reduced performance in safe mode, where processor clock
frequencies are lowered to minimum levels to avoid hardware errors since the
OCC is not available to monitor the system. A re-IPL of the system would
have resolved the problem.
* A performance problem was fixed for systems entering processor hang recovery
prematurely with SRC B111E504 and PBCENTFIR(9) "PB_CENT_HANG_RECOV". The
ability of the L3 cache to prefetch memory was extended to speed the memory
accesses and prevent a processor hang condition for applications running with
lower memory affinity.
* A problem was fixed for a processor error causing a Hostboot terminate
instead of a deconfiguration of the bad hardware and continuation of the
IPL. The state of the processors was synchronized between the service
processor and the Hostboot process to correct the error.
* A problem was fixed for a USB Save and Restore of machine configuration to
not lose the system name.
* A problem was fixed for Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) help text
for menu "I/O Adapter Enlarged Capacity" being missing with the system IPLed
and partitions running. The help text is now available for the system in the
powered on state as well as in the powered off state.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent power supply error SRC 1100D008 with
a flood of VPD SRC B1504804 with errno 3Es logged on a re-ipl of the CEC but
that did not result in an IPL failure.
* A problem was fixed for a LED intermittently not lighting for an enclosure
with a fault.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent PSI link error with SRC B15CDA27
after a firmware update or reset/reload of the service processor.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe3 adapters failing when requesting more than 32
Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI-X). The adapter may fail to ping or cause
OS tasks to hang that are using the adapter. This problem was found
specifically on the 10 Gb Ethernet-SR (Short Range) PCIe3 adapter with
feature codes #5275 and #5769 and on the 56 Gb Infiniband (IB) Fourteen Data
Rate (FDR) adapter with feature codes #EC32, #EC33, #EL3D, and #EL50 and CCIN
2CE7. However, other PCIe adapters may also be affected.
* A problem was fixed for IBM copyright statements being displayed on the
System Management Services (SMS) menu after a repair or replacement of system
hardware.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: For partitions with a graphics console and USB keyboard, a
problem was fixed for a OS boot hang at the CA00E100 progress SRC. For the
problem, the hang can be avoided by issuing the boot command from the Open
Firmware (OF) prompt.
* HIPER/Pervasive: On systems using PowerVM with shared processor partitions
that are configured as capped or in a shared processor pool, there was a
problem found that delayed the dispatching of the virtual processors which
caused performance to be degraded in some situations. Partitions with
dedicated processors are not affected. The problem is rare and can be
mitigated, until the service pack is applied, by creating a new shared
processor AIX or Linux partition and booting it to the SMS prompt; there is
no need to install an operating system on this partition. Refer to help
document http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1020863 for
additional details.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe)
adapters, plugged into PCIe3 switches, mis-training to generation 1 instead
of generation 3. NVMe adapters attached directly to the PCIe3 slots trained
correctly to the generation 3 specification. This fix requires a re-IPL of
the system to correct the training of any mis-trained adapters.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed for a missing location code,
part, and serial number for a faulty symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) cable in
the call home B1504922 error log.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed for a two hour IPL hang in
HostBoot caused by multiple B18ABAAB errors from more than one node. The
Hostboot process failed to go into its reconfiguration loop to do error
recovery and continue the IPL.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for an
IPL failure for a bad service processor cable on the primary service
processor with SRCs B1504904 and B18ABAAB logged. The system should have did
an error failover to the backup service processor and continued the IPL to
get the partitions running.
* On a system with redundant service processors where redundancy is disabled, a
problem was fixed for an unrecoverable (UE) SRC B181DA19 being logged on a
re-IPL after a checkstop error. The error log did not interfere with the
reIPL which was successful.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed for extraneous error logs after
a 12V power fault. After termination, there were additional 110026Bx error
log entries that should have been ignored.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for the
isolation procedures for an Anchor card error and system VPD collection
failure with termination SRC B181A40F . FSPSP04 and FSPSP06 are no longer
called out as part of reporting the VPD collection failure. FSPSP30 has been
updated with isolation steps for this problem and is called out and should be
used for the problem isolation. Retain tip H213935 also provides the FRU
isolation steps. Procedure FSPSP30 tries to replace the service processor
first. If that does not work, then the procedure has the Anchor card
replaced.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed to isolate a power fault during
IPL to the specific node and guard the node, and allow the rest of the system
to IPL. Previously, the power fault would not be localized to the problem
node and it caused the IPL of all the nodes of the system to fail.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for
failovers to the backup service processor that caused an On-Chip Controller
(OCC) abort. This placed the CEC in a "safe" mode where it ran at reduced
processor clock frequencies to prevent exceeding the power limits while not
under OCC control.
* On a system with an IBM i partition using Active Memory Sharing (AMS), a
problem was fixed for internal memory management errors caused by deleting a
IBM i partition that had been powered off in the middle of a Main Storage
Dump (MSD). Until the fix is installed, if a MSD is interrupted for a IBM i
partition that has AMS, the partition should be powered on and powered off
normally before a delete of the partition is done to prevent errors with
unpredictable affects. This problem does not affect the S822 (8284-22A),
S812L(8247-21L), S822L (8247-22L), S824L(8247-42L), and E850 (8408-E8E)
models.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for a
failover to the backup service processor during a power off of the CEC that
caused a hypervisor time-out with SRC B182953C. This error was caused by a
delay in synchronizing the state of the hypervisor to the backup service
processor but it did not prevent the power off from completing successfully.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for a
firmware update causing an error log server dump with SRC B1818601. The
error log server restarted automatically to recover from the error and the
firmware update was successful.
SC830_048_048 / FW830.00
06/08/15 Impact: New Severity: New
New Features and Functions
NOTE:
* POWER8 (and later) servers include an “update access key” that is checked
when system firmware updates are applied to the system. The initial update
access keys include an expiration date which is tied to the product warranty.
System firmware updates will not be processed if the calendar date has passed
the update access key’s expiration date, until the key is replaced. As these
update access keys expire, they need to be replaced using either the Hardware
Management Console (HMC) or the Advanced Management Interface (ASMI) on the
service processor. Update access keys can be obtained via the key management
website: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess/index.wss.
* Support for Little Endian (LE) Linux in PowerVM. With PowerVM LE guest
support, all three Linux on Power distribution partners (SUSE, Canonical, and
Red Hat) with LE operating systems can run on the same IBM Power Systems.
* Support for allowing the PowerVM hypervisor to continue to run after the
service processor has become unresponsive with a SRC B1817212. Any active
partitions will continue to run but they will not be able to be managed by
the management console. The partitions can be allowed to run until the next
scheduled service window at which time the service processor can be recovered
with an AC power cycle or a pin-hole reset from the operator panel. This
error condition would only be seen on a system that had been running with a
single service processor (no redundancy for the service processor).
* Support for three and four node configurations of the E880 (9119-MHE) system.
* Support for an increase of the maximum number of PCIe 3 I/O expansion drawers
(#EMX0) that can be attached to an E870 /E880 node from two to four.
* Support for Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) that enables the
hypervisor to share a SR-IOV-capable PCI-Express adapter across multiple
partitions. Twelve ethernet adapters are supported with the SR-IOV NIC
capability, when placed in the P8 system (SR-IOV supported in both native
mode and through VIOS):
- PCIe3 4-port 10GbE SR Adapter (F/C EN15 and CCIN
2CE3)
- PCIe3 4-port 10GbE SR Adapter (F/C EN16 and CCIN
2CE3). Fits E870/E880 system node PCIe slot.
- PCIe3 4-port 10GbE SFP+ Copper Adapter (F/C EN17 and
CCIN 2CE4)
- PCIe3 4-port 10GbE SFP+ Copper Adapter (F/C EN18 and
CCIN 2CE4). Fits E870/E880 system node PCIe slot.
- PCIe2 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45 SFP+ Adapter (F/C EN0H
and CCIN 2B93)
- PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45 SFP+ Adapter (F/C
EN0J and CCIN 2B93)
- PCIe2 LP Linux 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45 SFP+ Adapter
(F/C EL38 and CCIN 2B93)
- PCIe2 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) LR and RJ45 Adapter (F/C EN0M
and CCIN 2CC0)
- PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) LR and RJ45 Adapter (F/C
EN0N and CCIN 2CC0)
-PCIe2 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SFP+Copper and RJ45 Adapter (F/C
EN0K and CCIN 2CC1)
- PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SFP+Copper and RJ45 Adapter
(F/C EN0L and CC IN 2CC1)
- PCIe2 LP Linux 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1Gb Ethernet) SFP+Copper and RJ45
(F/C EL3C and CCIN 2CC1)
These adapters each have four ports, and all four ports are enabled with
SR-IOV function. The entire adapter (all four ports) is configured for SR-IOV
or none of the ports is.
System firmware updates the adapter firmware level on these adapters to
10.2.252.16 when a supported adapter is placed into SR-IOV mode.
Support for SR-IOV adapter sharing is now available for adapters in the PCIe3
I/O Expansion Drawer with F/C #EMX0.
SR-IOV NIC on the Power P8 systems is supported by:
- AIX 6.1 TL9 SP4 and APAR IV63331, or later
- AIX 7.1 TL3 SP4 and APAR IV63332, or later
- IBM i 7.1 TR8, or later (Supported on S824/S814)
- IBM i 7.2 or later (Supported on S824/S814)
- IBM i 7.1 TR9, or later (Supported on E870/E880)
- IBM i 7.2 TR1, or later (Supported on E870/E880)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 or later ( Supported on
E870/E880/S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L except for adapters with F/Cs
EN15/EN16/EN17/EN18)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6, or later (Supported on E850 and minimum
level needed for adapters with F/Cs EN15/EN16/EN17/EN18)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1, or later
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 or later (Supported on
S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 or later (Supported on E870/E880)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, or later (Supported on E850)
- Ubuntu 15.04 or later (Supported on
E850/S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L)
- VIOS 2.2.3.4 with interim fix IV63331, or later
* Support for an upgrade from 8-core processors to 12-core processors for the
E880 (9119-MHE) system.
* Support for adjusting voltage regulators input voltage dynamically based on
regulator slave failures to achieve the optimal voltage for system operation
for normal and degraded conditions.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed to eliminate unneeded guard data from call home messages
for the cases where there is no hardware error in the system.
* On systems with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed in the
run-time error failover to the backup service processor so it does not
terminate on FRU support interface (FSI) errors. In the case of FSI errors
on the new primary service processor, the primary will do a reset/reload
instead of a terminate.
* A problem was fixed to call home guarded FRUs on each IPL. Only the initial
failure of the hardware was being reported to the error log.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) USB menu
to allow a system dump to be collected to USB with the power on to the
system. This allows the dump to be collected with the system memory state
intact.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor error log handling that caused
SRC B150BAC5 errors when converting a error log entry from an object into a
flattened array of bytes.
* A problem was fixed that prevented a second management console from being
added to the CEC. In some cases, network outages caused defunct management
console connection entries to remain in the service processor connection
table, making connection slots unavailable for new management consoles. A
reset of the service processor could be used to remove the defunct entries.
* A problem was fixed to eliminate a false error log and call home for a
SRC1100154F fan fault caused by an unplugged power cable.
* A problem was fixed for a highly intermittent IPL failure with SRC B18187D9
caused by a defunct attention handler process. For this problem, the IPL
will continue to fail until the service processor is reset.
A problem was fixed for missing FRU information in SRC 11001515. SRC
11001515 was logged indicating replacement of power supply hardware, but did
not include the location code, the part number, the CCIN, or the serial
number.
* A problem was fixed for systems with a corrupted date of "1900" showing for
the Update Access Key (UAK). The firmware update is allowed to proceed on
systems with a bad UAK date because the fix is in an emergency service pack.
After the fix is installed, the user should correct the UAK date, if needed,
by using the original UAK key for the system. On the Management Console,
enter the original update access key via the "Enter COD Code" panel. Or on
the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI), enter the original update
access key via the "On Demand Utilities/COD Activation" panel.
* A problem with concurrent PCIe adapter maintenance was fixed that caused
On-Chip Controller (OCC) resets with SRCs logged of B18B2616 and BC822029,
forcing the system into safe mode (processor voltage/frequency reduced to a
"safe" level where thermal monitoring is not required). Recovery from safe
mode requires a system re-IPL.
* A problem was fixed for I/O adapters so that BA400002 errors were changed to
informational for memory boundary adjustments made to the size of DMA map-in
requests. These DMA size adjustments were marked as UE previously for a
condition that is normal.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems in PowerVM mode, a problem was fixed for unresponsive PCIe
adapters after a partition power off or a partition reboot.
* On systems using Virtual Shared Processor Pools (VSPP), a problem was fixed
for an inaccurate pool idle count over a small sampling period.
* On systems with partitions using shared processors, a problem was fixed that
could result in latency or timeout issues with I/O devices.
* On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed for a hypervisor deadlock that
results in the system being in a "Incomplete state" as seen on the management
console. This deadlock is the result of two hypervisor tasks using the same
locking mechanism for handling requests between the partitions and the
management console. Except for the loss of the management console control of
the system, the system is operating normally when the "Incomplete state"
occurs.
* On systems with memory mirroring enabled, a problem was fixed for PowerVM
over-estimating its memory needs, allowing more memory to be used by the
partitions.
* On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed for the handling of the error
of multiple cache hits in the instruction effective-to-real address
translation cache (IERAT). A multi-hit IERAT error was causing system
termination with SRC B700F105. The multi-hit IERAT is now recognized by the
hypervisor and reported to the OS where it is handled.
* On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed to allow booting off an iSCSI
device. For the failure, the partition firmware error logs had SRC BA012010
"Opening the TCP node failed." and SRC BA010013 "The information in the error
log entry for this SRC provides network trace data." The open firmware
standard output trace showed SRC BA012014 "The TCP re-transmission count of
8 was exceeded. This indicates a large number of lost packets between this
client and the boot or installation server" followed by SRC BA012010.
* On systems using PowerVM, support was added for USB 2.0 HUBs so that a
keyboard plugged into the USB 2.0 HUB will work correctly at the SMS menus.
Previously, a keyboard plugged into a USB 2.0 HUB was not a recognized
device.
SC820
For Impact, Severity and other Firmware definitions, Please refer to the below
'Glossary of firmware terms' url:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/power5cm/home.html#termdefs
SC820_103_047 / FW820.50
09/26/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New Features and Functions
* Support was added to protect the service processor from booting on a level of
firmware that is below the minimum MIF level. If this is detected, a SRC
B18130A0 is logged. A disruptive firmware update would then need to be done
to the minimum firmware level or higher. This new support has no effect on
the system being updated with the service pack but has been put in place to
provide an enhanced firmware level for the IBM field stock service
processors.
* The certificate store on the service processor has been upgraded to include
the changes contained in version 2.6 of the CA certificate list published by
the Mozilla Foundation at the mozilla.org website as part of the Network
Security Services (NSS) version 3.21.
* Support was added for systems to be able to automatically convert permanently
activated resources (processor and memory) to Mobile CoD resources for use in
a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). The ability to do a CoD resource license
conversion requires a minimum HMC level of V8R8.4.0 or later. More
information on how to use a PEP for a group of systems tp share Mobile
Capacity on Demand (CoD) processor resources and memory resources can be
found in the IBM Knowledge Center at the following link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8ha2/systempool_cod.htm.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for an unneeded error log with SRC B181DB04 that occurred
in a failed IPL for a normal condition of lost PNOR flash access after a
reIPL process had started and taken over the access.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface "Network
Services/Network Configuration" "Reset Network Configuration" button that was
not resetting the static routes to the default factory setting. The
manufacturing default is to have no static routes defined so the fix clears
any static routes that had been added. A circumvention to the problem is to
use the ASMI "Network Services/Network Configuration/Static Route
Configuration" "Delete" button before resetting the network configuration.
* Support was added for additional First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) data for
processor clock failover errors provided by creating daily clock status
reports with SRC B150CCDA informational error logs. This clock status SRC
log is written into the Hardware Management Console (HMC) iqyylog.log as a
platform error log (PEL) event. The PEL event contains a dump of the clock
registers. If a processor clock fails over with SRC B158CC62 posted to the
serviceable events log, the iqyylog.log file on the HMC should be collected
to help debug the clock problem using the B150CCDA data.
* A problem was fixed the for the service processor recovery from intermittent
MAX31760 fan controller faults logged with SRC B1504804. The fan controller
faults caused an out of memory condition on the service processor, forcing it
to reset and failover to the backup service processor with SRCs B181720D,
B181E6E9, and B182951C logged. With the fix, the fan controller faults are
handled without memory loss and the only SRC logged is B1504804 for each fan
controller fault.
* A problem was fixed for a sequence of two or more Live Partition Mobility
migrations that caused a partition to crash with a SRC BA330000 logged
(Memory allocation error in partition firmware). The sequence of LPM
migrations that can trigger the partition crash are as follows:
The original source partition level can be any FW760.xx, FW763.xx, FW770.xx,
FW773.xx, FW780.xx, or FW783.xx P7 level or any FW810.xx, FW820.xx, FW830.xx,
or FW840.xx P8 level. It is migrated first to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW730.70 or later 730 firmware or
2) FW740.60 or later 740 firmware
And then a second migration is needed to a system running one of the
following levels:
1) FW760.00 - FW760.20 or
2) FW770.00 - FW770.10
The twice-migrated system partition is now susceptible to the BA330000
partition crash during normal operations until the partition is rebooted. If
an additional LPM migration is done to any firmware level, the
thrice-migrated partition is also susceptible to the partition crash until it
is rebooted.
With the fix applied, the susceptible partitions may still log multiple
BA330000 errors but there will be no partition crash. A reboot of the
partition will stop the logging of the BA330000 SRC.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor failure during a system power off
that causes a reset of the service processor. The service processor is in
the correct state for a normal system power on after the error. The
frequency for this error should be low as it is caused by a very rare race
condition in the power off process.
* A problem was fixed for the health monitoring of the NVRAM and DRAM in the
service processor that had been disabled. The monitoring has been
re-established and early warnings of service processor memory failure is
logged with one of the following Predictive Error SRCs: B151F107, B151F109,
B151F10A, or B151F10D.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during SSL certificate management. The
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2016-0797.
* A problem was fixed the for an infrequent IPL hang and terminate that can
occur if the backup clock card is failing. The following SRCs may be logged
with this termination: B1813450, B181460B, B181BA07, B181E6C7 and B181E6F1.
If the IPL error occurs, the system can be re-IPLed to recover from the
problem.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Mangement Interface (ASMI)
incorrectly showing the Anchor card as guarded whenever any redundant VPD
chip is guarded.
* A problem was fixed for hypervisor task failures in adjunct partitions with a
SRC B7000602 reported in the error log. These failures occur during adjunct
partition reboots for concurrent firmware updates but are extremely rare and
require a re-IPL of the system to recover from the task failure. The adjunct
partitions may be associated with the VIOS or I/O virtualization for the
physical adapters such as done for SR-IOV.
* A problem was fixed for a shortened "Grace Period" for "Out of Compliance"
users of a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). The "Grace Period" is short by one
hour, so the user has one less hour to resolve compliance issues before the
HMC disallows any more borrowing of PEP resources. For example, if the
"Grace Period" should have been 48 hours as shown in the "Out of Compliance"
message, it really is 47 hours in the hypervisor firmware. The borrowing of
PEP resources is not a common usage scenario. It is most often found in Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations where PEP resources are borrowed from the
source server and loaned to the target server.
* A problem was fixed for intermittent long delays in the NX co-processor for
asynchronous requests such as NX 842 compressions. This problem was observed
for AIX DB2 when it was doing hardware-accelerated compressions of data but
could occur on any asynchronous request to the NX co-processor.
* A problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration that resulted in
the source managed system going to the Hardware Management Console (HMC)
Incomplete state after the migration to the target system was completed.
This problem is very rare and has only been detected once.. The problem
trigger is that the source partition does not halt execution after the
migration to the target system. The HMC went to the Incomplete state for
the source managed system when it failed to delete the source partition
because the partition would not stop running. When this problem occurred,
the customer network was running very slowly and this may have contributed to
the failure. The recovery action is to re-IPL the source system but that
will need to be done without the assistance of the HMC. For each partition
that has a OS running on the source system, shut down each partition from the
OS. Then from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI), power off
the managed system. Alternatively, the system power button may also be used
to do the power off. If the HMC Incomplete state persists after the power
off, the managed system should be rebuilt from the HMC. For more information
on HMC recovery steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm
* A problem was fixed for transmit time-outs on a Virtual Function (VF) during
stressful network traffic, on systems using PCIe adapters in Single Root I/O
Virtualization (SR-IOV) shared-mode. This fix updates adapter firmware to
10.2.252.1918, for the following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H,
EN0J, EL38, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, and EL3C.
The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens
under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.
A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new
firmware level. In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared
mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the
system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance
operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced). And lastly,
selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC). To selectively update the adapter
firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to
make the updates:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently
running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated
concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if
OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
* A problem was fixed for a unplugged or missing clock cable during a IPL that
logs an expected SRC B158CC62 for the clock cable problem but also results in
an unexpected system checkstop with a DIMM failure with SRC B124E504 and
error signature "mb(n1p0) () PLL". With the fix, the clock cable problems
are detected and handled without incurring secondary faults.
* A problem was fixed for infrequent VPD cache read failures during an IPL
causing an unnecessary guarding of DIMMs with SRC B123A80F logged. With the
fix, the VPD cache read fails cause a temporary deconfiguration of the
associated DIMM but the DIMM is recovered on the next IPL.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with a PowerVM Active Memory Sharing (AMS) partition with AIX
Level 7.2.0.0 or later with Firmware Assisted Dump enabled, a problem was
fixed for a Restart Dump operation failing into KDB mode. If "q" is entered
to exit from KDB mode, the partition fails to start. The AIX partition must
be powered off and back on to recover. The problem can be circumvented by
disabling Firmware Assisted Dump (default is enabled in AIX 7.2).
* For a system partition with more than 64 cores, a problem was fixed for Live
Partition Mobility (LPM) migration operations failing with HSCL365C. The
partition migration is stopped because the platform detects a firmware error
anytime the partition has more than 64 cores.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed for a two hour IPL hang in
HostBoot caused by multiple B18ABAAB errors from more than one node. The
Hostboot process failed to go into its reconfiguration loop to do error
recovery and continue the IPL.
SC820_099_047 / FW820.40
05/04/16 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New Features and Functions
* Support was added for the Stevens6+ option of the internal tray loading
DVD-ROM drive with F/C #EU13. This is an 8X/24X(max) Slimline SATA DVD-ROM
Drive. The Stevens6+ option is a FRU hardware replacement for the
Stevens3+. MTM 7226-1U3 (Oliver) FC 5757/5762/5763 attaches to IBM Power
Systems and lists Stevens6+ as optional for Stevens3+. If the Stevens6+ DVD
drive is installed on the system without the required firmware support, the
boot of an AIX partition will fail when the DVD is used as the load source.
Also, an IBM i partition cannot consistently boot from the DVD drive using
D-mode IPL. A SRC C2004130 may be logged for the load source not found
error.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for a system IPL hang at C100C1B0 with SRC 1100D001 when
the power supplies have failed to supply the necessary 12-volt output for the
system. The 1100D001 SRC was calling out the planar when it should have
called out the power supplies. With the fix, the system will terminate as
needed and call out the power supply for replacement. One mode of power
supply failure that could trigger the hang is sync-FET failures that disrupt
the 12-volt output.
* A problem was fixed for the callout of a VPD collection fault and system
termination with SRC 11008402 to include the 1.2vcs VRM FRU. The power good
fault fault for the 1.2 volts would be a primary cause of this error.
Without the fix, the VRM is missing in the callout list and only has the
VPDPART isolation procedure.
* On multi-node systems with a power fault, a problem was fix for On-Chip
Controller errors caused by the power fault being reported as predictive
errors for SRC B1602ACB. These have been corrected to be informational error
logs. If running without the fix, the predictive and unrecoverable errors
logged for the OCC on loss of power to the node can be ignored.
* A problem was fixed for excessive logging of the SRC 11002610 on a power good
(pgood) fault when detected by the Digital Power Subsystem Sweep (DPSS).
Multiple pgood interrupts are signaled by the DPSS in the interval between
the first pgood failure and the node power down. A threshold was added to
limit the number of error logs for the condition.
* A problem was fixed for redundant logging of the SRC B1504804 for a fan
failure, once every five seconds. With the fix, the failure is logged only
at the initial time of failure in the IPL.
* A problem was fixed for a false unrecoverable error (UE) logged for B1822713
when an invalid cooling zone is found during the adjustment of the system fan
speeds. This error can be ignored as it does not represent a problem with
the fans.
* On a multi-node system, a problem was fixed for a power fault with SRC
11002610 having incorrect FRU callouts. The wrong second FRU callout is made
on nodes 2, 3, and 4 of a multi-node system. Instead of calling out the
processor FRU, the enclosure FRU is called out. The first FRU callout is
correct.
* A problem was fixed for a processor clock failover error with SRC B158CC62
calling out all processors instead of isolating to the suspect processor.
The callout priority correctly has a clock and a procedure callout as the
highest priority, and these should be performed first to resolve the problem
before moving on to the processors.
* A problem was fixed for a system checkstop caused by a L2 cache
least-recently used (LRU) error that should have been a recoverable error for
the processor and the cache. The cache error should not have caused a L2 HW
CTL error checkstop.
* A problem was fixed for priority callouts for system clock card errors with
SRC B158CC62. These errors had high priority callouts for the system clock
card and medium callouts for FRUs in the clock path. With the fix, all
callouts are set to medium priority as the clock card is not the most
probable FRU to have failed but is just a candidate among the many FRUs along
the clock path.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe switch recovery to prevent a partition switch
failure during the IPL with error logs for SRC B7006A22 and B7006971
reported. This problem can occur when doing recovery for an informational
error on the switch. If this problem occurs, the partition must be restarted
to recover the affected I/O adapters.
* A problem was fixed to correct the error messages for early failures in the
Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of a partition. The management
console might report an unrelated error such as "HSCLA27E The operation to
lock the physical device location for target adapter" when the actual error
might be not enough available memory on the target CEC to run the migration.
With the fix, the correct error code is returned so there is enough
information to correct the error and retry the migration.
* A problem was fixed for a hypervisor task hang during a FRU exchange on the
PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) that requires the entire drawer to power
off and power on again. The activation phase for the power on may never
complete if a very rare sequence of events occurs during the power on step.
The FRUs to exchange that would cause the expansion drawer to power off and
power on are the following: midplane, I/O module, I/O module VRM, chassis
management card (CMC), cable card, and active optical cable.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe adapter hangs and network traffic error recovery
during Live Partition Mobility (LPM) and SR-IOV vNIC (virtual ethernet
adapter) operations. An error in the PCI Host Bridge (PHB) hardware can
persist in the L3 cache and fail all subsequent network traffic through the
PHB. The PHB error recovery was enhanced to flush the PHB L3 cache to allow
network traffic to resume.
* A problem was fixed for a Qualys network scan for security vulnerabilities
causing a core dump in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
process on the service processor with SRC B181EF88. The error occurs anytime
the Qualys scan is run because it sends an invalid IPMI session id that
should have been handled and discarded without a core dump.
* A problem was fixed for error recovery from failed Live Partition Mobility
(LPM) migrations. The recovery error is caused by a partition reset that
leaves the partition in an unclean state with the following consequences: 1)
A retry on the migration for the failed source partition may not not be
allowed; and 2) With enough failed migration recovery errors, it is possible
that any new migration attempts for any partition will be denied. This error
condition can be cleared by a re-IPL of the system. The partition recovery
error after a failed migration is much more likely to occur for partitions
managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) but it is still
possible to occur for Hardware Management Console (HMC) managed partitions.
* A problem was fixed for a L2 cache error on the service processor that caused
the service processor to reset or go to a failed state with SRC B1817212 on
systems with a single service processor. On systems with redundant service
processors, the failed service processor would get guarded with a B151E6D0 or
B152E6D0 SRC depending on which service processor fails. With the fix, the
L2 cache error is handled with single-bit corrected with no error to the
service processor, so it can continue normal processing. The L2 cache data
error that causes this fail is infrequent and the service processor requires
its limit of three resets in fifteen minutes to be exceeded for the service
processor to fail, so service processor failure rate for this problem is low.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for a possible service processor
reset on a null pointer de-reference during RSA PPS signature verification.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2015-3194.
* A security problem was fixed in the lighttpd server on the service processor,
where a remote attacker, while attempting authentication, could insert
strings into the lighttpd server log file. Under normal operations on the
service processor, this does not impact anything because the log is disabled
by default. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2015-3200.
* A problem was fixed for a hypervisor adjunct partition failed with "SRC
B2009008 LP=32770" for an unexpected SR-IOV adapter configuration. Without
the fix, the system must be re-IPLed to correct the adjunct error. This
error is infrequent and can only occur if an adapter port configuration is
being changed at the same time that error recovery is occurring for the
adapter.
* A problem was fixed for a missing error log when a clock card fails over to
the backup clock card. This problem causes loss of redundancy on the clock
cards without a callout notification that there is a problem with the FRU.
If the fix is applied to a system that had a failed clock, that condition
will not be known until the system is IPLed again when a errorlog and callout
of the clock card will occur if it is in a persisted failed state.
* A problem was fixed for the service processor going to the reset state
instead of the termination state when the anchor card is missing or broken.
At the termination state, the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI) can be
used to collect failure data and debug the problem with the anchor card.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with AIX or Linux encapsulated state partitions, a problem was
fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration failure for the encapsulated
state partitions. The migration fails on the target CEC when the associated
paging space needed to support the encapsulated state is not available.
Removing the "Encapsulated State" attribute from the partition would allow
the migration to succeed. However, removing this attribute can only be
accomplished if the partition in the powered off state. Encapsulated State
partitions are needed for the remote restart feature. An encapsulated state
partition is a partition in which the configuration information and the
persistent data are stored external to the server on persistent storage. A
partition that supports remote restart can be restarted remotely. For more
information on the remote start feature, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center
link:
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/P8DEA/p8efd/p8efd_lpar_general_props.htm
* For Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) managed systems with more than 64
active partitions, a problem was fixed for recovery from Live Partition
Mobility (LPM) errors. Without the fix, the IVM managed system partition can
appear to still be running LPM after LPM has aborted, preventing retries of
the LPM operation. In this case, the partition must be stopped and restarted
to clear the LPM error state. The problem is not frequent because it
requires a failed LPM on a partition with a partition ID that is greater than
64.
* On systems with an invalid P-side or T-side in the firmware, a problem was
fixed in the partition firmware Real-Time Abstraction System (RTAS) so that
system Vital Product Data (VPD) is returned at least from the valid side
instead of returning no VPD data. This allows AIX host commands such as
lsmcode, lsvpd, and lsattr that rely on the VPD data to work to some extent
even if there is one bad code side. Without the fix, all the VPD data is
blocked from the OS until the invalid code side is recovered by either
rejecting the firmware update or attempting to update the system firmware
again.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect date in partitions created with a
Simplified Remote Restart-Capable (SRR) attribute where the date is created
as Epoch 01/01/1970 (MM/DD/YYYY). Without the fix, the user must change the
partition time of day when starting the partition for the first time to make
it correct. This problem only occurs with SRR partitions.
* On systems using PowerVM firmware with dedicated processor partitions, a
problem was fixed for the dedicated processor partition becoming
intermittently unresponsive. The problem can be circumvented by changing the
partition to use shared processors.
SC820_091_047 / FW820.30
11/18/15 Impact: Availability Severity: HIPER
New Features and Functions
* The firmware code update process was enhanced with a feature to block a
firmware "downgrade" to a level that is below the system's manufactured code
level.
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to be
able to add a IPv4 static route definition for each ethernet interface on the
service processor. Using a static route definition, a Hardware Management
Console (HMC) configured on a private subnet that is different from the
service processor subnet is now able to connect to the service processor and
manage the CEC. A static route persists until it is deleted or until the
service processor settings are restored to manufacturing defaults. The
static route is managed with the ASMI panel "Network Services/Network
Configuration/Static Route Configuration" IPv4 radio button. The "Add"
button is used to add a static route (only one is allowed for each ethernet
interface) and the "Delete" button is used to delete the static route.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for recovering from embedded
MultiMediaCard (eMMC) flash NAND errors and three other low-level boot errors
that caused the service processor to go to a failed state with SRC B1817212
on systems with a single service processor. On systems with redundant
service processors, the failed service processor would get guarded with a
B151E6D0 or B152E6D0 SRC depending on which service processor fails. Other
low-level boot errors included in this fix:
1) A system reset to clear the boot registers may be erroneously handled as a
chip reset causing the service processor to enter a stopped state and become
unresponsive.
2) Improves recovery for a defective file system partition table that causes
the service processor to lose the ability to perform P and T (Permanent and
Temporary) side switch.
3) Do not fail on a dump partition full condition as this is normal when a
service processor has a maximum number of service processor dumps active.
For each of these issues, on systems with redundant service processors, the
failed service processor would get guarded with a B151E6D0 or B152E6D0 SRC
depending on which service processor fails.
* HIPER/Non-Pervasive: A problem associated with workloads using transactional
memory on PowerVM was discovered and is fixed in this service pack. The
effect of the problem is non-deterministic but may include undetected
corruption of data.
* HIPER/Non-Pervasive: A problem was fixed for recovery from PNOR flash memory
corruption that causes the IPL to fail with SRC D143900C. This is very rare
and only has happened in IBM internal labs. Without the fix, the service
processor cannot correct the corruption in the PNOR. If a system has the
problem SRC and cannot IPL, then that system must be disruptively firmware
updated to apply the fix to be able to IPL again.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for memory on-die termination (ODT) settings
to improve the signal integrity of the memory channel.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a TCP/IP performance degradation on PCIe
ethernet adapters with Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over Converged
Ethernet (RoCE). By adjusting the system memory caching, a significant
improvement was made to the data throughput speed to restore performance to
expected levels. This fix requires a system re-IPL to take effect.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a hang in the processor and cache memory
that causes a system checkstop with SRC B181E540 logged with a processor FRU
callout. The error log details include "Description: Runtime diagnostics
has detected a problem on a memory bus" and "Signature Description:
mcs(n0p0c6) (MCIFIR[40]) CHANNEL TIMEOUT ERROR" and "Multi-Signature List:
ex(n0p0c14) (L3FIR[24]) L3 Hw Control Error". The trigger for the hang error
is speculative DMA partial writes into cache and the frequency of the error
varies with the workload, but may happen several times a month. A re-IPL of
the system is needed for this fix to take effect after a concurrent firmware
update of the service pack.
* A problem was fix for certain error logs not being reported to the OS. The
error occurs when the hypervisor is not ready to receive an error log message
and rejects it. The error log handler on the service processor was not
retrying until the error log was successfully delivered. Until the fix is
applied, there will be a small loss of error logs when the hypervisor is
initializing during the IPL as these will get discarded until the hypervisor
is ready. The missing error logs may be viewed from the service processor
using the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) or may be viewed as
serviceable events on the management console if there is one attached.
* A problem was fixed for the error reporting of multiple AC power losses so
that all occurrences of the power losses are logged. With the problem, only
the first AC power loss for SRC 10001510 is reported, with subsequent power
faults not being reported. Until the fix is applied, a re-IPL of the CEC
will re-enable power supply problem reporting.
* A problem was fixed for a SRC 11002613 logged during a concurrent repair of a
power supply. This SRC was erroneously logged and did not represent a real
problem.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent SRC B1504804 logged on a re-ipl of
the CEC but that did not result in an IPL failure. This problem is a
inability of the service processor to do a read from the IIC bus resulting
from incorrect device lock management. This problem has no adverse impact on
the system other than a predictive error log and can be ignored until the fix
is applied.
* A problem was fixed for a bad Time of Day (TOD) battery with SRC B15A3305
calling out the P1 Backplane instead of the P1-E2 Battery. This occurs
whenever the TOD battery becomes bad. Until the fix is applied, always
replace the battery FRU for this SRC as the first repair action.
* A problem was fixed for the capture of the registers for the Hostboot
Self-Boot Engine (SBE) for SBE failures. These registers had been missing
from failure data for SBE failures, making these problems more difficult to
debug.
* A problem was fixed for an Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) error
message of "Error in function 'connect", error code 111" when a browser
attempted to connect before the service processor was ready. The browser
connection through the web server is now held off until the ASMI process is
ready after a reset of the service processor or a AC power cycle of the
system. Until the fix is applied, the ASMI user can wait one or two minutes
and then retry the operation.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect call home for SRC B1818A0F. This call
home can be ignored. It occurs rarely only in the case of dynamic IP
configuration for the service processor when it fails to acquire a IP address
from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. Unit the fix is
applied, use the information from the SRC and network topology to understand
why the DHCP client cannot acquire an IP address as this is normally a
network configuration error.
* A problem was fixed for a system dump re-IPL that failed with SRC B1818601
and B181460B after processor core checkstops had terminated the system. The
failed processor cores created a complex condition that prevented a
successful dump collection of all the hardware objects. Until the fix is
applied, the checkstop processor problems will have to be debugged with
partial data from the degraded dump collections that have the failure SRCs.
* A problem was fixed for an infrequent service processor database corruption
during concurrent firmware update that caused the system to terminate with a
UIRA impact to the customer. The cause of the database corruption is
undetermined but the problem is resolved by the service processor making a
backup of the data that can be restored, if needed, to allow the firmware
updates to complete successfully.
* A problem was fixed for Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) TTY to
allow "admin" passwords to be greater than eight characters in length to be
consistent with prior generations of the product. The ASMI web interface
works correctly for user "admin" passwords with no truncation in the length
of the passwords.
* A problem was fixed for a local clock card (LCC) failure with SRC 11001515
that was missing a part number and location code. This information has been
added for LCC faults so the FRU to replace is properly identified.
* A problem was fixed for a defective PCI oscillator in the local clock card
(LCC) with SRC BC58090F that caused a IPL failure for the node instead of
failing over to the redundant LCC. For a multi-node system, the failure is
isolated to the node with the bad LCC and the other nodes are able to IPL.
* A problem was fixed for a service processor dump with error logs B181E911 and
B181D172 during an IPL. The error logs were for the detection of defunct
processes but otherwise the IPL was successful.
* A problem was fixed for missing Keyword (KW) and Resource ID (RID) for SRC
B181A40F.
* A problem was fixed for a I2C bus lock error during a CEC power off that
caused a ten minute delay for the power off and errorlog SRCs B1561314 and
B1814803 with error number (errno) 3E.
* A problem was fixed for Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) help text
for menu "I/O Adapter Enlarged Capacity" being missing with the system IPLed
and partitions running. The help text, shown below, is now available for the
system in the powered on state as well as in the powered off state.
"I/O Adapter Enlarged Capacity
This option controls the size of PCI memory space allocated to each PCI slot.
When enabled, the selected number of PCI slots, including those in external
I/O subsystems, receive the larger DMA and memory mapped address space.
Some PCI adapters may require this additional DMA or memory space, per the
adapter specification.
This option increases system mainstore allocation to these selected PCI
slots.
Enabling this option may result in some PCI host bridges and slots not being
configured because the installed mainstore is insufficient to configure all
installed PCI slots."
* A problem was fixed for recovering from a misplug of the service processor
FSI cables (U2-P1-C10-T2 and U1-P1-C9-T2) where the plug locations are
reversed from what would be a proper connection. Without the fix, the bad
FSI connections cause the service processors to go to the service processor
stop state. With the fix applied, the error logs call out the bad cables so
they can be repaired and the service processor remains in a working state.
* For a partition that has been migrated with Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
from FW730 to FW740 or later, a problem was fixed for a Main Storage Dump
(MSD) IPL failing with SRC B2006008. The MSD IPL can happen after a system
failure and is used to collect failure data. If the partition is rebooted
anytime after the migration, the problem cannot happen. The potential for
the problem existed between the active migration and a partition reboot.
* A problem was fixed for partial loss of Entitlement for On/Off Memory
Capacity On Demand (also called Elastic COD). Users with large amounts of
Entitlement on the system of greater than "65535 GB * Days" could have had a
truncation of the Entitlement value on a re-IPL of the system. To recover
lost Entitlement, the customer can request another On/Off Enablement Code
from IBM support to "re-fill" their entitlement.
* A problem was fixed for a management console command line failure with a
return code 0x40000147 (invalid lock state) when trying to delete SR-IOV
shared mode configurations. This could have occurred if the adapter slot had
been re-purposed without involvement of the management console and was owned
and operational at the time of the requested delete. With the fix, the
current ownership of the slot is honored and only the SR-IOV shared mode
configuration data is deleted on the force delete.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect restriction on the amount of
"Unreturned" resources allowed for a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP). PEP
allows for logical moving of resources (processors and memory) from one
server to another. Part of this is 'borrowing' resources from one server to
move to another. This may result in "Unreturned" resources on the source
server. The management console controls how many total "Unreturned" PEP
resources can exist. For this problem, the user had some "Unreturned" PEP
memory and asked to borrow more but this request was incorrectly refused by
the hypervisor.
* On systems where memory relocation (as done by using Live Partition Mobility
(LPM)) and a partition reboot are occurring simultaneously, a problem for a
system termination was fixed. The potential for the problem existed between
the active migration and the partition reboot.
* A problem was fixed that was corrupting the Update Access Key (UAK) date with
a corrupted date of "1900". The user should correct the UAK date, if
needed, to allow the firmware update to proceed, by using the original UAK
key for the system. On the Management Console, enter the original update
access key via the "Enter COD Code" panel. Or on the Advanced System
Management Interface (ASMI), enter the original update access key via the
"On Demand Utilities/COD Activation" panel.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from unaligned addresses for MSI interrupts
from PCIe adapters. The recovery prevents an adapter timeout caused by
resource exhaustion. With the fix, the resources for each bad interrupt are
returned, allowing the PCIe adapter to continue to run for the normal
traffic.
* A problem was fixed for a machine check incorrectly issued to an IBM i
partition running 7.2 or later with 4K sector disks.
* A problem was fixed for an extraneous PCIe switch SRC B7006A22 being called
out when a there is a valid PCIe expansion drawer cable problem with SRC
B7006A88 reported. The callout for SRC B7006A22 should be ignored as the
PCIe switch hardware is working for this case.
* A problem was fixed for a Network boot/install failure using bootp in a
network with switches using the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). A Network
boot/install using lpar_netboot on the management console was enhanced to
allow the number of retries to be increased. If the user is not using
lpar_netboot, the number of bootp retries can be increased using the SMS
menus. If the SMS menus are not an option, the STP in the switch can be set
up to allow packets to pass through while the switch is learning the network
configuration.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe3 adapters failing when requesting more than 32
Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI-X). The adapter may fail to ping or cause
OS tasks to hang that are using the adapter. This problem was found
specifically on the 10 Gb Ethernet-SR (Short Range) PCIe3 adapter with
feature codes #5275 and #5769 and on the 56 Gb Infiniband (IB) Fourteen Data
Rate (FDR) adapter with feature codes #EC32, #EC33, #EL3D, and #EL50 and CCIN
2CE7. However, other PCIe adapters may also be affected.
* A security problem was fixed for an OpenSSL specially crafted X.509
certificate that could cause the service processor to reset in a
denial-of-service (DOS) attack. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
issue number is CVE-2015-1789.
* A problem was fixed for false errors reported with SRC B1812663 for the
On-Chip Controller (OCC). These error logs can be ignored as these are
caused by a prior error log using a buffer that is not properly sized for the
log data.
* A problem was fixed to prevent recoverable power faults of short duration
from causing the system to lose power supply redundancy. Without the fix,
the faulted state persisted for the recovered power fault, causing a problem
with a system power off if other power supplies were lost at a later time.
* A problem was fixed to guard a failed processor during an IPL instead of
hanging with SRC B1813450 reported to the error log.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent PSI link error with SRC B15CDA27
after a firmware update or reset/reload of the service processor.
* A problem was fixed for hardware system dump collection after a hardware
checkstop that was missing scan ring data. This is a very infrequent problem
caused by an error with timing in the multi-threaded dump collection
process. Until this fix is applied, the debug of some hardware dump problems
may require doing multiple dump collections to get all the data.
* A problem was fixed for an Advanced System Managementr Interface (ASMI) error
that occurred when trying to display detail on a deconfigured Anchor Card
VPD. If the error log for the selected deconfiguration record had been
deleted, it caused ASMI to core dump. With the fix, if the error log for
deconfiguration record is missing, the error log details such as failing SRC
for the deconfiguration record are returned as blank.
* A problem was fixed for an Operations Panel SRC of B1504804 with no FRU
callout. A callout of the failed hardware has been added.
* A problem was fixed for guarding failed hardware dynamically during the IPL
to prevent the IPL from terminating. Without the fix, certain hardware
failures will not be called out to handled by the reconfiguration loop,
Until the fix is applied, multiple IPL attempts may be needed if hardware is
failing.
* A problem was fixed for a processor error causing a Hostboot terminate
instead of a deconfiguration of the bad hardware and continuation of the
IPL. The state of the processors was synchronized between the service
processor and the Hostboot process to correct the error.
* A problem was fixed for the recovery of a failing PCI clock so that a
failover to the backup PCI clock occurs without a node failing and being
deconfigured. Without the fix, the PCI clock does not behave as a redundant
FRU and faults on it will cause the CEC to terminate. A re-IPL of the CEC
recovers it from the PCI clock error with the bad clock guarded so that the
other PCI clock is used.
* A problem was for fixed so that error logs are now generated for thermal
errors detected by the service processor. Without the fix, thermal errors
such as a temperature over the threshold will not get reported in the error
log but higher fan speeds will be present as an indicator of the thermal
problem. Until the fix is applied, the error log and call home mechanism
cannot be relied on to monitor for system thermal problems.
* A problem was fixed for processor core checkstops that cause an LPAR outage
but do not create hardware errors and service events. The processor core is
deconfigured correctly for the error. This can happen if the hypervisor
forces processor checkstops in response to excessive processor recovery.
* A problem was fixed for recovery from a processor local bus (PLB) hang on the
service processor. The errant PLB hang recovery would be seen in concurrent
firmware updates that, on rare occasions, fail to do a side switch to
activate to the new level of firmware. On the management console, the error
message would be HSCF010180E Operation failed ... E302F873 is the error
code." Other than the failed code level activation, the firmware update is
successful. If this problem occurs, the system can be set to the new
firmware level by doing a power off from the management console and then
doing a power on with side switch selected in the advanced properties.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On a system with redundant service processors where redundancy is disabled, a
problem was fixed for an unrecoverable (UE) SRC B181DA19 being logged on a
re-IPL after a checkstop error. The error log did not interfere with the
re-IPL which was successful. The error log is for an active Processor
Support Interface (PSI) link not being found for the backup service
processor. This is a correct condition when redundancy is disabled, so the
error log should not have been generated. Until the fix is applied, the
error code can be ignored.
* On multiple-node systems, a problem was fixed for extraneous error logs after
a 12V power fault with SRC 11002610. After system termination, there are
additional 110026B0 and 110026B3 error log entries that can be ignored.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for the
isolation procedures for an Anchor card error and system VPD collection
failure with termination SRC B181A40F . FSPSP04 and FSPSP06 are no longer
called out as part of reporting the VPD collection failure. FSPSP30 has been
updated with isolation steps for this problem and is called out and should be
used for the problem isolation. Retain tip H213935 also provides the FRU
isolation steps. Procedure FSPSP30 tries to replace the service processor
first. If that does not work, then the procedure has the Anchor card
replaced.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for
failovers to the backup service processor that caused an On-Chip Controller
(OCC) abort. This placed the CEC in a "safe" mode where it ran at reduced
processor clock frequencies to prevent exceeding the power limits while not
under OCC control.
* On a system with an IBM i partition using Active Memory Sharing (AMS), a
problem was fixed for internal memory management errors caused by deleting a
IBM i partition that had been powered off in the middle of a Main Storage
Dump (MSD). Until the fix is installed, if a MSD is interrupted for a IBM i
partition that has AMS, the partition should be powered on and powered off
normally before a delete of the partition is done to prevent errors with
unpredictable affects.
* On systems using PCIe adapters in SR-IOV mode, a problem was fixed for
occasional B200F011 and B2009008 SRCs that can occur during an IPL, moving a
adapter into SR-IOV mode, or with SR-IOV link up/down activity.
* On systems using PCIe adapters in SR-IOV mode, the following problems were
addressed with an Avago Technologies adapter firmware update to
10.2.252.1905: 1) Eliminating virtual function (VF) transmit errors during
VF resets and 2) Preventing loss of legacy flow control when an adapter port
is connected to a priority flow control (PFC) capable switch.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for a
firmware update causing an error log server dump with SRC B1818601. The
error log server restarted automatically to recover from the error and the
firmware update was successful.
* On a system with a AIX partition and a Linux partition, a problem was fixed
for dynamically moving an adapter that uses DMA from the Linux partition to
the AIX partition that caused the AIX to fail by going into KDB mode (0c20
crash). The management console showed the following message for the
partition operation: "Dynamic move of I/O resources failed. The I/O slot
dynamic partitioning operation failed.". The error was caused by Linux using
64K mappings for the DMA window and AIX using 4K mappings for the DMA window,
causing incorrect calculations on the AIX when it received the adapter.
Until the fix is applied, the adapters that use DMA should only be moved from
Linux to AIX when the partitions are powered off.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for an IPL
failure for a bad service processor cable on the primary service processor
with SRCs B1504904 and B18ABAAB logged. The system should have did an error
failover to the backup service processor and continued the IPL to get the
partitions running.
SC820_087_047 / FW820.21
09/24/15 Impact: Performance Severity: HIPER
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: On systems using PowerVM with shared processor partitions
that are configured as capped or in a shared processor pool, there was a
problem found that delayed the dispatching of the virtual processors which
caused performance to be degraded in some situations. Partitions with
dedicated processors are not affected. The problem is rare and can be
mitigated, until the service pack is applied, by creating a new shared
processor AIX or Linux partition and booting it to the SMS prompt; there is
no need to install an operating system on this partition. Refer to help
document http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1020863 for
additional details.
SC820_085_047 / FW820.20
07/16/15 Impact: Availability Severity: SPE
New Features and Functions
* Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to
display Anchor card VPD failures in the "Deconfigurations records" menu.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for the fabric bus to allow a processor clock
failover to be completed without a checkstop of the CEC. A skew between the
primary and secondary processor clock signal was eliminated to fix the
problem.
* DEFERRED: On systems with memory mirroring enabled, a problem was fixed for
PowerVM over-estimating its memory needs, allowing more memory to be used by
the partitions. To free up the memory for the partitions that the hypervisor
does not need, the CEC must be re-ipled after the fix is applied.
* DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for the hypervisor being unable to make a
partition configuration change when all licensed memory is in use by the
partitions. An insufficient storage error is returned to the management
console and the management console may go to the incomplete state for the
CEC.. The hypervisor management of memory fragments has been improved so
that partition configuration changes can be made when all licensed memory is
in use. To make this additional memory available for the partition changes,
the CEC must be re-ipled after the fix is applied.
* A problem was fixed for a missing SRC if the operations panel failed while
the system was running. A B156A023 SRC is now logged if the operations panel
fails or is removed while the system is running.
* A problem was fixed that prevented a second management console from being
added to the CEC. In some cases, network outages caused defunct management
console connection entries to remain in the service processor connection
table, making connection slots unavailable for new management consoles. A
reset of the service processor could be used to remove the defunct entries.
* A problem was fixed for a missing SRC when a Universal Power Interconnect
Cable (UPIC) to the system control unit (SCU) failed or became loose while
the system was running. Up to four hot pluggable UPIC cables (#ECCA and
#ECCB) provide redundant power to the SCU but only one is needed for
operation. When a UPIC cable fails now, a SRC 11008802 is logged and calls
out the lost of one of the redundant power cables.
* A problem was fixed for a false guarding and call out of a PSI link with SRC
B15CDA27. This failure is very infrequent but sometimes seen after the
reset/reload of the service processor during a concurrent firmware update.
Since there is no actual hardware failure, a manual unguarding of the PSI
link allows it to be reused.
* A problem has been fix for the LED lights being interchanged for the
Universal Power Interconnect Cable (UPIC) and the GFSP interface card FRUs on
the system node. The GFSP interface card has CCIN 6B2E and part number
00E2598 with location codes of Un-P1-C9-T2 and Un-P1-C10-T2. The UPIC cables
have part numbers 00FX185 and 00FX186 with location codes Un-P1-C9-T1 and
Un-P1-C10-T1.
* A problem was fixed for a CEC power off error with SRC B1818903 logged. The
error causes a dump and reset of the service processor that allows the power
off operation to complete.
* A problem was fixed for a two to four minute delay that could occur when
performing an Administrative Failover (AFO) of the service processor. An
On-Chip Controller (OCC) deadlock was occurring in the service processor,
leaving both service processors into the backup role. This error state is
automatically corrected by the hypervisor with a host-initiated reset/reload
when it cannot find a service processor in the primary role after the delay
time-out period.
* A problem was fixed for losing power capping capability in the On-Chip
Controllers (OCCs) after a service processor failover. When this occurs. an
UE B1702A03 SRC is logged by the OCC. To restore power capping, shut down
all partitions and power off the CEC. IPL the CEC again to restore power
capping.
* A problem was fixed for the error handling of a Local Clock and Control(LCC)
card failure in a system node that triggers a flood of FDAL informational
SRCs of B1504800 to the error log, causing the service processor to run out
of memory and reset with a failover to the backup service processor. The LCC
has CCIN 682D and part number 00E2394 with location codes Un-P1-C11 and
Un-P1-C12 as it is redundant in each system node.
* A problem was fixed for a IPL failure with SRC B181BC04 when a system node
was added to the CEC at service processor standby. The new system node
hardware was not added correctly to the hardware scan ring and a AC power
cycle of the CEC was needed to fix the error.
* A problem was fixed for missing hardware data in system dumps created for
hardware checkstops. A certain class of hardware scan rings were being
skipped during the dump collection and these are now included so that all the
hardware data is available for problem debug.
* A problem was fixed for missing "fastarray" data in hardware dump type
HWPROC. The "fastarray" contains debug information for the processor cores.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to
allow removal of Hardware Management Console (HMC) connections that have been
temporarily disconnected. In some instances, the ASMI "System
Configuration/Hardware Management Consoles" button for "Remove Connection"
was not being shown.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) IPv4
Network Configuration where the IP address was being overwritten by value in
the subnet mask field for the initial values of the panel. If the network
configuration was saved without fixing the IP address, the wrong IP address
was also saved.
* A problem was fixed for missing call outs when having multiple "Memory
Card/FRU" failures with SRC B124E504. There is a call out for the first
memory FRU of the failures but any other memory FRUs failing at the same time
were not reported.
* A problem was fixed for Administrative Failover (AFO) having error log SRC
B1818601. This error did not prevent the AFO from completing as the backup
service processor became the primary service processor.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent problem in a CEC IPL where an On-Chip
Controller is stuck in a reset loop, logging repeated SRCs for B1702A17, and
eventually places the CEC in safe mode, running at minimum processor clock
frequencies.
* A problem was fixed for errors during a CEC power off with SRCs B1812616 and
B1812601. These occurred if the CEC was powered off immediately after a
power on such that the On-Chip Controllers (OCCs) had to shutdown during
their initialization.
* A problem was fixed for a highly intermittent IPL failure with SRC B18187D9
caused by a defunct attention handler process. Without this fix, the IPL
will continue to fail until the service processor is reset.
* A problem was fixed to add the callouts for the fan FRUs for system fan
faults with SRCs 11007610, 11007620, and 11007630. The fan FRU with CCIN
6B42, part number 00E9335, and location code Un-A1 is now included as needed.
* A problem was fixed for an Administrative Failover (AFO) having error log SRC
B185270E. This error did not prevent the AFO from completing as the backup
service processor became the primary service processor. The error log has
been made informational as it is a normal occurrence when fan speeds are
adjusted.
* A problem was fixed to allow adding a system node with only one working Local
Clock and Control (LCC) card and being able to IPL the system node. The LCC
is redundant, so a broken or missing LCC should not cause an IPL to fail.
The problem can be circumvented by using the Advanced System Management
Interface (ASMI) command line on the primary service processor to run this
command "rmgrcmd --primary-lcc force-init" and then do the IPL.
* A problem was fixed for finding the path to the second Local Clock and
Control (LCC) card when a LCC card has failed to ensure proper redundancy for
the LCC and the system node.
* A problem was fixed for incorrect FRU callouts for Power Line Disturbance
(PLD) and Processor clock errors.
* A problem was fixed for extra FRU callouts being listed for SRCs with
multiple FRU callouts. The extra callouts are from previous SRCs and should
not have been listed for the current error log entry.
* A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) being
allowed to deconfigure a node in a single-node system. A safe guard was
added so that ASMI can only deconfigure nodes in multi-node CECs.
* A problem was fixed to include PCIe clocks as part of the minimum hardware
check during an IPL. Previously, no error was logged when a system had no
functional PCIe clocks, causing run-time failures for PCIe I/O operations in
partitions.
* A problem was fixed for missing FRU information in SRC 11001515. SRC
11001515 was logged indicating replacement of power supply hardware, but did
not include the location code, the part number, the CCIN, or the serial
number.
* A problem was fixed for concurrent firmware update after concurrent PCIe
adapter maintenance (add, remove, exchange,etc.) causing the CEC to enter
safe mode with its reduced performance. In safe mode, the processor
voltage/frequency is reduced to a "safe" level where thermal monitoring is
not required. Recovery from safe mode requires a system re-IPL.
* A problem was fixed for an Administrative Failover (AFO) failing with the
backup service processor terminating with UE SRCs B15738FD and B1573838.
This failure was caused by an intermittent error with the operations panel
presence detection during failover.
* A problem was fixed for an Administrative Failover (AFO) having error log SRC
B1814616 and a fwdbserver core dump. This error did not prevent the AFO from
completing as the backup service processor became the primary service
processor.
* A problem was fixed for a hypervisor deadlock that results in the system
being in a "Incomplete state" as seen on the management console. This
deadlock is the result of two hypervisor tasks using the same locking
mechanism for handling requests between the partitions and the management
console. Except for the loss of the management console control of the
system, the system is operating normally when the "Incomplete state" occurs.
* A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations of Linux
partitions running in P8 compatibility mode. After an active migration, the
resumed partition may experience performance degradation.
* A problem was fixed for a false error message with error code 0x8006 when
creating a virtual ethernet adapter with the Integrated Virtualization
Manager (IVM). The error message can be ignored as the virtual ethernet slot
is fully functional.
* A problem was fixed for the recovery of PCIe adapters for a device outage
occurring on the PCIe3 6-slot fanout module from the PCIe3 I/O expansion
drawer (#EMX0). One or more of the adapters on the fanout module failed to
recover with SRC BA188002.
* A problem was fixed for an unexpected interrupt from a PCIe adapter that
causes the AIX OS to abend. The extra interrupt comes in from the adapter
before it has been enabled for interrupts, after it has reached End of
Information (EOI) for its previous session. The double interrupt from the
adapter has been corrected.
* On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed for the handling of the error
of multiple cache hits in the instruction effective-to-real address
translation cache (IERAT). A multi-hit IERAT error was causing system
termination with SRC B700F105. The multi-hit IERAT is now recognized by the
hypervisor and reported to the OS where it is handled.
* A problem was fixed for a MDC D-mode IPL that failed if the MDC load source
slots were unoccupied.
* A problem was fixed for systems with a corrupted date of "1900" showing for
the Update Access Key (UAK). The firmware update is allowed to proceed on
systems with a bad UAK date because the override is set for the service
pack. After the fix is installed, the user should correct the UAK date, if
needed, by using the original UAK key for the system. On the Management
Console, enter the original update access key via the "Enter COD Code"
panel. Or on the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI), enter the
original update access key via the "On Demand Utilities/COD Activation"
panel.
* A problem was fixed for a hang during a Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO)
operation. A system re-IPL was needed to end the DPO operation.
* A problem was fixed for concurrent firmware updates to a system that needed
to be re-IPLed after getting a B113E504 SRC during activation of the new
firmware level on the hypervisor. The code update activate failed if the
Sleep Winkle (SLW) images were significantly different between the firmware
levels. The SLW contains the state of the processor and cache so it can be
restored after sleep or power saving operations.
* Support was added for USB 2.0 HUBs so that a keyboard plugged into the USB
2.0 HUB will work correctly at the SMS menus. Previously, a keyboard plugged
into a USB 2.0 HUB was not a recognized device.
* A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) to prevent a system
failure with SRC B700F103 during LPM operations. When data is moved by LPM,
the underlying firmware code requires that the buffers be 4K aligned,
otherwise the system fail could result. The fixes made now force the buffers
to be 4K aligned and if there is still an alignment issue, the LPM operation
will fail without impacting the system.
* A problem was fixed in the run-time abstraction services (RTAS) extended
error handling (EEH) recovery for EEH events for SR-IOV Virtual Functions
(VFs) to fully reconfigure the VF devices after an EEH event. Since the
physical adapter does recover from the EEH event itself, and there are no
error logs generated, it might not be immediately apparent that the VF did
not fully reconfigure. This prevents certain PCIe settings from being
established for interrupts and performance settings, leading to unexpected
adapter behavior and errors in the partition.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL where a remote attacker could crash
the service processor with a specially crafted X.509 certificate that causes
an invalid pointer or an out-of-bounds write. The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures issue numbers are CVE-2015-0286 and CVE-2015-0287.
* A problem was fixed for an error log SRC B15738B0 with no FRU callout for a
FSI bus error.
* A problem was fixed for an error log SRC B1504803 with no FRU callout for a
IIC bus error.
* A problem was fixed for a memory error that prevented the CEC from doing an
IPL. The failing DIMM is now deconfigured during the HostBoot part of the
IPL and the failing section of the boot is retried to get a successful IPL.
* A problem was fixed for a checkstop that occurred for a failed Local Clock
and Control (LCC) card instead of a failover to the backup LCC card. The
fabric bus erroneously detected a TOD step error during the failover and
triggered the checkstop.
* A problem was fixed for an On-Chip Controller (OCC) failure after a system
dump with SRCs B18B2616 and BC822024 reported. This resulted in the system
running with reduced performance in safe mode, where processor clock
frequencies are lowered to minimum levels to avoid hardware errors since the
OCC is not available to monitor the system. A re-IPL of the system would
resolve the problem.
* A problem was fixed for new service processor error logs not getting created
if too many old error logs exist. This problem can occur if a large number
of small error logs get created and use up all the available inodes
(directory entries) for the file system. The error log garbage collector was
not checking the available number of inodes correctly, so it was not always
deleting old error logs before attempting to create a new error log.
Without the fix, this problem will continue until some error logs are
purged.
SC820_075_047 / FW820.12
05/18/15 Impact: Function Severity: ATT
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed for a clearing of all guard records associated with one
error log entry. If a FRU is replaced for any of the related guard record,
all the related guard records are cleared. Previously, only the guard record
for the replaced FRU was cleared and the association was lost.
* A fix was made to prevent processor speculative memory loads from the service
processor mailbox Direct Memory Access (DMA) area in the CEC memory. The
speculative loads caused memory cache faults and system checkstops with SRC
B181E540.
* A problem was fixed to reduce switching noise on the memory address bus for
DIMMs. Noise on the bus could cause a failure for a marginal DIMM, so this
fix has the effect of potentially improving the reliability of the memory.
SC820_070_047 / FW820.11
04/03/15 Impact: Function Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* On systems with a large number of memory DIMMs (64 or more) and redundant
service processors, a problem was fixed for a firmware update failure with
SRC E302F966 when a failover was attempted as part of the firmware update,
but the service processors did not change roles. This also fixes failing
Administrative Failovers (AFOs) for systems with large memory. The
performance of the CEC memory initialization was improved to prevent the
hypervisor time-outs for service processor failovers.
SC820_067_047 / FW820.10
03/12/15 Impact: Security Severity: HIPER
New Features and Functions
* Support for setting Power Management Tuning Parameters from the management
console (Fixed Maximum Frequency (FMF), Idle Power Save, and DPS Tunables)
without needing to use the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) on the
service processor. This allows FMF mode to be set by default without having
to modify any tunable parameters using ASMI.
* Support for SSLv3 has been discontinued to reduce security vulnerabilities in
the secured connections to the service processor.
* Support was added for Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) that enables
the hypervisor to share a SR-IOV-capable PCI-Express adapter across multiple
partitions. Two Ethernet adapters are supported with the SR-IOV NIC
capability, when placed in the Power E880/E870:
• PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE and 1GbE) SR&RJ45 Adapter (#EN0L)
• PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE and 1GbE) SFP+Copper and RJ4 Adapter (#EN0J)
These adapters each have four ports, and all four ports are enabled with
SR-IOV function. The entire adapter (all four ports) is configured for SR-IOV
or none of the ports is.
System firmware updates the adapter firmware level on these adapters to
10.2.252.16 when a supported adapter is placed into SR-IOV mode.
Support for SR-IOV adapter sharing is not yet available for adapters is a
PCIe Gen3 I/O Expansion Drawer.
SR-IOV NIC on the Power E870/E880 is supported by:
• AIX 6.1 TL9 SP4 and APAR IV63331, or later
• AIX 7.1 TL3 SP4 and APAR IV63332, or later
• IBM i 7.1 TR9, or later
• IBM i 7.2 TR1, or later
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, or later
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, or later
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3, or later
- VIOS 2.2.3.4 with interim fix IV63331, or later
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* HIPER/Pervasive: A problem was fixed for a processor clock failover with SRC
B158CC62 that caused a system checkstop when the backup clock oscillator did
not initialize fast enough.
* A problem was fixed for the iptables process consuming all available memory,
causing an out of memory dump and reset/reload of the service processor.
* A problem was fixed for a PowerVM hypervisor hang after a processor core and
system checkstop. The failed processor core was not put into a guarded state
and the hypervisor hung when it tried to use the failed core.
* A problem was fixed for a oscillator error caused by a power line disturbance
that logged an UE SRC B150CC62 with no FRU call outs. The error SRC was
changed from unrecoverable to informational as no service action is required.
* A problem was fixed for the NEBS DC power supply showing up in the part
inventories for the CEC as "IBM AC PS". The description string has been
changed to "IBM PS" as power supplies can be of DC or AC type.
* A problem was fixed for the power supplies to add a monitor process for the
second rotor in each power supply that was not being monitored. This will
improve fault isolation for power supply problems. A fix for the second
rotor in an earlier service pack release provided the monitor infrastructure
but was missing the monitor process.
* A problem was fixed for a FSI link heartbeat surveillance fault with SRC
B1504813 logged that has no FRU call outs. The FRU call outs have been
added.
* A problem was fixed with the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) VPD
menu where the Generic External Connector (GC) FRU was displayed as an
unknown FRU type. The "Unknown" has been replaced with "Generic External
Connector".
* A problem was fixed for a system fan identify LED not being able to light
after a Digital Power Systems Sweep (DPSS) chip failover. The fan LED
ownership was not transferred to the new primary DPSS chip, so it was unable
to light the LED under fan fault conditions.
* A problem was fixed for SRC B1104800 having duplicate FRU call outs for the
PNOR flash FRU.
* A problem was fixed to prevent the Advanced System Management Interface
(ASMI) "System Service Aids/Factory Configuration" panel option from
restoring to factory configuration for FSP or ALL if one boot side of the
service processor is marked invalid. The following informational message is
issued: "The request cannot be performed because a firmware boot side is
marked invalid. This state may have been caused by a previous firmware
update failure."
* A problem was fixed for error log with SRC B150DA19, created on the backup
service processor for a PSI link failure detected on the primary, not being
visible in the error logs on the primary service processor.
* A problem was fixed in the hardware server to prevent a UE B181BA07 abort
when a host boot dump collection is in progress.
* A problem was fixed for an LED fault with SRC B181A734 that occurred during a
normal rebuild of the LED tables, resulting in the LED not being lit. The
problem has been fixed using retries for LEDs that are in a busy state.
* A problem was fixed for a PSI link failure with SRC B1517212 that resulted in
a service processor stop state. The correct state for a system with broken
PSI links is the terminate state so the problem can be resolved with a call
home service event.
* A problem was fixed to prevent false oscillator error logs of SRC B150CC62
for errors unrelated to clock failures.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for padding-oracle attacks known as
Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE). This attack allows
a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain a plain text version of the encrypted
session data. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2014-3566. The service processor POODLE fix is implemented by disabling
SSL protocol SSLv3 and requiring TLSv1.2 protocol on all secured
connections. The Hardware Management Console (HMC) also requires a POODLE
fix for APAR MB03867(FIX FOR CVE-2014-3566 FOR HMC V8 R8.2.0 SP1 with PTF
MH01455). This HMC minimum requirement is enforced by the firmware update
process for this defect.
* A problem was fixed for firmware updates that caused the primary service
processor to be guarded and SRC B152E6D0 and SRCs of form B181XXXX to be
logged.
* A problem was fixed for intermittent firmware database errors that logged an
UE SRC of B1818611 and had a fwdbServer core dump.
* A problem was fixed to enable the redundant Vital Product Data (VPD) SEEPROM
for processors and voltage regulator modules (VRMs). Previously, only the
primary SEEPROM was programmed with the FRU data with no backup protection.
* A problem was fixed for vague error text for SRC B1504922 for a bad SMP
cable. It was made more specific to state that an incorrect cable length was
detected.
* A problem was fixed for an intermittent reset/reload of the service processor
during the early part of an IPL with SRC B1814616 logged.
* A problem was fixed for hardware presence detection and local clock card
(LCC) failover. The system could not detect critical system hardware with th
e default LCC missing, causing an error when failing over to the backup LCC.
* A problem was fixed for non-optimal voltage levels from the power supplies.
Having the power supply output voltages meet the exact specifications will
help prevent stress-related hardware failures.
* A problem was fixed for an error in the "Enlarged IO Capacity Slot Count"
that caused more memory than expected to be consumed by the hypervisor. If
the "Enlarged IO Capacity Slot Count" was not a "1", it was wrongly changed
to an "8" by the IPL process, increasing the amount of memory that needs to
be reserved for I/O buffers. Retain tip H213684 tells how to reduce the
hypervisor memory consumption when this problem happens as the fix will not
change the value automatically:
With the system at the "Power Off" state, take the following actions to to
free up some memory from the hypervisor:
- Log into ASMI and then select "System Configuration" menu
- Select "I/O Adapter Enlarged Capacity" option
- Use the pulldown to select "1" as the new value for all nodes
- After changing the value click on the "Save" setting. The change will be
active on the next IPL of the system.
* A problem was fixed for the PCIe reset line (PERST) to keep it active during
the IPL until both system power and clocks are stable. Keeping the PCIe
devices in reset until the environment is stable prevents PCIe device lockup.
* A problem was fixed to prevent a hypervisor task failure if multiple resource
dumps running concurrently run out of dump buffer space. The failed
hypervisor task could prevent basic logical partition operations from
working.
* On systems using the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) to share physical I/O
resources among client logical partitions, a problem was fixed for memory
relocation errors during page migrations for the virtual control blocks.
These errors caused a CEC termination with SRC B700F103. The memory
relocation could be part of the processing for the Dynamic Platform Optimizer
(DPO), Active Memory Sharing (AMS) between partitions, mirrored memory
defragmentation, or a concurrent FRU repair.
* A problem was fixed that could result in unpredictable behavior if a memory
UE is encountered while relocating the contents of a logical memory block
during one of these operations:
- Reducing the size of an Active Memory Sharing (AMS) pool.
- On systems using mirrored memory, using the memory mirroring optimization
tool.
- Performing a Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO) operation.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe link width faults on the I/O expansion drawer
(F/C #EMX0) to only log the SRC B7006A8B once for each FRU instead of having
multiple SRCs and call outs for the same part.
* A problem was fixed for a wrong state for the PCIe link LEDs (lit when link
has failed) to the I/O expansion drawer with feature code #EMX0. The fix
insures that the link operational LEDs are not lit when the link to the I/O
drawer has failed.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect SRC of B7006A9F logged for I/O drawer
VPD mismatch during an enclosure serial number update of the I/O drawer (F/C
#EMX0). The incorrect SRC was logged if the non-primary service path module
(right bay) was in a failed state.
* A problem was fixed for a SRC B7006A84 PCIe link down event not being
reported as a failed link for the I/O expansion drawer (F/C #EMX0) in the
PCIe topology status in the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI) or on
the management console.
* A problem was fixed for the Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migration of
virtual devices to a Power8 systems to update each virtual device location
code correctly to reflect the location code in the target systems instead of
the location code in the source system. This problem prevented the
management console from being able to look up AIX Object Data Manager (ODM)
names for the virtual devices so that operations such as remove on the device
could not be performed.
* A problem was fixed for PCIe adapters requesting PCI I/O space that triggers
a SRC BA1800007 error log. This SRC should not have been logged since PC I/O
spaces are not supported by Power8 systems. The SRC log is now suppressed.
* A problem was fixed for a processor core unit being deconfigured but not
guarded for a SRC B113E504 processor error in host boot with fault isolation
register (FIR) code "RC_PMPROC_CHKSLW_NOT_IN_ETR" that caused the CEC to go
to termination. By guarding the failed processor core, the fix insures the
core is not used on the reIPL of the CEC.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL for memory leaks that allowed remote
attackers to cause a denial of service (out of memory on the service
processor). The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue numbers are
CVE-2014-3513 and CVE-2014-3567.
* A security problem in GNU Bash was fixed to prevent arbitrary commands hidden
in environment variables from being run during the start of a Bash shell.
Although GNU Bash is not actively used on the service processor, it does
exist in a library so it has been fixed. This is IBM Product Security
Incident Response Team (PSIRT) issue #2211. The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures issue numbers for this problem are CVE-2014-6271, CVE-2014-7169,
CVE-2014-7186, and CVE-2014-7187.
* A problem was fixed to add failure recovery in the early boot of the service
processor so that the boot is retried on failure instead of the service
processing going unresponsive with SRC B1817212 on the operations panel.
* A problem was fixed for isolating and repairing DIMM memory failures at the
byte level without affecting other ranks of memory. This fix substantially
reduces the FRU call outs of DIMMS for memory problems.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL where the service processor would,
under certain conditions, accept Diffie-Hellman client certificates without
the use of a private key, allowing a user to falsely authenticate . The
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2015-0205.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL to prevent a denial of service when
handling certain Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) messages. A
specially crafted DTLS message could exhaust all available memory and cause
the service processor to reset. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
issue number is CVE-2015-0206.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL to prevent a denial of service when
handling certain Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) messages. A
specially crafted DTLS message could do an null pointer de-reference and
cause the service processor to reset. The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures issue number is CVE-2014-3571.
* A security problem was fixed in OpenSSL to fix multiple flaws in the parsing
of X.509 certificates. These flaws could be used to modify an X.509
certificate to produce a certificate with a different fingerprint without
invalidating its signature, and possibly bypass fingerprint-based
blacklisting. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is
CVE-2014-8275.
* A security vulnerability, commonly referred to as GHOST, was fixed in the
service processor glibc functions getbyhostname() and getbyhostname2() that
allowed remote users of the functions to cause a buffer overflow and execute
arbitrary code with the permissions of the server application. There is no
way to exploit this vulnerability on the service processor but it has been
fixed to remove the vulnerability from the firmware. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2015-0235.
* A problem was fixed for an incorrect SRC logged for an unplugged cable to the
PCIe I/O expansion drawer (F/C #EMX0). A B7006A88 SRC was errantly logged
that calls out the cable as bad hardware that needs to be replaced. This is
replaced with SRC B7006A82 that says a cable is unplugged to a PCIe FanOut
module in the IO expansion drawer.
* A problem was fixed for missing dump data for cores and L3 cache memory when
there is core checkstop and deconfiguration of the core.
* A problem was fixed for a false power supply fan failure with SRC 1100152F.
If the AC was interrupted to the power supply, the SRC 11001525 would have
been logged for a bad fan with a call out of the power supply for
replacement.
* A problem was fixed for a partition deletion error on the management console
with error code 0x4000E002 and message "...insufficient memory for PHYP".
The partition delete operation has been adjusted to accommodate the temporary
increase in memory usage caused by memory fragmentation, allowing the delete
operation to be successful.
* A problem was fixed for disruptive firmware update to prevent false reference
clock failures with SRC B1814805 and a hang in the IPL for the CEC.
* A problem was fixed for a memory leak associated with the logging of SRC
B1561311 for a bad voltage regulator module (VRM).
* A problem was fixed for the processor module replacement process to prevent
VPD corruption on the primary and redundant VPD chips on the new processor
module. This corruption resulted in the processor being unusable with
HostBoot failing with unrecoverable errors (UEs) of SRCs BC8A090F and
BC8A1701.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* HIPER/Pervasive:Deferred: On a system configured for a large number of PCIe
adapters across multiple PCIe I/O expansion drawers (F/C #EMX0), a problem
was fixed so that the PCIe adapters worked correctly in the system.
Previously, the PCIe interrupt servicing could deadlock, causing the PCIe
adapter cards to become unresponsive.
* For a system with Virtual Trusted Platform Module (VTPM) partitions, a
problem was fixed for a management console error that occurred while
restoring a backup profile that caused the system to to go the management
console "Incomplete state". The failed system had a suspended VTPM partition
and a B7000602 SRC logged.
* For systems with IBMi partitions, a problem was fixed for the "5250
Application Capable" capability so it is passed to the IBMi partition as
"True" if purchased. For the problem, the capability was not sent to the
partition and could cause extra performance to be missing for the "Fast Green
Screen Performance" feature in IBMi. There is a delay of up to 15 minutes
after this fix is installed before it becomes active on the system. If the
updated capability property does not show up in the management console CEC
properties as "True", this is a slowness in the refresh of the capability
properties to the management console and not a problem with the fix. To
resolve this issue with the capability not displaying correctly, rebuild the
managed system on the management console and then wait up to one hour for the
CEC property capability "5250 Application Capable" to be updated to "True".
* On a system with a Linux partition, a problem was fixed for the Linux
"lsslot" command so that it is able to find the F/C EC41 and EC42 PCIe 3D
graphics adapter installed in the CEC, instead of showing the slot as
"empty". The Linux graphics adapter worked correctly even though it showed
as "empty".
* On systems with a PCIe 3D graphics adapter (F/C #EC41 or #EC42) in a
partition, a problem was fixed for a partition hang or BA21xxxx error
conditions during partition initialization.
* A problem was fixed for certain workloads that caused the system to enter
safe mode (mode for running at minimum processor frequencies) when the
On-chip controllers (OCCs) did not get the Analog Power Subsystem Sweep
(APSS) frequency control data within the OCC time out period. The time out
for a OCC update has been increased so the OCC can tolerate periods of high
bus use that slow down the APSS communication.
* On a system with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed for bad
pointer reference in the mailbox function during data synchronization between
the two service processors. The de-reference of the bad pointer caused a
core dump, reset/reload, and fail-over to the backup service processor.
SC820_051_047 / FW820.03
01/27/15 Impact: Serviceability Severity: SPE
System firmware changes that affect all systems
* A problem was fixed in concurrent firmware update to prevent the secondary
service processor from going to a failed state.
* A problem was fixed for the power supply fans to monitor both rotors instead
of one to prevent a failure in one rotor from shutting down the power supply.
* A problem was fixed for firmware updates to reduce the number of
informational B181A85E SRCs for an expected SQL lock condition during a
database transaction. Previously, several thousand B181A85E SRC entries were
created for the error log, slowing performance of the service processor and
flooding the error log.
* A problem was fixed for reset/reload failures caused by excessive
synchronization of thermal management data with the redundant service
processor.
* A problem was fixed for failovers to the secondary service processor failing
with SRC B1818601 caused by a bad data base object reference.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
* For a system with memory mirroring activated and a memory block size of 16
Megabytes, a problem was fixed for system dump that caused Hypervisor Real
Mode Offset (HMRO) data structure corruption in the physical memory map.
This problem could cause concurrent firmware update failures or subsequent
system dumps to be corrupted.
SC820_048_047 / FW820.02
12/01/14 Impact: New Severity: New
New Features and Functions
* GA Level
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------