Power6 Entry Systems Firmware

Applies to: 8204-E8A, 8203-E4A, 9407-M15, 9408-M25 and 9409-M50

This document provides information about the installation of Licensed Machine or Licensed Internal Code, which is sometimes referred to generically as microcode or firmware.

Contents

1.0 Systems Affected

This package provides firmware for System p 550 (8204-E8A), System p 520 (8203-E4A),  System i 550 (8204-E8A), System i 520 (8203-E4A),  System i 515 (9407-M15), System i 525 (9408-M25), System i 550 (9409-M50), Power 520 and Power 550 servers only. Do not use on any other systems.

The firmware level in this package is:

2.0 Cautions and Important Information

2.1 Cautions

Upgrading from EL320_031 to EL340_xxx

For 8204-E8A systems only: If your current level of firmware is EL320_031 you must install any higher level of EL320 before upgrading your firmware to this level.

POWER VM Active Memory Sharing

Attention:  If the firmware level currently installed on the system is lower than  EL340_061, after this level of firmware is installed, the platform must be powered off, then powered on to activate the POWER VM Active Memory Sharing function.
 

Attention: If EL340_122 has been installed, and the new POWER VM Active Memory Sharing function has been activated, and you want to back-level the system firmware, the active memory sharing pool must be deactivated and deleted prior to back-leveling the system firmware. IBM does not recommend back-leveling the system firmware.

Service Processor flash memory errors (8204-E8A and 9409-M50 systems running EL320_093 and earlier, or EL340_101 and earlier only)

IBM strongly recommends updating to System Firmware level EL340_122 or later as this firmware provides improved reliability to the 8204-E8A and 9409-M50 servers. One enhancement prevents accumulation of single bit errors in the memory used to store System Firmware by periodically correcting single bit errors automatically. If a significant number of such errors were to accumulate, the server may not boot successfully after main power is lost or removed. We strongly recommend customers update both the Temporary and Permanent copies of System Firmware when performing this upgrade. Updating both the Temporary and Permanent copies allows both memory areas to be corrected. It is critical the System Firmware update uses one of the two methods listed below. Updating System Firmware from the operating system may not correct all existing single bit errors.

Note: Do not remove main power from the server before updating the System Firmware.

For servers that are not managed by an HMC

Update the System Firmware using a USB flash drive. This method will update both the Temporary and Permanent copies of the System Firmware. For instructions on this method of install, please use the following link:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/scope/hw/index.jsp?topic=/ipha5/fix_firm_usb.htm

For servers that are HMC-managed

Note:  A normal accept operation to copy the Temporary side contents to the Permanent side cannot be used in place of these instructions.  The update must be done using the following method (or its command line equivalent).

IMPORTANT: Note that even if the update you are installing is categorized as being concurrent, use of the Advanced Features option will power off the system during this procedure.

If you are installing an update to a level within the same release (ex. 340_xxx to 340_yyy)

1) Power off the managed system.
2) Using the HMC GUI interface, click on "Updates" in the navigation (left-hand) pane. Click in the
checkbox beside the Managed System.
a) Click on "Change Licensed Internal Code for the current release".
b) Select "Start Change Licensed Internal Code wizard" and click "OK"
c) After clicking "OK" on the readiness check panel, select the repository where the firmware files
can be found and click "OK".
d) Click on "Next" to step through the wizard panels. Accept the license agreement when it is
displayed, and then click "Finish" to start the update.
f) When the update completes, click on "Change Licensed Internal Code for the current release"
g) Select "Advanced Features" and click "OK".
h) Select "Install and Activate" and click "OK".
i) After clicking "OK" on the readiness check panel, select the repository where the firmware files
can be found and click "OK".
j) Select "Specific Levels" and click "OK".
k) Select the managed system, then select "Change Levels".
l) Select the same level chosen in step c and click  "OK" and then click "OK" again on the next panel.
m) On the "Select Installation Type" panel, ensure that the "Disruptive install and activate" radio button is selected and click "OK".
n) Accept the license agreement when it is displayed, and then click "OK " in the confirmation panels to start the update.
o) When the process completes, the Managed System may be powered on.


If you are installing an upgrade to a new release (ex 320_xxx to 340 or 350_xxx)

1) Power off the Managed System
2) Using the HMC GUI interface, click on "Updates" in the navigation (left-hand) pane. Click in the
checkbox beside the Managed System.
a) Click on "Change Licensed Internal Code to a new release".
b) After clicking "OK" on the readiness check panel, select the repository where the firmware files
can be found and click "OK". Select the new firmware level from
the selection panel displayed and click "OK".
c) Accept the license agreement and click on "OK" in the confirmation panels to start the upgrade. 
f) When the upgrade completes, both the Activate and Accepted levels will reflect the level just installed. To effect a complete overwrite of both sides of the Service Processor, you must continue with this procedure.
g) Click on " Change Licensed Internal Code for the current release".
h) Select "Advanced Features" and click "OK".
i) Select "Install and Activate" and click "OK".
j) After clicking "OK" on the readiness check panel, select the repository where the firmware files
can be found and click "OK".
k) Select "Specific Levels" and click "OK".
l) Select the managed system, then select "Change Levels".
m) Select the same level chosen in step b and click  "OK" and then click "OK" again.
n) On the "Select Installation Type" panel, ensure that the "Disruptive install and activate" radio button is selected and click "OK".
o) Accept the license agreement when it is displayed, and then click "OK " twice to confirm the action.
p) When the process completes, the Managed System may be powered on.

2.2 Important Information

HMC-Managed Systems

The minimum HMC level required by this firmware level is HMC 7.3.4.0 with PTFs MH01186, MH01207, MH01210  and MH01211 (or higher).
Although this EL340 service pack can be installed on a system being managed by a 7.3.4.0 HMC, there are fixes/function that are only available when using a system managed by a 7.3.5.0 HMC.
Therefore, HMC level 7.3.5.0 with MH01212 and MH01217 (or higher) is recommended for this firmware level.

For information concerning HMC releases and the latest PTFs,  go to the following URL to access the HMC code packages:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/hmcl/home.html

NOTE: You must be logged in as hscroot in order for the firmware installation to complete correctly.

Concurrent Firmware Updates

Concurrent system firmware update is only supported on HMC - Managed Systems only.

Memory Considerations for Firmware Upgrades

The increase in memory used by the firmware is due to the additional functionality in later firmware releases.

3.0 Firmware Information and Description

Use the following examples as a reference to determine whether your installation will be concurrent or disruptive.

For systems that are not managed by an HMC, the installation of system firmware is always disruptive.

Note: The concurrent levels of system firmware may, on occasion, contain fixes that are known as deferred. These deferred fixes can be installed concurrently, but will not be activated until the next IPL. Deferred fixes, if any, will be identified in the "Firmware Update Descriptions" table of this document. For deferred fixes within a service pack, only the fixes in the service pack which cannot be concurrently activated are deferred.

Note: The file names and service pack levels used in the following examples are for clarification only, and are not
necessarily levels that have been, or will be released.

System firmware file naming convention:

01ELXXX_YYY_ZZZ

NOTE: Values of service pack and last disruptive service pack level (YYY and ZZZ) are only unique within a release level (XXX). For example, 01EL320_067_045 and 01EL340_067_053 are different service packs.

An installation is disruptive if:

Example: Currently installed release is EL320, new release is EL340 Example: EL320_120_120 is disruptive, no matter what level of EL320 is currently
installed on the system Example: Currently installed service pack is EL320_120_120 and
new service pack is EL320_152_130

An installation is concurrent if:

The release level (XXX) is the same, and
The service pack level (YYY) currently installed on the system is the same or higher than the last disruptive service pack level (ZZZ) of the service pack to be installed.

Example: Currently installed service pack is EL320_126_120,
new service pack is EL320_143_120.

Firmware Information and Update Description

 
Filename Size Checksum
01EL340_122_039.rpm 25832019 10913

Note: The Checksum can be found by running the AIX sum command against the rpm file (only the first 5 digits are listed).
ie: sum 01EL340_122_039.rpm

EL340
EL340_122_039

05/19/10

 Impact: Availability           Severity:   HIPER

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • DEFERRED, HIPER:  A problem was fixed that caused SRC B113E504 (with word 8 = 074B001F or 0197001F) on 8203-E4A systems with processor feature codes (F/Cs) 5577, 5578, 9495, and 9498, 8204-E8A systems with processor F/C 4967, and 8261-E4S systems with processor F/C 9495.
  • DEFERRED:   This fix corrects the handling of a specific processor instruction sequence that has the potential to result in undetected data errors.  This specific instruction sequence has only been observed in a small number of highly tuned floating point-intensive applications.  However, it is strongly recommended that this fix be applied to all POWER6 systems.  This fix has the potential to decrease system performance on applications that make extensive use of floating point divide, square root, or estimate instructions.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented an SRC from being recorded in the service processor dump produced by a host-initiated reset.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the system to become unresponsive and appear to hang  when page migration occurred on a PCIe slot.
  • The firmware was enhanced to dynamically update the IPL speed on the control (operator) panel when the IPL speed is changed by another method.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • A problem was fixed that caused a virtual SCSI or virtual fibre channel adapter to be seen by the operating system as not bootable when it was added to a partition using a dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) operation.
  • In partitions running AIX or Linux, a problem was fixed that caused the addition of an I/O slot to a partition using a dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) add operation to fail.
  • On systems running redundant VIOS partitions, a problem was fixed that prevented Ethernet traffic from being properly bridged between the two partitions.  This problem also prevented shared Ethernet adapter failover from working correctly.
  • A problem was fixed caused software licensing issues after a live partition mobility operation in which a partition was moved to an 8203-E4A or 8204-E8A system.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the system to crash with SRC B7000103 when a concurrent maintenance operation was performed on an I/O slot directly from a partition (using AIX SMIT or IBM i HST).
  • A problem was fixed that caused a system or partition running Linux to crash when the "serv_config -l" command was run.
  • On systems running active memory sharing (AMS), the firmware was enhanced so that error messages indicating "out of compliance" issues with the memory (HMC SRC HSCL031F) will not be generated if the user allocates more memory than is installed in the system.  (Allocating more memory than is installed in the system is supported in active memory sharing.)
  • A problem was fixed that caused the wake on LAN function to fail until the next reboot and power down of the system if standby power was removed.
EL340_116_039

02/02/10

 Impact: Useability           Severity:   Special Attention

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • A problem was fixed that prevented an automatic reboot after some types of memory-related crashes.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC B7005603 to be erroneously logged during any type of concurrent maintenance operation on an enclosure.
  • The firmware was enhanced such that SRCs B181F126, B181F127, and B181F129 are correctly handled, and no longer cause unnecessary calls home to be made.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the system to hang with SRCs B182953C, B182954C, and B17BE434 being logged.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC 10009135, followed by 10009139, to be erroneously logged.  These SRCs indicate an system power control network (SPCN) loop is being broken, then re-established. 
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On 1-way model E4A, M15, and M25 systems, a problem was fixed that caused processor runtime diagnostic (PRD) SRCs such as B181D10B and B114E550 to be erroneously logged during a concurrent system firmware update.
EL340_101_039

09/23/09
 

 Impact: Serviceability           Severity:   Attention

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • DEFERRED:  The firmware was enhanced to eliminate correctable errors (CEs) being erroneously logged  against the memory bus with SRC B124E504.  This change affects only 9117-MMA systems equipped with 

    •  4.2GHz quad core processor cards (FC 7540) and all 8234-EMA systems.  This change is not critical.
  • The firmware was enhanced such that SRC B181F126 is correctly managed, and no longer calls home  unnecessarily for this problem.
EL340_095_039

08/20/09

 Impact: Function    Severity:  Special Attention

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • DEFERRED:  This fix corrects the handling of a specific processor instruction sequence that was generated on a particular heavily-tuned High Performance Computing (HPC) application. This specific instruction sequence has the potential to produce an incorrect result. This instruction sequence has only been observed in a single HPC application.  However, it is strongly recommended that you apply this fix.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On systems running system firmware EL340_075 and Active Memory Sharing, a problem was fixed that might have caused a partition to lose I/O entitlement after the partition was moved from one system to another using PowerVM Mobility.
  •  On systems running system firmware EL340_075 and Active Memory Sharing, a problem was fixed that might have caused a partition to fail to boot with SRC B700F103 if the partition had more than 24 virtual processors assigned to it.
  • On systems with F/C 5802 or 5877 drawers attached, a problem was fixed that prevented an I/O slot's power LED from accurately reflecting the state of the I/O slot in a 5802 or 5877 drawer, under certain circumstances.
  •  On systems with external I/O towers attached, the firmware was enhanced so that the system will not crash when SRC B7006981 is logged for certain types of I/O hardware failures. 
EL340_075_039

05/26/09

 Impact: Function     Severity: HIPER

New features and functions:

- Support for the 4.7 GHz processor module on models E4A, M25 and M15.

- Support for the 5.0 GHz processor module of the models E8A, M50, and Power 550 servers.

- DEFERRED: Support for F/C 5802 (19" I/O drawer) and 5803 (24" I/O drawer).

Attention: After this level of firmware is installed, the platform must be powered off, then powered on, before the 5802 or 5803 I/O drawer is added to the system.

- DEFERRED: Support for POWER VM Active Memory Sharing.

Attention: After this level of firmware is installed, the platform must be powered off, then powered on to activate the POWER VM Active Memory Sharing function.

Attention: If EL340_075 has been installed, and the new POWER VM Active Memory Sharing function has been activated, and you want to back-level the system firmware, the active memory sharing pool must be deactivated and deleted prior to back-leveling the system firmware. IBM does not recommend back-leveling the system firmware.

System firmware changes that affect all systems:

  • A problem was fixed that prevented the service processor from automatically booting from the permanent (or P) side if the temporary (or T) side of the firmware flash was corrupted. When the problem occurred, the service processor stopped instead of booting from the P side.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the detailed data at the end of an "early power off warning type 5" AIX error log entry to be filled with invalid data instead of zeros.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that a call home will be made if the hypervisor issues a "terminate immediate" interrupt.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that the service processor only logs SRC B1A38B24 when a valid network set up error is found. The callouts for this SRC were also improved.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that SRCs B181720D, B1818A13, and B1818A0F, and occasionally a service processor dump, will not be generated when the service processor's two Ethernet interfaces are on the same subnet. (This is an invalid configuration.)
  • A problem was fixed that caused a system with I/O drawers attached to crash, and a SYSDUMP to be taken, with SRCs B7000103 and SRC B181D138 being logged.  Another symptom of this failure is informational SRC B7006970 entries constantly posting in the iqyylog.log.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems:
  • A problem was fixed that caused the migration of a partition with more that 900 virtual slots defined, from a system running firmware EL320 to a system running firmware EL340, to fail.
  • On systems with external drawers or towers attached to 12X I/O adapters, a problem was fixed that prevented the drawers or towers from powering up and being seen by the firmware.
  • On systems running firmware release EL340, a problem was fixed that caused data in the platform dump to be invalid.
  • On systems using on/off (temporary) memory capacity on demand (COD), the firmware was enhanced to improve memory COD's interaction with other tools (such as Inventory Scout in AIX), and to make the billing process easier. 
EL340_067_039

03/09

 This is a valid System Firmware level that was released by the card manufactuing in March 2009.  It may be seen after a system board has been replaced.  It can be updated or upgraded through normal procedures.
EL340_061_039

04/20/09

 Impact: Function Severity: HIPER

System firmware changes that affect all systems:

  • HIPER: The firmware was enhanced to improve the service processor's capability to recover from bad bits in the flash memory. A predictive error, or an unrecoverable error, will be logged against the card that contains the system firmware if the number of correctable or uncorrectable errors exceeds the threshold.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the service processor diagnostics to report a "TOD (time-of-day) overflow" error, instead of an uncorrectable memory error, when failures occurred on memory DIMMs.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the service processor from automatically booting from the permanent (or P) side if the temporary (or T) side of the firmware flash was corrupted. When the problem occurred, the service processor stopped instead of booting from the P side.
  • A problem was fixed that might have caused the system to crash when a processor was dynamically removed when the system was running.
  • The firmware was enhanced such that VPD data corruption in the Anchor (VPD) will be corrected by the firmware, rather than having to have the Anchor card replaced.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a partition being migrated to crash on the target system.
  • On systems running the EL340 release of system firmware, a problem was fixed that caused an abort code to be logged in the virtual input/output system (VIOS) error log on the source system after a successful partition migration.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a partition being migrated to become unresponsive on the target system when firmware-assisted dump was enabled.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that SRC BA210012 will not generate a call home when logged.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On systems with external I/O drawers, a problem was fixed that could cause the system to hang on checkpoint C700406E during a "warm" reboot (a reboot in which the processor drawer is power-cycled but the I/O drawers are not).
  • On systems running system firmware release EL340 and IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed that caused message CPF9E7F, CPF9E2D or CPF9E5E (which indicates a licensing key problem) to be received by the IBM i partitions when the number of physical processors was greater than the number of IBM i licenses.
  • On systems with virtual fiber channel disks, a problem was fixed that prevented the system management services (SMS) from displaying the virtual fiber channel disks if the virtual fiber channel server reported that any of them were reserved. 
EL340_039_039

11/21/08

 Impact: Function Severity: Attention

New Features and Functions:

  • Support was added for the converged System i/System p model 520, 8203-E4A and the converged System i/System p model 550.
  • Support for Feature 4532, 2048MB, RDIMMs, 667 MHz, 1Gb DRAM, CCIN 31AC.
  • Support for the 8 GB fiber channel adapter, F/C 5735.
  • Support for a virtual tape device.
  • Support for USB flash memory storage devices.
  • Support in the service processor firmware for IPv6.
  • Support in the hypervisor for three types of hardware performance monitors.
  • Support for installing AIX and Linux using the integrated virtualization manager (IVM).
  • Support for the dual-port 12x Infiniband adapter, F/C 5608.
  • Support for an enhanced power and thermal management capability - lowering the fan speed to conserve power when the power usage of the system is low.
  • Support for enhanced power management, including dynamic voltage and frequency slewing. 
  • On systems running AIX, support was added for an enhanced power and thermal management capability. When static power save mode is selected, AIX will "fold" processors to free processors which can then be put in the "nap" state.
  • On model E8A systems, support was added for CIM (common information model) power instrumentation to the service processor. 
  • On systems that have temperature and power management device (TPMD) hardware, support was added for a "soft" power cap.
System firmware changes that affect all systems:
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the default partition environment in the advanced system management interface (ASMI) power on/off menu from being set to "i5/OS" when it was blank.
  • On all model M50, M25, M15, E8A, and E4A systems, a problem was fixed the prevented RB keyword0 from being set in the advanced system management interface (ASMI) system keywords menu.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that SRC B1xx3409, which indicates an invalid state change (such as pushing the power on button twice quickly) will be logged as informational instead of predictive, and will not call home.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a service processor dump to be taken and SRC B181EF88 to be logged, even though the operation of the system was not affected.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented some of the service processor error log entries from being seen when the advanced system management interface (ASMI) menus were accessed on a TTY terminal.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the system to crash and a SYSDUMP to be taken, with SRCs B170E540, B181D138, or B700F105, with a bad PCI-E adapter installed and in use, or while running a heavy network load.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems:
  • On systems that are managed by a hardware management console (HMC), a problem was fixed that, under certain rare circumstances, caused SRC B181E411 to be logged, a call home to be made, and a service processor dump to be taken.
  • On systems that are not managed by a hardware management console (HMC), a problem was fixed that caused the service processor to lose its connection to a serial-attached TTY terminal. A dump was taken, and SFC B170100A was logged, when this problem occurred.
  • In networks using a time server, a problem was fixed that caused the date on a client system to be reset to 1969 if the client system lost power.

4.0 How to Determine Currently Installed Firmware Level

You can view the server's current firmware level on the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) Welcome pane. It appears in the top right corner. Example: EL340_122.

5.0 Downloading the Firmware Package

Follow the instructions on the web page. You must read and agree to the license agreement to obtain the firmware packages.

Note: If your HMC is not internet-connected you will need to download the new firmware level to a CD-ROM or ftp server.

6.0 Installing the Firmware

The method used to install new firmware will depend on the release level of firmware which is currently installed on your server. The release level can be determined by the prefix of the new firmware's filename.

Example: ELXXX_YYY_ZZZ

Where XXX = release level

HMC Managed Systems

Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades on systems managed by an HMC can be found at
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/scope/hw/topic/ipha1/updupdates.htm

Systems not Managed by an HMC

p Systems

Instructions for installing firmware on systems that are not managed by an HMC can be found at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/ipha5/fix_firm_no_hmc_aix.htm

i Systems

See "Server Firmware: Update Policy Set to Operating System", http://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/slkbase.nsf/ibmscdirect/31B3272F48FDEAF38625746C0062665C

7.0 Firmware History 

The Firmware History can be reviewed at the following url:

http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/EL-Firmware-Hist.html