Power7 Mid-Range Systems Firmware

Applies to: 9117-MMB and 9179-MHB

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 Power 770 (9117-MMB)  and Power 780 (9179-MHB)  servers only.

The firmware level in this package is:

1.1 Minimum HMC Code Level

This section is intended to describe the "Minimum HMC Code Level" required by the System Firmware to complete the firmware installation process. When installing the System Firmware, the HMC level must be equal to or higher than the "Minimum HMC Code Level" before starting the system firmware update.  If the HMC managing the server targeted for the System Firmware update is lower than the "Minimum HMC Code Level" the firmware update will not proceed.

The Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is:  HMC V7 R7.1.0 (PTF MH01205 or MH01206) with PTF MH01237 (Service Pack 3).

Although the Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is listed above,  HMC level V7 R7.1.0 Service Pack 3 with efix MH01242, or higher is suggested for this firmware level.

For information concerning HMC releases and the latest PTFs,  go to the following URL to access Fix Central.
http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

For specific fix level information on key components of IBM Power Systems running the AIX, IBM i and Linux operating systems, we suggest using the Fix Level Recommendation Tool (FLRT):
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/flrt/home

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

2.0 Cautions and Important Information

2.1 Cautions

Downgrading firmware from any given release level to an earlier release level is not recommended.
If you feel that it is necessary to downgrade the firmware on your system to an earlier release level, please contact your next level of support.

2.2 Important Information

IPv6 Support and Limitations

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is supported in the System Management Services (SMS) in this level of system firmware. There are several limitations that should be considered.

When configuring a network interface card (NIC) for remote IPL, only the most recently configured protocol (IPv4 or IPv6) is retained. For example, if the network interface card was previously configured with IPv4 information and is now being configured with IPv6 information, the IPv4 configuration information is discarded.

A single network interface card may only be chosen once for the boot device list. In other words, the interface cannot be configured for the IPv6 protocol and for the IPv4 protocol at the same time.

Concurrent Firmware Updates

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

Memory Considerations for Firmware Upgrades

Firmware Release Level upgrades and Service Pack updates may consume additional system memory.
Server firmware requires memory to support the logical partitions on the server. The amount of memory required by the server firmware varies according to several factors.
Factors influencing server firmware memory requirements include the following:
Generally, you can estimate the amount of memory required by server firmware to be approximately 8% of the system installed memory. The actual amount required will generally be less than 8%. However, there are some server models that require an absolute minimum amount of memory for server firmware, regardless of the previously mentioned considerations.

Additional information can be found at:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/iphat_p5/iphatlparmemory.htm


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:

01AMXXX_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, 01AM720_067_045 and 01AM740_067_053 are different service packs.

An installation is disruptive if:

Example: Currently installed release is AM710, new release is AM720 Example: AM720_120_120 is disruptive, no matter what level of AM720 is currently
installed on the system Example: Currently installed service pack is AM720_120_120 and new service pack is AM720_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 AM720_126_120,  new service pack is AM720_143_120.

Firmware Information and Update Description

 
Filename Size Checksum
01AM710_115_043.rpm 26397022
 27307

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 01AM710_115_043.rpm

AM710
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
AM710_115_043

05/27/11		 Impact:  Data               Severity:  HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • The firmware was enhanced to log SRC 11007610, 11007620, 11007630, 11007640, or 11007650 only when a system fan's speed drops below 2800 RPM.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the system fans from running at the correct speed if a service processor reset to runtime was done, then a fan failure occurred.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the exhaust heat index value displayed by IBM Director to be invalid when the system is located near, at, or below sea level.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a firmware installation to fail with SRC B181EF7C.
AM710_114_043

03/25/11		 Impact:  Data               Severity:  HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

New Features and Functions

  • Support for the network installation of the IBM i operating system from the hardware management console (HMC) command line interface (CLI).

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • A problem was fixed that prevented the timed-power-on function from turning the system back on if the service processor's clock was adjusted to an earlier time.  This problem could occur during the fall when clocks are set back when daylight savings time ends, for example.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the managed system to go to the incomplete state on the HMC.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the green power enclosure LED from blinking when the service processor was at standby.
  • A problem was fixed that caused incorrect fan speeds to be reported in call home data.
  • The firmware was enhanced to log an SRC when a system fan's speed drops below 3800 RPM.
  • A problem was fixed that caused multiple DR_DMA_MIGRATE_FAIL entries in the AIX error log.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • HIPER: IBM testing has uncovered a potential undetected data corruption issue when a mobility operation is performed on an AMS (Active Memory Sharing) partition.  The data corruption can occur in rare instances due to a problem in IBM firmware.  This issue was discovered during internal IBM testing, and has not been reported on any customer system.
  • On systems with two or more nodes, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B1818A10 to be erroneously logged.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the lamp test from running if it was initiated from the operator (control) panel or the ASMI (advanced system management interface).
  • A problem was fixed that caused the HMC2 port on the advanced system management interface (ASMI) to erroneously default to static IP addressing instead of dynamic.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a partition to fail to reboot, or fail to boot if it had been shut down once since the platform was booted, with SRC B2001230 and word 3 = 000000BF.  This failure can be seen on a partition that owns a PCI, PCI-E, or PCI-X slot.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented processor resources from being moved to another partition by a DLPAR (dynamic LPAR) operation.
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer attached, a problem was fixed that caused a partition to crash during a page migration operation.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a component report (component interval activity) on the HMC to show 100% uncapped CPU available; it remained at 100% and did not move up or down as the other systems used and released processor resources.
  • A problem was fixed that caused AIX licensing issues when migrating a partition from a P6 to a P7 system. When this problem was present on the target system after the partition migration (but before the partition was rebooted), the AIX command "uname -m" might not have produced the expected result.
  • The firmware was enhanced to list the attached devices when viewing the adapter information for a partition profile on the HMC GUI.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a partition to crash with SRC BA330002 after several concurrent installations of system firmware, or partition migrations, without a reboot.
  • On stand-alone systems running AIX or Linux, and on systems managed by IVM (Integrated Virtualization Manager), a problem was fixed that prevented platform dumps from being off-loaded, or resulted in corrupted or incomplete platform dumps.
  • On systems with a F/C 5803 or 5877 I/O drawer attached, a problem was fixed that caused a power-on unit operation from the HMC to time out, and informational SRC 10009107 to be logged, if the following conditions were met:
          - The SPCN firmware update policy in the ASMI was set to "Expanded", instead of "Enabled" (the default and recommended setting).
          - An installation of the power firmware on the I/O drawer was taking place over the SPCN cables.
AM710_099_043

11/11/10		 Impact:  Availability         Severity:  SPE

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • A problem was fixed that caused the platform to become unresponsive; this was indicated by an "incomplete" state on the HMC.  When this problem occurred, the partitions on the managed system became unresponsive.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer attached, the firmware was enhanced to allow the drawer to power on with only one working offline converter assembly (OCA).
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer attached, and a PCI-E adapter in the CEC, a problem was fixed that caused the system to crash during a page migration operation with SRC B700F103.
AM710_097_043

10/04/10		 Impact:  Availability         Severity:  HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • HIPER: This fix corrects an issue that has the potential to corrupt information stored in the POWER7 core's translation cache and may cause undetected data errors.  This issue was discovered during internal IBM testing, and while it has not been reported on any customer system, IBM strongly recommends that this fix be applied to all POWER7 systems.
  • HIPER: A problem was fixed that caused the HMC to show the server's status as incomplete, and SRC B7000602 to be logged against SFLPHMCCMDTASK in serviceable events. This problem can also cause the system to crash when it occurs.
  • HIPER: A problem was fixed that caused repeated reset/reloads of the service processor, and fail-overs, to occur after a hypervisor-initiated reset/reload of the service processor was completed.  That led to loss of communication between the service processor and the hypervisor (indicated by SRC B182951C).
  • HIPER: A problem was fixed that caused an AIX or Linux partition to fail to boot with SRC B2008151, which prevented further access to that partition, and potentially preventing prior LPAR configuration changes from being completed.  A reboot of the server is required to recover from this problem.
  • HIPER:  A problem was fixed that could have prevented a successful emergency fail-over to the backup service processor if multiple reset/reload commands were issued to both service processors at roughly the same time.  If the emergency fail-over was not successful, the system might have been terminated by either the service processor or the hypervisor.  This problem did not affect an administrative fail-over of the service processor.
  • HIPER:  A problem was fixed that caused informational SRC B70069DA from a host Ethernet adapter (HEA) to be logged erroneously.  These messages are sent from the hypervisor to the service processor and cause unnecessary loading of the hypervisor-service processor communication link.
  • The firmware was enhanced to improve the hardware called out with SRC B121B8AB.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the user from turning off an indicator LED using the ASMI menus when the previous state of the LED was fault/identify.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC B1812A60 to be erroneously logged.
  • The firmware was enhanced so that the bus numbering on all model MMB systems with I/O drawers or towers attached will be consistent.
  • A problem was fixed that caused an AIX or Linux partition to crash with SRC B2008151 logged.
  • A problem was fixed that caused an error log indicating a dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) error when no DLPAR operations were done, and unrecoverable SRCs BA180010 and BA250010 to be erroneously logged, when a recoverable enhanced error handling (EEH) error was logged on an I/O adapter.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • On 9179-MHB systems running the enhanced cache option (ECO), a problem was fixed that periodically caused the system fans to run at full speed.
  • The firmware was enhanced to support the network installation of the IBM i operating system from the hardware management console (HMC) command line interface (CLI).
  • On single-CEC-drawer systems, a problem was fixed that caused a system to hang in the "undetermined" state during the code activation step of a firmware installation, then go off-line completely after about ten minutes.
 
Product and Development Engineering recommends the installation of AM710_097 to eliminate any exposure to the above issues.
Updating to this level of firmware can be performed concurrently.
AM710_086_043

07/21/10		 Impact:  Function         Severity:  HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • HIPER:  A problem was fixed that caused a system crash with SRC B170E504 with word 8 of the SRC data = 0x01EE0005.  Although this problem can occur under other circumstances, it is most likely to occur when running shared partitions or in SMT2 (symmetric multi-threading 2) mode. 
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • HIPER:  On systems in dynamic power save mode using the Active Energy Manager plug-in with Systems Director, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B1812616, then a hardware checkstop (SRC B113E504), to be logged.

AM710_083_043

06/07/10		 Impact:  Serviceability          Severity:  ATT

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • The firmware was enhanced to dynamically update the IPL speed on the control (operator) panel when the IPL speed is changed by another method.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the service processor to crash with SRC B181720D due to an out-of-memory condition.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC B113E504 SRCs with a description of "Undefined Error Code" to be erroneously logged. 
  • The firmware was enhanced such that if a memory controller fails or overheats, the memory controller/DIMM will be called out rather than the processor card.
  • Two problems were fixed that caused SRCs B181B8F8 and SCR B181B86A to be erroneously logged during a mainstore dump.  In both cases, the SRC being logged prevented the mainstore dump data from being collected and erroneously called out hardware for replacement.
  • A problem was fixed the prevented the reset/reload bit from being set correctly in a service processor error log entry.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a call home to be erroneously made with SRC B181E911, and a service processor dump to be taken unnecessarily.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the HMC to show a status of "Incomplete" for the managed system, and numerous service processor dumps to be generated.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • PARTITION-DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed that caused SRC BA210000 to be erroneously logged on the target system when a partition was moved (using Live Partition Mobility) from a Power7 system to a Power6 system.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC BA280000 to be erroneously logged on the target system when a partition was moved (using Live Partition Mobility) from a Power7 system to a Power6 system.
  • On systems with the Active Energy Manager in IBM Director activated, a problem was fixed that caused a small error in the processor usage calculations.
  • On systems with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B181E617 to be erroneously logged and a service processor dump to be unnecessarily generated.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a system or partition running Linux to crash when the "serv_config -l" command was run.
  • On systems in an i5/OS clustering configuration, a problem was fixed that prevented a partition in an I/O pool from being deleted.
AM710_065_043

03/16/10		 Impact:  New            Severity:  New

GA Level

4.0 How to Determine Currently Installed Firmware Level

For HMC managed systems:  From the HMC, select Updates in the navigation (left-hand) pane, then view the current levels of the desired server(s).

Alternately, use the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) Welcome pane. The current server firmware  appears in the top right corner. Example: AM710_yyy.

5.0 Downloading the Firmware Package

 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: AMXXX_YYY_ZZZ

Where XXX = release level

Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades can be found at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/p7ha1/updupdates.htm

IBM i Systems

See "Server Firmware and HMC Wizard",
http://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/slkbase.nsf/recommendedfixes

7.0 Change History

Date
 Description
August 31, 2011 Added "DMA_MIGRATE" fix description for Service Pack level AM710_114
June 08, 2011
 Updated this Service Pack (AM710_115) Impact to Data and Severity to: HIPER