Power7 Entry Systems Firmware

4GB Memory DIMM

8GB Memory DIMM

16GB Memory DIMM

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that caused a card (and its children) that was removed after the system was booted to continue to be listed in the guard menus in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B1813221, which indicates a failure of the battery on the service processor, to be erroneously logged after a service processor reset or power cycle.
• A problem was fixed that caused various SRCs to be erroneously logged at boot time including B181E6C7 and B1818A14.
• A problem was fixed that caused a code update operation to fail with a time-out error, creating a call-home with SRC B1818A0F .  This problem is more likely to occur on HMC-managed systems experiencing a high level of management activity during a code update.
• A problem was fixed that caused the service processor (or system controller) to crash when it boots from the new level during a concurrent firmware installation.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B7006A72 to be erroneously logged.
• The Power Hypervisor was enhanced to insure better synchronization of vSCSI and NPIV I/O interrupts to partitions.
• A problem was fixed that was caused by an attempt to modify a virtual adapter from the management console command line when the command specifies it is an Ethernet adapter, but the virtual ID specified is for an adapter type other than Ethernet.  The managed system has to be rebooted to restore communications with the management console when this problem occurs; SRC B7000602 is also logged.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• On systems with an I/O tower attached, a problem was fixed that caused SRCs 10009135 and 10009139 to be erroneously logged.
• A problem was fixed that caused the Field Core Override (FCO) value in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) menus to be displayed incorrectly the first time the ASMI menus were accessed.
• On systems with an I/O tower attached, a problem was fixed that caused multiple service processor reset/reloads if the tower was continuously sending invalid System Power Control Network (SPCN) status data.
• A problem was fixed that caused the HMC to display incorrect data for a virtual Ethernet adapter's transactions statistics.
• A problem was fixed that caused a hibernation resume operation to hang if the connection to the paging space is lost near the end of the resume processing.  This is more likely on a partition that supports remote restart.
• A problem was fixed that caused the system to terminate with a bad address checkstop during mirroring defragmentation.
  
• A problem was fixed that prevented the HMC command "lshwres" from showing any I/O adapters if any adapter name contained the ampersand character in the VPD.
• On a system running a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation, a problem was fixed that caused the partition to successfully appear on the target system, but hang with a 2005 SRC.
  
• On a partition with a large number of potentially bootable devices, a problem was fixed that caused the partition to fail to boot with a default catch, and SRC BA210000 may also be logged.
• On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS) partitions, a problem was fixed that may arise due to the incorrect handling of a return code in an error path during the logical partition migration (LPM) of an AMS partition.
• On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS) partitions, a timing problem was fixed that may occur if the system is undergoing AMS pool size changes.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• HIPER/Non-Pervasive: DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed that caused a system crash with SRC B170E540.
• HIPER/Non-Pervasive:  A related problem was also fixed that could cause a live lock on the power bus resulting in a system crash.
• To address poor placement of partitions following a reboot of a server with unlicensed cores, the firmware was enhanced to run the affinity manager when the initialize configuration operation is done from the HMC.  A problem was also fixed that caused the hypervisor to be left in an inconsistent state after a partition create operation failed.
  

New Features and Functions

• Support for booting the IBM i operating system from a USB tape drive.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that caused a partition with dedicated processors to hang with SRC  BA33xxxx when rebooted, after it was migrated using a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation from a system running Ax730 to a system running Ax740, or vice versa.
• The firmware was enhanced to call out the correct field replaceable units (FRUs) when SRC B124E504 with description "Chnl init TO due to SN stuck in recovery" was logged.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B1818A10 to be erroneously logged after a system firmware installation.
• A problem was fixed that caused booting from a virtual fibre channel tape device to fail with SRC B2008105.
• The firmware was enhanced to log SRCs BA180030 and BA180031 as informational instead of predictive.
• A problem was fixed that caused a "code accept" during a concurrent firmware installation from the HMC to fail with SRC E302F85C.  This is most likely to occur on model FHB systems.
• On systems running the AIX operating system, a problem was fixed that caused the hypervisor to crash with SRC B7000103, after an HEA (Host Ethernet Adapter) error was logged, when there is a lot of AIX activity on the HEAs.
• A problem was fixed that caused the suspension of a partition to fail if a large amount of data has to be stored to resume the partition.
• A problem was fixed that caused a system crash with unrecoverable SRC B7000103 with "ErFlightRecorder" in the failing stack.
• On systems booting from an NPIV (N-port ID virtualization) device, a problem was fixed that caused the boot to intermittently terminate with the message "PReP-BOOT: unable to load full PReP image.".  This problem occurs more frequently on the IBM V7000 Storage System running the SAN Volume Controller (SVC), but not on every boot.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B181E6F1 with the description "RMGR_PERSISTENT_EVENT_TIMEOUT" to be erroneously logged.
• A problem was fixed that prevented a change to the system operating mode ("M" or "N") made in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) menu from being displayed in the physical control (operator) panel.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused a memory leak in the service processor firmware.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B155A491 to be erroneously logged during multiple system IPLs.  This SRC may cause the system to terminate.
• A problem was fixed that caused the default value for Field Core Override to be incorrect in the ASMI menus the first time the system is booted.
  
• The ASMI menus were enhanced to more clearly indicate which processor cores were deconfigured by the Field Core Override (FCO) option (F/C 2319).
• On 8202-E4B and 8205-E6B systems, the firmware was enhanced to call out a failing VRM, instead of the memory card on which the VRM is plugged, if the VRM fails when the system is booting.
• On 8231-E2B systems, the firmware was enhanced to improve the service actions for SRC 11002691.

• The firmware was enhanced to fix a potential performance degradation on systems utilizing the stride-N stream prefetch instructions dcbt (with TH=1011) or dcbtst (with TH=1011).  Typical applications executing these algorithms include High Performance Computing, data intensive applications exploiting streaming instruction prefetchs, and applications utilizing the Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library (ESSL) 5.1.
• On systems on which Internet Explorer (IE) is used to access the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) on the Hardware Management Console (HMC), a problem was fixed that caused IE to hang for about 10 minutes after saving changes to network parameters on the ASMI.
• A problem was fixed that caused informational SRC A70047FF, which may indicate that the Anchor (VPD) card should be replaced, to be erroneously logged again after the Anchor card was replaced.
• A problem was fixed that caused a network installation of IBM i to fail when the client was on the same subnet as the server.
• On systems with a 5796 or 5797 I/O drawer attached, a problem was fixed that could cause a system hang.
• On system managed by an HMC, a problem was fixed that caused the lsstat command on the HMC to display an erroneously high number of packets transmitted and received on a vlan interface.
  
• On systems with a 7311 I/O drawer attached, a problem was fixed that caused a system boot to hang with C700406E.
  
• On system managed by an HMC, a problem was fixed that caused the lsstat command on the HMC to display an erroneously high number of packets transmitted and received on a vlan interface.
• On 8202-E4B and 8205-E6B systems with the feature code (F/C) 5610 or F/C 5685 PCI expansion riser installed, a multi-port communications adapter installed in a slot on the expansion riser, and that are managed by an HMC, a problem was fixed that prevented hardware discovery by the HMC of the communication adapter from completing.  This problem could also cause making a system plan to fail with SRC BA350000.
  

New Features and Functions

• Support for IBM i Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that prevented the user from changing the boot mode or keylock setting after a remote restart-capable partition is created, even after the partition's paging device is on-line.

• The firmware resolves undetected N-mode stability problems and improves error reporting on the feature code (F/C) 5802 and 5877 I/O drawer power subsystem.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• The firmware was enhanced to properly display a memory controller that has been guarded out manually on the "Deconfiguration Records" menu option (under "System Service Aids") on the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
  
• A problem was fixed that caused multiple service processor dumps to be unnecessarily taken during a concurrent firmware update.  SRC B181EF9A, which indicates that the dump space on the service processor is full, was logged as a result.
• The firmware was enhanced to increase the threshold for recoverable SRC B113E504 so that the processor core reporting the SRC is not guarded out.  This prevents unnecessary performance loss and the unnecessary replacement of processor modules.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B7000602 to be erroneously logged at power on.
• The firmware was enhanced to recognize new USB-attached devices so that they will be listed as boot devices in the System Management Services (SMS) menus.
• A problem was fixed that caused booting or installing a partition or system from a USB device to fail with error code BA210012.  This usually occurs when an operating system (OS) other than the OS that is already on the partition or system is booted or installed.
• On the System Management Services (SMS) remote IPL (RIPL) menus, a problem was fixed that caused the SMS menu to continue to show that an Ethernet device is configured for iSCSI, even though the user has changed it to BOOTP.
  
• The firmware was enhanced to log SRCs BA180030 and BA180031 as informational instead of predictive.
• The firmware was enhanced to increase the threshold of soft NVRAM errors on the service processor to 32 before SRC B15xF109 is logged.  (Replacement of the service processor is recommended if more than one B15xF109 is logged per week.)
  
• A problem was fixed that caused the internal PCI slot fault LEDs to erroneously turn on after AC power was removed, then reapplied.

• HIPER/Non-pervasive:  On systems managed by a Hardware Management Console (HMC), and on which a concurrent system firmware update was done, a problem was fixed that caused the number of processors available on the managed system shown on the management console to be smaller than it should have been.
• A problem was fixed that caused the hypervisor to hang during a concurrent operation on a F/C 5802, 5803, 5873 or 5877 I/O drawer.  Recovering from the hypervisor hang required a platform reboot.
  
• A problem was fixed that impacted performance if profiling was enabled in one or more partitions.  Performance profiling is enabled:
   - In an AIX or VIOS partition using the tprof (-a, -b, -B, -E option) command or pmctl (-a, -E option) command.
   - In an IBM i partition when the PEX *TRACE profile (TPROF) collections or PEX *PROFILE collections are active.
   - In a Linux partition using the perf command, which is available in RHEL6 and SLES11; profiling with oprofile does not cause the problem.
• A problem was fixed that prevented the operating system from being notified that a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer had recovered from an input power fault (SRC 10001512 or 10001522).
  
• On a system that is being upgraded from Ax720 system firmware to Ax730 system firmware, the firmware was enhanced to log B1818A0F as informational instead of predictive if it occurs during the firmware upgrade.
• On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS), the allocation of the memory was enhanced to improve performance.
• A problem was fixed that caused the suspension of a logical partition running Active Memory Sharing (AMS) to fail because the disk headers had not been erased.
• On systems with an iSCSI network, when booting a logical partition using that iSCSI network, a problem was fixed that caused the iSCSI gateway parameter displayed on the screen to be incorrect.  It did not impact iSCSI boot functionality.
• On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS) and Active Memory Mirrorring (AMM), a problem was fixed that caused memory allocation to fail.  This in turn caused a partition to fail to boot with SRC A2009030.
• On systems using the Advanced Energy Manager (AEM) to run in Dynamic Power Save (DPS) mode, and with deconfigured processor cores, a problem was fixed that caused the processor voltages to be set incorrectly, which in turn caused the system to use more power than it should have been using.
• On systems managed by an HMC and using affinity groups, a problem was fixed that prevented one of the partitions from being placed correctly.
  

System firmware changes that affect certain systems