Power7 System Firmware

New features and functions

• Support was added in Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to facilitate capture and reporting of debug data for system performance problems.  The  "System Service Aids/Performance Dump" menu was added to ASMI to perform this function.

• Help text for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) "System Configuration/Hardware Deconfiguration/Clear All Deconfiguration Errors" menu option was enhanced to clarify that when selecting "Hardware Resources" value of "All hardware resources", the service processor deconfiguration data is not cleared.   The "Service processor" must be explicitly selected for that to be cleared.
• A problem was fixed that prevented guard error logs from being reported for FRUs that were guarded during the system power on.  This could happen if the same FRU had been previously reported as guarded on a different power on of the system.  The requirement is now met that guarded FRUs are logged on every power on of the system.
• Help text for the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) "System Configuration/Power Management/Power Supply Idle Control" menu option was enhanced to clarify that an idle power supply is in a low power state and not powered off.  The new help text states  "Power supply idle mode helps to reduce overall power usage when the system load is very light by having one power supply deliver all the power while the second is in a low power state".
• A problem was fixed that caused the slot index to be missing for virtual slot number 0 for the dynamic reconfiguration connector (DRC) name for virtual devices.  This error was visible from the management console when using commands such as "lshwres -r virtualio --rsubtype slot -m machine" to show the hardware resources for virtual devices.
• A problem was fixed where a 12V DC power-good (pGood) input fault was reported as a SRC 11002620 with the wrong FRU callout of Un-P1 for system backplane.  The FRU callout for SRC 11002620 has been corrected to Un-P2 for I/O card.
• A problem was fixed that caused a memory clock failure to be called out as failure in the processor clock FRU.
• A problem was fixed that caused unneeded resets of ethernet adapters during logical partition (LPAR) power off or reboots.  The extra resets of the ethernet adapters could cause the network switch to disable the ethernet links if the threshold for maximum number of ethernet adapter resets per minute is exceeded.
  

• On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer installed, a problem was fixed that occurred during Offline Converter Assembly (OCA) replacement operations. The fix prevents a false  Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) fault and the logging of SRCs 10001511 or 10001521 from occurring.    This resulted in the OCA LED getting stuck in an on or "fault" state and the OCA not powering on.
  
• On a system with partitions with redundant Virtual Asynchronous Services Interface (VASI) streams,  a problem was fixed that caused the system to terminate with SRC B170E540.  The affected partitions include Active Memory Sharing (AMS), encapsulated state partitions, and hibernation-capable partitions.  The problem is triggered when the management console attempts to change the active VASI stream in a redundant configuration.  This may occur due to a stream reconfiguration caused by Live Partition Mobility (LPM); reconfiguring from a redundant Paging Service Partition (PSP) to a single-PSP configuration; or conversion of a partition from AMS to dedicated memory.
• On systems with a redundant service processor, a problem was fixed where the service processor allowed a clock failover to occur without a SRC B158CC62 error log and without a hardware deconfiguration record for the failed clock source.  This resulted in the system running with only one clock source and without any alerts to warn that clock redundancy had been lost.
• On systems with one memory clock deconfigured, a problem was fixed where the system failed to IPL using the second memory clock with SRCs B158CC62 and B181C041 logged.
• On a system with a disk device with multiple boot partitions, a problem was fixed that caused System Management Services (SMS) to list only one boot partition.  Even though only one boot partition was listed in SMS, the AIX bootlist command could still be used to boot from any boot partition.

New features and functions

• Support was dropped for Secured Socket Layer (SSL) Version 2 and SSL weak and medium cipher suites in the service processor web server (Ligthttpd).  Unsupported web browser connections to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) secured port 443 (using https://) will now be rejected if those browsers do not support SSL version 3.  Supported web browsers for Power7 ASMI are Netscape (version 9.0.0.4), Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 7.0), Mozilla Firefox (version 2.0.0.11), and Opera (version 9.24).
• Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to provide a menu for "Power Supply Idle Mode".  Using the "Power Supply Idle Mode"  menu, the power supplies can be either set enabled to save power by idling power supplies when possible or set disabled to keep all power supplies fully on and allow a balanced load to be maintained on the power distribution units (PDUs) of the system.  Power supply idle mode enabled helps to reduce overall power usage when the system load is very light by having one power supply deliver all the power while the second power supply is maintained in a low power state.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that caused a service processor dump to be generated with SRC B18187DA "NETC_RECV_ER" logged.
• A problem was fixed that caused a L2 cache error to not guard out the faulty processor, allowing the system to checkstop again on an error to the same faulty processor.
• A problem was fixed that caused a HMC code update failure for the FSP on the accept operation with SRC B1811402 or FSP is unable to boot on the updated side.
• A problem was fixed that caused a SRC B181B2C0 and incorrect hardware callout for a GX bus failure on a wire test.  The SRC B114C80C with GX location codes are now provided to facilitate the repairs for the wire test errors.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused a 1000911E platform event log (PEL) to be marked as not call home.  The PEL is now a call home to allow for correction.  This PEL is logged when the hypervisor has changed the Machine Type Model Serial Number (MTMS) of an external enclosure to UTMP.xxx.xxxx because it cannot read the vital product data (VPD), or the VPD has invalid characters, or if the MTMS is a duplicate to another enclosure.
• A problem was fixed that caused a built-in self test (BIST) for GX slots to create corrupt error log values that core dumped the service processor with a B18187DA.  The corruption was caused by a failure to initialize the BIST array to 0 before starting the tests.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused the system attention LED to be lit without a corresponding SRC and error log for the event.  This problem typically occurs when an operating system on a partition terminates abnormally.
  
• DEFERRED: A problem was fixed that caused a system checkstop during hypervisor time keeping services.  This deferred fix addresses a problem that has a very low probability of occurrence.  As such customers may wait for the next planned service window to activate the deferred fix via a system reboot.
  
• DEFERRED: A problem was fixed that caused a system checkstop with SRC B113E504 for a recoverable hardware fault.  This deferred fix addresses a problem that has a very low probability of occurrence.  As such customers may wait for the next planned service window to activate the deferred fix via a system reboot.
  

• On systems with a redundant service processor, a problem was fixed that caused fans to run at a high-speed after a failover to the sibling service processor.
• On systems in manufacturing default configuration (MDC), a problem was fixed that caused the system to change from MDC to Hardware Management Console (HMC)-managed mode even though the HMC was unable to authenticate to the service processor.   A system must be successfully discovered by a HMC as a prerequisite to becoming HMC-managed. 
  
• On systems with a redundant service processor, a problem was fixed that caused a guarded sibling service processor deconfiguration details to not be able to be shown in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
• On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer installed, the firmware was enhanced to guarantee that an SRC will be generated when there is a power supply voltage fault.  If no SRC is generated, a loss of power redundancy may not be detected, which can lead to a drawer crash if the other power supply goes down.  This also fixes a problem that causes an 8 GB Fiber channel adapter in the drawer to fail if the 12V level fails in one Offline Converter Assembly (OCA).
  
• On systems managed by an HMC with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer installed, a problem was fixed that caused the hardware topology on the management console for the managed system to show "null" instead of "operational" for the affected I/O drawers.
• On systems with a redundant service processor, a problem was fixed that caused a SRC B150D15E to be erroneously logged after a failover to the sibling service processor.
• On systems with turbo-core enabled that are a target of a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation, a problem was fixed where cache properties were not recognized and SRCs BA280000 and BA250010 reported.
• A problem was fixed in the run-time abstraction services (RTAS) extended error handling (EEH) for fundamental reset that caused partitions to crash during adapter updates.  The fundamental reset of adapters now returns a valid return code.  The adapter drivers using fundamental reset affected by this fix are the following:
  o QLogic PCIe Fibre Channel adapters (combo card)
  o IBM PCIe Obsidian
  o Emulex BE3-based ethernet adapters
  o Broadcom-based PCIe2 4-port 1Gb ethernet
  o Broadcom-based FlexSystem EN2024 4-port 1Gb ethernet for compute nodes
• On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer installed, a problem was fixed that where a Offline Converter Assembly (OCA) fault would appear to persist after a OCA micro-reset or OCA replacement.  The fault bit reported to the OS may not be cleared, indicating a fault still exists in the I/O drawer after it has been repaired.
• On systems involved in a series of consecutive Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operations, a memory leak problem was fixed in the run time abstraction service (RTAS) that caused a partition run time AIX crash with SRC 0c20.  Other possible symptoms include error logs with SRC BA330002 (RTAS memory allocation failure).
  

• A problem was fixed that caused a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation to fail on an erroneously logged error for the service processor battery with  SRCs B15A3303, B15A3305, and  B181EA35 reported.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC  B15A3303  to be erroneously logged as a predictive error on the service processor sibling after a successful concurrent repair maintenance operation for the real-time clock (RTC) battery.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that caused a migrated partition to reboot during transfer to a VIOS 2.2.2.0, and later, target system. A manual reboot would be required if transferred to a target system running an earlier VIOS release. Migration recovery may also be necessary.
  
• A problem was fixed that can cause  Anchor (VPD) card corruption and  A70047xx SRCs to be logged.  Note: If a serviceable event  with SRC A7004715 is present or was logged previously, damage to the VPD card may have occurred. After the fix is applied, replacement of the Anchor VPD  card is recommended in order to restored full redundancy.
  

New features and functions

• Support for booting an IBM i partition from a USB flash drive.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that prevented predictive guard errors from being deleted on the secondary service processor.  This caused hardware to be erroneously guarded out if a service processor failover occurred, then the system was rebooted.
• A problem was fixed that prevented the system attention indicator from being turned off when a service processor reset occurred.
• 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 parts to be erroneously guarded out in some cases, and the clock card being called out as defective in other cases, when both ac cords providing power to a drawer  were unplugged when the system was powered on.
• A problem was fixed that caused the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to produce a service processor dump when changing the admin user password.
• 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 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 system fans to be erroneously called out as failing with one or more of the following SRCs: 11007610,11007620,11007630,11007640, or 11007650.
• A problem was fixed that caused the service processor to crash when it boots from the new level during a concurrent firmware installation.
• A problem was fixed that caused various parts to be erroneously guarded out in some cases, and the clock card being called out as defective in other cases, when both ac cords providing power to a drawer  were unplugged when the system was powered on.
• A problem was fixed that caused the management console 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 power to be throttled, resulting in decreased performance.  This problem typically occurs after a PCI adapter is plugged into a node (CEC drawer), and can also happen when a dedicated I/O partition is powered on or off.
• A problem was fixed that caused the system to terminate with a bad address checkstop during mirroring defragmentation.
• A problem was fixed that caused the hibernation validation of a remote restart partition operation to fail with an "NvRam size error".  This also affects the capability to migrate the partition.
• The Power Hypervisor was enhanced to insure better synchronization of vSCSI and NPIV I/O interrupts to partitions.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRCs B70069F4 and B130E504 to be erroneously logged when a system was powered down.  This also results in I/O hardware being guarded out, and the hypervisor is not able to "unguard" the I/O hardware at runtime.
• 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.
• The Hypervisor was enhanced to allow the system to continue to boot using the redundant Anchor (VPD) card, instead of stopping the Hypervisor boot and logging SRC B7004715,  when the primary Anchor card has been corrupted.
• A problem was fixed that caused an error log generated by the partition firmware to show conflicting firmware levels.  This problem occurs after a firmware update or a Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation on the system.
  

• On systems with I/O towers attached, a problem was fixed that caused SRC 10009135, followed by SRC 10009139, to be logged, indicating that SPCN loop mode was being broken, then reestablished.
  
• On systems with I/O towers 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.
• On partitions with the virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) enabled, a problem was fixed that caused a memory leak, and failure, when vTPM was disabled, a vTPM-enabled partition was migrated, or a vTPM-enabled partition was deleted.
• On systems running multiple IBM i partitions that are configured to communicate with each other via virtual Opticonnect, and Active Memory Sharing (AMS), AMS operations may time-out.  When this problem occurs, a platform reboot may be required to recover.
• On a partition with the virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) enabled, a problem was fixed that caused the partition to stop functioning after certain operations.  When this problem occurs, the client partition may not power off.
• When switching between turbocore and maxcore mode, a problem was fixed that caused the number of supported partitions to be reduced by 50%.
• 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 Live Partition Mobility (LPM) of an AMS partition.
• On systems using IPv6 addresses, the firmware was enhanced to reduce the time it take to install an operating system using the Network Installation Manager (NIM).
• On systems with F/C EU07, the RDX SATA internal docking station for removable disk cartridge, a problem was fixed that caused SRCs BA210000 and BA210003 to be logged, and the System Management Services (SMS) menu firmware to drop into the ok> prompt, when the default boot list was built.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC BA330000 to be logged after the successful migration of a partition running Ax740_xxx firmware to a system running Ax760, or a later release, or firmware.  This problem can also cause SRCs BA330002, BA330003, and BA330004 to be erroneously logged over time when a partition is migrated from a system running Ax760, or a later release, to a system running Ax740_xxx firmware.
• On system running an IBM i partition, the partition boot may succeed after a long delay, or may fail, if a mode D boot attempt is made, there is more than one USB device attached, and the IBM i operating system (OS) image is on the second USB device.
• On system running an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed that caused a number of informational SRC BA09000F to be logged when a mode D partition boot is done.  This SRC is logged if a device that supports removable media is installed and the media is not present.
• On systems with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed that caused the sibling service processor state to show up as "unknown" in the service processor error log if a code synchronization problem was detected after a service processor was replaced.
• 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.
  

• A problem was fixed that caused SRC 11001512 or 11001522 to be erroneously logged against a node that was added or removed during a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
• A problem was fixed that caused SRC B15738B0 to be erroneously logged against the target node during the node-level deactivation phase of a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
• A problem was fixed that caused CHARM operations to fail when a memory channel failure is followed by a service processor reset/reload (which is caused by a firmware installation, for example).
• On systems with a GX++ 2-port PCIe2 x8 adapter, feature code (F/C) 1914, a problem was fixed that caused the location code of the adapter to be incorrect in the operating system after a hot repair of the adapter.
• On systems in which there are no processors in the shared processor pool, a problem was fixed that caused the Hypervisor to become unresponsive (the service processor starts logging time-out errors against the Hypervisor, and the HMC can no longer talk to the Hypervisor) during a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused a hypervisor memory leak during a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
• A problem was fixed that caused a concurrent node repair or upgrade to fail during the system deactivation step with a Hypervisor error code of 0x300.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused the system to hang if memory relocation is performed during a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
• A problem was fixed that caused partition activations to fail during or after a node repair operation.
• A problem was fixed that caused synchronization problems in an application using the Barrier Synchronization Register (BSR) facility during the memory relocation that occurs in a concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operation.
• On systems with an IBM i partition and performance data collection enabled, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B170E540 to be logged during a hot repair of a GX++ 2-port PCIe2 x8 adapter, feature code (F/C) 1914.
• A problem was fixed that prevented the I/O slot information from being presented on the management console after a concurrent node repair.
• On systems running multiple IBM i partitions that are configured to communicate with each other via virtual Opticonnect, concurrent hot add/repair maintenance operations may time-out.  When this problem occurs, a platform reboot may be required to recover.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed that can cause fans in the server to run at maximum speed and generate a serviceable event during system boot (B130B8AF, a predictive error with hardware callout) as a result of an incorrect calibration of a particular thermal sensor.

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.
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed that caused an uncorrectable error (SRC B123E504) to be erroneously logged when 64GB DIMMs were installed in a system that already had 16GB or 32GB DIMMs.
  
• 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.

•   A problem was fixed that caused a CHARM operation to fail after this sequence of events:
  
         1.  User-initiated platform system dump is requested (from ASMI or HMC).
         2.  Service processor reset/reload takes place while dump collection is in progress.
         3.  User attempts a CHARM operation.

New features and functions

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

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• The firmware was enhanced to correctly diagnose the failing FRU when SRC B1xxE504 with error signature "MCFIR[14] - Hang timer detector" was logged.
• A problem was fixed that caused the system to crash after a recoverable error was logged on an I/O hub.
• A problem was fixed that caused a "code accept" during a concurrent firmware installation from the HMC to fail with SRC E302F85C.
• The firmware was enhanced to continue booting when SRC B181C803 with description "WIRE_PROC_CST_HW_FAIL" is logged during boot.
• 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 and "ErFlightRecorder" in the failing stack.
• A problem was fixed that caused an external interrupt to get stuck for some period of time before being presented to the operating system in certain scenarios in which there is a high rate of interrupts.
  

• 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 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 systems with I/O drawers feature code (F/C) 5802 or 5877 attached, and running the Active Energy Manager, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B7000602 to be erroneously logged.
  

•  A problem was fixed that caused a concurrent hot repair operation to fail with the message:  "Failed to deactivate system resources for FRU at Uxxxx.yyy.zzzzzzz. The hypervisor reported the following error: The request failed with PhypRc=807."
  

New features and functions

• Support for IBM i Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
• Support for the EXP30 Ultra SSD I/O Drawer, feature code (F/C) 5888.
  

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.
• 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.
• A problem was fixed that caused the service processor's eth0 or eth1 IP addresses to change to "IPv6 NA"  when viewed on the control (operator) panel when a laptop was connected to the service processor.
  
• A problem was fixed that caused a system to crash when the system was in low power (or safe) mode, and the system attempted to switch over to nominal mode.
• A problem was fixed that caused booting from a virtual fibre channel tape device to fail with SRC B2008105.
• 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 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 the lsstat command on the HMC to display an erroneously high number of packets transmitted and received on a vlan interface.

• 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.
• On systems on which the service processor is using IPv6 Ethernet addresses, a problem was fixed that caused a service processor dump to be taken with SRC B181EF88.
• On systems running the virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM), a problem was fixed that caused the system to crash when the vTPM adjunct was reset.
• On 8231-E1C, 8231-E2C, 8202-E4C and 8205-E6C systems running IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed that prevented slots on the same PCI bus from being assigned to different partitions.  This can result in SRC B600690B being logged when a partition is booted.
• A problem was fixed that caused various operations to hang, such as concurrent hot add/repair maintenance (CHARM) operations, running lsvpd from a partition, or a concurrent firmware installation.

•  A problem was fixed that caused a hot node repair operation to fail with PhypRc=0x0300, indicating the deactivate system resource operation failed.
  
• On systems running the virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM), a problem was fixed that caused SRC B400F104, and possibly SRC BA54504D, to be erroneously generated during a node repair operation.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• The firmware was enhanced to log SRC B7006A72 as informational instead of predictive.  This will prevent unnecessary service actions on PCIe adapters and the associated I/O planars.  This problem was also causing unnecessary service actions on systems with the Integrated Multifunction Cards:
  - F/C 1768, the integrated dual 10 Gb copper + dual 1 Gb Ethernet, and
  - F/C 1769, the integrated dual 10 Gb optical + dual 1 Gb Ethernet
  Dual 10 Gb Optical + Dual 1 Gb Ethernet (#1769) (Sales Manual description)
  Dual 10 Gb Copper + Dual 1 Gb Ethernet (#1768) (Sales Manual description)
• On systems running system firmware level AM740_075, a problem was fixed that prevented Hardware Management Console (HMC) authentication to a managed system in  the "Pending Authentication" state, and prevented the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) admin user's password from being changed.