• The Operations Panel was enhanced to display "Disruptive" warning for control panel operations that would disturb a running system.  For example, control panel function "03" is used to re-IPL the system and would get the warning message to alert the operator that the system could be impacted.
• A new SRC of B7006A74 was added for PHB LEM 62 errors that  had surpassed a threshold in  the path of the #EMX0 expansion drawer.  This replaces the SRC B7006A72 to have a correct callout list.  Without the feature, when B7006A72 is logged against a PCIe slot in the CEC containing a cable card, the FRUs in the full #EMX0 expansion drawer path should be considered (use the B7006A8B FRU callout list as a reference).
  

• HIPER/Pervasive: DISRUPTIVE:  A problem was fixed where, under certain conditions, a Power Management Reset (PM Reset) event may result in undetected data corruption.  PM Resets occur under various scenarios such as SMP cable failures, power management mode changes between Dynamic Performance and Maximum Performance, Concurrent FW updates,  power management controller recovery procedures, or system boot.
  
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed to reduce the frequency of PCIe errors from the processors to the NVME drives during the IPL and run-time operations.  This fix requires an IPL to activate it after it is applied.  The errors being reduced occur very infrequently, so it is not urgent to re-IPL  the system to activate the fix if the system is running without errors.
• 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 not being able to concurrently add the PCIe to USB conversion card with CCIN 6B6C.  The  Vital Product Data (VPD )for the new FRU is not updated into the system, so the added part is not functional until the system is re-IPLed.
• A problem was fixed for a system mis-configured with a mix of DDR3 and DDR4 DIMMs in the same node failing without callouts for the problem DIMMs.  The system fails with SRC B181BAD4.  With the fix, for a system with multiple nodes, the node with the DIMM mix will fail and be guarded but the other nodes are able to IPL.  And an SRC is logged that  provides a list of the problem DIMMs in the failed node so they can be guarded or physically removed.
• A problem was fixed for a service processor missing or failed T3 cable causing the IPL to fail instead of a recovering with a failover to the backup service processor.
• A problem was fixed for failed hardware such as  a clock card causing the service processor to have slow performance.  This might be seen if a hardware problem occurs and the service processor appears to be hanging while error logs are collected.
• A problem was fixed for an IPL failing with B7000103 if there is an error in a PCIe Hub (PHB).  With the fix, the IPL is allowed to complete but there may be failed I/O adapters if the errant PHB is populated with PCIe adapters.
• 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 I/O adapters not recovering from low-level EEH errors, resulting in a Permanent EEH error with SRC B7006971 logged.  These errors can occur during memory relocation in parallel with heavy I/O traffic,  The affected adapters can be recovered by a re-IPL of the system.
• A problem was fixed for the an unexpected Core Watchdog error during a reset of the service processor with a SRC B150B901 logged .  With enough service processor resets in a row, it is possible for 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.  The hypervisor and the partition workloads would continue to run in these cases of failed service processors.
• A problem was fixed for an intermittent IPL failure with  BC131705 and  BC8A1703 logged with a processor core called out.  This is a rare error and does not have a real hardware fault, so the processor core can be unguarded and used again on the next IPL.
• A problem was fixed for DDR4 2933 MHZ and 3200 MHZ DIMMs not defaulting to the 2666 MHZ speed on a new DIMM plug, thus preventing the system  from IPLing.
• A problem was fixed for extra error logs that can occur during Host Initiated Failover for SRC B1504803 and a variety of power-related SRCs such as 11007611, 11007621, and 11007631.  These extra error logs can be ignored as they are side-effect of the service processor failover and not new errors.
• A problem was fixed for the Call Home menu option being displayed in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).  This function is not valid for this system and should not be shown.
• A problem was fixed for the Advanced System Management Interface SMP cable operation repair using the Chrome browser.  If the "Continue" button in the menu is pressed multiple times become the SMP operation completes, the operation will fail with an SRC of B111BA24 logged.  To circumvent this problem, the user should only click on the "Continue" button once and wait until the result of the operation is displayed.
• 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 a VRM error for a Self Boot Engine (SBE) that caused the system to go to terminate state after the error rather than re-IPLing to run-time.  A re-IPL will recover the system.
• A problem was fixed for a boot device hang, leading to a long time-out condition before the service processor gives up.  This problem has a very low frequency and a re-IPL is normally successful to recover the system.
• A problem was fixed for deconfigured FRUs that showed as Unit Type of "Unknown" in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).  The following FRU type names will be displayed if deconfigured (shown here is a description of the FRU type as well):
  DMI: Processor to Memory Buffer Interface
  MC: Memory Controller
  MFREFCLK: Multi Function Reference Clock
  MFREFCLKENDPT: Muti function  reference clock end point
  MI: Processor to Memory Buffer Interface
  NPU:  Nvidia Processing Unit
  OBUS_BRICK: OBUS
  SYSREFCLKENDPT: System reference clock end point
  TPM: Trusted Platform Module
• 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 recovery the partition if the issue has been encountered, enable "processor sharing when active" for the partition.
• A problem was fixed for hypervisor error logs issued during the IPL missing the firmware version.  This happens on every IPL for logs generated during the early part of the IPL.
  
• A problem was fixed for a continuous logging of B7006A28 SRCs after the threshold limit of PCIe Advanced Error Reporting (AER) correctable errors.  The error log flooding can cause error buffer wrapping and other performance issues.
• 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, use DLPAR to add or remove a virtual processor to/from the affected partition, dynamically move the partition between shared processor pools, reboot the partition, or re-IPL the system.
  
• A problem was fixed for informational (INF) errors for the PCIe Hub (PHB) at a threshold limit causing the I/O slots to go non-operational.   The system I/O can be recovered with a re-IPL.
• A problem was fixed for the HMC  in some instances reporting a VIOS partition as an AIX partition.  The VIOS partition can be used correctly even when it is misidentified.
• A problem was fixed for errors in the PHB performance counters collected by the 24x7 performance monitor.
• A problem was fixed for certain SR-IOV adapters where SRC B400FF01 errors are seen during configuration of the adapter into SR-IOV mode or updating adapter firmware.
  This fix updates the adapter firmware to 11.2.211.37  for the following Feature Codes: EN15,  EN17, 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/en/POWER9/p9efd/p9efd_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 intermittent failure of  a PCIe adapter during an IPL.  This problem only happens rarely and a re-IPL of the system will recover the PCIe adapter.
• A problem was fixed for a system terminating if there was even one predictive or recoverable SRC.  For this problem, all hardware SRCs logged are treated as terminating SRCs.  For this behavior to occur, the initial service processor boot from the AC power off state failed to complete cleanly, instead triggering an internal reset (a rare error),  leaving some parts of the service processor not initialized.  This problem can be recovered by doing an AC power cycle, or concurrently on an active system with the assistance of IBM support.
• A security problem was fixed in the service processor OpenSSL support that could cause secured sockets to hang, disrupting HMC communications for system management and partition operations.  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2018-0732.
• 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 security problem was fixed in the service processor TCP stack that would allow a Denial of Service (DOS) attack with TCP packets modified to trigger time and calculation expensive calls.  By sending specially modified packets within ongoing TCP sessions with the Management Consoles,  this could lead to a CPU saturation and possible reset and termination of the service processor.   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2018-5390.
• A security problem was fixed in the service processor TCP stack that would allow a Denial of Service (DOS) attack by allowing very large IP fragments to trigger time and calculation expensive calls in packet reassembly.  This could lead to a CPU saturation and possible reset and termination of the service processor.   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number is CVE-2018-5391.  With the fix, changes were made to lower the IP fragment thresholds to invalidate the attack.
  

• DEFERRED:  On  IBM Power System E980 (9080-M9S) systems with three or four nodes, a problem with more frequent than necessary  L2 cache memory flushes was fixed to improve system performance for some workloads.   This problem could be noticed for workloads  that are cache bound (where speed of cache access is an important factor in determining the speed at which the program gets executed). For example, if the most visited part of a program is a small section of code inside a loop small enough to be contained within the cache, then the program may be cache bound.
• DEFERRED:  On  IBM Power System E980 (9080-M9S) systems with one or two nodes, a problem with slower than expected  L2 cache memory update response was fixed to improve system performance for some workloads.  The slowdown was triggered by many concurrent processor threads trying to update the L2 cache memory atomicallly with a Power LARX/STCX  instruction sequence.  Without the fix, the rate that the system could do these atomic updates was slower than the normal L2 cache response which could cause the system overall performance to decrease.  This problem could be noticed for workloads  that are cache bound (where speed of cache access is an important factor in determining the speed at which the program gets executed). For example, if the most visited part of a program is a small section of code inside a loop small enough to be contained within the cache, then the program may be cache bound.
• 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.
  

• Support for up to 8 production SAP HANA LPARs and 64 TB of memory.
  

• A problem was fixed for a concurrent firmware update that could hang during the firmware activation, resulting in the system entering into Power safe mode.  The system can be recovered by doing a re-IPL of the system with a power down and power up.  A concurrent remove of this fix to the firmware level FW920.22 will fail with the hang, so moving back to this level should only be done with a disruptive firmware update.
• A problem was fixed where installing a partition with a NIM server may fail when using an SR-IOV adapter with a Port VLAN ID (PVID) configured. This error is a regression problem introduced in the 11.2.211.32 adapter firmware.  This fix reverts the adapter firmware back  to 11.2.211.29  for the following Feature Codes:  EN15, EN16  EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0K, and  EN0L.  Because the adapter firmware is reverted to the prior version, all changes included in the 11.2.211.32 are reverted as well.  Circumvention options for this problem can be found at the following link:  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm10794153.
  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/en/POWER9/p9efd/p9efd_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).
  

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• On  IBM Power System E980 (9080-M9S) systems with three or four nodes, a problem with slower than expected  L2 cache memory update response was fixed to improve system performance for some workloads.  The slowdown was triggered by many concurrent processor threads trying to update the L2 cache memory atomicallly with a Power LARX/STCX  instruction sequence.  Without the fix, the rate that the system could do these atomic updates was slower than the normal L2 cache response which could cause the system overall performance to decrease.  This problem could be noticed for workloads  that are cache bound (where speed of cache access is an important factor in determining the speed at which the program gets executed). For example, if the most visited part of a program is a small section of code inside a loop small enough to be contained within the cache, then the program may be cache bound.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• A problem was fixed for an intermittent IPL failure with SRCs  B150BA40 and B181BA24 logged.  The system can be recovered by IPLing again.  The failure is caused by a memory buffer misalignment, so it represents a transient fault that should occur only rarely.
• A problem was fixed for intermittent PCIe correctable errors which would eventually threshold and cause SRC B7006A72 to be logged. PCIe performance degradation or temporary loss of one or more PCIe IO slots could also occur resulting in SRCs B7006970 or B7006971.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• On a system with two or more nodes, a problem was fixed for a SMP cable pull or failure that could cause a system checkstop with SRC BC14E540 logged.  This problem is limited to the SMP cables that are in the TOD topology propagation path.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• DEFERRED:   A problem was fixed to further increase the Vio voltage level to the processors to protect against lower voltage level and noise margins that could result in degraded performance or loss of processor cores in rare instances.  The Vio voltage level was previously adjusted in FW920.20 but an additional increase of the voltage was needed to improve processor reliability.
  

New features and functions

• Support was added for three and four node configurations of the  IBM Power System E980 (9080-M9S).
• Support was added for concurrent maintenance of SMP cables.
• Support was enabled for eRepair spare lane deployment for fabric and memory buses.
• Support was added for run-time recovery of clock cards that have failed because of a loss of lock condition.  The Phased Lock Loop (PLL) 842S02 loses lock occasionally, but this should be a fully recoverable condition.  Without this support, the disabled clock card would have to be replaced with the system powered down.
• Support was added for processor clock failover.
• Support was added for Multi-Function clock card failover.
  

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• HIPER/Non-Pervasive: DISRUPTIVE:  Fixes included to address potential scenarios that could result in undetected data corruption, system hangs, or system terminations.
  
• DISRUPTIVE:  A problem was fixed for PCIe and SAS adapters in slots attached to a PLX (PCIe switch) failing to initialize and not being found by the Operating System.  The problem should not occur on the first IPL after an AC power cycle, but subsequent IPLs may experience the problem.
  
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed for a possible system slow-down with many BC10E504 SRCs logged for Power Bus hang recovery.  This  could occur during periods of very high activity for memory write operations which inundate a specific memory controller.  This slow-down is localized to a specific region of real memory that is mapped to memory DIMMs associated with the congested memory controller.
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed for a logical partition (LPAR) running slower than expected because of an overloaded ABUS socket for its SMP connection.  This fix requires a re-IPL of the system to balance the distribution of the LPARs to the ABUS sockets.
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed for a PCIe clock failure in the  PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (feature #EMX0), causing loss of PCIe slots.   The system must be re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
• DEFERRED:   A problem was fixed to increase the Vio voltage level to the processors to protect against lower voltage level and noise margins that could result in degraded performance or loss of processor cores in rare instances.
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed for a possible system hang in the early boot stage.  This  could occur during periods of very high activity for memory read operations which deplete all read buffers, hanging an internal process that requires a read buffer,  With the fix, a congested memory controller can stall the read pipeline to make a read buffer available for the internal processes.
• DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed for concurrent maintenance operations for PCIe expansion drawer cable cards and PCI adapters that could cause  loss of system hardware information in the hypervisor with these side effects:  1) partition secure boots could fail with SRC BA540100 logged.; 2) Live Partition Mobility (LPM) migrations could be blocked; 3) SR-IOV adapters could be blocked from going into shared mode; 4) Power Management services could be lost; and 5) warm re-IPLs of the system can fail.  The system can be recovered by powering off and then IPLing again.
  
• A problem was fixed for memory DIMM temperatures reported with an incorrect FRU callout.  The error happens for only certain memory configurations.
• A problem was fixed for in the Dynamic Platform Organizer (DPO) for calculating the amount of memory required for partitions with Virtual Page Tables that are greater than 1 LMB in size.  This causes affinity scores which are not correct for the partition.
• A problem was fixed for an unhelpful error message of "HSCL1473 Cannot execute atomic operation. Atomic operations are not enabled." that is displayed on the HMC if there are no licensed processors available for the boot of a partition.
• A problem was fixed for power supply non-power faults being logged indicating a need for power supply replacement when the service processor is at a high activity level, but the power supply is working correctly.  This  service processor performance problem may also prevent legitimate power supply faults from being logged, with other communication and non-power faults being logged instead.
  
• A problem was fixed for FSP cable failures with B150492F logged that have the wrong FSP cable called out.
• A problem was fixed for a false extra Predictive Error of B1xxE550 that can occur for a node with a recoverable event  if Hostboot is terminating on a different node at the same time.  The Predictive Error log will not have a call-out and can be ignored.
• A problem was fixed for a memory channel failure due to a RCD parity error calling out the affected DIMMs correctly, but also falsely calling out either the memory controller or a processor, or both. 
  
• A problem was fixed for adapters in slots attached to a PLX (PCIe switch) failing with SRCs B7006970 and BA188002  when a second and subsequent errors on the PLX failed to initiate PLX recovery.  For this infrequent problem to occur, it requires a second error on the PLX after recovery from the first error.
• A problem was fixed for a processor core checkstop that would deconfigure two cores:  the failed core and a working core.  The bad core is determined by matching to the error log and the false bad core will have no error log.  To recover the loss of the good core, the guard can be cleared on core that does not have an associated error log.
• A problem was fixed for the system going into Safe Mode after a run-time deconfiguration of a processor core,  resulting in slower performance.  For this problem to occur, there must be a second fault  in the Power Management complex after the processor core has been deconfigured.
• A problem was  fixed for service processor resets confusing the wakeup state of  processor cores, resulting in degraded cores that cannot be managed for power usage.  This will result in the system consuming more power, but also running slower due to the inability to make use of WOF optimizations around the cores.  The degraded  processor cores can be recovered by a re-IPL of the system.
• A problem was  fixed for incorrect Resource Identification (RID) numbers for the  Analog Power Subsystem Sweep (APSS) chip, used by OCC to tune the processor frequency.  Any error call-out on the APSS may call out the wrong APSS.
• A problem was fixed for the On-Chip Controller (OCC) MAX memory bandwidth sensor sometimes having values that are too high.
• A problem was fixed for DDR4 memory training in the IPL to improve the DDR4 write margin.  Lesser write margins can potentially cause memory errors.
• A problem was fixed for a system failure with SRC B700F103 that can occur if a shared-mode SR-IOV adapter is moved from a high-performance slot to a lower performance slot.   This problem can be avoided by disabling shared mode on the SR-IOV adapter; moving the adapter;  and then re-enabling shared mode.
• A problem was fixed for the system going to Safe Mode if all the cores of a processor are lost at run-time.
• A problem was fixed for a Core Management Engine (CME) fault causing a system failure with SRC B700F105 if processor cores had been guarded during the IPL.
  
• A problem was fixed for a Core Management Engine (CME) fault that could result in a system checkstop.
  
• A problem was fixed for a missing error log for the case of the TPM card not being detected when it is required for a trusted boot.
• A problem was fixed for a flood of BC130311 SRCs that could occur when changing Energy Scale Power settings, if the Power Management is in a reset loop because of errors.
• A problem was fixed for coherent accelerator processor proxy (CAPP) unit  errors being called out as CEC hardware Subsystem instead of  PROCESSOR_UNIT.
• A problem was fixed for a repeating failover for the service processors if a TPM card had failed and been replaced.  The TPM update was not synchronized to the backup service processor, creating a situation where a service processor failover could fail and retry because of mismatched TPM capabilities.
• A problem was fixed for an incorrect processor callout on a memory channel error that causes a CHIFIR[61] checkstop on the processor.
• A problem was fixed for a Logical LAN (l-lan) device failing to boot when there is a UDP packet checksum error.  With the fix, there is a new option when configuring a l-lan port in SMS to enable or disable the UDP checksum validation.  If the adapter is already providing the checksum validation, then the l-lan port needs to have its validation disabled.
• A problem was fixed for a power fault causing a power guard of a node, but leaving the node configured.  This can cause redundant logging of errors as operations are continued to be attempted on failed hardware.
• A problem was fixed for missing error logs for hardware faults if the hypervisor terminates before the faults can be processed.  With the fix, the hardware attentions for the bad FRUs will get handled, prior to processing the termination of the hypervisor.
  
• A problem was fixed for the diagnostics for a system boot checkstop failing to isolate to the bad FRU if it  occurred on a non-master processor or a memory chip connected to a non-master processor.  With the fix, the  fault attentions from a non-master processor are properly isolated to the failing chip so it can be guarded or recovered as needed to allow the IPL to continue.
• A problem was fixed for Hostboot error log IDs (EID) getting reused from one IPL to the next, resulting in error logs getting suppressed (missing)  for new problems on the subsequent IPLs if they have a re-used EID that was already present in the service processor error logs.
• A problem was fixed so the green USB active LED is lit for the service processor that is in the primary role.  Without the fix, the green LED is always lit for the service processor in the C3 position which is FSP-A,  regardless of the role of the service processor.
• A problem was fixed for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) partition migration to preserve the Secure Boot setting on the target partition.  Secure Boot is supported in FW920 and later partitions.  If the Secure Boot setting is non-zero for the partition, it will zero after the migration.
  
• A problem was fixed for an SR-IOV adapter using the wrong Port VLAN ID (PVID) for a logical port  (VF) when its non-zero PVID could be changed following a network install using the logical port.
  This fix updates adapter firmware to 11.2.211.32  for the following Feature Codes: EN15,  EN17, 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/en/POWER9/p9efd/p9efd_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 SMS ping failure for a SR-IOV adapter VF with a non-zero Port VLAN ID (PVID).  This failure may occur after the partition with the adapter has been booted to AIX, and then rebooted back to SMS.  Without the fix, residue information from the AIX boot is retained for the VF that should have been cleared.
• A problem was fixed for a SR-IOV adapter vNIC configuration error that did not provide a proper SRC to help resolve the issue of the boot device not pinging in SMS due to maximum transmission unit (MTU) size mismatch in the configuration.  The use of a vNIC backing device does not allow configuring VFs for jumbo frames when the Partition Firmware configuration for the adapter (as specified on the HMC) does not support jumbo frames.  When this happens, the vNIC adapter will fail to ping in SMS and thus cannot be used as a boot device.  With the fix,  the vNIC driver configuration code is now checking the vNIC login (open) return code so it can issue an SRC when the open fails for a MTU  issue (such as  jumbo frame mismatch) or for some other reason.  A jumbo frame is an Ethernet frame with a payload greater than the standard MTU of 1,500 bytes and can be as large as 9,000 bytes.
• A problem was fixed for three bad lanes causing a memory channel  fail on the DMI interface.  With the fix, the errors on the third lane on the DMI interface will  be recovered and it will continue to be used as long as it functions.
• A problem was fixed for Power Management errors occurring at higher ambient temperatures that should instead be handled by dynamic adjustments to the processor voltages and frequencies.  The Power Management errors can cause the system to drop into Sate Mode which will provide lower performance until the system is re-IPLed.
• A problem was fixed for preventing loss of function on an SR-IOV adapter with an 8MB adapter firmware image if it is placed into SR-IOV shared mode.  The 8MB image is not supported at the FW920.20 firmware level.  With the fix, the adapter with the 8MB image is rejected with an error without an attempt to load the older 4MB image on the adapter which could damage it.  This problem affects the following  SR-IOV adapters:  #EC2R/#EC2S with CCIN 58FA; and  #EC2T/#EC2U with CCIN 58FB.
• A problem was fixed for incorrect recovery from a service processor mailbox error that was causing the system IPL to fail with the loss of all the PCIe links.  If this occurs, the system will normally re-IPL successfully.
• A problem was fixed for SR-IOV adapter failures when running in shared mode in a Huge Dynamic DMA Window (HDDW) slot.  I/O slots are enabled with HDDW by using the I/O Adapter Enlarged Capacity setting in the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).   This problem can be circumvented by moving the SR-IOV adapter to a non-HDDW slot, or alternatively, disabling HDDW on the system.
• A problem was fixed for system termination for a re-IPL with power on with SRC B181E540 logged.  The system can be recovered by powering off and then IPLing.  This problem occurs infrequently and can be avoided by powering off the system between IPLs.
• A problem was fixed for bad DDR4 DIMMs that fail initialization but are not guarded or called out, causing a system node to fail during a IPL.
  

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• 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 retried.
• 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.
• A problem was fixed for an AIX partition not showing the location codes for the USB controller and ports T1  and T2.  When displaying location codes with OS commands or at the SMS menus, the location of the USB controller (C13) is missing and ports T1 and T2 are swapped.
• On a system with a Cloud Management Console and a HMC Cloud Connector, a problem was fixed for memory leaks in the Redfish server causing Out of Memory (OOM) resets of the service processor.
• On a system with a partition with dedicated processors that are set to allow processor sharing with "Allow when partition is active" or "Allow always", a problem was fixed for a potential system hang if the partition is booting or shutting down while Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO) is running.  As a work-around to the problem, the processor sharing can be turned off before running DPO, or avoid starting or shutting down dedicated partitions with processor sharing while DPO is active.
• On a system with an AMS 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 Active Memory Sharing (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.
  

• GA Level