Power6 Entry Systems Firmware

Applies to: 8204-E8A, 8203-E4A,  8261-E4S,  9407-M15, 9408-M25 and 9409-M50

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

Contents

1.0 Systems Affected

This package provides firmware for System p 550 (8204-E8A), System p 520 (8203-E4A), 8261-E4S, System i 550 (8204-E8A), System i 520 (8203-E4A),  System i 515 (9407-M15), System i 525 (9408-M25), System i 550 (9409-M50), Power 520 and Power 550 servers only.

The firmware level in this package is:

This level of firmware is required on systems not managed by an HMC.

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 running a code level lower than the "Minimum HMC Code Level" the firmware update will not proceed.

The Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is:  HMC V7 R3.5.0 Service Pack 1 ( PTF MH01212) and MH01217 (or higher).

Although the Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is listed above,  HMC level V7 R3.5.0 with PTF MH01238 (Service Pack 3), or higher is suggested for this firmware level.

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

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/

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

1.2 Minimum SDMC Code Level

This section is intended to describe the "Minimum Systems Director Management Console (SDMC) Code Level" required by the System Firmware to complete the firmware installation process. When installing the System Firmware, the SDMC level must be equal to or higher than the "Minimum SDMC Code Level" before starting the system firmware update.  If the SDMC managing the server targeted for the System Firmware update is running a code level lower than the "Minimum SDMC Code Level" the firmware update will not proceed.

The Minimum SDMC Code level for this firmware is:  SDMC V6 R7.3.0 with Mandatory PTF MF53082.

For information concerning SDMC 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

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.

This level of firmware is required on systems not managed by an HMC or SDMC

For model 8203-E4A, 8261-E4S, 9407-M15, 9408-M25 systems, and 8204-E8A, 9409-M50 systems, that are not managed by an HMC, this is the required level of EL350 firmware.  This level contains a fix for the system ports (integrated serial ports) that are not functional in EL350_038.  ASCII terminals, modems, and the call home function are functional in this level.

Upgrading from EL320_031 to EL350_xxx

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

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

IBM strongly recommends updating to System Firmware level EL350_039 or later as this firmware provides improved reliability to the 8204-E8A and 9409-M50 servers. One enhancement prevents accumulation of single bit errors in the memory used to store System Firmware by periodically correcting single bit errors automatically. If a significant number of such errors were to accumulate, the server may not boot successfully after main power is lost or removed. We strongly recommend customers update both the Temporary and Permanent copies of System Firmware when performing this upgrade. Updating both the Temporary and Permanent copies allows both memory areas to be corrected. It is critical the System Firmware update uses one of the two methods listed below. Updating System Firmware from the operating system may not correct all existing single bit errors.

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

For servers that are not managed by an HMC or SDMC

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

2.2 Important Information

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 or SDMC - Managed Systems only.

Memory Considerations for Firmware Upgrades

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

3.0 Firmware Information and Description

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

For systems that are not managed by an HMC or SDMC, 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 and/or Partition-Deferred. Deferred fixes can be installed concurrently, but will not be activated until the next IPL. Partition-Deferred fixes can be installed concurrently, but will not be activated until a partition reactivate is performed. Deferred and/or Partition-Deferred fixes, if any, will be identified in the "Firmware Update Descriptions" table of this document. For these types of fixes (Deferred and/or Partition-Deferred) within a service pack, only the fixes in the service pack which cannot be concurrently activated are deferred.

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

System firmware file naming convention:

01ELXXX_YYY_ZZZ

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

An installation is disruptive if:

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

An installation is concurrent if:

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

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

Firmware Information and Update Description

For information about previous firmware release levels, see Section 7.0 Firmware History.

 
Filename Size Checksum
01EL350_107_038.rpm 24435055
 24466

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 01EL350_107_038.rpm

EL350
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
EL350_107_038

06/06/11

 Impact:  Availability        Severity:  ATT

New Features and Functions

  • Support for the attachment of a System Director Management Console (SDMC).

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • PARTITION-DEFERRED:  A problem was fixed that prevented virtual LANs (VLANs) in a VIOS with partition ID of 1 from being displayed as bootable devices in the system management services (SMS) menus.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented a hardware management console (HMC) from being permanently disconnected using the Advanced System Management Services (ASMI) menus.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented the timed-power-on command from turning the system back on if the service processor's clock was adjusted to an earlier time.  Adjustment of the service processor's clock could have been done through the operating system or the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).  This problem could occur during the fall when clocks are set back when daylight saving time ends, for example.
  • A problem was fixed that caused certain service processor error log entries with a severity of "predictive", and a failing subsystem of "service processor firmware", to be erroneously converted to "informational".
  • 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 firmware installation to fail with SRC B181EF7C.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented processor resources from being moved to another partition by a DLPAR (dynamic LPAR) operation.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented partitions from booting.
  • 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 could cause the target partition to crash after a successful P6 to P7 partition migration.  Possible AIX error log entries include:  label: DSI_PROC, resource:  SYSVMM, with description: "DATA STORAGE INTERRUPT, PROCESSOR".  Other partition-related crash descriptors may also be logged.
  • A problem was fixed that could cause AIX error log entries following a successful partition migration.  Possible AIX error log entries include: label: RTAS_ERROR, resource: sysplanar0, with description: "INTERNAL ERROR CODE".  Other errors may also be logged.
  • 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.
  • A problem was fixed that caused multiple DR_DMA_MIGRATE_FAIL entries in the AIX error log.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the installation of some versions of Linux to fail.
  • A problem was fixed that caused a partition migration or partition hibernation operation to hang with the partition left in the "suspending" state.
  • The firmware was enhanced to log SRC B1768B76 as informational instead of unrecoverable.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • On systems running Advanced Memory Sharing (AMS), a problem was fixed that caused an AMS partition to crash with SRC B700F103.  This problem may occur when reducing the size of the AMS pool (or doing a hot node repair on a model MMB or MHB) at the same time as dynamically creating an AMS partition, or changing an AMS partition's maximum memory.
  • On systems using logical host Ethernet adapter (LHEA) ports, a problem was fixed that caused the activation of a partition that is using an LHEA logical port (LPORT) to hang at C2008104, and the HMC to show an Incomplete status for the system.
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O expansion drawer, a problem was fixed that caused SRC 10003144 or 10003154 to be erroneously
    logged when a repair was done on the I/O drawer.
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 or 5877 I/O expansion drawer, a problem was fixed that caused the lamp test on the HMC to turn off all of the LEDs when the test was complete instead of returning them to their original states.
  • 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 running IBM i partitions, IBM i network installation capability was not reported correctly to the HMC after installation of the firmware service pack that enabled this function without rebooting the managed system.
  • On systems running IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed that caused a RAID array of SCSI disks to be exposed if an MES upgrade was done, or a system plan was created.
  • On systems and partitions running IBM i, a problem was fixed that caused the operating system to use excessive processor cycles.
  • On systems that are not managed by an HMC, and on which a service authority partition has been designated, a problem was fixed that prevented a service processor- or hypervisor-initiated dump (service processor dump, system dump, platform resources dump, etc.) from being off-loaded to the service partition.  The problem was triggered when multiple large error, or informational, logs (greater than 2KB in size) were queued on the service processor at the time a dump was generated.
  • On systems managed by the IVM (integrated virtualization manager), a problem was fixed that caused the minimum memory for the IVM partition to drop below 512 MB.  This caused the IVM to erroneously indicate that the partition memory was not synchronized, even after the partition was rebooted.  This problem might also cause the minimum memory for other partitions to be lowered unexpectedly.
  • On systems that are not managed by an HMC, a problem was fixed that caused the service processor to hang intermittently, with progress code C1122000 displayed, if the service processor was reset, then the system was powered on using the TTY (serial port) version of the ASMI menus.
  • On systems that are managed by an HMC, 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.
  • On systems managed by an HMC, a problem was fixed that caused the managed system to go to the incomplete state on the HMC.
  • On systems with a F/C 5802 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 SPCN firmware update of the power firmware on the I/O drawer was taking place over the SPCN cables.

4.0 How to Determine Currently Installed Firmware Level

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

For SDMC managed systems:  From the SDMC Welcome page, select the desired server(s), then select Release Management, then select Power System Firmware Management. Click Gather Target Information, then view the current levels of the desired server(s). 
NOTE:  If Inventory has not previously been collected, a message will be displayed indicating to "View and Collect Inventory" to proceed.

For System i systems without an HMC or SDMC: From a command line, issue DSPFMWSTS.

For System p systems without an HMC: From a command line, issue lsmcode.

Alternately, use the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) Welcome pane. The current server firmware  appears in the top right corner. Example: EL350_107.

5.0 Downloading the Firmware Package

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

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

6.0 Installing the Firmware

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

Example: ELXXX_YYY_ZZZ

Where XXX = release level

HMC Managed Systems

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


SDMC Managed Systems:

Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades on systems managed by an SDMC can be found at:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp?topic=/dpsm/dpsm_managing_hosts/dpsm_managing_hosts_power_firmware.html


Systems not Managed by an HMC or SDMC:

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

IBM i Systems:

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


7.0 Firmware History

The Firmware History can be reviewed at the following url:

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

8.0 Change History

Date
 Description
June 27, 2011 Removed older levels from the Firmware Information and Update Description table.  Corrected a typo in the firmware history html file (link in Section 7.0) for firmware level EL350_063.
June 20, 2011
 Updates for SDMC support