Power7 System Firmware

Applies to: 9117-MMC and 9179-MHC

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

Contents

1.0 Systems Affected

This package provides firmware for Power 770 (9117-MMC)  and Power 780 (9179-MHC)  servers only.

The firmware level in this package is:

1.1 Minimum HMC Code Level

This section is intended to describe the "Minimum HMC Code Level" required by the System Firmware to complete the firmware installation process. When installing the System Firmware, the HMC level must be equal to or higher than the "Minimum HMC Code Level" before starting the system firmware update.  If the HMC managing the server targeted for the System Firmware update is 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 R7.4.0 (PTF MH01273 or MH01274) with PTF MH01275 (Mandatory efix).

Although the Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is listed above,  HMC level V7 R7.4.0 with PTF MH01297 (Service Pack 1), or higher is suggested for this firmware level.

For information concerning HMC releases and the latest PTFs,  go to the following URL to access Fix Central.

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

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

NOTES:
                -You must be logged in as hscroot in order for the firmware installation to complete correctly.
                - Systems Director Management Console (SDMC) does not support this System Firmware level.

2.0 Important Information

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.

IPv6 Support and Limitations

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

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

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

Concurrent Firmware Updates

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

Memory Considerations for Firmware Upgrades

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

Additional information can be found at:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/topic/p7hat/iphatlparmemory.htm

3.0 Firmware Information and Description

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

For systems that are not managed by an HMC, the installation of system firmware is always disruptive.

Note: The concurrent levels of system firmware may, on occasion, contain fixes that are known as Deferred 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:

01AMXXX_YYY_ZZZ

NOTE: Values of service pack and last disruptive service pack level (YYY and ZZZ) are only unique within a release level (XXX). For example, 01AM720_067_045 and 01AM740_067_053 are different service packs.

An installation is disruptive if:

Example: Currently installed release is AM710, new release is AM720 Example: AM720_120_120 is disruptive, no matter what level of AM720 is currently installed on the system Example: Currently installed service pack is AM720_120_120 and new service pack is AM720_152_130

An installation is concurrent if:

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

Example: Currently installed service pack is AM720_126_120,  new service pack is AM720_143_120.

Firmware Information and Update Description

 
Filename Size Checksum
01AM740_077_042.rpm 41044900 04642

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 01AM740_077_042.rpm

AM740
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

The complete Firmware Fix History for this Release Level can be reviewed at the following url:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/AM-IOC-Firmware-Hist.html
AM740_077_042

03/06/12		 Impact: Availability    Severity: HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • The firmware was enhanced to log SRC 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.
AM740_075_042

02/20/12		 Impact: Availability    Severity: HIPER - High Impact/PERvasive, Should be installed as soon as possible.

New features and functions

  • Support for concurrent hot add/repair maintenance (CHARM) operations on models MHC and MMC.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • 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.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRCs B181843C and B181EF88 to be logged erroneously, and a service processor dump to be generated unnecessarily.
  • 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 SRCs B7006790 and B7006A21 to be erroneously logged.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRCs 11001512 and 11001522 to be erroneously logged during a field replaceable unit (FRU) replacement or service processor reset.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC B18138B4 to be erroneously logged when the system is rebooted.
  • The firmware was enhanced to provide a more complete list of field replaceable units (FRUs) for SRCs B1xxC803, B1xxC804, and B1xxC829.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented a node from being deconfigured manually using the  Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
  • A problem was fixed that caused the system to fail to boot with SRC B1xxB507.
  • A problem was fixed the caused system fans to be erroneously called out as failing.
  • A problem was fixed that caused SRC B7000602 to be erroneously logged at power on.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • HIPER/Non pervasive:  On systems with PCI adapters in a feature code (F/C) 5802 or 5877 I/O drawer assigned to a Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), and on systems with the I/O adapters in a CEC drawer assigned to a VIOS, a problem was fixed that caused the system to crash with SRC B700F103.
  • HIPER/Non pervasive:  On systems running the Trusted Boot feature of the PowerSC Standard Edition, a problem was fixed that caused the system to hang.
  • 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.
  • On systems running the Trusted Boot feature of the PowerSC Standard Edition, a problem was fixed that prevented an inactive partition from being migrated when the partition did not have enough memory to boot.  The migration of an inactive partition should be allowed in this case.
  • On systems running the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), a problem was fixed that caused SRCs HSCL294C and HSCLB308 to be logged on the management console, and the operation to fail, if an attempt was made to add Virtual Station Interface (VSI) configuration information to a virtual Ethernet adapter that was already running.
  • 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 systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS), a problem was fixed the caused an "Error in Pager device driver" message to be erroneously logged during a successful partition migration.
  • The firmware was enhanced to reduce the time between the completion of partition migration and the target system's reporting that the migration is complete.
  • On systems on which the Active Energy Manager (AEM) is running, a problem was fixed that caused the AEM to report the standby power usage of a system was 0 watts.
  • On systems with more than one drawer and service processor failover enabled, a problem was fixed that caused SRCs  B121C770 and B150B10C to be erroneously logged.
  • On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS), the allocation of the memory was enhanced to improve performance.
  • On systems with Active Memory Mirroring (AMM) configured, a problem was fixed that caused a logical partition migration (LPM) to fail.
  • On systems using affinity groups, a problem was fixed that prevented one of the partitions from being placed correctly.
  • On systems or logical partitions with a large number of virtual processors, a performance problem was fixed that prevented the utilization of the entitled capacity of partitions. 
  • On 9117-MMC and 9179-MHC systems without an optional GX adapter, a problem was fixed that caused the system fans to ramp up to their maximum speed.

4.0 How to Determine Currently Installed Firmware Level

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

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

5.0 Downloading the Firmware Package

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

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

6.0 Installing the Firmware

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

Example: AMXXX_YYY_ZZZ

Where XXX = release level

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

IBM i Systems:
See "IBM Server Firmware and HMC Code Wizard":
http://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/slkbase.NSF/DocNumber/408316083

NOTE: For all systems running with the IBM i Operating System, the following IBM i PTFs must be applied to all IBM i partitions prior to installing AM740_077:
These PTFs can be ordered through Fix Central.

7.0 Firmware History

The complete Firmware Fix History for this Release level can be reviewed at the following url:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/AM-IOC-Firmware-Hist.html

8.0 Change History

Date
 Description
Mar 08, 2012
 Updated Service Pack severity from SPE (SPEcial Attention) to HIPER since this level AM740_077 replaces level AM740_075 which was HIPER.