Power7 System Firmware

Applies to: 9117-MMD and 9179-MHD

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-MMD)  and Power 780 (9179-MHD)  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 R7.6.0 (PTF MH01326 or MH01327) with PTF MH01328 (Mandatory fix for HMC V7 R7.6.0).

Although the Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is listed above,  HMC level V7 R7.6.0 Service Pack 1 (PTF MH01329), 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
01AM760_044_034.rpm 41778681 31785

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 01AM760_044_034.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-IOCp-Firmware-Hist.html
AM760_044_034

11/28/12		 Impact: Availability    Severity: SPE

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • 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.
  • A problem was fixed that caused the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to produce a core dump when changing the admin user password.
  • 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 the caused the Hardware Management Console (HMC) to erroneously indicate that a partition was using hardware encryption and memory compression co-processors when those co-processors were not installed in the managed system.
  • A problem was fixed that caused various parts to be erroneously guarded out when an ac power cord was unplugged when the system was powered on.
  • A problem was fixed that caused invalid temperature sensor failures to be reported on memory DIMMs.  SRC B124B8A4 was logged when this problem occurred.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On system running the Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO), a problem was fixed that caused an incomplete status output when using the "lsmemopt" HMC CLI command.  Specifically, the "requested" and "protected" sets of partitions will appear empty in the lsmemopt output, even though the user may have explicitly specified partitions in these sets on the optmem command.
  • On systems running the virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM), a problem was fixed that caused a memory leak when a vTPM-enabled partition was disabled, migrated, or deleted.
  • On systems running IBM i, a problem was fixed that caused the P7+ random number generator to be unavailable.
  • The Power Hypervisor was enhanced to insure better synchronization of vSCSI and NPIV I/O interrupts to partitions.
AM760_034_034

10/24/12		 Impact:  New      Severity:  New

New Features and Functions

  • Support for the 9117-MMD and 9179-MHD systems.
  • On 9117-MMD and 9179-MHD systems, support for attachment of the F/C 5888 I/O drawer.
  • Support for a new processor power-saving deep-sleep mode.
  • Enablement of the encryption accelerator.
  • Enablement of the compression accelerator.
  • Support for Dynamic Platform Optimizer.
  • Support for 0.05 processor granularity.

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: AM760_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 Wizards":
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 AM760_044:
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-IOCp-Firmware-Hist.html