Power8 System Firmware

Applies to:   9119-MHE and 9119-MME.

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 System E880 (9119-MHE ) and Power System E870 (9119-MME) 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 V8 R8.3.0 (PTF MH01513) with Mandatory efix (PTF MH01514).

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://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/9119-MHE/p8hat/p8hat_lparmemory.htm

3.0 Firmware Information

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:

01SCxxx_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, 01SC830_040_040 and 01SC840_040_045 are different service packs.

An installation is disruptive if:

            Example: Currently installed release is 01SC830_040_040, new release is 01SC840_050_050.

            Example: SC830_040_040 is disruptive, no matter what level of SC830 is currently installed on the system.

            Example: Currently installed service pack is SC830_040_040 and new service pack is SC830_050_045.

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 SC830_040_040, new service pack is SC830_071_040.

3.1 Firmware Information and Description

 
Filename Size Checksum
01SC830_048_048.rpm
 74654340
 64756

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 01SC830_048_048.rpm

SC830
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/SC-Firmware-Hist.html
SC830_048_048 / FW830.00

06/08/15		 Impact:  New      Severity:  New

New Features and Functions

NOTE:
  • POWER8 (and later) servers include an “update access key” that is checked when system firmware updates are applied to the system.  The initial update access keys include an expiration date which is tied to the product warranty. System firmware updates will not be processed if the calendar date has passed the update access key’s expiration date, until the key is replaced.  As these update access keys expire, they need to be replaced using either the Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Advanced Management Interface (ASMI) on the service processor.  Update access keys can be obtained via the key management website: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess/index.wss.
  • Support for Little Endian (LE) Linux in PowerVM.  With PowerVM LE guest support, all three Linux on Power distribution partners (SUSE, Canonical, and Red Hat) with LE operating systems can run on the same IBM Power Systems.
  • Support for allowing the PowerVM hypervisor to continue to run after the service processor has become unresponsive with a SRC B1817212.  Any active partitions will continue to run but they will not be able to be managed by the management console.  The partitions can be allowed to run until the next scheduled service window at which time the service processor can be recovered with an AC power cycle or a pin-hole reset from the operator panel.  This error condition would only be seen on a system that had been running with a single service processor (no redundancy for the service processor).
  • Support for three and four node configurations of the E880 (9119-MHE) system.
  • Support for an increase of the maximum number of PCIe 3 I/O expansion drawers (#EMX0) that can be attached to an E870 /E880 node from two to four.
  • Support for Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) that enables the hypervisor to share a SR-IOV-capable PCI-Express adapter across multiple partitions. Twelve ethernet adapters are supported with the SR-IOV NIC capability, when placed in the P8 system  (SR-IOV supported in both native mode and through VIOS):
    - PCIe3  4-port 10GbE SR Adapter                           (F/C EN15 and CCIN 2CE3)
    - PCIe3  4-port 10GbE SR Adapter                         (F/C EN16 and CCIN 2CE3).  Fits E870/E880 system node PCIe slot.
    - PCIe3  4-port 10GbE SFP+ Copper Adapter                    (F/C EN17 and CCIN 2CE4)
    - PCIe3  4-port 10GbE SFP+ Copper Adapter                    (F/C EN18 and CCIN 2CE4).  Fits E870/E880 system node PCIe slot.
    - PCIe2  4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45 SFP+ Adapter        (F/C EN0H and CCIN 2B93)
    - PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45  SFP+ Adapter        (F/C EN0J and CCIN 2B93)
    - PCIe2 LP Linux 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SR and RJ45 SFP+ Adapter       (F/C EL38 and CCIN 2B93)
    - PCIe2  4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) LR and RJ45 Adapter             (F/C EN0M and CCIN 2CC0)
    - PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) LR and RJ45 Adapter              (F/C EN0N and CCIN 2CC0)
     -PCIe2  4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SFP+Copper and RJ45 Adapter        (F/C EN0K and CCIN 2CC1)
    - PCIe2 LP 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1GbE) SFP+Copper and RJ45    Adapter        (F/C EN0L and CC IN 2CC1)
    - PCIe2 LP Linux 4-port (10Gb FCoE & 1Gb Ethernet) SFP+Copper and RJ45    (F/C EL3C and CCIN 2CC1)
    These adapters each have four ports, and all four ports are enabled with SR-IOV function. The entire adapter (all four ports) is configured for SR-IOV or none of the ports is.
    System firmware updates the adapter firmware level on these adapters to 10.2.252.16 when a supported adapter is placed into SR-IOV mode.
    Support for SR-IOV adapter sharing is now available for adapters in the PCIe3 I/O Expansion Drawer with F/C #EMX0.
    SR-IOV NIC on the Power P8 systems is supported by:
        - AIX 6.1 TL9 SP4 and APAR IV63331, or later
        - AIX 7.1 TL3 SP4 and APAR IV63332, or later
        - IBM i 7.1 TR8, or later (Supported on S824/S814)
        - IBM i 7.2  or later  (Supported on S824/S814)
        - IBM i 7.1 TR9, or later (Supported on E870/E880)
        - IBM i 7.2 TR1, or later  (Supported on E870/E880)
                - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 or later ( Supported on E870/E880/S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L except for adapters with F/Cs EN15/EN16/EN17/EN18)
        - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6, or later (Supported on E850 and minimum level needed for adapters with F/Cs EN15/EN16/EN17/EN18)
        - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1, or later
        - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 or later  (Supported on S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L)
        - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 or later  (Supported on E870/E880)
        - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, or later  (Supported on E850)
        - Ubuntu 15.04 or later (Supported on E850/S812L/S822/S822L/S814/S824/S824L) 
        - VIOS 2.2.3.4 with interim fix IV63331, or later
  • Support for an upgrade from 8-core processors to 12-core processors for the E880 (9119-MHE) system.
  • Support for adjusting voltage regulators input voltage dynamically based on regulator slave failures to achieve the optimal voltage for system operation for normal and degraded conditions.
System firmware changes that affect all systems
  • A problem was fixed to eliminate unneeded guard data from call home messages for the cases where there is no hardware error in the system.
  • On systems with redundant service processors, a problem was fixed in the run-time error failover to the backup service processor so it does not terminate on FRU support interface (FSI) errors.  In the case of FSI errors on the new primary service processor, the primary will do a reset/reload instead of a terminate.
  • A problem was fixed to call home guarded FRUs on each IPL.  Only the initial failure of the hardware was being reported to the error log.
  • Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) USB menu to allow a system dump to be collected to USB with the power on to the system.  This allows the dump to be collected with the system memory state intact.
  • A problem was fixed for the service processor error log handling that caused SRC B150BAC5 errors when converting a error log entry from an object into a flattened array of bytes.
  • A problem was fixed that prevented a second management console from being added to the CEC.  In some cases, network outages caused defunct management console connection entries to remain in the service processor connection table,  making connection slots unavailable for new management consoles  A reset of the service processor could be used to remove the defunct entries.
  • A problem was fixed to eliminate a false error log and call home for a SRC1100154F fan fault caused by an unplugged power cable.
  • A problem was fixed for a highly intermittent IPL failure with SRC B18187D9 caused by a defunct attention handler process.  For this problem, the IPL will continue to fail until the service processor is reset.
    A problem was fixed for missing FRU information in SRC 11001515.   SRC 11001515 was logged indicating replacement of power supply hardware, but did not include the location code, the part number, the CCIN, or the serial number.
  • A problem was fixed for systems with a corrupted date of "1900" showing for the Update Access Key (UAK).  The firmware update is allowed to proceed on systems with a bad UAK date because the fix is in an emergency service pack.  After the fix is installed, the user should correct the UAK date, if needed, by using the original UAK key for the system.  On the Management Console,  enter the original update access key via the "Enter COD Code" panel. Or on the Advanced System Manager Interface (ASMI),  enter the original update access key via the "On Demand Utilities/COD Activation" panel.
  • A problem with concurrent PCIe adapter maintenance was fixed that caused On-Chip Controller (OCC) resets with SRCs logged of B18B2616 and BC822029, forcing the system into safe mode (processor voltage/frequency reduced to a "safe" level where thermal monitoring is not required).  Recovery from safe mode requires a system re-IPL.
  • A problem was fixed for I/O adapters so that BA400002 errors were changed to informational for memory boundary adjustments made to the size of DMA map-in requests.  These DMA size adjustments were marked as UE previously for a condition that is normal.
System firmware changes that affect certain systems
  • On systems in PowerVM mode, a problem was fixed for unresponsive PCIe adapters after a partition power off or a partition reboot.
  • On systems using Virtual Shared Processor Pools (VSPP), a problem was fixed for an inaccurate pool idle count over a small sampling period.
  • On systems with partitions using shared processors, a problem was fixed that could result in latency or timeout issues with I/O devices.
  • On systems using PowerVM,  a problem was fixed for a hypervisor deadlock that results in the system being in a "Incomplete state" as seen on the management console.  This deadlock is the result of two hypervisor tasks using the same locking mechanism for handling requests between the partitions and the management console.  Except for the loss of the management console control of the system, the system is operating normally when the "Incomplete state" occurs.
  • On systems with memory mirroring enabled, a problem was fixed for PowerVM over-estimating its memory needs, allowing more memory to be used by the partitions.
  • On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed for the handling of the error of multiple cache hits in the instruction effective-to-real address translation cache (IERAT).  A multi-hit IERAT error was causing system termination with SRC B700F105.  The multi-hit IERAT is now recognized by the hypervisor and reported to the OS where it is handled.
  • On systems using PowerVM, a problem was fixed to allow booting off an iSCSI device.  For the failure, the partition firmware error logs had SRC BA012010 "Opening the TCP node failed." and SRC BA010013 "The information in the error log entry for this SRC provides network trace data."  The open firmware standard output trace showed SRC BA012014  "The TCP re-transmission count of 8 was exceeded. This indicates a large number of lost packets between this client and the boot or installation server" followed by SRC BA012010.
  • On systems using PowerVM, support was added for USB 2.0 HUBs so that a keyboard plugged into the USB 2.0 HUB will work correctly at the SMS menus.  Previously, a keyboard plugged into a USB 2.0 HUB was not a recognized device.

4.0 How to Determine The Currently Installed Firmware Level

You can view the server's current firmware level on the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) Welcome pane. It appears in the top right corner. Example: SC830_123.

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 USB flash memory device 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: SCxxx_yyy_zzz

Where xxx = release level

Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades can be found at http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/9119-MHE/p8ha1/updupdates.htm

IBM i Systems:

For information concerning IBM i Systems, go to the following URL to access Fix Central: 
http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

Choose "Select product", under Product Group specify "System i", under Product specify "IBM i", then Continue and specify the desired firmware PTF accordingly.

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/SC-Firmware-Hist.html

8.0 Change History

Date
 Description
October 23, 2015
 - Fix description updates for SC830_048_048 / FW830.00.
June 28, 2015 - Fix description updates for SC830_048_048 / FW830.00.
June 22, 2015 - Fix description updates for SC830_048_048 / FW830.00.
June 10, 2015 - Fix description updates for SC830_048_048 / FW830.00.