Power8 System Firmware

Applies to:   8408-44E

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 E850C (8408-44E) 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:  V8 R8.5.0 Service pack 1 (PTF MH01633) with ifix (PTF MH01663) or higher.

NOTE:  To use Repair and Verify or other functions for the E850C,  HMC V8 R8.6.0 is required,  this level can be obtained from IBM Service prior to Nov 18, 2016,  or Fix Central on or after Nov 18, 2016.                

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.

2.1 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.

2.2 Concurrent Firmware Updates

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

2.3 DPSS Updates

The DPSS updates occur if there is a DPSS image change  between the current firmware level and the new firmware level. 
If there is a change and the code update is concurrent, the DPSS update is delayed to the next IPL of the CEC and it will cause an additional 18 to 20 minutes to be added on to the IPL for the power on step.  On the HMC, DPSS code update progress codes will be displayed but they are often overwritten by the HMC connecting state with  "No Connection" status message.
If there is a change and the code update is disruptive, the DPSS update occurs during the code update when it does a reset/reload of the service processor to activate the new code level.  When the service processor is resetting to service processor stand-by state, it will code update the DPSS and add 18 to 20 minutes to this transition.  On the HMC, DPSS code update progress codes will be displayed but they are often overwritten by the HMC  connecting state with "No Connection" status message.

New DPSS code update progress codes:

C100C300 = The FSP firmware has started the DPSS download application.
C100C301 = The DPSS download application is waiting for appropriate interface devices to be configured and ready.
C100C302 = The DPSS download application is reading the DPSS image information for system type and revision checks.
C100C303 = The DPSS download application has determined that this system type has a single DPSS.
C100C304 = The DPSS download application has determined that this system type has multiple DPSS devices.
C100C310 = The DPSS download application has started checking if a DPSS device will require an image download.
C100C311 = The DPSS download application is reading the revision information from a DPSS device.
C100C312 = The DPSS download application is checking the system power state (on or off).
C100C313 =  The DPSS download application is resetting the DPSS download lockout line to allow an image to be written.
C100C314 =  The DPSS download application is configuring the interfaces used to write the DPSS image.
C100C315 =  The DPSS download application is locking out other FSP applications from DPSS IIC communications.
C100C320 =  The DPSS download application is writing the DPSS image on a single DPSS system type.
C100C321 =  The DPSS download application has successfully written the DPSS image on a single DPSS system type.
C100C330 =  The DPSS download application is writing the DPSS image via SPI interface (one of multiple DPSS devices).
C100C331 =  The DPSS download application has successfully written a DPSS image via the SPI interface.
C100C340 =  The DPSS download application is unlocking the DPSS IIC interface to allow other FSP applications to communicate with the DPSS.
C100C350 =  The DPSS download application is verifying that the new DPSS image is written correctly and functioning.
C100C360 =  The DPSS download application is updating the FSP registry information to indicate current DPSS revision(s) and type(s).
C100C3FA = The DPSS download application has encountered a failure in communicating with a DPSS or updating a DPSS image.
C100C3FF = The DPSS download application has finished and is exiting normally.

2.4 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:

01SVxxx_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, 01SV830_040_040 and 01SV840_040_045 are different service packs.

An installation is disruptive if:

            Example: Currently installed release is 01SV840_040_040, new release is 01SV850_050_050.

            Example: SV830_040_040 is disruptive, no matter what level of SV830 is currently installed on the system.

            Example: Currently installed service pack is SV830_040_040 and new service pack is SV830_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 SV830_040_040, new service pack is SV830_071_040.

3.1 Firmware Information and Description

 
Filename Size Checksum
01SV860_039_039.rpm
 94754121
 14889

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 01SV860_039_039.rpm

SV840
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/SVQ-Firmware-Hist.html
SV860_039_039 / FW860.00

11/02/16		 Impact:  New      Severity:  New

New Features and Functions

NOTE:
  • GA Level
    Four FW840 features that have been disabled for the 860.00 GA are listed below.  These will be re-enabled for the 860.10 service pack:
    1. Support disabled for Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operations.
    2. Support disabled for partition Suspend and Resume from the HMC.
    3. Support disabled for partition Remote Restart.
    4. Support disabled for PowerVM vNIC. PowerVM vNIC combined many of the best features of SR-IOV and PowerVM SEA to provide a network solution with options for advanced functions such as Live Partition Mobility along with better performance and I/O efficiency when compared to PowerVM SEA.  In addition PowerVM vNIC provided users with bandwidth control (QoS) capability by leveraging SR-IOV logical ports as the physical interface to the network.
  • New features that have been disabled: vNIC failover; new redundant path LPM  function;  and  PCIe cable recovery on a link to the PCIe3 expansion drawer.
  • Do not use the following functions.  They are not disabled but should not be used as the implementations and testing has not been completed for 860.00: 
    1. SMS SAS I/O Information utility.  If a non-SCDD (Self Configuring Device Data) drive is attached to a controller and the utility is used to look at devices attached to the controller, a Default Catch condition will occur due to a partition firmware data stack underflow.  This utility is accessed by selecting option 3 (I/O Device Information) from the main SMS menu, and then selecting option 2 (SAS Device Information).
    2. 32TB Max Memory Enablement for partitions. 
    3. PowerVM NovaLink enhancements.  For more information, refer to IBM Knowledge Center:  http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8eig/p8eig_kickoff.htm
    4. PowerVM  change to support HDDW using 64K pages
    5. IBM Power System E850(8408-44E) concurrent add of the PCIe expansion drawer (#EMX0). 
    6. IBM Power System E850(8408-84E) concurrent add of PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for PCIe3 Expansion Drawer (F/C  #EJ08)
    7. Enforcement of limits to IBM i support on IBM Power System S822 (8284-22A)
    8. Dynamic TCE memory allocation for SR-IOV adapters
    9. Dynamic Toggle of SRR
    10. Power Boot List Management Platform Support
    11. SAP HANA (#EPVR) enhancements - Solution edition for SAP HANA 3.65 GHz + 12 Activations
    12. HMC new gui enhancements
    13. LPAR DR Restart
    14. HMC override for Port vs LUN level validation
    15. SNMP traps for system state
    16. HMC Option to boot without IPv6 Support
    17. PCIe3 3D Graphics Adapter x16 (#EC51) boot support (for Linux only)
    18. Non-volatile Memory Express (NVMe) boot
    19. Service processor security updates
    20. vHMC support for DHCP server configuration
  • Support for the IBM Power System E850 (8408-44E).  Similar in many respects to the 8408-E8E but upgraded with faster processors (4.223GHz, 10C 3.957GHz, 12C 3.658GHz ) with a maximum of 48 cores and an upgrade in memory to DDR4 with expanded capacity to 4 TB with 128 GB Dimms available.  As with 8408-E8E, there is no IBM i  or OPAL support.  Operating System offerings for PowerVM partitions are AIX and Linux (RHEL, SLES, and Ubuntu).

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: SV830_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: SVxxx_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/SVQ-Firmware-Hist.html