Power8 System Firmware

Applies to:   8247-21L; 8247-22L; 8247-42L; 8284-21A; 8284-22A; 8286-41A; 8286-42A, 8408-E8E, 8408-44E, 5148-21L and 5148-22L.

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 S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E); Power System E850C (8408-44E); Power System S812L (5148-21L) and Power System S822L (5148-22L) 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 R8.6.0 (PTF MH01654) with Mandatory efix (PTF MH01655) or higher.

Although the Minimum HMC Code level for this firmware is listed above,  HMC V8 R8.6.0 Service Pack 3 (PTF MH01711) or higher is recommended.

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

1.2 AIX iFix Required

NOTE: Does not pertain to S812L(8247-21L), S822L (8247-22L), or S824L (8247-42L) models:

For IBM Power System servers with the PCIe 2-port Async EIA-232 Adapter installed on AIX partitions, an AIX fix resolving the async port interrupt handling (APAR IV77596) must be installed before updating to the SV840_056 (FW840.00) or later level of firmware.  The ports on the adapter (feature code EN27/EN28, CCIN 57D4) may become un-usable with the installation of that firmware level due to an issue with how interrupts are handled.  Many JAS_RTS error log entries are written to the error log due to this issue.

Prior to this APAR shipping in a future Service Pack, AIX intends to publish ifixes for the latest Service Packs on all active Technology Levels on our ftp server, in ftp://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/ifixes/iv77596/ on or before Oct 13, 2015.  If you need an ifix other than the ones on this server, contact IBM support to request one for your specific situation.

The procedure is intended to be performed by the customer.  In the event that the customer has questions or concerns with the procedure, you should contact IBM Support.  Please contact IBM Support: 
US Support: 1.800.IBM.SERV
WW Support (select your country):  http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/

1.3 IBM i Minimum Levels

For IBM i customers who have systems with machine type model 8286-41A or 8286-42A, firmware update has a prerequisite on partitions running IBM i operating system that own physical I/O.

For IBM i 7.1, the following minimum code levels are prerequisites:
IBM i 7.1 TR PTF Group SF99707 Level 9 + Cumulative PTF Package C4283710 + HIPER PTF Group

For IBM i 7.2, the following minimum code levels are prerequisites:
IBM i 7.2 TR PTF Group SF99717 Level 1 + Cumulative PTF Pacakge C4276720 + HIPER PTF Group

For IBM i 7.3,
- All IBM i 7.3 code levels are compatible with this firmware update.

Note 1: These code levels are not a requirement for IBM i partitions that are a client of VIOS. 
Note 2: These IBM i code levels are listed as prerequisites for the feature code EMX0 expansion drawer.  If this firmware release has already been applied, the above IBM i code level should be applied on IBM i partitions in order to maintain system stability.

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 supported on HMC Managed Systems only.

2.3 DPSS Updates

Power 8 servers use a programmable power controller called a DPSS (Digital Power Subsystem Sweep) which is located in each system node. The DPSS is used to control P8 fan speeds, check voltage levels of the power supplies for proper level, and operation in the system node.  The DPSS image is persistent and is only reloaded if there is a system firmware update that contains a DPSS change.  If there is a DPSS change and the system firmware update is concurrent, the DPSS update is delayed to the next IPL of the CEC which will cause an additional 18 to 20 minutes to be added on to the IPL.   If there is a change and the firmware update is disruptive, then DPSS update occurs when the service processor is resetting to service processor stand-by state, and will add 18 to 20 minutes to this transition.  During the DPSS update the HMC or op-panel, will display DPSS update progress codes which may be overwritten on the HMC, but will be displayed as C100C300 thru C100C3FF.   If there is a DPSS change in a system firmware service pack, the change will be designated as deferred in the service pack README.   DPSS changes will be described along with a reminder of the 18 to 20 minute additional time in the Firmware Information and Description section in the README.

The DPSS download progress codes are documented in the IBM Knowledge Center:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8eai/C1xx_info.htm

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 md5sum
01SV860_165_165.rpm
98166089
49539
d0ccd0ed822b816d4ea485f8001e288e

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_165_165.rpm

SV860
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 following Fix description table will only contain the N (current) and N-1 (previous) levels.
The complete Firmware Fix History (including HIPER descriptions) for this Release Level can be reviewed at the following url:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/SV-Firmware-Hist.html
SV860_165_165 / FW860.51

05/22/18
Impact:  Security      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E); Power System E850C (8408-44E); Power System S812L (5148-21L) and Power System S822L (5148-22L) servers only.

Response for Recent Security Vulnerabilities

  • DISRUPTIVE:  On systems with PowerVM firmware,  In response to recently reported security vulnerabilities, this firmware update is being released to address Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue number CVE-2018-3639.  In addition, Operating System updates are required in conjunction with this FW level for CVE-2018-3639.
SV860_160_056 / FW860.50

05/03/18
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E); Power System E850C (8408-44E); Power System S812L (5148-21L) and Power System S822L (5148-22L) servers only.

New features and functions

  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, support was added to allow V9R910 and later HMC levels to query Live Partition Mobility (LPM) performance data after an LPM operation.
  • Support was added to the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) to provide customer control over speculative execution  in response to CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5715 (collectively known as Spectre) and CVE-2017-5754 (known as Meltdown).   The ASMI "System Configuration/Speculative Execution Control" provides two options that can only be set when the system is powered off:
    1) Speculative execution controls to mitigate user-to-kernel and user-to-user side-channel attacks.  This mode is designed for systems that need to mitigate exposures of the hypervisor, operating systems, and user application data to untrusted code.   This mode is set as the default.
    2) Speculative execution fully enabled:  This optional mode is designed for systems where the hypervisor, operating system, and applications can be fully trusted.
    Note:  Enabling this option could expose the system to CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017- 5715, and CVE-2017-5754.  This includes any partitions that are migrated (using Live Partition Mobility) to this system.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, support was added to allow a periodic data capture from the PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (with feature code #EMX0) cable card links.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and an IBM i partition,  support was added for multipliers for IBM i MATMATR fields that are limited to four characters.  When retrieving Server metrics via IBM MATMATR calls, and the system contains greater than 9999 GB, for example, MATMATR has an architected "multiplier" field such that 10,000 GB can be represented by 5,000 GB * Multiplier of 2, so '5000' and '2' are returned  in the quantity and multiplier fields, respectively, to handle these extended values.  The IBM i OS also requires a PTF to support the MATMATR field multipliers.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

  • A problem was fixed in which deconfigured-resource records can become malformed and cause the loss of service processor for both redundant and non-redundant service processor systems.  These failures can occur during or after firmware updates to the FW860.40, FW860.41, or FW860.42 levels.  The complete loss of service processor results in the loss of HMC (or FSP stand-alone) management of the server and loss of any further error logging.  The server itself will continue to run.  Without the fix, the loss of the service processor could happen within one month of the deconfiguration records being encountered.  It is highly recommended to install the fix.  Recovery from the problem, once encountered, requires a full server AC power cycle and clearing of deconfiguration records to avoid reoccurrence.  Clearing deconfiguration records exposes the server to repeat hardware failures and possible unplanned outages.
  • A problem was fixed for the guard reminder processing of garded FRUs and error logs that can cause a system power off to hang and time out with a  service processor reset.
  • A problem was fixed for the wrong Redfish method (PATCH or POST) passed for a valid Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) causing an incorrect error message of " 501 - Not Implemented".  With the fix, the message returned is "Invalid Method on URI" which is more helpful to the user.
  • A problem was fixed for SRC call home reminders for bad FRUs causing service processor dumps with SRC B181E911 and reset/reloads.  This occurred if the FRU callout was missing a CCIN number in the error log.  This can happen because some error logs only have have "Symbolic FRUs" and these were not being handled correctly.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • DEFERRED: On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (with feature code #EMX0) where control path stability issues may cause certain SRCs to be logged.  Systems using copper cables may log SRC B7006A87 or similar SRCs, and the fanout module may fail to become active.  Systems using optical cables may log SRC of B7006A22 or similar SRCs.  For this problem, the errant I/O drawer may be recovered by a re-IPL of the system.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Coherent Accelerator Processor Proxy (CAPP) unit hardware failure that caused a hypervisor hang with SRC B7000602.  This failure is very rare and can only occur during the early IPL of the hypervisor, before any partitions are started.   A re-IPL will recover from the problem.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration hang that could occur if one of its VIOS Mover Service Partitions (MSPs) goes into a failover at the start of the LPM operation.  This problem is rare because it requires a MSP error to force a MSP failover at the very start of the LPM migration to get the LPM timing error.  The LPM hang can be recovered by using the "migrlpar -o s" and "migrlpar -o r" commands on the HMC.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for incorrect low affinity scores for a partition reported from the HMC "lsmemopt" command when a partition has filled an entire drawer.  A low score indicates the placement is poor but in this case the placement is actually good.  More information on affinity scores for partitions and the Dynamic Platform Optimizer can be found at the IBM Knowledge Center:  https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hat/p8hat_dpoovw.htm.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed to allow the management console to display the Active Memory Mirroring (AMM) licensed capability.  Without the fix, the AMM licensed capability of a server will always show as "off" on the management console, even when it is present.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a rare hypervisor hang for systems with shared processors with a sharing mode of uncapped.  If this hang occurs, all partitions of the system will become unresponsive and the HMC will go to an "Incomplete" state.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a Live Partition Mobility migration abort that could occur if one of its VIOS Mover Service Partitions (MSPs) goes into a failover during the LPM operation.  This problem is rare because it requires a MSP error to force a MSP failover during the LPM migration to get the LPM timing error.  The LPM abort can be recovered by retrying the LPM migration.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and a shared processor pool, a very rare problem was fixed for the hypervisor not responding to partition requests such as power off and LIve Partiton Mobility (LPM).  This error is caused by a request for a guard of a failed processor (when there are not any available spare processors) that has hung.
  • On systems using PowerVM firmware with mirrored memory running IBM i partitions, a problem was fixed for un-mirrored nodal memory errors in the partition that also caused the system to crash.   With the fix, the memory failure is isolated to the impacted partition, leaving the rest of the system unaffected.  This fix improves on an earlier fix delivered for  IBM i memory errors  in FW840.60 by handling the errors in nodal memory.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and Huge Page (16 GB) memory enabled for a AIX partition,  a problem was fixed for the OS failing to boot with an 0607 SRC displayed.  This error occurs on systems with  FW860.40, FW860.41 or FW860.42 installed.  To circumvent the problem, disable Huge Pages for the AIX  partition.  For information on viewing and setting values for AIX huge-page memory allocation, see the following link in the IBM Knowledge Center: https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER8/p8hat/p8hat_aixviewhgpgmem.htm
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and an IBM i partition, a problem was fixed for 64 bytes overwritten in a portion of the  IBM i Main Storage Dump (MSD).  Approximately 64 bytes are overwritten just beyond the 17 MB (0x11000000) address on P8 systems.  This problem is cosmetic as the dump is still readable for problem diagnostics and no customer operations are affected by it.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and a partition with a Fibre Channel Adapter (FCA) or a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adapter,  a problem was fixed for bootable disks attached to the FCA/FCoE adapter not being seen in the System Management Services (SMS) menus for selection as boot devices.  This problem is likely to occur if the only I/O device in the partition is a FCA or FCoE adapter.  If other I/O devices are present, the problem may still occur if the FCA or FCoE  is the first adapter discovered by SMS.  A work-around to this problem is to define a virtual Ethernet adapter in the partition profile.  The virtual adapter does not need to have any physical backing device,  as just having the VLAN defined is sufficient to avoid the problem.  The FCA has feature codes #EN0A, #EN0B, #EN0F, #EN0G, #EN0Y, #EN12, #5729, #5774, #5735, and #5723 and the FCoE adapter has feature codes #5708, #EN0H, #EN0J, #EN0K, and #EN0L for all but the Linux on Power  8247 models.  For the Linux on Power 8247 models, the FCA has feature codes  #5729, #5774, #EL43, #EL58, #EL5B, #EL54, and #EL52 and the FCoE adapter has feature codes #5708, #EL56, #EL38, #EL57, and #EL3C.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware and a partition with a 3.0 USB controller, a problem was fixed for a partition boot failure  The USB 3.0 controller may be integrated or a adapter card with feature code #EC45 or #EC46.  The boot failure is triggered by a fault in the USB controller but instead of the just the USB controller failing, the entire partition fails.  With the fix, the failure is limited to the USB controller.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the FRU callouts for the BA188001 and BA188002 EEH errors to include the PCI Host Bridge (PHB) FRU which had been excluded.  For the P8 systems, these rare errors will more typically isolate to the processor instead of the adapter or slot planar.   In the pre-P8 systems, the I/O planar also included the PHB, but for P8 systems, the PHB was moved to the processor complex.
  • On systems using PowerVM firmware, a  problem was fixed for an internal error in the SR-IOV adapter firmware that resets the adapter  and logs a B400FF01 reference code.  This error happens in rare cases when there are multiple partitions actively running traffic through the adapter and a subset of the partitions are shutdown hard.  The error causes a temporary disruption of traffic but recovery from the error is automatic with no user intervention needed.
    This fix updates adapter firmware to 10.2.252.1931, for the following Feature Codes: EN15, EN16, EN17, EN18, EN0H, EN0J, EN0M, EN0N, EN0K, EN0L, EL38, EL3C, EL56, and EL57.
    The SR-IOV adapter firmware level update for the shared-mode adapters happens under user control to prevent unexpected temporary outages on the adapters.  A system reboot will update all SR-IOV shared-mode adapters with the new firmware level.  In addition, when an adapter is first set to SR-IOV shared mode, the adapter firmware is updated to the latest level available with the system firmware (and it is also updated automatically during maintenance operations, such as when the adapter is stopped or replaced).  And lastly, selective manual updates of the SR-IOV adapters can be performed using the Hardware Management Console (HMC).  To selectively update the adapter firmware, follow the steps given at the IBM Knowledge Center for using HMC to make the updates:   https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/HW4M4/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm.
    Note: Adapters that are capable of running in SR-IOV mode, but are currently running in dedicated mode and assigned to a partition, can be updated concurrently either by the OS that owns the adapter or the managing HMC (if OS is AIX or VIOS and RMC is running).
  • On systems using OPAL firmware, Skiboot was updated to V5.4.9 from V5.4.8,  providing the following fix:
    -  A problem was fixed for a possible incorrect value for processor frequency from /proc/cpuinfo. The value being returned was the last frequency requested by the kernel, but may not reflect the current frequency of the processor.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for  a  PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (with feature code #EMX0)  failing to initialize during the IPL with a SRC B7006A88 logged.  The error is infrequent.  The errant I/O drawer can be recovered by a re-IPL of the system.
  • On systems with PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for the SR-IOV firmware adapter updates using the HMC GUI or CLI to only reboot one SR-IOV adapter at a time.  If multiple adapters are updated at the same time, the HMC error message HSCF0241E may occur:  "HSCF0241E Could not read firmware information from SR-IOV device ...".  This fix prevents the system network from being disrupted by the SR-IOV adapter updates when redundant configurations are being used for the network.  The problem can be circumvented by using the HMC GUI to update the SR-IOV firmware one adapter at a time using the following steps:  https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/8247-22L/p8efd/p8efd_updating_sriov_firmware.htm
SV860_138_056 / FW860.42

01/09/18
Impact:  Security      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

New features and functions

  • In response to recently reported security vulnerabilities, this firmware update is being released to address Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures issue numbers CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5754.  Operating System updates are required in conjunction with this FW level for CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5754.
SV860_127_056 / FW860.41

12/08/17
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

SV860_118_056 / FW860.40

11/08/17
Only DEFERRED fix descriptions are displayed for this service pack. 
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/SV-Firmware-Hist.html
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • DEFERRED:  On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for DPO (Dynamic Platform Optimizer) operations taking a very long and impacting the server system with a performance degradation.  The problem is triggered by a DPO operation being done on a system with unlicensed processor cores and a very high I/O load.  The fix involves using a different lock type for the memory relocation activities (to prevent lock contention between memory relocation threads and partition threads) that is created at IPL time, so an IPL is needed to activate the fix.  More information on the DPO function can be found at the IBM Knowledge Center:  https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/8247-42L/p8hat/p8hat_dpoovw.htm
SV860_109_056 / FW860.31

08/30/17
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  ATT

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

SV860_103_056 / FW860.30

06/30/17
Only DEFERRED fix descriptions are displayed for this service pack. 
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/SV-Firmware-Hist.html
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • DEFERRED: On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for PCIe3 I/O expansion drawer (#EMX0) link improved stability.  The settings for the continuous time linear equalizers (CTLE) was updated for all the PCIe adapters for the PCIe links to the expansion drawer.  The system must be re-IPLed for the fix to activate.
SV860_096_056 / FW860.21

06/07/17
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  ATT

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L) and Power System S824L (8247-42L) servers only.
SV860_082_056 / FW860.20

03/17/17
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S812 (8284-21A), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A); Power System E850 (8408-E8E) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

SV860_070_056 / FW860.12

01/13/17
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.
SV860_063_056 / FW860.11

12/05/16
Only DEFERRED fix descriptions are displayed for this service pack. 
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/SV-Firmware-Hist.html
Impact:  Availability      Severity:  SPE

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • DEFERRED: A problem was fixed for a Field Core Override (FCO) error that causes a processor chip without functional cores to be guarded with a SRC B111BA24 error logged and by guard association causes all the memory and I/O resources behind the processor chip to be lost for the current IPL.  This problem is triggered by a system being  manufactured with one or more feature codes of #2319 (Factory Deconfiguration of 1-core) to assist with optimization of software licensing.  For more information on Field Core Override, refer to IBM Knowledge Center: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8hby/fieldcore.htm.  The error only occurs in systems where the total number of active cores is less than the number of processor chips.  When the fix is applied on a system that has lost memory or I/O resources due to the errant processor guard, the system must be re-IPLed with the guard removed from the processor to recover the resources.
    Without the fix, the problem may be circumvented by the following four steps:
    1) Power off the system.
    2) Use the Field Core Override function to increase the number of active processor cores in the system.  The Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) "System Configuration -> Hardware Deconfiguration -> Field Core Override" panel shows the number of cores that are active in the system and it can be used to increase the number of active processor cores in the system.
    3) Unguard the failed processor.  Use the ASMI "System Configuration -> Hardware Deconfiguration -> Clear All Deconfiguration Errors" panel to restore the guarded processor. 
    4) IPL with the increased number of active processor cores and the unguarded processor.
    This problem does not pertain to the IBM Power System E850 (8408-44E) model.
SV860_056_056 / FW860.10

11/18/16
Only DISRUPTIVE and DEFERRED fix descriptions are displayed for this service pack. 
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/SV-Firmware-Hist.html
Impact:  New      Severity:  New

Power System S812L (8247-21L), Power System S822L (8247-22L), Power System S824L (8247-42L), Power System S822 (8284-22A), Power System S814 (8286-41A), Power System S824 (8286-42A) and Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

  • DISRUPTIVE:  On systems using the PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for an "Incomplete" state caused by initiating a resource dump with selector macros from NovaLink (vio -dump -lp 1 -fr).   The failure causes a communication process stack frame, HVHMCCMDRTRTASK, size to be exceeded with a hypervisor page fault that disrupts the NovalLink and/or HMC communications. The recovery action is to re-IPL the CEC but that will need to be done without the assistance of the management console.  For each partition that has a OS running on the system, shut down each partition from the OS.  Then from the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI),  power off the managed system.  Alternatively, the system power button may also be used to do the power off.  If the management console Incomplete state persists after the power off, the managed system should be rebuilt from the management console.  For more information on management console recovery steps, refer to this IBM Knowledge Center link: https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/POWER7/p7eav/aremanagedsystemstate_incomplete.htm.  The fix is disruptive because the size of the PowerVM hypervisor must be increased to accommodate the over-sized stack frame of the failing task.
  • DEFERRED:  On systems using the PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for a CAPI function unavailable condition on a system with the maximum number of CAPI adapters and partitions.  Not enough bytes were allocated for CAPI for the maximum configuration case.  The problem may be circumvented by reducing the number of active partitions or CAPI adapters.   The fix is deferred because the size of the hypervisor must be increased to provide the additional CAPI space.
  • DEFERRED:   On systems using PowerVM firmware, a problem was fixed for cable card capable PCI slots that fail during the IPL.  Hypervisor I/O Bus Interface UE B7006A84 is reported for each cable card capable PCI  slot that doesn't contain a PCIe3 Optical Cable Adapter for the PCIe Expansion Drawer (feature code #EJ05).  PCI slots containing a cable card will not report an error but will not be functional.  The problem can be resolved by performing an AC cycle of the system.  The trigger for the failure is the I2C devices used to detect the cable cards are not coming out of the power on reset process in the correct state due to a race condition.
SV860_039_039 / FW860.00

11/02/16
Impact:  New      Severity:  New                                                                   Power System E850C (8408-44E) servers only.



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

HMC Managed Systems:

Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades on systems managed by an HMC can be found at:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/8247-21L/p8ha1/updupdates.htm


NovaLink Managed Systems:

A NovaLink managed system does not have a HMC attached and is managed either by PowerVM Novalink or PowerVC using PowerVM Novalink.
Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades on systems managed by PowerVM NovaLink can be found at:
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8eig/p8eig_updating_firmware.htm


HMC and NovaLink Co-Managed Systems:

A co-managed system is managed by HMC and NovaLink, with one of the interfaces in the co-management master mode.
Instructions for installing firmware updates and upgrades on systems co-managed by an HMC and Novalink is the same as above for a HMC managed systems since the firmware update must be done by the HMC in the co-management master mode.  Before the firmware update is attempted, one must be sure that HMC is set in the master mode using the steps at the following IBM KnowledgeCenter link for NovaLink co-managed systems:
http://ibm.biz/novalink-kc

Then the firmware updates can proceed with the same steps as for the HMC managed systems:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/8247-21L/p8ha1/updupdates.htm


Systems not Managed by an HMC or NovaLink:

Power Systems:

Instructions for installing firmware on systems that are not managed by an HMC can be found at:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/8247-21L/p8ha5/fix_serv_firm_kick.htm


Systems running Ubuntu operating system:


If  Ubuntu will be used to update the system firmware, please follow these instructions to extract the installable binary and update/upgrade the firmware:

1) Download the .gz (tarball) from Fix Central to your Ubuntu system (ie, to /tmp/fwupdate).

2) Extract the .gz file to /tmp/ on the Ubuntu system:

Example:
    tar -xzf /tmp/fwupdate/01SV840_075_048.tar.gz -C /tmp/fwupdate

3) Use update_flash -v -f <extracted file name> to verify the package.

4) Update your firmware using update_flash:

/usr/sbin/update_flash  -f <extracted file name>

System will reboot during the firmware update. When the system reaches Ubuntu run-time state, you can then commit or reject the firmware update:
Commit: /usr/sbin/update_flash -c
Reject:   /usr/sbin/update_flash -r

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 (including HIPER descriptions)  for this Release level can be reviewed at the following url:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/SV-Firmware-Hist.html

8.0 Change History

Date
Description
August 08, 2018 Added missing MTMs 5148-21L and 5148-22L to the Applies to statement, the Systems Affected section and the Fix Description table.
June 27, 2018 Title correction in the 'Firmware Information and Description' table.