Firmware Issues

This section describes issues related to the system firmware.

Cold Reset Adds One Day to System Time (CR 7127740)

This issue is fixed in System Firmware version 8.1.4.e.

After a cold reset, the server might add one day to the Oracle Solaris OS date and time. This possible date change will only occur on the first cold reset after the first day of a leap year (for example. January 1, 2012). Once you set the correct date using the Oracle Solaris OS date(1) command, the corrected date and time will persist across future resets.

A cold reset is when you halt the OS and restart the service processor (SP). For example, you can use one of the following Oracle Solaris OS commands to halt the OS:

• # shutdown -g0 -i0 -y

• # uadmin 1 6

• # init 5

• # poweroff

Then, at the Oracle ILOM prompt, use the following commands to reset the host:

• # stop /SYS

• # start /SYS

Refer to the service manual, the administration guide, and the Oracle Solaris OS documentation for more information.

Workaround: After the first cold reset of the system, verify that system date and time are correct. If the date has been impacted by this issue, use the Oracle Solaris OS date(1) command to set the correct date and time.

For example, to set the date and time to be February 26, 9:00am, 2012, type:

• # date 022609002012

Refer to the date (1) man page and the Oracle Solaris OS documentation for more information.

In Servers With an Unzoned 16-Disk Backplanes, Setting a RAID Controller to Its Default State Deletes RAID Configurations From Both Controllers (6999411)

This CR is closed.

If you have a server with an unzoned-sixteen disk backplane and remove RAID configuration data from one onboard controller, all RAID configuration data will be removed from both controllers when the system is rebooted.

e1000g Driver Generates Spurious ereports When Installing Oracle Solaris OS Over a Sun PCIe Dual Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (6958011)

When installing the Oracle Solaris OS on domains controlled through Sun PCIe Dual Gigabit Ethernet (UTP or MMF) adapters, the e1000g Gigabit Ethernet driver may generate false error reports on the static direct I/O (SDIO) and primary domains. The following is an example of these spurious reports:

date time ereport.io.pciex.tl.ca nvlist version: 0
          ena = 0x298a9f62243802
ena = 0x298a9f62243802
detector = (embedded nvlist)
nvlist version: 0
scheme = dev
device-path = /pci@400/pci@1
(end detector)
 
class = ereport.io.pciex.tl.ca
dev-status = 0x2
ue-status = 0x8000
ue-severity = 0x62030
adv-ctl = 0xf
source-id = 0x600
source-valid = 1
__ttl = 0x1
__tod = 0x4c058b2e 0x1e8813a0

Workaround: You can safely ignore these ereports.

envtest May Issue Invalid Temperature Reports For Some Components (6975427)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.1 and higher.

When running the command envtest -v from the restricted shell the System Temperatures Status Check section will show the following sensors as having extremely low temperature readings:

/SYS/MB/DVRM_CMP0/TEMP_FAULT Status: OK Temp: 1 (Celsius)
/SYS/MB/DVRM_M0/TEMP_FAULT Status: OK Temp: 1 (Celsius)
/SYS/MB/DVRM_M1/TEMP_FAULT Status: OK Temp: 1 (Celsius)

The values being reported do not represent temperatures. They are discrete values being presented as temperatures.

Workaround: There is no workaround.

System is Powered Off When Running reset /HOST/domain/control With Active Guest Domains (6987371)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.3 and higher.

If you use the following command to reset the component /HOST/domain/control while there are active guest domains, /SYS will power down ungracefully. This could leave the system in an adverse state.

-> reset /HOST/domain/control

Workaround: To reset the control domain when there are active guest domains, reset it from the control domain itself. Do not use the service processor remote reset command reset /HOST/domain/console.

Incorrect Handling of Out-of-Order Ctrl TDs Can Result in Applications Hanging (CR 7024581)

This CR is fixed in Oracle Solaris 11.

If control requests that arrive in an out-of-order sequence are not handled properly, the Wait timer might be halted before it times out. This might cause the application to hang.

Workaround: Reboot the system. If the problem repeats, contact your authorized service provider.

Missing Interrupt Causes USB Hub Hotplug Thread to Hang, Resulting In Process Hangs (6968801)

This CR is closed as a duplicate of CR 7024581.

When running SunVTS on T3 series platforms, it is possible (although rare) for a SunVTS test to hang. If this happens, it may cause other processes and commands to hang, including fmadm and prtconf. The hung processes cannot be killed.

Workaround: Reboot the system. If the problem repeats, contact your authorized service provider. Avoid running SunVTS in production environments.

spconfig Names >36 Characters Give Communication eErrors for ldm add/rm-config Command (6987310)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.2 and higher.

When saving OVM for SPARC servers (LDom) configurations on the service processor, if the name of a configuration exceeds 36 characters, the following error will be printed.

# ldm add-spconfig primary_8cpus_0mau_4G_vsw0_vsw4_vds0_
Error: Operation failed because of an error communicating with the 
system controller

The service processor must be reset after this error.

Workaround: Limit configuration names to no more than 32 characters.

Service Processor Locks Up With No Access (6985738)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.2 and higher.

Although highly unlikely, when the Oracle VM Server for SPARC successively adds and removes many configurations, the service processor may become unresponsive. In this state, it cannot be accessed until the system has been through an AC power cycle.

Recovery Method: AC power cycle the system.

Cannot Initiate Two Consecutive probe-scsi-all Commands in Systems With 8Gb FC PCI-Express, Emulex HBAs (6983959)

On systems containing any 8Gb FC PCI-Express, Emulex HBAs, the command probe-scsi-all cannot be run more than once without running an OBP reset between executions.

The first execution of probe-scsi-all will run successfully. If the command is issued again before running an OBE reset, the second session will fail, with an error message similar to the following example:

FCode Version 1.00.54, MPT Version 2.00, Firmware Version 5.00.17.00
Target 9
  Unit 0   Disk   HITACHI  H103030SCSUN300G A2A8    585937500 Blocks, 300 GB
  SASDeviceName 5000cca00ab4403c  SASAddress 5000cca00ab4403d  PhyNum 0
Target a
  Unit 0   Disk   HITACHI  H103030SCSUN300G A2A8    585937500 Blocks, 300 GB
  SASDeviceName 5000cca00ab2551c  SASAddress 5000cca00ab2551d  PhyNum 1
[...]
/pci@600/pci@2/pci@0/pci@5/pci@0/pci@3/SUNW,emlxs@0,1
Cannot Init Link.
/pci@600/pci@2/pci@0/pci@5/pci@0/pci@3/SUNW,emlxs@0
Cannot Init Link.
[...]
Cannot initialize port.
READ_LA Failed.

Workaround: Initiate an OBP reset between any two probe-scsi-all sessions.

SDIO: ereports Related to Sun Dual 10GbE SFP+ PCIe Cards On Reboots of the Primary Domain (6986960)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.2 and higher.

When rebooting the primary domain in an SDIO configuration, a set of ereports may be logged for the Sun Dual 10GbE I2 SFP+ PCIe card(s) assigned to that domain. This behavior was seen for an SDIO configuration that was using the "stop" master/slave failure-policy on all SDIO domains.

Recovery Method: Use fmadm to clear the ereports and any associated faults.

ereport.chassis.sp.unavailable Not Generated For a Degraded Service Processor (CR 6978171)

This CR is fixed in Oracle Solaris 11.

When the service processor is operating in a degraded state, it generates the ereport:

ereport.fm.fmd.module

The following is an example of the detailed contents of this ereport:

# fmdump -eV
date time ereport.fm.fmd.module
nvlist version: 0
        version = 0x0
        class = ereport.fm.fmd.module
        detector = (embedded nvlist)
        nvlist version: 0
                 version = 0x0
                 scheme = fmd
                 authority = (embedded nvlist)
                 nvlist version: 0
                         version = 0x0
                         product-id = sun4v
                         server-id = hostname
                 (end authority)
 
                 mod-name = etm
                 mod-version = 1.2
        (end detector)
 
        ena = 0x2653413e3403001
        msg = error: bad conn open during ver negot: errno 5
        __ttl = 0x1
        __tod = 0x4c6bd664 0x35f96563

A degraded service processor should also generate the following ereport, but is not currently doing so:

ereport.chassis.sp.unavailable

Part Number Provided to Oracle Solaris FMA Is Incorrect (6978447)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.2 and higher.

The part number reported by the Oracle Solaris fmadm faulty command for a faulted FRU may be different from the part number reported by the Oracle ILOM fmadm faulty and show faulty commands for the same FRU.

Workaround: When the Oracle Solaris fmadm faulty command reports a faulted FRU (other than a DIMM), run either fmadm faulty or show faulty from within Oracle ILOM to find the correct part number for that FRU.

OpenBoot Command set-security-key Produces the False Warning: Unable to store security key (6986849)

This CR is fixed in system firmware version 8.0.2 and higher.

OpenBoot reports a false warning that the command set-security-key does not save keys on the service processor. This is the false warning message:

WARNING: Unable to store security key. No space left, check SP and other logs

Workaround: The security keys are actually stored on the service processor, so you can ignore this message.

sas2ircu Message That RAID Volume Sizes Other Than “MAX” Are Not Supported Needs Clarification (6983210)

If you attempt to create a RAID volume smaller than”MAX”, the following series of messages is returned:

You are about to create an IR volume.
 
WARNING: Proceeding with this operation may cause data loss or data
         corruption. Are you sure you want to proceed (YES/NO)? yes
 
WARNING: Volume created with size other than 'MAX' is not supported.
         Do you want to continue with volume creation (YES/NO)? n
SAS2IRCU: you must answer "YES" or "yes" to proceed; operation aborted!
SAS2IRCU: Error executing command CREATE.

It is true that RAID volumes smaller than “MAX” are not supported. However, if you want to create a volume below “MAX” size for non-production use, the software will allow you to do so. This is not clear from the message.

Workaround: Ignore the messages and answer yes for the question “Do you want to continue with volume creation (YES/NO)?”.