Bug That Applies to Sun Fire High-End (15K/12K) Systems and Sun Fire Link Systems

Attempts to Remove a Node From Sun Fire High-End (15K/12K) Chassis Might Fail When Chassis Has Multiple Nodes in the Same Partition (4856525)

When a Sun Fire High-End (15K/12K) chassis has two or more nodes configured into the same partition, attempts to remove the nodes from the partition might fail if that chassis is the only chassis with multiple nodes in that partition. This problem is caused by the need to create memory mapping aliases when multiple nodes from a chassis are configured into the same partition. This aliasing is done independently by every chassis that contributes multiple nodes to a common partition. When you remove all but one of a chassis's nodes from a partition, the aliasing created for that chassis will become invalid.

For example, say you have a partition consisting of three nodes:

xc1-a, xc1-b, xc2-a

where xc1 and xc2 are two Sun Fire High-End (15K/12K) systems.

If you remove either xc1-a or xc1-b from the partition, the memory map aliasing for the xc1 system becomes invalid.

However, if the partition includes two or more chassis that contribute multiple nodes, the memory map aliasing created for the second chassis compensates for the loss of aliasing in the first chassis. This compensation allows continued use of the partition.

For example, say you have a partition consisting of four nodes:

 
xc1-a, xc1-b, xc2-a, xc2-b

If you remove either xc1-a or xc1-b from the partition, the memory map aliasing for the xc1 system becomes invalid. However, the aliasing for chassis xc2 remains valid. The partition can continue operation.

Workaround: For the Solaris 8 platform, apply patch 116160–01.