C H A P T E R 2 - Notes for Servers With Hardware Dash Level 07 or Greater

C H A P T E R 2

Notes for Servers With Hardware Dash Level 07 or Greater

This chapter contains information about Sun Fire T1000 Servers with a motherboard hardware dash level of 07 or greater.

To determine if these notes apply to your server, see Identifying the Notes for Your Server.

The following sections are in this chapter:

Support for the Sun Fire T1000 Server

Supported Versions of Firmware and Software

Patch Information

Known Issues and Workarounds

Support for the Sun Fire T1000 Server

Technical Support

If you have any technical questions or issues that are not addressed in the Sun Fire T1000 server documentation, contact your local Sun trademark Services representative. For customers in the U.S. or Canada, call 1-800-USA-4SUN (1-800-872-4786). For customers in the rest of the world, find the World Wide Solution Center nearest you by visiting the web site:

http://www.sun.com/service/contacting/solution.html

Software Resources

The Solaris trademark Operating System and Sun Java Enterprise System software are preinstalled on your Sun Fire T1000 server.

If it becomes necessary to reload the software, go to the following web site. You will find instructions for downloading software.

http://www.sun.com/software/preinstall/

Downloading Documentation

Instructions for installing, administering, and using your Sun Fire T1000 server are provided in the Sun Fire T1000 server documentation set. The entire documentation set is available for download from the following web site:

http://www.sun.com/documentation/

Note - Information in these product notes supersedes the information in the Sun Fire T1000 documentation set.

Supported Versions of Firmware and Software

These are the minimum supported versions of firmware and software for this release of the Sun Fire T1000 server:

Solaris 10 6/06 Operating System (OS)

Sun Java Enterprise System software (Java ES 2005Q4)

Sun system firmware 6.2, which includes Advanced Lights Out Manager (ALOM) CMT 1.2 software and OpenBoot 4.23.0 firmware.

Patch Information

Mandatory Patches

At this time, there are no mandatory patches for Sun Fire T1000 servers with hardware dash level 07 or greater.

Patches for Option Cards

If you add option cards to your server, refer to the documentation and README files for each card to determine if additional patches are needed.

Known Issues and Workarounds

Hardware Installation and Service Issues

Chassis Cover Might Be Difficult to Remove (CR 6376423)

The chassis cover might be very difficult to remove. If you press too hard on the cover lock button, the front edge of the cover might warp and bind. Also, elastic gasket material on the sides of the chassis might prevent the cover from sliding freely.

To remove the cover, lightly hold down the cover lock button and push the cover slightly toward the front of the chassis (this assists the unlocking action), then slide the cover approximately one half inch (12 mm) toward the rear of the chassis. You can now lift the cover off the chassis.

General Functionality Issues

These are the functionality issues for this release.

Sun Explorer Utility

Supported Version

The Sun Fire T1000 server is supported by the Sun Explorer 5.2 data collection utility, but is not supported by earlier releases of the utility. Installing Sun Cluster software from the preinstalled Java ES package will automatically install an earlier version of the utility on your system. After installing any of the Java ES software, determine whether an earlier version of the Sun Explorer product has been installed on your system by typing the following:

# pkginfo -l SUNWexplo

If an earlier version exists, uninstall it and install version 5.2, or greater. To download Sun Explorer 5.2, go to:

http://www.sun.com/sunsolve

Sun Explorer Requires the `Tx000` Option

When running Explorer 5.2, you must specify the Tx000 option to collect the data from the ALOM CMT commands on Sun Fire T1000 and Sun Fire T2000 platforms. The script is not run by default. To do so, type:

# /opt/SUNWexplo/bin/explorer -w default,Tx000

For more details, refer to troubleshooting document 83612, Using Sun Explorer on the Tx000 Series Systems. This document is available on the SunSolve web site.

http://www.sun.com/sunsolve

Note - As of Sun Explorer 5.5, the Sun Explorer Tx000 module runs by default on Sun Fire T1000 server.

System Will Not Power On With an Invalid Memory Configuration (CR 6300114)

The system will not power on if memory rank 0 is not populated. Rank 0 sockets must always be filled.

Disk Drive Write Cache Enabled By Default

Read caching and write caching are both enabled by default for the Sun Fire T1000 server disk drive (this issue applies to SATA drives only). The use of the caches increases the read and write performance of the disk drive. However, data in the write cache might be lost if system AC power is interrupted. (A loss of AC power does not present a problem for the read cache.)

If you prefer to disable write caching, use the Solaris format -e command:

Caution - These settings are not saved permanently. You must reset the write cache setting every time the system boots.

To Disable the Write Cache

1. In the Solaris environment, enter the format expert mode by typing:

# format -e

Searching for disks...done

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

       0. c0t0d0 <ATA-HDS ...

2. Specify disk number 0.

Specify disk (enter its number): 0

selecting c0t0d0

...

The format menu is displayed.

3. Select the cache option by typing:

format> cache

4. Select the write_cache option by typing:

cache> write_cache

WRITE_CACHE MENU:

...

5. Display the current setting for the write cache.

write_cache> display

Write Cache is enabled

6. Disable the write cache.

write_cache> disable

This setting is valid until next reset only. It is not saved permanently.

7. Verify the new setting.

write_cache> display

Write Cache is disabled

8. Exit from the write_cache mode.

write_cache> quit

CACHE MENU:

...

9. Exit from the cache mode.

cache> quit

FORMAT MENU:

...

10. Exit from the format command.

format> quit

Bug List

TABLE 2-1 lists known bugs for this release of the Sun Fire T1000 server. The CR (change request) IDs are listed in numerical order.

TABLE 2-1 Known Bugs
	CR ID	Description	Workaround
1.	6297813	Upon boot up, the following messages might be displayed: `svc.startd[7]: [ID 122153 daemon.warning] svc:/system/power:default: Method or service exit timed out. Killing contract 51.` `svc.startd[7]: [ID 636263 daemon.warning] svc:/system/power:default: Method "/lib/svc/method/svc-power start" failed due to signal KILL.`	If Solaris power management is required, restart power management manually or reboot the server. If Solaris power management is not required, no action is needed.
2.	6300114	The system fails to power on if memory rank 0 is not populated.	Rank 0 sockets must always be filled.
3.	6303328	The `iostat -E` command reports incorrect vendor information for the SATA drive.	There is no workaround at this time.
4.	6310384	The SunVTS USB keyboard test (`usbtest`) reports that a keyboard is present when there is no keyboard attached to the server.	Do not run `usbtest`.
5.	6314590	Executing the ALOM CMT `break` command and the OpenBoot PROM `go` command might cause the system to hang or panic.	If the console hangs or panics, use the ALOM CMT `reset` command to reset the system.
6.	6317382	Typing unrecognized commands or words at the `OBP` prompt causes the system to return an erroneous error and might hang the server. This behavior only occurs when you drop into the OBP prompt from Solaris. The erroneous error message is: `ERROR`: `Last` `Trap`	Disregard this message. If the console hangs or panics, use the ALOM CMT `reset` command to reset the system.
7.	6318208	POST or `OBP` `reset-all` generates the alert, `Host system has shut down`.	This is normal behavior following a `reset-all` command. The message does not indicate a problem in this situation.
8.	6331819	SunVTS memory or CPU tests could fail due to lack of system resources. When too many instances of SunVTS functional tests are run in parallel on UltraSPARC® T1 CMT CPU-based (sun4v) entry-level servers with low memory configurations, SunVTS tests might fail due to lack of system resources. For example, you could see an error message similar to the following: System call fork failed; Resource temporarily unavailable	Workaround: Decrease the number of SunVTS test instances or perform SunVTS functional tests separately. In addition, you can increase the delay value for CPU tests or increase the test memory reserve space.
9.	6338365	Sun Net Connect 3.2.2 software does not monitor environmental alarms on the Sun Fire T1000 server.	To receive notification that an environmental error has occurred, use the ALOM-CMT `mgt_mailalert` feature to have ALOM-CMT send an email when an event occurs. To check whether or not the environmental status of the server is ok, log on to ALOM-CMT and run the `showfaults` command. To view a history of any events the server encountered, log on to ALOM-CMT and run the `showlogs` command.
10.	6346149	The maximum throughput of the system network ports decreases unexpectedly as the network load increases.	There is no workaround at this time.
11.	6346170	The ALOM CMT `showfru` command displays epoch timestamps of `THU JAN 01 00:00:00 1970`.	Ignore timestamps with this date. There is no workaround at this time.
12.	6348070	False Ereport error messages might be generated for PCI devices.	There is no workaround at this time. The FMA diagnostic software required to eliminate false Ereports for PCI devices is still under development.
13.	6356449	The `poweron` command does not power on the system when issued immediately after the ALOM CMT resets.	If you use a script to reset the ALOM-CMT and power on the system, insert a 1-second delay before the `poweron` command.
14.	6363820	The `showcomponent` command hangs if you repeatedly loop on the `disablecomponent` and `enablecomponent` commands.	Reset ALOM-CMT with the `resetsc` command.
15.	6368944	The virtual-console does not accept paste buffers that are greater than 114 characters. This causes the wanboot NVRAM parameter, `network-boot-arguments` to not be set.	Cut and paste in chunks smaller than 114 characters, or don't use cut and paste.
16.	6370233	The Dtrace function might return inaccurate CPU xcalls.	Although they are not stable interfaces, putting Dtrace fbt probes on `send_one_mondo` and `send_mondo_set` could be used as a workaround. For `send_mondo_set`, extract the number of CPUs being sent cross calls from the `cpuset_t` argument.
17.	6372709	The maximum size of the FMA `fltlog` file might be restricted.	Remove the restrictions by changing the default log rotation options for the Solaris `logadm(1M)` command.
18.	6376423	The chassis cover might be extremely difficult to remove.	See Chassis Cover Might Be Difficult to Remove (CR 6376423).
19.	6377077	If host power is removed while POST or OpenBoot PROM is testing a device, the device is disabled.	Use the ALOM-CMT command, `enablecomponent` to reenable the incorrectly blacklisted device.
20.	6379739	The ALOM CMT `sc_powerstatememory` record might fail during a power failure, preventing the system from powering up afterward.	Use the ALOM CMT `poweroff` and `poweron` commands to cycle power on the host system. If you need to remove AC power from the system, you must wait 5 seconds before reapplying power.
21.	6381707	A faulty DIMM in rank 0 memory can prevent POST from running. The ALOM CMT `showcomponent` command does not list any CPUs if POST fails to run. Cycling power or running the `resetsc` command does not update the `showcomponent` list.	Replace the faulty DIMM, then run POST to update the device list used by the `showcomponents` command.
22.	6389912	False error messages are logged during poweron or system reset. The error messages include this segment: `ereport.io.fire.pec.lup`	Ignore the messages.
23.	6405226	When accessing the host through the ALOM-CMT `console` command, you might experience slow console response.	For optimum responsiveness, access the host through the host network interfaces as soon as the host has completed booting the OS.