Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Release Notes for Software Releases 2.1, 2.1.2, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.0 Table Of ContentsPrevious ChapterNext ChapterNoIndex

C H A P T E R  1
Description of Software Releases

This chapter describes the contents of the following releases:

It has the following sections:

Important Changes

Software 3.0

Software 3.0 adds support for the following:

Software 2.3

Software 2.3 includes the following enhancements:

Software 2.2

Software 2.2 adds support for the following:

Software 2.1.2

Software 2.1.2 adds support for the following:

Software 2.1

Software 2.1 adds support for VMware ESX 3.5 U1 and AMD Errata 326.

Operating System Support

Software 3.0

Software 3.0 adds support to the following operating systems:

Software 2.2 and 2.3

Software 2.2 and 2.3 adds support to the following operating systems:

Software 2.1 and 2.1.2

Software 2.1 and Software 2.1.2 support the following operating systems:

Updated OS Support Information

For a current list of supported operating systems, refer to this web page:

http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4600/os.jsp

Software Versions and Enhancements

The following sections describe software versions and enhancements:

Software 3.0

Software 3.0 includes the following software:

Software 2.3

Software 2.3 includes the following software:

Software 2.2

Software 2.2 includes the following software:

Software 2.1.2

Software 2.1.2 includes the same software as 2.1, except that the BIOS has been upgraded to BIOS 101 (0ABIT101).

Software 2.1

Software 2.1 includes the following software:

Component Versions By Release

This section lists the component versions for the various releases of the Sun Fire X4600 M2 server software.


TABLE 1-1 Software Release 3.0 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 3.0.3.31.a

SP build 50707

BIOS

0ABIT132 (BIOS 132)

LSI firmware

fw1.27.00_bios6.26.00)


 


TABLE 1-2 Software Release 2.3 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 3.0.3.31

SP build 42822

BIOS

0ABIT126 (BIOS 126)

LSI firmware

fw1.26.90-bios6.24.01



TABLE 1-3 Software Release 2.2 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 2.0.2.10

SP build 3871

BIOS

0ABIT114 (BIOS 114)

LSI firmware

fw1.23.90-bios6.18.01



TABLE 1-4 Software Release 2.1.2 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 2.0.2.10

SP build 3871

BIOS

0ABIT114 (BIOS 114)

LSI firmware

fw1.23.90-bios6.18.01



TABLE 1-5 Software Release 2.1 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 2.0.2.5

SP build 32591

BIOS

0ABIT096 (BIOS 96)

LSI firmware

fw1.23.90-bios6.18.01



TABLE 1-6 Software Release 2.0 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 2.0.2.5

SP build 29771

BIOS

0ABIT087 (BIOS 87)

LSI Firmware

fw1.23.90-bios6.18.01



TABLE 1-7 Software Release 1.3a Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM FW 1.0.6

SP build 26075

BIOS

0ABIT050 (BIOS 50)

LSI firmware

fw1.16.40-bios6.14.04


 


TABLE 1-8 Software Release 1.2 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM 1.1.8

SP build 18244

BIOS

0ABIT050 (BIOS 50)

LSI Firmware

fw1.16.40-bios6.14.04



TABLE 1-9 Software Release 1.1 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM

SP build 15632

BIOS

0ABIT043 (BIOS 43)

LSI Firmware

fw1.16.00-bios6.06.10



TABLE 1-10 Software Release 1.0.1 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM

SP build 14023

BIOS

0ABIT036 (BIOS 36)

LSI Firmware

fw1.10.00-bios6.06.06



TABLE 1-11 Software Release 1.0 Component Versions

Component Name

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Version

ILOM

SP build 14023

BIOS

0ABIT035 (BIOS 35)

LSI Firmware

fw1.10.00-bios6.06.06


LSI Firmware Features

The following tables summarize LSI HBA firmware by phase. A software release contains LSI firmware features for its designated phase and all previous phases.

LSI Firmware Phase 16 Features

LSI Firmware Phase 15 Features

LSI Firmware Phase 14 Features

LSI Firmware Phase 13 Features

LSI Firmware Phase 12 Features

LSI Firmware Phase 11 Features


TABLE 1-12 LSI Firmware Phase 16 Features

Feature

Description

PhyVacant bit

Added to PhyInfo SAS Expander Page 1. Value 1 when expander reports PHY_VACANT for this phy.

Dynamically enable and disable Phys

Changes in the PhyDisable bit take effect immediately upon issuing a Write Current action on SAS IOUnit Page 1. Any devices attached to phys dynamically disabled will be removed normally through discovery.

Ability to wait for boot device to be present prior to replying to PortEnable

Boot Device Wait Time field in SAS IO Unit Page #2 that specifies maximum delay for the PortEnable response until the boot device specified in BIOS Page #2 is located.

SCSI to SATA Write Long command translation

SCSI Write Long command translated to SATA Write Uncorrectable EXT command.



TABLE 1-13 LSI Firmware Phase 15 Features

Feature

Description

Firmware resource availablity

Target-mode driver can determine available resources.

Support for increased SATA drive NCQ depth

Firmware can now utilize 16-command and 32-command queue depths on drives that support them.

Configure initial AWT advertised.

Whenever the IOC attempts to open an end device or expander, the OPEN address frame contains an ARBITRATION WAIT TIME (AWT) value that is used to resolve deadlocks occurring when another device in the topology attempts to open the IOC at the same time. The initial value programmed into this field is now configurable via NVDATA.

Optionally disable phy lockup Workaround

The phy lockup workaround periodically examines each direct-attached phy and resets the link if it detects that an in-progress data transfer has stalled for too long. Now, it is possible to disable the phy lockup workaround for direct-attached phys with end devices, expanders, or both (which effectively disables the workaround altogether).

Enable/Disable Integrated RAID data scrub on SSDs

SSDScrubDisable flag (off by default) disables data scrub on RAID 1 and RAID 1E valumes consistings of SSDs.

Support for Sun StorageTek 2500 Series

Supports new CONNECTOR TYPE field in SMP DISCOVER Response

Increase minimum supported target ports to 2444

Keeps 10 bus/target IDs reserved for foreign volumes. This increases the number of supported foreign volumes from 2 to 5 since foreign volumes can consume 2 bus/target IDs per volume.


 


TABLE 1-14 LSI Firmware Phase 14 Features

Feature

Description

Internal Device Reset Completion Event

Internal TARGET RESET request during various error conditions instead of a host notification event. Sends MPI_EVENT_SAS_DEVICE_STATUS_CHANGE (0x0F) with a reason code of MPI_EVENT_SAS_DEV_STAT_RC_CMPL_INTERNAL_DEV_RESET (0x0E)

Inaccessible Initiator Reason Code for SAS Initiator Device Status Change Event

Communicates that target-mode IOC has reached maximum number of supported devices.

SATA Init Failure Bit

New bit in DiscoveryStatus field of SAS Discovery Error Events to indicate SATA Init failure.

SGPIOType 3 to Modulate Activity LED with Disk I/O

New event identical to SGPIOType 4, except that IOC’s SGPIO Initiator modules the activity bit when I/O’s are outstanding.

MPT FWUpload Support for Entire Flash Image

Previously, an MPT FWUploadrequest with the ImageTypefield set to MPI_FW_UPLOAD_ITYPE_COMPLETE (0x0A) would immediately fail back to the host with an IOCLogInfoof 0x3003E003 (IOP_LOGINFO_CODE_FWUPLOAD_ENTIRE_FLASH_UPLOAD_FAILED). Now, the request is processed and firmware will upload the entire contents of flash to host memory.

Large Drive Count (LDC) for Mixed SAS and SATA

Expends existing LDC support from SAS-only to both SAS and SATA.



TABLE 1-15 LSI Firmware Phase 13 Features

Feature

Description

SATA Drive Temperature Reading

Provides ability to get temperature reading from SATA drives that support the SCT feature set.

Ability to reset direct-attached I2C backplane PSoC

Support for new GPIO type.

Support for PHY VACANT returned by SAS2 Zoned Expander

Allows dynamic change of phy status between “vacant” and “not vacant”.

GPIO Enhancements for Link Speed Indication

Implements CNFG_GPIO_FUNCTION_PORT_SPEED (0x10)

User-settable RAID volume names

New RAID Action Request “Set Volume Name”.

Large Drive Count (LDC)

Extends maximum target support from 242 to 512 (SAS only).



TABLE 1-16 LSI Firmware Phase 12 Features

Features

Description

Link Reset or Hard Reset on SATA drives

Generates LINK RESET or HARD RESET in SMP PHY CONTROL message to SATA drives.

Initiator Removal Events

Generates events when initiators are added to or removed from topology.

Integrated RAID support for implementations with both Flash & PBSRAM memories

Supports increased number of devices

Integrated RAID support for implementations with both Flash & PBSRAM memories

Supports increased number of devices

Integrated RAID support for dual-ported devices

Supports dual-ported devices within a volume or hot spare.

Optional Resync

Bit in RAID Action Data word can be set to prevent resync on Volume Disable.


 


TABLE 1-17 LSI Firmware Phase 11 Features

Feature

Description

SMP Configure Route Information optimization

When wide ports are detected in expander connections, route table programming is optimized, resulting in fewer SMP requests.

New MPI event for multiple paths on the same domain

Configurable mode detects multiple controller ports wired into the same domain Useful with storage enclosures that have dedicated “in” and “out” ports cabled together.

Generate Discover Error Event for SATA Init Fail

When Firmware SATA Initialization fails, an MPI event notifies host that device is not accessible.

Timestamp Logging Functionality

When enabled, host periodically receives an MPI Log Data event with current time stamp information. This supports synchronization between host logs and firmware ring buffers. Currently only implemented as a 128-second periodic event.

Support for enable/disable of hiding of drives with DDF metadata

Allow control of hiding drives with DDF metadata via NVDATA setting. When enabled, drives are not visible to BIOS or OS (same behavior as in Phases 9 and 10). When disabled, drives are visible (same behavior as in Phase 8).

Ability to clear any DDF metadata from the foreign drives via RAID command

When DDF compliant metadata is found, the BIOS presents the user with the option to delete the metadata from all drives. There is no capability to list drives with DDF metadata.


 


TABLE 1-18 LSI Firmware Phase 10 Features

Feature

Description

8MB Flash Part Support

Allows the support of 8 MB flash parts. Flash layout is being modified to support 8 MB parts.

Self Configuring Expander Support: Self Configuring

When the expander reports that it is a self-configuring expander, MPT firmware will not program route tables on that expander.

Self Configuring Expander Support: Configure Others

When the expander reports that it will configure others in the topology, MPT firmware will not program route tables in the topology where applicable.

Self Configuring Expander Support: Table-to-Table Routing

If the expander reports that table-to-table connections are allowed, do not flag it as an error or report it to the host.

Update Drive Firmware

Allows the user to prepare to update drive firmware via a new RAID Action Request.

Change LED Behavior With SMART Filtering Enabled in BIOS

Allows control of SMART polling in firmware for IR volumes.

Protocol Specific Write-Cache Enable

Allows control of write cache on protocol basis.

Support for Enable and Disable of Hiding of Drives With DDF Metadata

n/a


 

Firmware Upgrade Special Considerations

This section describes bugs, unexpected behavior, and other considerations that might affect an upgrade to the firmware included in this release.

Current Issues

ILOM Upgrade Using ipmiflash Not Supported With 2.0.2.1(6668957)

The ipmiflash utility cannot be used to upgrade the ILOM software from 2.0.2.1 to later versions.

Workaround

Use the ILOM command line interface, as described in “Updating the BIOS and ILOM Firmware” on page 19.

New ILOM Flash Update Layout

Starting with ILOM 1.1.1, the firmware uses a new, more reliable flash layout. Because of the layout changes, special steps might be required to downgrade to previous ILOM 1.0.x releases.

You might have to perform the flash downgrade to 1.0.x process 2 times, to reformat the flash layout to the old format. If the flash downgrade through GUI, CLI, or N1 System Manager, does not succeed the first time, retry a second time to complete the process.

The new ILOM flash process only powers off the host if a new BIOS version is needed. The ILOM CLI load command provides the -f option to force update of all components. Use the following command to force updating all firmware components:

load -f -source tftp: //tftpserver/firmware.ima

where tftpserver is a trivial file-transfer protocol (TFTP) server and firmware is the name of the image file, such as ilom.x4600m2-1.1.1.ima.

ILOM CD Appears Blank (6554839)

The CD used to upgrade the ILOM appears blank when viewed from the OS. This is expected behavior.

FRU Information Appears Empty After Updating the ILOM Firmware and the BIOS (6406138)

The host CPU and DIMM FRU information shown by the service processor is provided to the service processor during each BIOS power-on self-test (POST). Therefore, after a BIOS/ILOM upgrade, this FRU information is empty until the first host BIOS POST.

Workaround

This is expected behavior. Reset the server and allow it to complete POST during bootup to repopulate the FRU lists.

Performing Update From CLI Might Result in Keyboard Redirection Error Dialog Box in JavaRConsole (6485951)

If you use the CLI to perform the update and JavaRConsole is active, a dialog box might appear in JavaRConsole with the following message and an OK button:

Keyboard redirection error: an established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine

Workaround

This is expected behavior. Click OK in the dialog box to continue. It is possible that clicking the OK button will not close the dialog box. In that case, terminate the JavaRConsole process. For example, on a Windows platform, press Control+Alt+Delete to bring up the list of open processes, then terminate the JavaRConcole process.

ILOM 1.0.x Upgrade Might Fail BIOS Flash (6499287)

ILOM service processor might not successfully update the BIOS version, if a previous flash upgrade has failed. If the BIOS version is not correct after ILOM flash upgrade completes, use the -f force flag on the ILOM CLI load command, to force BIOS flash upgrade. For details, see “New ILOM Flash Update Layout” on page 13.

When Downgrading from Quad-Core to Dual-Core, No Firmware Downgrade is Necessary (6732882)

If you downgrade from quad-core to dual-core, no firmware downgrade is necessary. An upgrade to the latest firmware is recommended.

SIA Upgrade of BIOS/LSI Firmware Not Supported (6681743)

(Fixed in Software 2.2.)

Upgrading the BIOS and LSI firmware using the Sun Installation Assistant (SIA) utility is not supported in Software 2.1. Upgrading the Service Processor (ILOM) firmware is supported.

For more information on SIA, refer to the Sun Installation Assistant for Windows and Linux User's Guide.

ILOM in Software 1.3 Causes FRU Data to be Lost (6631275)

(Fixed in Software 1.3a.)

Software 1.3 for the Sun Fire X4600 M2 contains a build of ILOM 2.0.2.1 with a serious bug. Upgrading to this ILOM version causes FRU data to be lost. Because of this, Software 1.3 has been withdrawn and replaced by Software 1.3A.

If you have not yet upgraded to the ILOM provided with Software 1.3, this issue does not affect you. Simply discard any copies of Software 1.3 and obtain Software 1.3A, which contains ILOM firmware with the fix.

If you have upgraded to the ILOM provided with Software 1.3, you must install the ILOM firmware provided with Software 1.3A. Doing so will both remove the bug and recover some of the lost FRU data. The remaining FRU data must be re-entered manually.


caution icon Caution - If you have installed the ILOM firmware included in Software 1.3 do not downgrade to an older version of the ILOM firmware. Doing so will prevent any of the lost data from being recovered. The only recovery mechanism is to install the ILOM build provided with Software 1.3A.

Identifying your ILOM Firmware

You can identify your ILOM firmware using the ILOM CLI or WebGUI:

In the information you obtain, find the “Firmware Version” (just “Firmware” in the CLI) and “Firmware Build Number”. Depending on the values you obtain, you should take one of the following actions:


procedure icon  Lost FRU Data and How To Recover it.

The ILOM bug causes the following FRU data to be lost:

You can recover the Product Part Number and Product Serial Number by installing the ILOM firmware provided with Software 1.3A. If you downgraded the ILOM after observing the problem, Product Part Number and Product Serial Number are lost permanently, and must be re-entered. Chassis Serial Number must be re-entered in any case.

Follow these steps to re-enter the lost FRU data:

1. Use SSH to log in to the “sunservice” ILOM account. From the Solaris or Linux command line:

ssh -l sunservice ipaddress

where ipaddress is the Service Processor IP address.

2. Enter one of the following commands. If you only need to re-enter the chassis serial number, enter:

servicetool --fru_chassis_serial_number

If you need to re-enter all three FRU values, enter:

servicetool --fru_product_part_number --fru_product_serial_number --fru_chassis_serial_number

3. Enter the FRU information when prompted.

Cannot Log in to WebGUI After Flashing New Image (6513809)

(Fixed in Software 1.3a.)

After flashing a new image, you may not be able to log in to the WebGUI. This can happen if the WebGUI is open when the new image is flashed.

Workaround

Clear the browser’s cache and cookies.

Cannot Log in to the Service Processor with 16-Character Passwords using ILOM Web GUI or CLI (6286187)

(Fixed in Software 1.3a.)

If your password contains exactly 16 characters, you will not be able to log in to the service processor (SP) using either the ILOM web GUI or CLI.

Workaround

Choose a password containing fewer than 16 characters.

ILOM Upgrade Might Fail BIOS Flash (6499287)

(Fixed in Software 1.1.)

ILOM service processor might not successfully update the BIOS version if a previous flash upgrade has failed.

This issue applies only up to ILOM 1.1.1.

Workaround

If the BIOS version is not correct after ILOM flash upgrade completes, force the BIOS flash upgrade using the -f force flag on the ILOM CLI load command.



Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Release Notes for Software Releases 2.1, 2.1.2, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.0 820-5637-16 Table Of ContentsPrevious ChapterNext ChapterNoIndex

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