The efibootmgr fails to set boot sequence

Troubleshooting

Problem

The efibootmgr fails to set boot sequence - Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H205290

Symptom

When using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 x86-64 Service Pack 1 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL6) Update 1 on one of the affected systems, and running efibootmgr to change the boot sequence, after the system is rebooted, the system does not boot to the new device that was specified, but rather boots to the same device that it booted to before.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

System x3500 M4, type 7383, any model
System x3550 M4, type 7914, any model
System x3650 M4, type 7915, any model
iDataPlex dx360 M4 server, type 7912, any model

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, update 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, Service Pack 1

This tip is not option specific.

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

Solution

This behavior will be corrected in a future release of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

The target date for this release is scheduled for second quarter 2012.

The file is or will be available by selecting the appropriate Product group, System, Product name, Product machine type, and operating system on IBM Support's Fix Central web page, at the following URL:

http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral

Workaround

Run efibootmgr again.

Running efibootmgr after the behavior occurs will show the old boot sequence. Sometimes the retry will have to be done more than once.

Additional information

The efibootmgr utility does not report an error when run and reads back the new startup sequence after setting it. Prior to rebooting, when the system actually boots, the system firmware does not pick up the new startup sequence.

This only happens a small percentage of the time. Retrying to set the startup sequence with efibootmgr does work to get the system to boot to the desired device.

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 x86-64

System x:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

System x:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 x86-64

Lenovo x86 servers:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Lenovo x86 servers:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 x86-64

Lenovo x86 servers:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Lenovo x86 servers:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 x86-64

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