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How to perform health check after I/O device microcode update on IBM i

How To


Summary

This document provides steps on how to to check whether adapter microcode was successfully updated under IBM i, and are the devices operational.

Objective

*****NOTE*****
This document provides steps to confirmation the current microcode level installed on an I/O device.
PTFs containing device microcode are concurrently applied, however additional actions are required.
Either an IPL has to be performed after the PTF is applied, or a reboot of the device is needed.
In any case, once applied and active, SLIC will automatically push the device microcode to all resources the code applies to.
PTFs containing microcode are permanently applied.
 
 
 
  • Device microcode for physical devices owned by IBM i is delivered with PTFs.
  • All PTFs are available in IBM Fix Central
    • PTFs are found and downloaded from the Fix Central section corresponding to the OS release used.
  • Different OS versions have different PTF numbers for the same device microcode.
  • Device microcode information can be found in Fix Central against the Power Server hardware or separately by feature code.
 

Environment

Power Systems running IBM i with dedicated I/O Devices

Steps

 
 
Actions related to different types of I/O resources.
 
  1. Check that the PTF including the device microcode is properly installed. The command dspptf can be used to view that. PTFs related to device microcode are applied in the SLIC, which has product ID of 5770999. With F17 under the Display PTF screen a specific PTF can be found. Correctly applied PTF appears either as temporary applied or permanently applied.  Normally device microcode is always applied as permanent.
  2. Check for new reported problems.
    • The command wrkprb - shows descriptions of system problems, both system-detected and user-perceived.
    • The product activity log can be used to observe all events generated by the system. PAL includes not only errors, but all system activity events.
    • Service Action Log - SAL - can be used for all events that require action from service personnel.
  3. Use the command wrkhdwrsc with the appropriate type to observe the devices status after the IPL. F4 provides a list of the possible hardware resources. *STG and *CMN for storage and communication devices are the most common I/O devices.
 
 
Actions related to storage devices.
 
HDD and SSD drives.
 
  • Wrkdsksts command can be used to check whether all disks are operational, their status and protection. By using the F11 function key, the display is changed to show disk drive status.
  • From SST > Work with disk units > Display disk configuration. The following menus are the most common to be checked.
    1. Display disk configuration status – check whether the status of all disks is RAID active or mirrored.
    2. Display Disk Hardware Status - to check the hardware status of the drives.
    3. Display Disk Path Status - to see wether you have FAILED path, which must be corrected.
  • IODD advanced analytics macro can be used to provide information on device microcode, status, path status, serial number and so on. Suggested IODD macro flags are MPDASD and/or ALLOBJECTS. The report is generated as a spool file and can be displayed by using the wrksplf command.
    1. Enter Service Tools
    2. Select option 1 - Start a service tool.
    3. Select option 4 - Display/Alter/Dump.
    4. Select option 2 - Dump to printer.
    5. Select option 2 - Licenced Internal Code (LIC) data.
    6. Select option 14 - Advanced analysis.
      • On the first line type 1 as an option, then IODD as the command and press enter.
      • On the Options line type MPDASD or ALLOBJECTS.
      • On the next display, enter dump title.
      • A spool file is created with the output.
    7. Examples of the outputs of MPDASD (multipath) and ALLOBECTS:
MPDASD output shows the number of paths found during the IPL, resource names, serial numbers and so on.

image-20231123122429-1
 
ALLOBJECTS provides the device microcode level, their status, serial number and so on.
 
image-20230315205728-6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  • For SSD drives the SSD fuel gauge. Link to the IBM doc on how to use the gauge -
    1. SSD Fuel Gauge.
NVMe Devices.
 
NVMe drives are always configured as mirrored drives only
 
  • NVMe gauge can be used to observe the end of life, device microcode, and device warnings.
    1. NVMe Gauge
NVMEGAUGE output example. Device microcode can be found on row - FIRMWARE: REV.SN4B
 
****** MACRO CALLED:NVMEGAUGE                                                                                                    
RUNNING MACRO: RASSYSTEMINFO                                                                                                     
INVOCATION ............................ RASSYSTEMINFO                                                                            
SYSTEM TYPE/MODEL/SERIAL NUMBER ....... 9009-42G                                                                      
CURRENT SYSTEM TIME (LIVE) ............ 03/09/2023 10:53:51.8324990000                                                           
LOGICAL PARTITION NUMBER .............. 2                                                                                        
IS PARTITION PHYP OR I5/OS? ........... I5/OS                                                                                    
IS SYSTEM PHYP OR HYPERVISOR? ......... PHYP                                                                                     
IS THIS A MAIN STORE DUMP SESSION? .... NO                                                                                       
SLIC RELEASE .......................... 750                                                                                      
SLIC DRIVER ........................... 0                                                                                        
PIRANHA TYPE .......................... PIRANHA -NATIVE                                                                          
MACRO EXECUTION MODE .................. NATIVE                                                                                   
DRIVER TYPE ........................... GA                                                                                       
CUMM LEVEL ............................ TLP0066                                                                                  
DRIVER LEVEL .......................... 05N0201                                                                                  
RUNNING MACRO: NVMETOOLS                     -NVMEFUELGAUGE                                                                      
1. RESOURCE NAME: DC02                                                                                                           
   LOCATION CODE: U78D3.001.xxxxxxx-P2-C3                                                   
   SERIAL NUMBER: Y0YAAHYD305V                                                              
   MODEL #: 1.6TB NVME GEN4 U.2 SSD                                                         
   FIRMWARE: REV.SN4B                                                                       
   CRITICAL WARNINGS: 0                                                                     
     PERSISTENT MEMORY REGION HAS BECOME READ-ONLY:  0                                      
     VOLATILE MEMORY BACKUP DEVICE HAS FAILED:       0                                      
     MEDIA IS IN READ ONLY MODE:                     0                                      
     NVM SUBSYSTEM RELIABILITY HAS BEEN DEGRADED:    0                                      
     TEMPERATURE THRESHOLD HAS BEEN EXCEEDED:        0                                      
     AVAILABLE SPARE SPACE THRESHOLD HAS BEEN MET:   0                                      
   COMPOSITE TEMP: 39 C                                                                     
   AVAILABLE SPARE: 100%                                                                    
   AVAILABLE SPARE THRESHOLD: 10%                                                           
   PERCENTAGE USED (100% MEANS END OF LIFE): 1%                                             
   DATA UNITS READ (NUM 512 BYTE DATA UNITS TO THE NEAREST THOUSAND): 205207466000          
   DATA UNITS WRITTEN (NUM 512 BYTE DATA UNITS TO THE NEAREST THOUSAND): 232324511000       
   HOST READ COMMANDS: 3206815986                                                           
   HOST WRITE COMMANDS: 18316794237                                                         
   CONTROLLER BUSY TIME (MINUTES): 1361                      
   POWER CYCLES: 35                                          
   POWER ON HOURS: 24128                                     
   UNSAFE SHUTDOWNS: 2                                       
   MEDIA AND DATA INTEGRITY ERRORS: 0                        
   NUMBER OF ERROR INFORMATION LOGS: 922                     
   WARNING COMPOSITE TEMPERATURE TIME (MINUTES): 0           
   CRITICAL COMPOSITE TEMPERATURE TIME (MINUTES): 0          
   TEMPERATURE SENSOR 1: 39 C                                
   THERMAL MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE 1 TRANSITION COUNT: 0      
   THERMAL MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE 2 TRANSITION COUNT: 0      
   TOTAL TIME FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE 1: 0        
   TOTAL TIME FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE 2: 0
  • NVME health display from SST – currently available only on IBM i V7R5
    1. Enter Service Tools
    2. Select option 3 – Work with disk units.
    3. Select option 2 – Work with disk configuration.
    4. Select option 13 – Work with NVM devices.
    5. Select option 9 – Display NVMe health.
    6. Choose the NVMe device and press 5 for display details.
NVMe health output
 
image-20230315223918-1
image-20230315224032-2
image-20230315224217-3
 
 
Tape devices.
 
  • ITDT - is a useful, easy to use tool that can provide different types of information management and error detection for a specific tape drive. The link provides a full description on how to download and use the tool.
    1. IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT)
  • TAPEDEVICEDATA advanced analytics macro can be used.
    1. Enter Service Tools.
    2. Select option 1 - Start a service tool.
    3. Select option 4 - Display/Alter/Dump.
    4. Select option 2 - Dump to printer.
    5. Select option 2 - Licenced Internal Code (LIC) data.
    6. Select option 14 - Advanced analysis.
      • On the first line type 1 as an option, then TAPEDEVICEDATA as the command and press enter.
      • On the Options line type -RSC TAP0x -DEVDATA
      • On the next display, enter dump title.
      • A spool file is created with the output.
TAPEDEVICEDATA output example, the firmware is J451
 
image-20230315230627-4
 
****NOTE**** - TAPE device data (very off / on device after firmware update to get actual code displayed!)
 
 
Actions related to I/O adapters.
 
SAS adapters.
 
  • DEBUGIOA advanced analytics macro can show the current adapter microcode. The microcode is at the beginning of the output.
    1. Enter Service Tools.
    2. Select option 1 - Start a service tool.
    3. Select option 4 - Display/Alter/Dump.
    4. Select option 2 - Dump to printer.
    5. Select option 2 - Licenced Internal Code (LIC) data.
    6. Select option 14 - Advanced analysis.
      • On the first line type 1 as an option, then DEBUGIOA as the command and press enter.
      • On the Options line type -IOA DCxx -SUB 03 -LENGTH E000 -PAL, where DCxx is the adapter resource name.
      • On the next display, enter dump title.
      • A spool file is created with the output.
DEBUGIOA output example.
 
image-20230317161842-2
 
 
LAN adapters.
 
  • DISPLAYLANFIRMWAREVERSION - advanced analytics macro only for аdapters PCIe2 4-port 1 GbE Аdapter (FC 5899; CCIN 576F)
    1. Enter Service Tools.
    2. Select option 1 - Start a service tool.
    3. Select option 4 - Display/Alter/Dump.
    4. Select option 2 - Dump to printer.
    5. Select option 2 - Licenced Internal Code (LIC) data.
    6. Select option 14 - Advanced analysis.
      • On the first line type 1 as an option, then DISPLAYLANFIRMWAREVERSION as the command and press enter.
      • On the Options line type, the resource name of the adapter - LINxx
      • On the next display, enter dump title.
      • A spool file is created with the output.
DISPLAYLANFIRMWAREVERSION output example.
 
image-20230317162558-5
 
 
Fibre Channel adapters.
 
***Note***
Fibre channel adapters used natively by IBM i auto-negotiate the speed with the attached switch.
If an adapter maximum speed is 16 Gb, but the switch runs on 8 Gb, the speed is negotiated at 8Gbs.
 
 
  • For Fibre Channel adapters, when the PTF containing the microcode is applied, this can be considered as a proof that the adapter is running on the latest level.
  • Once Fibre adapters microcode is performed, disk status, disk paths, adapter operational status, and the additional port information display can be used to locate any problems.
  • In addition, adapter port information can be used to confirm that the adapter is running on wanted speeds.
    1. Enter Service Tools.
    2. Select option 1 - Start a service tool.
    3. Select option 7 - Hardware service manager.
    4. Select option 3 - Locate resource by resource name
    5. Populate the resource name of the Fibre adapter - DCxx and press enter
    6. Select option 5 against the adapter to display details
    7. Press F11 for additional port information
Additional port information display.
 
image-20230318141055-1
 
  1.  If the adapter port is operational - the status appears as Active, the port speed is auto-negotiated with switch.
  2. The Number of targets value represents the number of end targets this adapter is connected to - that would be the storage devices on the other end.
    • In this example, a wrap plug is installed in port 1 that is why there are no detected targets.
    • The same value is visible if the port is only connected to a switch with no end device attached.
  3. A number of reasons can appear for adapter port to be presented as NOT ACTIVE
    • Adapter is not cabled and no wrap plug is installed.
    • Adapter port is cabled, but the switch port is defective.
    • Adapter port is defective.
 
 
 
 

Additional Information

 
Finding device microcode versions in Fix Central.
 
By device feature code.
 
Every device has a CCIN and feature code (FC), they are related.
 
By using the IBM Docs site and by having the CCIN, the feature code can be easily found.
 
  • With the command wrkhdwrsc a CCIN of a specific device can be easily obtained.
For example, CCIN 57CE is - PCIe3 12 GB Cache RAID SAS quad-port 6 Gb Adapter (FC EJ0L; CCIN 57CE)
 
Once the feature code is obtained:
 
  1. Enter Fix Central
  2. Type in the feature code in the Product selector section under Find product search algorithm.
  3. Scroll down and locate the Level information
image-20230318145744-1
image-20230318145904-2
 
 
The latest FW level for SAS adapters with feature code EJ0L is: 19512c00.  A PTF including this FW level is available.

In addition, in the Description section, additional information can be found for the microcode, what fixes are delivered, and so on
 
 
 
 
 

Related Information

IBM i Support: Recommended fixes

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
09 December 2025

UID

ibm16955077

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