IBM Support

No SAS controller test in diagnostics - Servers

Troubleshooting


Problem

The SAS controller test has been removed from system diagnostics.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H19522

Symptom

The SAS controller test has been removed from system diagnostics.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

  • System x3400, Type 7973, any model
  • System x3400, Type 7974, any model
  • System x3400, Type 7975, any model
  • System x3400, Type 7976, any model
  • System x3500, Type 7977, any model
  • System x3550, Type 7978, any model
  • System x3650, Type 7979, any model
  • System x3655, Type 7985, any model
  • System x3755, Type 8877, any model

This tip is not software specific.

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM Options:

  • ServeRAID-8K SAS Controller Option part number 25R8064 replacement part number part number 25R8079
  • ServeRAID-8K-L, Option replacement part number part number 25R8079
Solution

None.

Workaround

One or more of the following steps can be taken in place of running diagnostics:

  1. During POST, observe the ServeRAID 8k and 8k-l BIOS messages for errors. After replacing any SAS component, the first POST should be monitored for errors reported by the SAS controller BIOS.
  2. The ServeRAID Manager and Director applications provide more detailed description of a failure when it occurs.
  3. Monitoring the S.M.A.R.T. function in hard disk drives will provide an alert before the failure occurs.
Additional information

The diagnostic function has been removed due to an incompatability with the latest diagnostic software and the SAS BIOS. At this time, there is no plan to add this function back.

Instead, the SAS controller can be used to more effectively monitor for SAS errors.

The ServeRAID 8k and 8k-l controllers have built-in reporting within the firmware and BIOS to detect errors on the controller and drives. During system startup, POST will display errors detected by the controller.

During operation, ServeRAID Manager and Director provide a more detailed description of a failure when it occurs. For hard drives connected to the ServeRAID controller, S.M.A.R.T provides alerts before the failure occurs.

These utilities can be used in place of the diagnostics and provide real-time updates for controller issues.

 

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

System x Hardware Options:All operating systems listed

System x:Operating system independent / None

[{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU01YTM","label":"System x->System x3650->7979"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU01YVY","label":"System x Hardware Options->ServeRAID->ServeRAID 8x->25R8064"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU01ZJK","label":"System x->System x3400->7973"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU01ZYN","label":"System x->System x3400->7975"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU01ZYQ","label":"System x->System x3400->7976"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU054","label":"Systems w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"QU01ZYT","label":"System x->System x3400->7974"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU02FLC","label":"System x->System x3655->7985"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QUOEF1K","label":"System x->System x3500->7977"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QUOEF4I","label":"System x->System x3550->7978"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QUOEOZM","label":"System x->System x3755->8877"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
29 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-5070494

Page Feedback