Flashes (Alerts)
Abstract
FCMs that are on 3_x_x and 2_1_x firmware will go offline if they have not had a firmware upgrade in the last 800 - 900 days.
- It is important that FCMs on 3_1_7 and lower be updated to FCM 3_1_15 firmware this year in 2024.
And
- It is imperative that FCMs on 2_1_11 and lower be updated to FCM 2_1_12 firmware IMMEDIATELY.
Content
A counter used to keep track of inter-core communications between FCM NVMe core and the Flash controller firmware is not working properly resulting in a timeout that causes the drive to go offline. If three (3) FCMs should go offline, access will be lost to the array (DRAID6). This will happen on FCMs with 3_1_7 and lower or with 2_1_11 and lower firmware.
It is imperative that these FCMs are updated to 3_1_15, or 2_1_12 before they reach 800 days of runtime.
Do not update the system software until after all FCMs have been updated, as this may trigger timeouts in an exposed drive.
This issue is resolved in the 3_1_8, 3_1_11, 3_1_15, and 2_1_12 firmware, included in the 240828 or later drive microcode package which is now available on IBM Fix Central.
The table below shows when a drive will reach 800 days of runtime based on the IBM Firmware Release Date.
If your FCMs have already reached 800 days, and never had a firmware update, please plan a maintenance window immediately for a control enclosure power cycle. Do this prior to the FCM firmware code update. And call IBM Support.
Note: If the FCM Firmware has been updated with firmware not containing the fix, or the enclosure has been power cycled, the 800-900 day timer is reset to 0 days.
| FCM FW | FW Release Date | 800 days reached | |
| 2_1_2 | 1-Nov-2020 | 10-Jan-2023 | |
| 2_1_3 | 15-Jan-2021 | 26-Mar-2023 | |
| 2_1_4 | 22-Jun-2021 | 31-Aug-2023 | |
| 2_1_5 | 09-Aug-2021 | 18-Oct-2023 | |
| 2_1_6 | 12-Sep-2021 | 21-Nov-2023 | ESS Only |
| 2_1_10 | 23-Aug-2022 | 31-Oct-2024 | |
| 2_1_11 | 15-Dec-2022 | 22-Feb-2025 |
| FCM FW | FW Release Date | 800 days reached | |
| 3_0_1 | 1-Apr-2022 | 9-Jun-2024 | |
| 3_1_2 | 19-Oct-2022 | 27-Dec-2024 | |
| 3_1_4 | 14-Dec-2022 | 21-Feb-2025 | |
| 3_1_7 | 20-Apr-2023 | 28-Jun-2025 |
The FCM firmware update is a concurrent update while the system is up and running, so it can be done without any downtime.
One should update the FCM firmware before scheduling a system firmware update.
For IBM Elastic Storage Server (ESS) information, please refer to this document: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7015299
GUI Auto-Notification
The GUI includes a feature which pulls a list of known issues (such as this one) from an IBM server, and displays an alert on systems that might be affected. This feature is enabled only if the web browser accessing the GUI has internet access.
The information on known issues is downloaded directly by the web browser accessing the GUI - the storage system itself is not involved.
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Document Information
Modified date:
24 April 2025
UID
ibm16989587