130313 HIPER MCLs for 2817 / 2818

• Document number:

  130313

• Machine type:

  2817 / 2818

• Models affected:

  All Models

• Abstract:

  HIPER MCLs released to address unscheduled outages on z196 or z114 servers.

Description

Driver-93 MCL084 (Bundle #45) and MCL088 (Bundle #52) in the N4165 (I390ML) stream correct issues that have resulted in an unscheduled system outage and a sysplex outage.

HIPER MCL084 in the N48165 (I390ML) stream released in Bundle #45 corrects an issue that exists on servers using Infiniband adapters for Server Time Protocol(STP) or for Coupling connectivity (CIB type chpids). Infiniband architecture uses Queue-pairs(QP) for communications between adapters. This problem occurs while managing queue-pairs after a link error. Link errors can be caused by an adapter hardware error or something as simple as an optics problem with the adapter or cabling. While individual link errors generally do not result in a system outage, we have uncovered a very small window condition in the recovery code that can cause this link-level recovery to escalate into a system checkstop condition.

HIPER MCL088 in the N48165 (I390ML) stream released in Bundle #52 corrects a problem discovered in a specific routine that stores and fetches from Hardware Storage Area (HSA) that has a potential to create an inconsistency within a Channel Subsystem control block. The result of that inconsistency may surface as an I390 Licensed Internal Code(LIC) error or in more severe cases, could escalate to a system checkstop. This issue can occur during normal runtime activity regardless of configuration and has a timing variable that makes it extremely difficult to predict or avoid.

Recommended Action

Although each of these problems occur during a very small timing window, IBM Product Engineering recommends that these HIPER MCLs are installed as soon as possible to eliminate any exposure to either of these issues.

For z196 machines at Driver-86: Driver-86 entered "End of MCL Support" July 31, 2012. Product Engineering strongly recommends upgrading to Driver-93 to obtain this fix.


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