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Error LABEL FCA_ERR4 IDENTIFIER 7BFEEA1F and error LABEL FCA_ERR12 IDENTIFIER 29FA8C20 logged on AIX & PowerVM VIOS

Troubleshooting


Problem

Intermittent link errors detected on physical Fibre Channel adapter (fcs device) on AIX or VIO Server.

 

# errpt 

IDENTIFIER TIMESTAMP T C RESOURCE_NAME DESCRIPTION
7BFEEA1F 0211075926 T H fcs8 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075926 T H fcs9 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075926 T H fcs9 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075926 T H fcs7 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075926 T H fcs7 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs6 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs6 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs5 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs5 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs13 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs13 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs11 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs11 LINK ERROR
29FA8C20 0211075826 I O fcs1 Additional FC Adapter Information
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs15 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075826 T H fcs15 LINK ERROR
29FA8C20 0211075826 I O fcs17 Additional FC Adapter Information
29FA8C20 0211075826 I O fcs3 Additional FC Adapter Information
29FA8C20 0211075726 I O fcs1 Additional FC Adapter Information
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs1 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs12 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs12 LINK ERROR
29FA8C20 0211075726 I O fcs17 Additional FC Adapter Information
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs17 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs3 LINK ERROR
7BFEEA1F 0211075726 T H fcs8 LINK ERROR

 

Decoding of the error using the summ analyzer confirms FC link failure.

 

# errpt -a |summ| less

...
Feb 11 07:57:55 fcs12 T FCA_ERR4 Unable to connect; GET_ID mailbox failed at startup [state STARTUP|ONLINE|CONN_IN_PROG| [ss_status STARTUP_FAILED|LINK_RETRIES_EXCEEDED|
Feb 11 07:57:55 fcs12 T FCA_ERR4 Timed out waiting for link to come up [state STARTUP|RST_COMPLETE|ONLINE|CONN_IN_PROG| [ss_status STARTUP_SUCCESS|
Feb 11 07:57:54 fcs17 I FCA_ERR12 INFO: Adapter link in LINK_DEAD state during [driver close] [state INIT_ACTIVE| phase LINK_DOWN subphase WAIT_LINK
Feb 11 07:57:54 fcs17 T FCA_ERR4 Adapter link_up failure [state INIT_ACTIVE| phase LINK_DOWN
Feb 11 07:57:53 fcs3 T FCA_ERR4 Adapter link_up failure [state INIT_ACTIVE| phase LINK_DOWN
Feb 11 07:57:16 fcs8 T FCA_ERR4 Link is dead (has been down several seconds) [state RST_COMPLETE|ONLINE|LNK_DN| [ss_status STARTUP_SUCCESS|

 

 

 

Cause

The Fibre Channel adapter failed to connect to a SAN Fabric switch.

 

 

Environment

AIX server - AIX 7.2 TL5 SP7, AIX 7.3 TL2 SP1, and later versions.

VIOS server - VIOS v3.1.4.31, VIOS v4.1.0.10,  and later versions.

 

 

Diagnosing The Problem

To diagnose the reason of the connection failure, download and install FC SFP Analyzer tool fcerr_stat.260501.epkg.Z using the emgr command as root. No reboot required.

 

# emgr -e fcerr_stat.260501.epkg.Z

 

 

 

After installation, the tool is available in ./tmp directory. It performs initial connectivity assessment of all physical Fibre Channel adapter ports using the fcstat -e command, and delivers analysis with suggested actions.

 

Important Notice:

The AIX fcstat command's flag -e is added for FC HBAs that has data rates equal to or more than 16Gb from the following releases onwards:

· AIX 7.3 TL2 SP1, AIX 7.2 TL5 SP7

· VIOS 4.1.0.10, VIOS 3.1.4.31

Install fcerr_stat.sh on the supported versions only.

 

Resolving The Problem

Run the analyzer as demonstrated below and follow the recommended actions.

 

[oem_setup_env @ vio1] /tmp

#./fcerr_stat.sh

Scanning FC ports...
fcs0 is switch-attached
fcs1 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs10 is switch-attached
fcs11 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs12 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs13 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs14 is switch-attached
fcs15 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs16 is switch-attached
fcs17 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs2 is switch-attached
fcs3 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs4 is switch-attached
fcs5 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs6 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs7 is not-cabled/ unused port.
fcs8 is switch-attached
fcs9 is not-cabled/ unused port.

Starting fcstat collection. Please wait...

=== END OF DATA COLLECTION ===

=== SFP SUMMARY ===
Port | Status
---------+-------
fcs0 | OK
fcs10 | OK
fcs14 | OK
fcs16 | OK
fcs2 | OK
fcs4 | OK
fcs8 | LOW RX

==============================================================

SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS

==============================================================

RECOMMENDATION: Non-cabled ports detected:
fcs1
fcs11
fcs12
fcs13
fcs15
fcs17
fcs3
fcs5
fcs6
fcs7
fcs9
Verify cabling or follow procedure https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1284358

RECOMMENDATION: Low RX Power detected (weak incoming signal).
Affected ports:
fcs8

The SFP values on these ports indicate low receive power (weak incoming signal).

Full fcstat details available in: /tmp/ibmsupt/testcase/fcstat_e_20260211_144609.out

Contact your SAN switch vendor support.

If problems persist, collect 'fcerr_stat.sh -s' and send to IBM Support for further analysis.

fcerr_stat.sh complete.

 

 

 

 

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
01 May 2026

UID

ibm17251174

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