BIOS firmware update for AIX v7.3.5 - IBM BladeCenter PS700, PS701, PS702, PS703, PS704

Download Description

• New IBM xSeries firmware and device driver file naming convention

Change history

NOTE TO SERVICE - Reference N/A

Version 7.3.5 01AA730_078_035 - 03/14/12

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• XB096175: HIPER/Pervasive On PS702 blades, a problem was fixed that caused the blade system to become unresponsive with SRC B120E204 when a BladeCenter power supply was replaced.
• SW125746: The firmware was enhanced to stop logging informational SRC B1768468 during a firmware installation.
• SW079788: On PS703 and PS704 blades, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B181D506 to be erroneously logged when power was removed.
• SW107494: The firmware was enhanced such that if the power cap limits cannot be set at standby, the error logged will be unrecoverable instead of informational. -SW110620: The firmware was enhanced to increase the threshold for recoverable SRC B113E504 so that the processor core reporting the SRC is not guarded out. This prevents unnecessary performance loss and the unnecessary replacement of hardware. -SW104448: A problem was fixed that caused SRCs B7006790 and B7006A21 to be erroneously logged.
• SW075476: On the System Management Services (SMS) remote IPL (RIPL) menus, a problem caused the SMS menu to continue to show that an Ethernet device is configured for iSCSI, even though the user has changed it to BOOTP.
• SW111607: The firmware was enhanced to log SRCs BA180030 and BA180031 as informational instead of predictive. System firmware changes that affect certain systems
• SW121436: A problem was fixed that impacted performance if profiling was enabled in one or more partitions. Performance profiling is enabled: - In an AIX or VIOS partition using the tprof (-a, -b, -B, -E option) command or pmctl (-a, -E option) command. - In an IBM i partition when the PEX *TRACE profile (TPROF) collections or PEX *PROFILE collections are active. - In a Linux partition using the perf command, which is available in RHEL6 and SLES11; profiling with oprofile does not cause the problem.
• SW097307: On blades using the Active Energy Manager (AEM) to run in Dynamic Power Save (DPS) mode, and with deconfigured processor cores, a problem was fixed that caused the processor voltages to be set incorrectly, which in turn caused the system to use more power than it should have been using.
• SW108053: A problem was fixed that caused SRC B1812616 to be erroneously logged when the service processor performed a reset/reload operation after the blade had been booted in safe mode.
• SW103611: On blades managed by a System Director Management Console (SDMC), a problem was fixed that caused multiple service processor dumps to be unnecessarily taken during a concurrent firmware update. SRC B181EF9A, which indicates that the dump space on the service processor is full, was logged as a result. -XB085130: On blades managed by a System Director Management Console (SDMC), a problem was fixed that prevented the use of the BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (BOFM).
• SW111209: On blades managed by a System Director Management Console (SDMC), a problem was fixed that caused SRC BA3430001 to be erroneously logged every time a partition with service authority was booted.
• XB063762: On systems with an iSCSI network, when booting a logical partition using that iSCSI network, a problem was fixed that caused the iSCSI gateway parameter displayed on the screen to be incorrect. It did not impact iSCSI boot functionality.
• SW110500: On blades that are partitioned, problem was fixed that caused a partition to hang at progress code C200xxxx when booting.
• SW110748: On PS703 and PS704 blades in a BladeCenter S chassis with a 2/4 port high-speed daughter card feature code (F/C) 8291 installed, a problem was fixed that caused SRC BA180020 to be erroneously logged.

Version 7.3.4 Supplemental service pack 01AA730_066_035 - 12/09/11

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• SW112982: HIPER/Pervasive on systems with a Virtual Input/Output (VIO) client running AIX: A problem was fixed that caused the system to crash with SRC B700F103.

Version 7.3.4 01AA730_059_035 - 11/04/11

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• SW106588: The firmware was enhanced to log SRC B1812626 as informational, instead of unrecoverable, when the blade is at standby. System firmware changes that affect certain systems
• SW103582: On PS700, PS701 and PS702 blades, a problem was fixed that prevented a high-speed daughter card (HSDC) from being configured by the operating system.
• SW107458: On PS702 and PS704 double-wide blades, a problem was fixed that caused the power cap minimum and maximum values to be erroneously set to the same value.

Version 7.3.3 01AA730_052_035 - 09/28/11

New Features and Functions

• Support for 16 GB memory DIMMs, feature code EM34, on PS703 and PS704 systems.

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• SW073067 HIPER: On systems running VIOS, a problem was fixed that caused the system to crash with SRC B700F103.
• SW100749: The firmware was enhanced to allow the blade to boot by using the previously-set minimum and maximum power capping values, or zeros, if the retrieval of the new minimum and maximum power capping values failed.
• XB046347: A problem was fixed that caused "recovery" errors to be erroneously logged by the service processor. These recovery entries were visible in the Advanced Management Module (AMM) error log.
• SW082028: The firmware was enhanced so that a MAC address of all zeros will no longer be broadcast. Network switches to which the blade can be attached can be configured to block ports on which all-zero MAC addresses are received. The blade attached to the blocked port on the switch will become unreachable.
• SW086941: A problem was fixed that caused SRC B18138B7 to be erroneously logged, and the service processor to terminate, when errors were continuously logged due to failing hardware. System firmware changes that affect certain systems
• SW081762/9C48172: On systems with a F/C 8258 InfiniBand (IB) adapter installed, the firmware was enhanced to improve the performance of the adapter.
• SW077502: On POWER7 blade systems that are managed by a System Director Management Console (SDMC), as well as an Advanced Management Module (AMM), a problem was fixed that prevented service processor error log entries that had been sent to the SDMC from being sent to the AMM.
• XB064715: On PS703 and PS704 systems, a problem was fixed that caused the blade type to be incorrectly shown in the AMM menus.
• XB060878: On PS703 and PS704 systems, a problem was fixed that prevented an over-temperature condition on the second processor from being reported to the Advanced Management Module (AMM).
• SW080393: On PS703 and PS704 systems, a problem was fixed that caused the first string in a service processor error log entry to be duplicated when viewed in the Advanced Management Module (AMM) menus.
• SW081987: On PS70x systems that are not managed by a System Director Management Console (SDMC) which have a daughter card attached, a problem was fixed that caused unrecoverable SRC B1818A0F to be erroneously logged during blade discovery or after an in-band firmware installation.
• SW082825: On PS703 and PS704 systems, a problem was fixed that prevented the integrated Ethernet MAC addresses from being displayed in the hardware vital product data (VPD) on the Advanced Management Module (AMM) interface.
• SW070071: On systems running the Blade Open Fabric Manager (BOFM), a problem was fixed that caused SRC BA340001 or BA340020 to be erroneously logged.
• SW069711: On PS703 and PS704 systems in which a high-speed daughter card (HSDC) is installed, a problem was fixed that prevented the card from being configured.
• SW093463: On systems with processors that don't have memory associated with them, a problem was fixed that was degrading system performance.
• SW081796: On systems running Active Memory Sharing (AMS), a problem was fixed that caused the system to crash during the creation of a logical partition (LPAR).

Version 7.3.1 01AA730_039_035 - 07/18/11

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• The firmware was enhanced so that a MAC address of all zeros will no longer be broadcast. Network switches to which the blade can be attached can be configured to block ports on which all-zero MAC addresses are received. The blade attached to the blocked port on the switch will become unreachable.

Version 7.3.0.1 01AA730_035_035

• N/A There are no fixes specific to POWER7 blades in this level.

Version 7.3.0 01AA730_031_031 - 05/20/2011

New Features and Functions

• Support for IBM i live partition hibernation
• Support for server platform system dumps (SYSDUMP files) larger than 4GB
• Support for power savings settings for certain partitions and the system processor pool
• Support for remote restart of partitions.

Version 7.1.6 01AA710_114_043 - 03/25/2011

System firmware changes that affect certain systems

• SW008198: On PS700 blades (8406-70Y), a problem was fixed that caused an IPL to hang.
• SW058373: on PS700 blades (8406-70Y), a problem was fixed that caused the power requirements displayed on the advanced management module (AMM) to be too high. When this happens on multiple blades servers, it can cause the BladeCenter to erroneously restrict the number of blade servers that can be installed.

Version 7.1.5 01AA710_099_043 - 11/11/2010

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• SW032203: The firmware was enhanced to give the user the opportunity to change the boot flow (invoke the SMS menus, for example) during a forced reboot. A forced reboot occurs when the operating system's operational parameters are not consistent with the current parameters. The firmware forces a reboot so that the new parameters will be applied during the next boot.

Version 7.1.4 01AA710_097_043 - 10/01/2010

System firmware changes that affect all systems

• SW031078 HIPER: This fix corrects an issue that has the potential to corrupt information stored in the POWER7 core's translation cache and may cause undetected data errors. This issue was discovered during internal IBM testing, and while it has not been reported on any customer system, IBM strongly recommends that this fix be applied to all POWER7 systems.
• XB032341: A problem was fixed that prevented the eth0 port from working properly if it was configured for IPv6 addressing.
• SW013447: A problem was fixed that prevented bootable virtual fibre channel disks from being displayed on the system management services (SMS) menus. System firmware changes that affect certain systems
• SW015952: On double-wide blades, a problem was fixed that caused the MAC address of the expansion planar to be displayed incorrectly on the advanced management module (AMM) menus.

Version 7.1.3 01AA710_088_043 - 08/11/2010

• SW017783/PMH 59484,004,000 HIPER: On systems in dynamic power save mode using the Active Energy Manager plug-in with Systems Director, a problem was fixed that caused SRC B1812616, then a hardware checkstop (SRC B113E504), to be logged.

Version 7.1.2 01AA710_083_043 - 06/04/2010

• Firmware Release for Power7 Blades: 8406-70Y, 8406-71Y Blade Centers PS700, PS701