IBM Support

Performance loss with Windows 2000 with IBM Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) version 1.x or earlier - IBM eServer xSeries 440

Troubleshooting


Problem

Source RETAIN tip H177143 Symptom When running Win2000 with an installed Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) earlier than version 2.x on an IBM eServer xSeries 440 configured with more than one (1) processor.

Resolving The Problem

Source
RETAIN tip: H177143

Symptom
When running Win2000 with an installed Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) earlier than version 2.x on an IBM eServer xSeries 440 configured with more than one (1) processor, a situation exists that can result in system slowdowns. The problem may be observed with Task Manager and is exhibited as follows: One processor in the system will report that it is operating at or near 100% utilization while all other processors are idle.

Affected configurations
  • The system is an xSeries 440, type 8687, any model.
  • The system is configured with two (2) or more processors.
  • The following NOSs are affected:
    • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, with any service pack applied
    • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, with any service pack applied
    • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, with any service pack applied
  • The 1.8D or earlier version device driver for the HAL is affected.
Solution

This behavior is corrected with the following software:
 
IBM eServer xSeries 440 - Hardware Abstract Layer (HAL) Support version 2.3DS for Microsoft Windows 2000

Additional Information

There is no mechanism for synchronizing processor time-stamp counters (TSCs) in the xSeries 440. Therefore, software should not reference processor TSCs for use as counter values. The xSeries 440 architecture provides a common Global Counter that should be referenced instead. Versions 1.x of the HAL contain references to the TSC which can result in the symptoms described above. The 2.x version of the IBM HAL corrects this problem.
 



 
 

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

Older System x:Windows 2000

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Document Information

Modified date:
29 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-46441

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