Spurious machine checks with Microsoft Windows 2003

Troubleshooting

Problem

The system suddenly resets, with no apparent error code. Upon review of the system event log, the following error codes can be observed: Machine check asserted for Card or Link - SPINT, I/O Bus Interface, CPU Card, PCI-X Card Machine check asserted - SPINT, North Bridge This applies to the base install of the operating system only.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H187692

Symptom

The system suddenly resets, with no apparent error code. Upon review of the system event log, the following error codes can be observed:

	Machine check asserted for Card or Link - SPINT, I/O Bus Interface, CPU Card, PCI-X Card Machine check asserted - SPINT, North Bridge

This applies to the base install of the operating system only.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

System x3800, type 8865, any model
System x3850, type 8863, any model
System x3950 E, type 8874, any model
System x3950, type 8872, any model
xSeries 260, type 8865, any model
xSeries 366, type 8863, any model
xSeries 460, type 8872, any model
xSeries MXE 460, type 8874, any model

This tip is not option specific.

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Base Install
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Datacenter Edition, Base Install

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information:

	http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Solution

Install Service Pack 1 or later for Microsoft Windows 2003 from the following URL:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb229701.aspx

Additional information

Microsoft Windows 2003, Service Pack 1, is a requirement for these machines. No machines with Service Pack 1 have reported this issue; furthermore, machines experiencing this issue have stopped failing upon installation of Service Pack 1.

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

System x:Windows Server 2003

Older System x:Windows Server 2003

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Tips

Spurious machine checks with Microsoft Windows 2003 - Servers