Intel Xeon 5200/5400 series processors may cause system to hang - Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H192254

Symptom

A number of Intel 5200 and 5400-series processors may exhibit system halt, system reboot, or machine check exception.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter HS21 XM, type 1915, any model
• BladeCenter HS21 XM, type 7995, any model
• BladeCenter HS21, type 1885, any model
• BladeCenter HS21, type 8853, any model
• System x3400, type 7973, any model
• System x3400, type 7974, any model
• System x3400, type 7975, any model
• System x3400, type 7976, any model
• System x3500, type 7977, any model
• System x3550, type 1013, any model
• System x3550, type 1913, any model
• System x3550, type 7978, any model
• System x3650, type 1914, any model
• System x3650, type 7979, any model

This tip is not option specific.

This tip is not software specific.

Solution

Apply the following BIOS to the affected systems:

System x3650/x3550/x3500:

System x3400:

BladeCenter HS21 XM (Type 1915 and 7995):

BladeCenter HS21 (Type 1885 and 8853):

The file will be available from the IBM System x Support web site at the following URL:

Additional information

The BIOS releases listed in the Fix section of this tip contain an Intel microcode patch for the microprocessor firmware that addresses erratum AX52 and AY52 for Intel 5400 and 5200 series, respectively. Both errata are titled "Short Nested Loops That Span Multiple 16-byte Boundaries May Cause a System Hang or a Machine Check Exception".

Additional information for this issue can be found at the following URL:

The possibility of this behavior is believed to be limited, but IBM very strongly recommends that users install this update as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of the issue listed above.

If your system encounters the same symptoms after the recommended BIOS has been applied, refer to other published tips and treat the symptoms with known corrective actions.