SLES10 may hang when reboot issued without "sync" or "umount" - IBM System x3690 X5, x3850 X5, BladeCenter HX5

Troubleshooting

Problem

Users may see processes hang during normal operations or failed attempts to reboot the machine on System x3690 X5, x3850 X5, or BladeCenter HX5.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H196759

Symptom

Users may see processes hang during normal operations or failed attempts to reboot the machine on System x3690 X5, x3850 X5, or BladeCenter HX5.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

BladeCenter HX5, Type 7872, any model
System x3690 X5, Type 7148, any model
System x3690 X5, Type 7149, any model
System x3850 X5, Type 7145, any model
System x3850 X5, Type 7146, any model

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

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for AMD64/EM64T, Service Pack 3

This tip is not option specific.

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/

Workaround

Disabling pstate support in the Operating System (OS) will keep the issues from occurring.

In the file /etc/powersave/cpufreq, change the following line:

	CPUFREQ_ENABLED=""

To the following:

	CPUFREQ_ENABLED="no"

Then, reboot the machine.

Alternatively, the user can disable pstates in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware by pressing F1 during boot to enter the UEFI settings screens. Navigate to System Settings, Processors, and Processor Performance States and set it to "disabled."

The final option is to upgrade to at least kernel version 2.6.16.60-0.66.1, which contains a fix that allows pstates to be enabled in UEFI firmware and the operating system. This version can be acquired from Novell at the following URL:

http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=dPqwP7Kadeo~

Additional information

There is an issue with the interaction of firmware initiated pstate changes in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES10) Service Pack 3 (SP3). A deadlock situation occurs in the Linux kernel.

By disabling pstates, the issue is avoided.

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

BladeCenter:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

BladeCenter:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x86-64

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x86-64

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