ServeRAID-8k (rev E) controller reports false battery errors - Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H191924

Issue

Symptoms may vary upon each system type and are being documented accordingly. IBM has confirmed two symptoms that are described below with ServeRAID-8k (Rev E) controllers with replacement part number 25R8076 and serial/header code number IIS39R8875ZK10407xxxx on the controller label:

1. Intermittently, when exiting the Adaptec (Control+A) ServeRAID-8k controller BIOS, after about (45) seconds, and selecting the option to restart the computer in the server POST.

   Note: On an IBM BladeCenter, the fault LED remains lit until the blade is reseated. On a server other than an IBM BladeCenter, the Raid/DASD or S_ERR LED turns on for a few seconds and clears automatically during the system restart.

2. When running a Linux based operating system, after typing INIT 0, INIT 5, shutdown -y, or shutdown -i0 to restart the server.

   Note: The Raid/DASD or S_ERR fault LED turns own seconds before the INIT or Shutdown command process has ended waiting for the enduser to press Enter to restart the server. Once the server is in the process of restarting, the Raid/DASD or S_ERR LED turns off.

   Servers will report the following message in the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) logs:

   Sel Message Rev = 4 Sensor Type = 29 - Battery Sensor Number = 8E - RAID BATT Error SEL Event Type = 83 - digital Discrete Event Description = State Asserted, Deassertion SEL Event Data = 01 FF FF

   The ServeRAID-8k Controller x Logs.txt file will report the following from the Support.zip:

   WRN localhost Good battery degraded to the low battery state: controller 1 INF localhost A device that resides in an enclosure slot experienced a status change: controller 1 INF localhost A device that resides in an enclosure slot experienced a status change: controller 1 WRN localhost An error occurred while accessing the logical drive: controller 1, logical drive 1 INF localhost Drive inserted: controller 1, channel 0, SCSI ID 0 WRN localhost An error occurred while accessing the logical drive: controller 1, logical drive 1 INF localhost Drive inserted: controller 1, channel 0, SCSI ID 0 INF localhost Expanded event, container group, PPI update. Age INF localhost Configuration has changed INF localhost Bad battery improved to the good battery state: controller 1

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter LS21, Type 7971, any model
• BladeCenter LS41, Type 7972, any model
• 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 1913, any model
• System x3550, Type 7978, any model
• System x3650, Type 1914, any model
• System x3650, Type 7979, any model
• System x3655, Type 7985, any model
• System x3755, Type 7163, any model
• System x3755, Type 8877, any model

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM Options:

• ServeRAID-8k SAS Controller, Option 25R8064

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

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, any update
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, any update
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, any update
• SCO UnixWare 7.1.4, any version

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:

Solution

This behavior is corrected in the IBM ServeRAID firmware version 15421 or higher.

The referenced file will be available from the "Servers - ServeRAID Software Matrix" at the following URL:

Workaround

Users can perform one of the two workarounds below:

1. Users running an IBM BladeCenter can reseat the Blade to clear the fault LED.
2. Users using a system other than the IBM BladeCenter, and running Linux, can perform an INIT 6 (system restart) command to avoid this issue.

Additional information

The battery messages, server fault LED's, and Blade Advanced Management Module (AMM) Management Module (MM) event logs should all be ignored.

IBM has confirmed there are no actual bad batteries or ServeRAID (Rev E) controller's involved with this issue and these parts should not be replaced. The battery is being disabled by the firmware after a driver shutdown process has been initiated by either the controller BIOS or from an operating system such as Linux.

A change was made for the battery to be Disabled after a graceful shutdown in the ServeRAID (Rev E) controllers.

Because of this added feature, the ServeRAID (Rev E) controller now reports this battery shutdown process in it's firmware and acknowledges the battery has been disabled. The system BMC intermittently does not catch this graceful shutdown process and eventually reports the "RAID battery error" message in the BMC or IMPI logs on systems that support the ServeRAID-8k controller.

There are two ways to identify if your customer has an ServeRAID-8k (Rev E) controller:

1. If the server is in production and IBM ServeRAID Manager 8.40 is installed, capture a UART log using the ARCCONF utility and run this command:

   arcconf GETLOGS 1 UART > companyname_UART.txt

   Look for these string's in the UART log:

   [ba]bat_init(): Key Biscayne Rev E Key Biscayne [ba]BaCheckPicVersion: BSS is a Key Biscayne Rev E

2. If the server can be powered down or the card is new out of box, the user can compare using this label for the Rev E controllers with xxx39R8875xxxxxxxxxxxx as the IBM serial number.

   

   Cards that show rev D or C as shown in the photo below do not present this issue.

   

Additionally, customers can check the battery status from ServeRAID Manager 8.40 to verify that the battery is not bad by following these steps:

1. Open ServeRAID Manager 8.40 application or boot to the ServeRAID Support CD v8.40.
2. In the Enterprise View panel, right mouse click Controller 1 (IBM ServeRAID-8k) and select Properties.
3. Select the Status tab to view the Battery status, temperature readings, and charge information.