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Asset ID: 1-73-1000283.1
Update Date:2010-11-10
Keywords:

Solution Type  FAB (standard) Sure

Solution  1000283.1 :   Sun Fire 4800/E4900/6800/E6900 systems with US-IV+ boards have restrictions which limit the number of domains when Repeater Board V1 is installed.  


Related Items
  • Sun Fire E6900 Server
  •  
  • Sun Fire 6800 Server
  •  
  • Sun Fire E4900 Server
  •  
  • Sun Fire 4800 Server
  •  
Related Categories
  • GCS>Sun Microsystems>Sun FAB>Standard>Reactive
  •  

PreviouslyPublishedAs
200398


Product
Sun Fire 4800 Server
Sun Fire 6800 Server
Sun Fire E6900 Server
Sun Fire E4900 Server

Bug Id
<SUNBUG: 5081112> <SUNBUG: 6264812> <SUNBUG: 6260944>

Part
  • Part No: 594-1717-xx
  • Part Description: COD,CPU,4PROC@1500/32GB USS400
Part
  • Part No: 594-1716-xx
  • Part Description: COD,CPU,4PROC@1500/16GB USS400
Part
  • Part No: 594-1672-xx
  • Part Description: ASY,CPU,4PROC@1500/32GB USS400
Part
  • Part No: 594-1671-xx
  • Part Description: ASY,CPU,4PROC@1500/16GB USS400
Part
  • Part No: 596-5294-xx
  • Part Description: FCTINST,COD 4CPU@1500/32GB
Part
  • Part No: 596-5292-xx
  • Part Description: FCTINST,COD 4CPU@1500/16GB
Part
  • Part No: 596-5291-xx
  • Part Description: FCTINST,CPU BD 4CPU@1500/16GB
Part
  • Part No: 596-5293-xx
  • Part Description: FCTINST,CPU BD 4CPU@1500/32GB
Part
  • Part No: 540-6439-xx
  • Part Description: FRU,ASY,BBUNI,CPU400,S1500,GPN
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: US4BRD-484-1500C
  • Xoption Description: FCTINST,COD 4CPU@1500/32GB
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: XUS4BRD-482-1500
  • Xoption Description: ASY,CPU,4PROC@1500/16GB USS400
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: US4BRD-484-1500
  • Xoption Description: FCTINST,CPU BD 4CPU@1500/32GB
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: XUS4BRD-484-1500
  • Xoption Description: ASY,CPU,4PROC@1500/32GB USS400
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: XUS4BRD-482-1500C
  • Xoption Description: COD,CPU,4PROC@1500/16GB USS400
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: XUS4BRD-484-1500C
  • Xoption Description: COD,CPU,4PROC@1500/32GB USS400
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: US4BRD-482-1500C
  • Xoption Description: FCTINST,COD 4CPU@1500/16GB
Xoption
  • Xoption Number: US4BRD-482-1500
  • Xoption Description: FCTINST,CPU BD 4CPU@1500/16GB

Impact

When using US-IV+ System boards in a Sun Fire Midrange server with Repeater version 1 (V1) boards, only one active domain is allowed per partition. The System Controller firmware will enforce this requirement.

The impacted Repeater Boards are only the V1 version; V2 Repeater Boards do NOT require this restriction, and as such do NOT limit the configuration to only one domain per partition.

Note that the minimum supported firmware version with US-IV+ boards is 5.19.1.


Contributing Factors

Any US-IV+ board in a system with V1 repeaters will cause this restriction to be enforced on a per-partition basis.

(See below for a table of possible domain combinations.)


Symptoms

The following example shows the error encountered when attempting to bring up a domain with an US-IV+ board without properly configuring it, i.e., without first running "setupplatform -p usiv+ ".  Note that /N0/SB4 is the US-IV+ board.

   v4u-4800b-sc0:A> setkeyswitch on
   Powering boards on ...
   Aug 25 12:37:23 v4u-4800b-sc0 Domain-A.SC: ERROR: UltraSPARC IV+ CPUs
   detected in this domain. Domain is not set up to support UltraSPARC IV+.
   Please setkey off this domain, run setupplatform to support UltraSPARC IV+ CPUs in domain A.
   setkeyswitch operation did not complete
   keyswitch is: standby
  
   v4u-4800b-sc0:A> setkeyswitch off
   v4u-4800b-sc0:A>

To verify this, type the following commands on the SC :

   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> showplatform -p usiv+
UltraSPARC IV+ is not supported in domain A
UltraSPARC IV+ is not supported in domain C
   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> console a
Connected to Domain A
Domain Shell for Domain A
   v4u-4800b-sc0:A> showb
Slot     Pwr Component Type                 State      Status     Domain
----     --- --------------                 -----      ------     ------
/N0/SB4  Off CPU Board V3                   Assigned   Not tested  A
/N0/IB6  Off PCI I/O Board                  Assigned   Not tested  A
/N0/IB8  Off PCI I/O Board                  Assigned   Not tested  A

 


Root Cause

There is a limitation in the AR ASIC specific to its use on the Sun Fire Mid-Range Level 2 Repeater Board Version 1. When multiple domains are configured in the same partition, the limitation could result in a domain interruption. Therefore, in order to avoid that possibility, only one domain per partition is allowed when US-IV+ boards are in a partition and Version 1 repeaters are in use. If US-IV+ boards exist only in one partition, the other partition may have two domains.


Resolution

The firmware will enforce the appropriate restrictions per the tables below, so no specific user actions are required.

If the user needs to use US-IV+ *and* has two domains per partition, the system must be upgraded with V2 repeaters.

Configuration Examples when using V1 repeaters:

If US-IV+ Boards will *only* go into domain A, it is possible to have two domains in the second partition, C and D. Likewise, if US-IV+ Boards will *only* go into domain C, it is possible to have two domains in the first partition, A and B. Remember that using an US-IV+ board in either domain B or D is not allowed in any configuration.  See tables below.

Sun Fire 4800/E4900 

partition domain A contains USIV+ domain C contains USIV+ domains allowed
single
true N/A A
single false N/A A,B
dual true true A,C
dual false false A,C

Sun Fire 6800/E6900

partition domain A contains USIV+ domain C contains USIV+ domains allowed
single
true N/A A
single false N/A A,B
dual true true A,C
dual false true A,B,C
dual true false A,C,D
dual false false A,B,C,D

The "setupplatform -p usiv+" command needs to be run during installation of US-IV+ boards.  This command tells the SC which domains are intended to contain US-IV+ boards and allows US-IV+ boards to be used there.  This command can only be run when the domains in the partition have their keyswitches in the OFF position. "showplatform -p usiv+" displays whether the SC believes US-IV+ boards will be used in the specified domain.

Example:

   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> showplatform -p usiv+
   UltraSPARC IV+ is not supported in domain A
   UltraSPARC IV+ is not supported in domain C
   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> setupplatform -p usiv+
   UltraSPARC IV+ Configuration
   ----------------------------
   Is UltraSPARC IV+ going to be deployed in domain A? [false]: true
   Domain A keyswitch position is standby. The position must be off.
   Can not change this value when the above domains are powered on.
   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> setkeyswitch -d A off
   Powering boards off ...
   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> setupplatform -p usiv+
   UltraSPARC IV+ Configuration
   ----------------------------
   Is UltraSPARC IV+ going to be deployed in domain A? [false]: true
   Is UltraSPARC IV+ going to be deployed in domain C? [false]: false
   v4u-4800b-sc0:SC> showplatform -p usiv+
   UltraSPARC IV+ is supported in domain A
   UltraSPARC IV+ is not supported in domain C

Note:

When using US-IV+ and V1 repeater boards, you cannot use domains B and D, even by themselves. The System Controller firmware will enforce the domain restrictions. You cannot choose to run multiple domains in a partition "at your own risk". It is not allowed. If the MAC address/hostid are needed from domains B or D, use the MAC Address change procedure outlined in the Systems Platform Administration Manual included with the firmware.

Repeater Board V2 boards (501-7594) are NOT impacted by this issue.

To check if the system has Repeater Board V2 installed, run the showboards command, which identifies 501-7594 as Repeater Board V2. The V1 Repeater Boards are simply identified as Repeater Board (No V number at all).

If only Repeater Board V2 is installed, the system can support up to two domains per partition.

It should, however, be noted that there may be some performance implications when creating two domains per partition when using US-IV+.

For further details review FAB 1017415.1...

  https://support.us.oracle.com/oip/faces/secure/km/DocumentDisplay.jspx?id=1017415.1




@Modification History
@Date: 08-MAY-2007
  • @various updates to Synopsis, Issue Description and Corrective Action sections.


Previously Published As
101900
Internal Comments


None.


Related Information
  • URL: https://support.us.oracle.com/handbook_internal/Devices/Miscellaneous/MISC_SunFire_Repeater.htm

Internal Contributor/submitter
James.Hsieh@Sun.COM, Nathan.Kroenert@Sun.COM

Internal Eng Business Unit Group
KE Authors

Internal Eng Responsible Engineer
Darrell.Shen@Sun.COM

Internal Services Knowledge Engineer
Joe.Davis@Sun.COM

Internal Kasp FAB Legacy ID
101900

Internal Sun Alert & FAB Admin Info
Critical Category:
Significant Change Date: 2007-01-22
Avoidance: Service Procedure
Responsible Manager: null
Original Admin Info: WF - received email from SSH folks that someone noticed this
FAB was referenced in the SSH with a link, but
the link did not work. Looking at the FAB determined it
was never released and did not list who the submitter
or Eng contact were. I looked through all submission
emails and determined who these folks were and got
their approval to publish this FAB as is. (1/22/07) - Joe

WF - changes to Synopsis, Issue Description and Corretive Action
sections per Nathan Kroenert and Roy Stiles. - Joe 5/8/07
Product_uuid
29d3a694-0a18-11d6-92da-df959df44cdd|Sun Fire 4800 Server
29da7938-0a18-11d6-8a41-9ed1ad6d6779|Sun Fire 6800 Server
4fe39727-0599-11d8-84cb-080020a9ed93|Sun Fire E6900 Server
bed24aa9-0598-11d8-84cb-080020a9ed93|Sun Fire E4900 Server

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