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Asset ID: 1-77-1000672.1
Update Date:2011-02-25
Keywords:

Solution Type  Sun Alert Sure

Solution  1000672.1 :   Documents Incorrectly State Cylinder/Head/Sector Configuration for Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 Arrays - May Render Filesystems Unrecoverable  


Related Items
  • Sun Storage 3510 FC Array
  •  
  • Sun Storage 3310 Array
  •  
Related Categories
  • GCS>Sun Microsystems>Sun Alert>Criteria Category>Data Loss
  •  
  • GCS>Sun Microsystems>Sun Alert>Release Phase>Resolved
  •  

PreviouslyPublishedAs
200884


Product
Sun StorageTek 3310 SCSI Array
Sun StorageTek 3510 FC Array

Bug Id
<SUNBUG: 6176083>

Date of Workaround Release
17-DEC-2004

Date of Resolved Release
20-SEP-2005

Impact

Incorrectly changing the setting for cylinder/head/sectors on Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 arrays (as described in the Sun StorEdge documentation listed below) with existing filesystems may render those filesystems unrecoverable should fsck(1M) be utilized.


Contributing Factors

This issue is described in the following documents:

  • Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Installation, Operation, and Service Manual for the Sun StorEdge 3310 SCSI Array (# 816-7290-15 )
  • Sun StorEdge 3000 Family RAID Firmware 3.25 and 3.27 User's Guide, Sun StorEdge 3310 SCSI Array and Sun StorEdge 3510 FC Array (# 817-3711-10)
  • Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Installation,Operation, and Service Manual for the Sun StorEdge 3510 FC Array (# 816-7300-15)

The previous releases of the manuals listed above incorrectly state that the cylinder/head/sector reporting of "<variable>/255/<variable>" should be used. These settings contradict the product installation checklist and can have adverse effects.

Examples:

  1. A configuration is specified with certain cylinder/head/sector variables, and newfs(1M) or mkfs(1M) is successfully run. Following this, changing the c/h/s settings to match those listed incorrectly in the Service Manual as "<variable>/255/<variable>" will cause this issue to occur.
  2. If a configuration is specified first as "<variable>/255/<variable>" (as listed incorrectly), then this issue will occur and the first attempt at running newfs(1M) or mkfs(1M) on the LUN will fail.

Either of the above examples may render the filesystem unrecoverable in the event an alternate superblock is needed. The manuals should instead state the following as the recommended setting:

cylinders = <65536
heads = 64
sectors = variable

The original (incorrect) document set is available at http://docs.sun.com/source/817-3711-10.


Symptoms

In the event that an alternate superblock needs to be found/used, the filesystem may be rendered unrecoverable (the alternate superblock can only be found if the "newfs -N" routine can work on the LUN). When attempting fsck(1M) or newfs(1M), this unrecoverable filesystem condition will return messages similar to the following :

    # fsck /dev/md/oracle-set/rdsk/d104
/dev/md/oracle-set/rdsk/d104
BAD SUPER BLOCK: MAGIC NUMBER WRONG
USE AN ALTERNATE SUPER-BLOCK TO SUPPLY NEEDED INFORMATION;
eg. fsck [-F ufs] -o b=# [special ...]
where # is the alternate super block. SEE fsck_ufs(1M).
    # newfs -Nv /dev/md/oracle-set/dsk/d104
mkfs -F ufs -o N /dev/md/oracle-set/rdsk/d104 285570930 127 255 8192
1024 251 1 90 8192 t 0 -1 8 16
Minimum bytes per inode is 11992
With 32385 sectors per cylinder, minimum cylinders per group is 16
This requires the fragment size to be changed from 1024 to 8192
Please re-run mkfs with corrected parameters

Workaround

To work around the described issue, set "cylinders = <65536" on the array for host systems with a 16-bit SCSI cylinder addressing limitation. (Please also see Sun Alert 57679 at http://sunsolve.central.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57679.)


Resolution

This issue is addressed in the following document releases:

  • Sun StorEdge product documentation for Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 arrays (for 3.2x and 4.1x Firmware)

This updated document set with correct settings can be found at http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/Network_Storage_Solutions/Workgroup/3310/index.html.



Modification History
Date: 20-SEP-2005

20-Sep-2005:

  • Update Resolution section, re-release as Resolved.


Previously Published As
101612
Internal Comments



Engineering note:



Follow SRDB 47404 at http://sunsolve.central.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-25-47404 but additionally set "cylinders = <65536" on the array for host-systems with a 16-bit SCSI cylinder addressing limitation. (Please see SunAlert 57679 at http://sunsolve.central.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57679.


Internal Contributor/submitter
michiel.bijlsma@sun.com

Internal Eng Business Unit Group
NWS (Network Storage)

Internal Eng Responsible Engineer
michiel.bijlsma@sun.com

Internal Services Knowledge Engineer
david.mariotto@sun.com

Internal Escalation ID
1-4094990

Internal Sun Alert Kasp Legacy ID
101612, 57693 (Sun Alert)

Internal Sun Alert & FAB Admin Info
Critical Category: Data Loss
Significant Change Date: 2004-12-17, 2005-09-20
Avoidance: Upgrade, Workaround
Responsible Manager: null
Original Admin Info: [WF 20-Sep-2005, Dave M: document set upgraded, updated, re-release as Resolved]
[WF 28-Jul-2005, Dave M: document not being published on SunSolve, republish]
This document has been imported from KMS Creator and may need adjustment before re-publishing.

This imported document has been reviewed/adjusted by:
Review Name:
Review Date:

Original KMS Creator attributes below:

--- PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES BELOW THIS LINE! ---

Sun Alert ID: 57693
Synopsis: Documents Incorrectly State Cylinder/Head/Sector Configuration for Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 Arrays - May Render Filesystems Unrecoverable
Category: Data Loss
Product: Sun StorEdge 3310, 3510 Documentation
BugIDs: 6176083
Avoidance: Workaround
State: Committed
Date Released: 17-Dec-2004
Date Closed:
Date Modified:
Escalation IDs: 1-4094990
Pending Patches:
Resolution Patches:
FIN:
FCO:
Date Submitted: 30-Nov-2004
Submitter: michiel.bijlsma@sun.com
Responsible Engineer: michiel.bijlsma@sun.com
Responsible Manager:
CTE group: NWS
Responsible Writer: david.mariotto@sun.com
Distribution: Contract SunSolve

Workflow History:

WF State: Issued, 17-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: sending for release

WF State: Draft, 16-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: sending for final revision review to Chessin/submitter

WF State: Draft, 08-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: sent for corrections to michiel.bijlsma@sun.com

WF State: Draft, 08-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: needs rewrite per Chessin for clarification on ContFact
wait to hear back on rewrite from Raj

WF State: Draft, 07-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: sent reminder to Raj to wrap this up

WF State: Draft, 06-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: waiting on final reply from Raj and PTS eng.

WF State: Draft, 02-Dec-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: sending for review, 10am


WF State: Draft, 30-Nov-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: need more information from submitter

WF State: Draft, 30-Nov-2004, David Mariotto
WF Note: Article created.

Exported from KMS Creator Sat May 21 09:15:02 2005 GMT, olaf.reineke@sun.com
Internal SA-FAB Eng Submission
Documents Incorrectly State Cylinder/Head/Sector Configuration for Sun StorEdge 3310 and 3510 Arrays - May Render Filesystems Unrecoverable

Product_uuid
3db30178-43d7-4d85-8bbe-551c33040f0d|Sun StorageTek 3310 SCSI Array
58553d0e-11f4-11d7-9b05-ad24fcfd42fa|Sun StorageTek 3510 FC Array

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