Sun Storage 6920 System
 

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When attempting to boot a Solaris SPARC host from a Sun StorEdge 6920 array with System Processor (SP) version 3.0 (running baseline version 3.0.0.25), the boot process may fail intermittently. If this occurs, the Solaris boot will need to be retried.

This issue can occur on the following platform:

• Sun StorEdge 6920 array with System Processor (SP) version 3.0 running baseline version 3.0.0.25 without patch 118396-29

Note: Sun StorEdge 6920 arrays with System Processor (SP) version 2.0, running baseline version 2.x are not affected by this issue.

The described issue only occurs on Sun StorEdge 6920 arrays where the host is booting from a LUN on the array.

To determine the baseline version running on the array, do the following:

1. Log into the "Storage Automated Diagnostic Environment" web console as the "storage" user.

    Sun Storage Automated Diagnostic Environment -> Inventory -> Service Processor

2. Check the "Details" view for the version listed (e.g. 3.0.0.25).

Note: If there is not an "Inventory" tab after selecting "Sun Storage Automated Diagnostic Environment", but there is a "Service" tab, then release 2.0 is running on the array and the system is not affected.

If the described issue occurs, the following "Fast Data Access MMU Miss" message will be seen on the host console:

    Rebooting with command: boot
    Boot device: rootdisk  File and args:
    Fast Data Access MMU Miss
    {1} ok

Note: There can be other causes of "Fast Data Access MMU Miss" messages during boot, and there is no method in a normal user environment to determine that the boot failure was definitely due to this issue. However, it would be a good indication that the Sun StorEdge 6920 array is affected by this issue if, for example, booting from the array was successful every time when running a baseline version of 2.x, but the booting started to fail with "Fast Data Access MMU Miss" messages only after upgrading the array to baseline version 3.0.0.25.

If the described issue occurs, the system will return to the "ok" OBP prompt, and the Solaris boot will need to be retried.

At the "ok" prompt, type "reset-all" (without the quotes) and press the enter key.

If the OBP "auto-boot?" setting is "true" on the host, then the host will automatically reboot after resetting. If this OBP setting is "false" then the host will return to the "ok" prompt. At this point, that host's normal variation of the "boot" command should be used to boot the host.

Note: The boot may fail a number of times. Apply the above workaround until the host successfully boots.

This issue is resolved in the following release:

• Sun StorEdge 6920 array with patch 118396-29 or later

Note: Patch 118396-29 should only be applied as part of a full upgrade to baseline version 3.0.0.30, and not on its own.

Baseline version 3.0.0.30 is available online by using the PatchPro functionality on the arrays Service Processor (SP), or by using a Sun StorEdge 6920 array version 3.0.0.30 patch CD available from your Service Provider.

References

It is believed that this issue is fixed in DSP firmware patch 118396-29 (which must not be applied on its own, but only as part of a full SE6920 upgrade to Unity 3.0.0.30 using PatchPro online or with a Unity 3.0 Build 30 Patch CD). That patch has fixed similar behavior reproduced by PDE. However, the affected customer will not verify that the fix in the patch definitely resolves this issue.

In addition to bug# 6306398 (where the SE6920 behavior did contribute to the boot failure), there is bug# 6322050 which is not an SE6920 issue, but can produce similar symptoms of intermittent boot failures. BugID 6322050 has its own workaround listed in the bug (set FC switch ports to be F-ports), while there is further investigation by PDE. If there is an issue booting from an SE6920 and the error message is not "Fast Data Access MMU Miss", it might be the result of bugID 6322050 as it seems to produce a variety of errors.

To identify that the customer is running Release 3.0 baseline 3.0.0.25 from an SE6920 "Solution Extract" tar file, look in the file:

     [Solution-Extract-tar-filename]/Rack/etc_release

 

For example:

     $ cat etc_release

     Solaris 9 9/04 s9s_u7wos_09 SPARC

     Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

     Use is subject to license terms.

     Assembled 29 June 2004



     Sun StorEdge(tm) 6920

     Version: 3.0.0.25

     Build Date: June 16, 2005

     $

 

References

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