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        - Sun Proprietary/Confidential: Internal Use Only -
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                        FIELD INFORMATION NOTICE
                  (For Authorized Distribution by SunService)

FIN #: I0488-1

Create Date: Apr/13/99

Keywords: 

Enterprise 450 systems may experience variations in fan speed.

Top FIN/FCO Report: No

Products Reference: E450 fan speed variation

Product Category: Server / System Box

Product Affected: 

Mkt_ID   Platform   Model   Description   Serial Number
------   --------   -----   -----------   -------------
Systems Affected  
----------------

   -     E450       ALL    Ultra Enterprise 450       -
   -     E450       ALL    Ultra 450                  -

X-Options Affected
------------------
   -

Part Number   Description   Model
-----------   -----------   -----
    -              -          -

References: 

BugId: 4139830 
PatchId: 106216-02

        
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

Some Enterprise 450 and Ultra Enterprise 450 systems may experience a
condition where the fan speed varies in a cyclic fashion with the fans
being blasted every minute and then being set to their normal speed by
the driver poll thread.

The problem arises because the PCF8583 eggtimer chip was being
triggered in an unexpected way. The envctrl driver writes 0x4 to the
Control/Status register and 0xCB to the Alarm control register. This
sequence allows three possible scenarios where the 8583 chip can
trigger.  The first scenario, the expected one, is when the Timer, at
offset 0x7, overflows.  The second is when the Timer value equals a
value in the Alarm Timer register, offset 0xF. The third is when the
value in the "alarm minutes" register,  at offset 0xB, equals the value
in the "alarm counter" register at offset 0x3. The envctrl driver was
not initializing the Alarm Timer register resulting in situations where
the second scenario was occuring resulting in an interrupt being
generated.

Since the Timer register is always set to a value of 0x96 to have a 3
minute countdown before it triggers, by initializing the Alarm Timer
register to any value less that 0x96, we can prevent the second
scenarion from occuring.  The third scenario can be avoided by
resetting the counter to 0 every time the poll thread runs so that the
counter will never be equal to the alarm minutes register which can be
initially set to some high value.
        
Patch-Id# 106216-02 has been generated to fix this bug.
                     


IMPLEMENTATION: 
 
         ---
        |   |   MANDATORY (Fully Pro-Active)
         ---    
         
  
         ---
        | X |   CONTROLLED PRO-ACTIVE (per Sun Geo Plan) 
         --- 
         
                                
         ---
        |   |   REACTIVE (As Required)
         ---


        
CORRECTIVE ACTION:

Customers and Enterprise Field Service representatives may avoid the
above mentioned problem with Enterprise 450 fan speeds by following 
the recommendation shown below:

Install Patch 106216-02 or greater, to prevent potential occurances  
of this issue, as described below:
 
Patch-ID# 106216-02
Keywords: bus lockup L1/a i2c_util fan
Synopsis: SunOS 5.6: /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/envctrl patch
Date: May/29/98

Solaris Release: 2.6

SunOS Release: 5.6
 
Topic: SunOS 5.6: /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/envctrl patch

BugId's fixed with this patch: 4058804 4097475 4139830

Issue Description: 

Some Enterprise 450 and Ultra Enterprise 450 systems may experience a
condition where the fan speed varies in a cyclic fashion with the fans
being blasted every minute and then being set to their normal speed by
the driver poll thread.

The problem arises because the PCF8583 eggtimer chip was being
triggered in an unexpected way. The envctrl driver writes 0x4 to the
Control/Status register and 0xCB to the Alarm control register. This
sequence allows three possible scenarios where the 8583 chip can
trigger.  The first scenario, the expected one, is when the Timer, at
offset 0x7, overflows.  The second is when the Timer value equals a
value in the Alarm Timer register, offset 0xF. The third is when the
value in the "alarm minutes" register,  at offset 0xB, equals the value
in the "alarm counter" register at offset 0x3. The envctrl driver was
not initializing the Alarm Timer register resulting in situations where
the second scenario was occuring resulting in an interrupt being
generated.

Since the Timer register is always set to a value of 0x96 to have a 3
minute countdown before it triggers, by initializing the Alarm Timer
register to any value less that 0x96, we can prevent the second
scenarion from occuring.  The third scenario can be avoided by
resetting the counter to 0 every time the poll thread runs so that the
counter will never be equal to the alarm minutes register which can be
initially set to some high value.
        
Patch-Id# 106216-02 has been generated to fix this bug.

Implementation: 

---
        |   |   MANDATORY (Fully Pro-Active)
         ---    
         
  
         ---
        | X |   CONTROLLED PRO-ACTIVE (per Sun Geo Plan) 
         --- 
         
                                
         ---
        |   |   REACTIVE (As Required)
         ---

Corrective Action: 

Customers and Enterprise Field Service representatives may avoid the
above mentioned problem with Enterprise 450 fan speeds by following 
the recommendation shown below:

Install Patch 106216-02 or greater, to prevent potential occurances  
of this issue, as described below:
 
Patch-ID# 106216-02
Keywords: bus lockup L1/a i2c_util fan
Synopsis: SunOS 5.6: /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/envctrl patch
Date: May/29/98

Solaris Release: 2.6

SunOS Release: 5.6
 
Topic: SunOS 5.6: /platform/sun4u/kernel/drv/envctrl patch

BugId's fixed with this patch: 4058804 4097475 4139830 

Problem Description:

4139830 On some Enterprise 450 systems, fans blast every minute

Comments: 

Although this patch was released almost 1 year ago, it has been found that 
this is not a recommended patch for installation by Enterprise Services.

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Implementation Footnote: 

________________________

i)   In case of MANDATORY FINs, Enterprise Services will attempt to contact   
     all affected customers to recommend implementation of the FIN. 
        

ii)  For CONTROLLED PROACTIVE FINs, Enterprise Services mission critical sup-   
     port teams will recommend implementation of the FIN (to their respective 
     accounts), at the convenience of the customer. 


iii) For REACTIVE FINs, Enterprise Services will implement the FIN as the need  
     arises.

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Supporting Documents:
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