topic Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full in Operating System - OpenVMS

anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Clark Powell — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:11:44 GMT

What do these two error messages mean in the following anal/error/elv output?
%ELV-E-B2TNOTFND, valid bit-to-text translation data not found
-ELV-W-NODNOTFND, bit-to-text node not found

we are getting an increased disk error count on VMS 8.3 when we use IBM SAN disks presented to the VMS system using an IBM SVC. Neither HP nor IBM seem interested in providing integrated support for configuration.

EVENT EVENT_TYPE_____________________________ TIMESTAMP______________ NODE__ EVENT_CLASS____________________________
25 Device Error 6-JAN-2010 10:45:21.21 ALPHAX DEVICE_ERRORS

DESCRIPTION__________________________________ RANGE___ VALUE_____________ TRANSLATED_VALUE_______________________
Operating System Type 2 OpenVMS
Hardware Architecture 4 Alpha
Vendor ID 0x00000DEC hp
Hardware System Type 34
Logging CPU 1
Number of CPU's in Active Set 2
Device Class 1
System Marketing Model 1940 COMPAQ AlphaServer DS20E 667 MHz
Device Type 54
OS Flags <15:00>: 0x0001
Error Mask <31:00>: 0x00000001
Seconds Since Boot 763151
Chip Type 11 EV67 (21264A)
Error Sequence Number 134269
DSR String COMPAQ AlphaServer DS20E 666 MH
DDR String 00000000FFFFFEFE0507A09000000000000000000035343132204D424908
0x0000
System Serial Number 0x0000000000000000313430315A325A4431313134
Time - ISO 8601 Format 20100106104521,21-0800
Operating System Version V8.3
Computer Name ALPHAX

%ELV-E-B2TNOTFND, valid bit-to-text translation data not found
-ELV-W-NODNOTFND, bit-to-text node not found

Dump untranslatable event body

00000000 00008218 EDC83601 18000810 00000000 00000000 00000010 00000010 .....................6.......... 00000000 00009AAC
24060000 00040000 1C455808 00010004 001343C7 00000003 1CF00000 00000000 .............C.......XE........$ 00000020 00009ACC
49080000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00004241 47442431 1$DGAB.........................I 00000040 00009AEC
30030000 000F0000 FFFFFEFE 0507A090 00000000 00000000 00353431 32204D42 BM 2145........................0 00000060 00009B0C
02000000 00000006 00000001 00000000 00000800 00000000 00000003 05303030 000............................. 00000080 00009B2C
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 000E3F00 00000010 00000000 0600F018 .............?.................. 000000A0 00009B4C
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................................ 000000C0 00009B6C
000000F7 00000000 FFFFFEFE 0507A590 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................................ 000000E0 00009B8C
00000001 00000000 00000180 00000000 FFFFFFBC F1DCC000 00000000 00000002 ................................ 00000100 00009BAC
00000000 00000020 20584148 504C4108 36010000 000B0000 0022FFF8 00000794 ......"........6.ALPHAX ....... 00000120 00009BCC
0000001F 00000000 20202020 332E3856 000300A9 6B54D4CF A4C50060 60030001 ...``.....Tk....V8.3 ........ 00000140 00009BEC
484D2036 36362045 30325344 20726576 72655361 68706C41 20514150 4D4F431F .COMPAQ AlphaServer DS20E 666 MH 00000160 00009C0C
00000000 00008205 5C983601 00000140 00000000 00000908 00000000 00000000 ................@....6.\........ 00000180 00009C2C
0000 00000000 ...... 000001A0 00009C4C

ERROR_LOG_SUMMARY______________________________________________________

Total number of events: 23
Number of the first event: 3
Number of the last event: 25
Earliest event occurred: 6-JAN-2010 09:56:03.80
Latest event occurred: 6-JAN-2010 10:45:21.21
Number of events by event class:
CONTROL_ENTRIES 4
DEVICE_ERRORS 19

thanks
Clark Powell
PS (Not our idea to use the IBM SAN disks instead of HP SAN disks. That said, it should work.)

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Steve Reece_3 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:59:09 GMT

HELP/MESSAGE gives:

B2TNOTFND, valid bit-to-text translation data not found

Facility: ELV, Error Log Viewer

Explanation: Valid bit-to-text translation data was not found for the entire current error log event. This could result from any
of the following conditions:

o Bit-to-text translation of the current error log event is not supported.

o An invalid error log event was encountered.

o There is an error in the bit-to-text translation data for the current error log event.

User Action: Verify that bit-to-text translation of the current error log event is supported. If it is supported, contact HP Customer Support.

Either way, I would have expected that HP would provide an analysis of the error log event if you have a maintenance contract with them. That said, I'd then expect it to be a "discussion" of whether they were the guilty party for the error or whether it was IBM.

Steve

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Jim_McKinney — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:09:29 GMT

Can't help with the meaning of this output, but, here's a suggestion - if you have an AlphaServer with DECevent installed, copy the ERRLOG.SYS over to it and DIAGNOSE the file for disk events (DECevent should be able to handle disk issues even if it doesn't know anything about the system that encountered the issues).

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Robert Brooks_1 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:28:30 GMT

ELV was written by a member of VMS Engineering who worked in the "platform support" group -- that is, they were concerned with CPU or memory related problems. As such, it does not do a good job of dealing with errors from other components, like device errors.

-- Rob

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Volker Halle — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:25:32 GMT

Clark,

the only other 'supported' errlog analysis tool is SEA (System Event Analyzer), part of the WEBES tool suite. But I sincerely doubt, that it will do a good job at decoding SAN disk errors, DECevent is still the best tool for decoding SCSI related disk errors, which includes SAN disks.

Volker.

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Bob Blunt — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:31:50 GMT

Clark, first and foremost, some details about your environment are necessary. Are your systems Alpha or Itanium? I read that you're using OpenVMS V8.3 This is current for Alpha but V8.3-1H1 is the latest release for Itanium. Your patches should also be the latest available, particularly when trying to debug issues with 3rd-party storage. There are other gory details like the firmware version for your HBAs, SAN switches and SAN switch type that are pertinent.

While I'm not an expert on IBM's SAN devices or their operation, MOST error logging at the host has limited value for any device that's more virtual than physical. Many SAN devices use a boatload of cache and the actual physical devices are highly "virtualized" making traditional error diagnosis painfully difficult. While you're certainly having a problem with the native error translation tool it's main use is not directed toward storage and others have said just that. SEA, mentioned before, is only available to customers with hardware maintenance contracts.

Even with the SAN devices that HP sells, the majority of the error-handling and analysis is provided by the controller and associated software that runs on PCs used to setup, control and manage the SAN devices. In HP's case this would be the EVA or XP controller and the SMA (Storage Management Appliance, I think). These implements are used to detect and analyze device failures proactively and reactively and present those errors for human intervention. I would expect IBM's devices to have similar solutions.

There are certain recommendations for configuring your SAN to work best with OpenVMS. If your OpenVMS systems are supported by HP that can help. There are general configuration guidelines for SAN devices and OpenVMS that should be somewhat standard. OpenVMS device drivers used to support connections to a SAN are standards-based but special configurations are required. The main one that I remember is that you should setup your SAN so the switches are zoned in a way that VMS can only see the controllers and vice versa. I think that's the main consideration.

You're also dealing with 3rd party devices and getting support if they're not working as expected can be difficult at best. I'm not aware that actual testing has been performed on IBM's SAN devices. Unfortunately each vendor seems to interpret standards in their own way and this can lead to problems. Differences in nomenclature can also bite you. What might be a clear recommendation to a site using a HP EVA controller might not make a lick of sense to someone trying to configure an IBM SAN controller. Switch configurations should be a little less ambiguous although there are certainly some switches that may have not been tested.

You might also check http://FisherFindings.com/

To put it in an automotive vernacular, you're trying to put a Ford motor in your Dodge. The fact that both are internal combustion engines doesn't make them fit together easily.

bob

Re: bleep/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Steve-Ray — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:23:21 GMT

I have a similar situation. The only way to get all of the information in the log file for a disk error is to use the DUMP command in ELV. The problem with that is that I have not fould the file layout for the event log. I suspect that the layout may be different for different devices, but is there anywhere the file layout is documented?

topic Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full in Operating System - OpenVMS

anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: anal/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: **bleep**/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full

Re: bleep/erro/elv translate/sin=6-jan/before=7-jan/full