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ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

 
Rick Dyson
Valued Contributor

ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

I just updated my HSG80 controllers to v8.8-2 of ACS PCMCIA cards. Before the upgrade, all four of my controllers had cache battery expirations in Feb 2007. Afterwards, all four now claim they are good until 12 Aug 2008. I did the install on 11 Jul 2005. That is curiously 1 day, 1 month and 3 years after the upgrade date.

I don't ever recall having to reset cache battery expirations or do anything with them in the past. Did I miss something in the release notes?

Has anyone else seen this? I don't really believe they have come up with a way to extend the battery life that much with a software upgrade, right?

rick
5 REPLIES 5
SAKET_5
Honored Contributor

Re: ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

Hi Rick,

Seems strange, I upgraded one of our HSG80s a couple of weeks ago from ACS8.7-F7 to ACS8.8-F2. I did not experience this.

I will be performing 5 more of the same upgrade to ACS 8.8F2 tomorrow night. So I would keep this in mind and will let you know if I find something along the lines of what you indicate.

Thanks,
Saket.
Claude Legare
Advisor

Re: ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

Hi Rick,
I saw in documentation that HP discovered that batterie's real life is longer than two years and they intended to enlarge the expiration date. So I think that it is normal. I had the same situation yesterday during my upgrade.

Claude
Rick Dyson
Valued Contributor

Re: ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

I have not been able to find anything in the release notes or on the HP site. Though I think we all know that does not mean it is not there, just not able to figure out how to find it...

BUT, I have heard back from my service call about the topic and they have claimed that the new software is better able to manage cache battery life. So, they have changed the lifetime from 2 years to 3.5 years and apparently, sometimes adjust the expiration date accordingly...

If some of you did not notice a change in the dates after an upgrade, I wonder if it only makes the change if the batteries are pretty new. That would seem reasonable to me. If they were old when you upgrade the new S/W won't be able to extend their life too much.

Mine were just replaced this past Feb 2005, less than 5 months ago, and they bumped them up 18 months.

rick
SAKET_5
Honored Contributor

Re: ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

Hi Rick,

I successfully upgraded ACS on another 5 pairs of HSG80 Controller to the latest 8.8-F2 version and noticed on every single one of them that the ECB (External Cache Battery) expiration period got extended.

So, I would agree with one of the previous post which explains the logic behind it.

You are not complaining about this, are ya?:P

Regards,
Saket.
Rick Dyson
Valued Contributor

Re: ACS v8.8F-2 Upgrade changed Cache Battery Expiration

No, no complaint. At first I was afraid it was due to a bug and it would lull us into a false sense of security. :)

I've gotten semi-formal confirmation that it was intended and OK, we just were not informed of it in advance. :)

I have had old HSZ40 cache batteries fail and when they did, the controller would fail and it was a pain. Those models did not have internal timers and warning messages. You just had to keep track. :)

rick