RP 8400 Setup Woes

[Marc Morin_2]

The MP commands do not have an option that will allow you to parse the outpt thru. Sorry.

However it is looking like your system has lost manageability functions! The MP FW revision is showing as 0.00! There also is no communication to the Cell boards. All FW revisions are 0.00! I also do not see a Slave MP or "Not Installed". Were you able to collect the MP:CM> PS output for the cabinet?

The Master MP's FW revision is definately old which means that the entire cabinet will need to be updated to Version 2.0.

If you feel comfortable with this system you can remove HSKP power. This will reset all the BUSES (I2C, Manageability, MAC) and should restore manageability functions. To do this you will have to remove AC power from the Cabinet (Pull the Plug(s)!)
Once Manageability is restored the cells and the MPs will show Valid FW Information. Be aware that FW will still need to be updated to version 2.0 to eliminate potential cell power on issues.

If you do not feel comfortable or the Managebility fucntions are not restored, you can place a service call with the local HP Office. If you chose this option please advise them that you would also like to have the FW updated.

Marc

[CSG Office]

Hi,

I have done the following:

1) Pulled power to the server (Pulled all power plugs)
1R) We reconnected and powered the server back up, the system still displays 0.000 for the firmware and the cell boards will not power on.

2) We had our HP support people look at it. They are TFE (HP Trained). They tried pulling out one cell board and running with just one cell board. That did not work. I noticed that there is a light flashing on the cell board (DSP1 HR I think?)

I am not sure what to do next. Our hardware support contract is not directly through HP. If this thing did not cost $100K plus, I would seriously consider taking it to a field and pulling an "Office Space" on it.

Can someone tell me how to initiate a hardware service call directly with HP? I am not sure what else to do. I sincerly appreciate everyone's help so far.

Thanks,

Brian Whyte
PGE Systems Administrator
NAVSEA Dahlgren Division

[Marc Morin_2]

Brian,

I am really sorry to see that you are having so much trouble in getting this system configured.

Here are a few more things we can try:

- Pull all cell boards and leave only one BPS plugged in.
- do sysrev command.
If good plug a cell board in
- do sysrev command
If good plug in other cell board
- do sysrev command
If good plug in a BPS and so on.

If it fails with one of these components plugged in, this is the one causing the bus hang.

All of the above is done with only HSKP power applied.

If all else fails you can open a call for HP on site service @ 800 633-3600.

Again I apologize for all these problems and please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.

Marc

[Patrick Wallek]

If this is a brand new system, it should still be under HP warranty and you should still be able to call HP support on this. This is too expensive of a machine to take shots in the dark.

I waould seriously call HP hardware support, give the serial number and see what kind of support you can get.

[Stefan Stechemesser · Accepted solution]

Hi,

this indeed looks like a big problem and if it is a new machine, the warranty should be sufficient to open an HP support Call and let a trained support engineer continue troubleshooting.
There is one more thing you can try without swapping hardware. The rp8420 has two MPs. You can switch from the primary to the secondary MP with the "XD" command ("Force a master/slave Failover"). Maybe the scond MP is able to communicate with the Cells and turn power on. After the switch, you have to connect your serial and/or MP Lan to the other MP card to run the pe command.
If this works, there is a good chance that the primary MP has to be reseated or replaced ...

Best regards

Stefan

[CSG Office]

Hi Guys,

I was finally able to get this thing working. I tried to failover the MP as suggested

MP:CM>XD
Choice 9

I tried switching the console to the other MP card and nothing came on the screen. I tried switching back...still nothing. In fact, the MP light on the front of the server would not even come on. I tried removing power then reconnecting power and the MP still did not come on. I finally decided to pull out the MP cards and reseat them. Rather than reseat them, I decided to switch them. Once I powered the server back on, I was able to login and power on the cells!I went ahead and restored the complex configuration switched to console mode and haven't looked back. Thanks to everyone for your help.

Few more questions:

Do you think my other MP card is bad? It seems strange that it would have worked at all. Is the MAC address on the card somehow tied into the partition creation? Maybe it was assembled incorrectly when it was setup in our facility. Shouldn't there be something in the logs or at least some kind of amber light showing on the card that says it is not functioning properly?

Regards,

Brian Whyte

[Jesse Dougherty]

Brian, there are two types of core I/O cards that can go into that RP8400, the A7109A & the A6096A, is the suspected bad core I/O board a A6096A (A6096-60001)?

[CSG Office]

Hi,

(3) MP cards came with the system. (2) of the cards came installed and there was an extra MP card in an electrostatic bag. All (3) cards are A7109-84001 Rev C cards. Apparently, one of the three MP cards is for an RP8420 and the other two are for an RP8400. I finally figured this out by swapping around cards. When the MP is brought up, two of the cards say the MP console is for an RP8400 and the other card says the MP console is for an RP8420. Whoever shipped the server to us installed a RP8420 card in the primary slot. This card will not communicate with the cell boards and will not allow you to define any hard partitions. The only differences that I have noticed on the physical card itself are some stickers. The RP8420 has a "CGGJV" sticker on it and a "A7109AX" sticker. Not sure what this means maybe revision X? If anyone runs into a similar problem, I have noticed a few differences between the RP8420 and RP8400 MP consoles:

1) When the MP console first comes up it says RP8420. Since I was not sure what kind of server we had I assumed this was correct since it was shipped to us that way. The other cards say RP8400 when the console first comes up.

2) The PE (MP:CM>PE) console has an addition "X" option for the complex.

3) Typing "X" does not take you forward and backward between menus on the RP8400. You have to use "MA".

I am currently running the system with the (2) RP8400 cards installed and it seems to be working great. I am a little ticked off that these cards have the same part number and they are in fact different cards and a little ticked off that whoever built this thing put the wrong cards in it.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Sincerely,

Brian Whyte

[Jesse Dougherty]

"a little ticked off that whoever built this thing put the wrong cards in it."

Brian, we actually built and shipped that RP8400 and the two additional A7109A core I/O boards. Send me an email and I can let you know what happened...

Jesse
Cypress Technology Inc
jesse@cypress-tech.com

[Marc Morin_2]

Brian,

The A7109A is used in both systems, However there is a dip switch on the board to select which system it is going to be installed in. If you look closely at your extra board you will see Ro or Key. If in the Key position its for an rp8400 and in the Ro position it is for an rp8420.

Hope this helps,

Marc