rp7420

[Jon Steele]

Hi,
Can I take out A6437A procs that are 1 ghz PA8800 and replace them with AB537A 1.1 ghz PA8900 procs without doing any firmware upgrades?

Thank you in advance
Jon

[Tony Berry · Accepted solution]

Our HP SuperDome is under HP Support, but I watched the HP CSE (tech) upgrade our system from the 1Ghz PA8800 to the 1.1Ghz PA8900 without doing a firmware update. There is a big BUT though (isn't there always), I don't know what firmware you are starting with. It could be that we were on a newer version of the firmware that supports both CPU modules. Plus, I've always been told the rp7420's are 2 slot SuperDome's, but that may have just been casual talk and and not technically correct.

If it were me, I'd just schedule some downtime one evening/weekend and try it. If the GSP doesn't complain on boot up, it shouldn't be a problem. I would be leery about letting your OS boot up until you were sure you were good to go, so you might want to be ready at the console to "hit any key" to stop the OS loader.

[Joshua Scott]

Jon,

Yes, as long as you are at FW version 3.0, which includes these levels: (from the SYSREV command in the MP)

PROGRAMMABLE HARDWARE:
System Backplane GPM 1.002
System Backplane FM 1.002
System Backplane OSP 1.002
PCI-X Backplane LPM 2.000
PCI-X Backplane HS 1.000
CoreIO CIO 2.010
Cell LPM 1.002
Cell PDHC 1.010

FIRMWARE:
Core IO Master A.007.008
Event Dictionary 1.015
Cell PDHC A.003.027
Cell SFW 23.001

You will be able to install the PA-8900 v4.1 CPUs with this level or higher.

[Jon Steele]

Thank you for your help.
Jon