dual system ROMS on rx3600

[Francis Noël]

Heloooo ITRC forums

I just updated the system firmwares on a rx3600 (system, BMC, MP, DHCP and UCIO) and here is the output provided by the MP's sysrev command.

SYSREV

Current firmware revisions

MP FW : F.02.17
BMC FW : 05.21
EFI FW : ROM A 05.66, ROM B 06.20
System FW : ROM A 02.03, ROM B 03.01, Boot ROM B
PDH FW : 50.07
DHPC FW : 01.23
UCIO FW : 03.0b
PRS FW : 00.08 UpSeqRev: 0c, DownSeqRev: 08
HFC FW : 00.03 SetRev: 00

Looks like the rx3600 has a dual-ROM feature. Is there a need/way to sync ROM A and ROM B or should I just leave it as is until the next update ? Also what is HFC ?

Thank you !

[Tim Nelson]

I ran into the same issue. The install instructions said this:
Note: Only one of the System FW ROMs will be upgraded in the firmware update process, therefore the two ROMs may show different firmware revisions. The Boot ROM should contain the latest firmware.

But made no mention further.

Not sure about the HFC.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Seems this gives you a back out procedure. The boot ROM is the one that matters.

SEP

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

HFC is IMHO related to the fan controller (highspeed fans?).

There is not so much information about this ... but I found something in an older firmware release note:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3257031&swItem=ux-47900-1&prodNameId=3257032&swEnvOID=54&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=4&idx=1

"When the inactive system firmware ROM shows as "Invalid" in EFI, a successful "FWCONFIG COPY" of the firmware in the active ROM to the inactive ROM will no longer show the inactive ROM as "Invalid". "



So this points to the EFI "fwconfig" command ... but IMHO as long as you have valid firmware in both you are fine ...

[Francis Noël]

Ok thanks guys.

I'll keep an eye on the console for the next boots just to be shure it loads the latest version.

[Torsten.]

This is from my records - using the IPF offline diagnostics CDROM from

http://software.hp.com

but it is a built-in command.

==>

fs0:\diags\ODE> help configuration
Configuration commands:

conconfig -- Configure console devices
cpuconfig -- Deconfigure or reconfigure cpus
date -- Displays the current date or sets the date in the system
err -- Displays or changes the error level
esiproc -- Make an ESI call
errdump -- View/Clear logs


fwconfig -- View / Select system firmware image
...

fs0:\diags\ODE> fwconfig

SYSTEM FIRMWARE CONFIGURATION
*Image A Revision: 3.01 [4739]
Image B Revision: 3.01 [4739]

* Indicates active system firmware image


<==


But a "help fwconfig" could give more information ...

[Francis Noël]

Thank you Torsten.

Your commitment to providing useful information is much appreciated.

I'll definitely play around with that.

[Torsten.]

Here is the help text:

Shell> help fwconfig
View / Select system firmware image

FWCONFIG [enable image] | [copy source target]

enable Enable specified firmware image
image Location of firmware to enable
copy Copy specified firmware image to specified location
source Location of firmware image to copy
target Location to copy firmware to

Note:
1. image, source and target are image locations [A..Z] as displayed by
fwconfig with no parameters
2. Active firmware image is not valid as a target for copy command
3. A reboot is required if a new firmware image is enabled

Examples:
* To view system firmware images
Shell> fwconfig

SYSTEM FIRMWARE CONFIGURATION
Image A Revision: 86.40 [4439]
*Image B Revision: 86.20 [4350]
Image C Revision: Invalid
Press ENTER to continue, 'q' to exit:

* Indicates active system firmware image

* To copy a system firmware image to another location
Shell> fwconfig copy A C

Copy system firmware image A to location C? [y/n] y
Copying...Complete

Shell> fwconfig

SYSTEM FIRMWARE CONFIGURATION
Image A Revision: 86.40 [4439]
*Image B Revision: 86.20 [4350]
Image C Revision: 86.40 [4439]

* Indicates active system firmware image

* To enable a system firmware image
Shell> fwconfig enable A

Enable system firmware image A and reboot? [y/n] y
Restarting system&

[Francis Noël]

Indeed !

Here is a real-life example.





Shell> fwconfig

SYSTEM FIRMWARE CONFIGURATION
Image A Revision: 2.03 [4648]
*Image B Revision: 3.01 [4739]

* Indicates active system firmware image

Shell> fwconfig copy B A
Copy system firmware image B to location A? [y/n] y
Checksumming source ROM...Complete.
Copying (may take up to 1 minute)...................................................................
Checksumming destination ROM... Complete.

Shell> fwconfig

SYSTEM FIRMWARE CONFIGURATION
Image A Revision: 3.01 [4739]
*Image B Revision: 3.01 [4739]

* Indicates active system firmware image

Shell>




Works as advertised !