LVM: vg[6]: pvnum=1 (dev_t=0x1f080200) is POWERFAILED

[John Lombardi]

I will, on occasion, receive these messages. Is this cause for concern or indicative of an impending hardware failure?

[Patrick Wessel]

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0x9b677e990647d4118fee0090279cd0f9,00.html

The same question with a good answer

[CHRIS_ANORUO]

Install patch PHKL_16751 and its dependencies. By default, this timeout is 30 seconds. Increase the timeout up to the maximum of 180 seconds: pvchange -t 180 /dev/dsk/disk_device
Increasing the timeout will not affect I/O performance on the disk.

See also Document Id KBRC00000300
DATE 1999 Dec 28

[Thomas Schler_1]

According to my experience the answer is YES.

Today, I replaced the second hard disk due to
this message.

About 8 weeks ago, I had a severe server
crash due to a failing disk. Looking at
old syslogs, the message POWERFAILED appeared
very often (once or twice a day) until the
server crashed (and the disk refused to come
back). I replaced this disk.

One week ago, the same procedure started
again. A second disk showed up the
POWERFAILED message. After rebooting (and
switching off/on the disk) the disk came
back. I ordered at once a replacement and
installed it today. Now, I was in time.

Both failing disks are constructed by IBM,
and I had patch PHKL_16751 installed.

I recommend strongly to create a system
or data backup. Then, order a new disk and
install it as soon as possible.

[Ramesh Donti]

Hi,
Pls find below HP document which explains very clearly about ur problem.

vg[#]: pvnum=# (dev_t=##) is powerfailed; connection timed out DocId: KBRC00000668 Updated: 2/29/00 6:53:39 AM

PROBLEM
Errors in /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log or on console:


vg[#]: pvnum=# (dev_t=##) is powerfailed
recv: Connection timed out
RESOLUTION
First, determine the physical volume in question:

The disk device can be determined by the using the dev_t value.

For example:

dev_t value of 0x1c045000 is associated with c4t5d0


04 = instance number
5 = SCSI address number
0 = LUN number



The errors could be the result of one or more of the following:


If the error is accompanied by a message about pv[#] returned to vg[#], then the error can usually be attributed to a low timeout value on the disk driver. By default, this timeout is 30 seconds.

Increase the timeout up to the maximum of 180 seconds:
pvchange -t 180 /dev/dsk/disk_device

Increasing the timeout will not affect I/O performance on the disk.


Make sure that the latest SCSI/LVM patch (and its dependencies) are installed. For s800 10.20, this patch is:
PHKL_16751 :LVM:JFS:PCI:SCSI:SIG_IGN:SIGCLD:LITS:

As with all patches, please use the Patch Database at http://itrc.hp.com to determine the latest version.


Check for an I/O bottleneck on the disk.
sar -d

A high amount of traffic on a disk can cause severe performance problems and can cause requests to timeout.


If the error is NOT accompanied by a message about pv[#] returned to vg[#], then the error can usually be attributed to a hardware problem on the disk. DO NOT install patches on the system until the hardware has been diagnosed.

Change the timeout value on the disk and watch for further errors. Contact HP Hardware Support immediately if the errors persist.

If the powerfail messages are accompanied by lbolt errors
For example:

SCSI: Request Timeout -- lbolt: #######, dev: ######

check the SCSI controller connections/terminators. Make sure all connections are tight. If the errors persist, contact HP Hardware support immediately.


Check for an I/O bottleneck on the disk.
sar -d

A high amount of traffic on a disk can cause severe performance problems and can mimic a hardware issue.

[Rita C Workman]

Like Thomas Schler I have seen this error....it is the fiber card to your disk storage device. It is a known HP hardware problem....get the fiber card replaced.
I had to have several replaced....and all the errors cleared up and have not returned.
It was well worth the downtime to get them all done....Regards,

[KwangHee Yi]

A meaning of those messages is system can't communicate with a certain logical volume at intervals. The 'dev_t=0x1f080200' indicates which logical volume get a problem.
Mostly, it is a H/W problem. Sometimes it can be solved by S/W action such as pvchange -t ...

[Cheryl Griffin]

I'm lazy and don't like translating hex numbers into device numbers, so I prefer to just take the last 6 digits and grep for the device:
# ll /dev/dsk |grep 080200

It's quick.