DL380 G5 / Linux RHEL 5 / Reboot by ASR

[kmallea]

Here's an interesting bit if information: people suggested disabling ASR via the System Management Console, which I did. However, when I went into the BIOS I noticed that ASR was already disabled by default (at least on my systems), yet the logs report "ASR detected by System ROM", and some times "Blue Screen Traps."

And this is happening on two new servers, one running MS SQL 2005 and another running Sharepoint 2007.

[Ugo Bellavance (ATQ)]

That is weird. ASR is usually enabled by default if I remember well.

For my part, I disabled it (ASR) using the system management homepage and since then, I haven't got any reboot. I can check in the BIOS though because those are live servers and I can't restart them.

However, IPMI did fail many times since then and wanted the server to reboot because of that (I can see that in the iLO logs). But since it is disabled, it only seems to restart IPMI and continue on, I wonder why it doesn't do that by default instead of rebooting.

So the whole thing is still bugged but at least, I can use my server without having them rebooting every now and then.

It is very bad though that I had to disable the ASR, I really need this feature working perfectly, especially for my disaster recovery site.

I know I am repeating myself but HP really needs to fix this rapidly.

Patrick Monfette

[Rabie Van der Merwe]

I am also having spurious ASR's and have since disabled ASR on some of my servers.

I am running on DL 380 G5's with:
CentOS 5 x86_64 (Xen kernel)
RHEL 5 x86_64
CentOS 4 i386 (Asterisk server)

All servers are on HP PSP 7.90 with the latest firmware versions ( as of 7.9.0 Firmware update CD)

I will also be logging a call shortly.

[SYS_MONEXT]

Hi,

I had the same problem on a DL360G5, running RHEL5, with hp-OpenIPMI-7.8.0-83.rhel5.

HP support Level 2 has recommended these actions (in my case, after gathering information on my systems with cfg2html) :

1) rpm -e hp-OpenIPMI (this can take some time to stop the service and uninstall)
2) chkconfig --level 35 ipmi on (this sets redhat's native ipmi deamon to start in run level 3 and 5)
3 ) service hpasm restart (this will stop all snmp agents and restart hpasm with hpasmlited service to use redhat native IPMI)

Then you can reactivate ASR if you disabled it to prevent reboot.

[TODO Raymond]

Hi everybody,

The solution of Bernard is applied to RHEL, do someone has the solution for WIndows environnement?

Regards

[Ugo Bellavance (ATQ)]

»This is not a solution, this basically renders your Web Management Page almost useless because it is unable to gather information on many parts of the system.

IPMI has a reason to be and is required.

We know it is the culprit but HP has to fix it, not remove it.

However, for those who don't need those features and wnat ASR back, this is a possible workaround.

Thank you for sharing this information with us, it really confirms that HP has a problem on their hands with their IPMI driver.

Patrick

[Dynamic80]

I posted after Yanick the OT and did the fix said here and just disabled it. It has yet to reboot because of the ASR, but it is definitely a wider problem than it seems and I am a bit frustrated that HP has yet to come out with a fix for it. Luckily for me I only have 1 production server running under this particular set-up, but unless HP fixes it, I would probably say to our IT to not purchase new ones until we have a direct answer from them about the cause and fix for this problem.

Like many others I am just waiting and have yet to hear anything.

[Yanick Quirion]

Hi Patrick,

Have you open a case at HP regarding this issue? I sent mine hp staff as requested into that thread, but never get back from them.

On my side, since I disable the ASR, the server never reboot itself. I'm just wondering how important this feature is (ASR)...

Regards,
Yanick

[Ugo Bellavance (ATQ)]

Their response
---
In order to verify the exact issue regarding the server reset. I would suggest that you disable the ASR and run the HP Insight offline diagnostics utility from the SmartStart CD and send us the report for further help.
---

mine following their
---
ASR is already disabled as I explained.

As for the tests you're asking "HP Insight offline diagnostics" I
can't do that since this is a production server and no downtime
is acceptable, at anytime.

I'll try to run this tool on another server instead since all my
new servers have the exact same problem.

Also, please read the thread on the forum that I sent in my
original request
(http://forums.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1135440)
as this thread includes a lot of information regarding the
current problem. It is also mentioned there that others have open
cases with you, you should check up those cases to see the
resolutions and tests that all the others did. I insist on this
point, please, it will save me a lot of headaches and problems as
all my servers are production servers and can't be shutdown or
restarted to perform tests.
---

Their response
---
We apologize for the inconvenience caused in this regards and appreciate your patience in resolving this issue.

Please note that the insight diagnostic report is a must to verify the exact cause of this issue.

However, we would also suggest you to ensure if all the firmware and drivers are up to date for the server. Also, please verify if the server is installed with the HP IPMI version driver or the RedHat IPMI version driver.

It is always recommended to install the latest System ROMPaq firmware and ProLiant Support Packs for the Servers. HP is in constant research on issues and the updates released by HP would help resolve most of the common issues in the Server. Please install the required updates from the following URL:

Systems ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant DL380 G5 (P56) Servers version 2007.08.21 A (26 Sep 07) is available at the URL given below:

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/27917.html

The ProLiant Support Pack for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 version 7.91 (1 Oct 07) is available at the URL given below:

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/27937.html

We would appreciate if you could send us the following additional information at your earliest convenience:

1. The version on IPMI driver installed? Is it from the PSP update?
2. The HP Insight diagnostics report.
---

I need to reply to this but I don't feel like it, it is going nowhere, I know they know they have a problem but they keep pushing it on me instead of working on it.

Patrick

[Ugo Bellavance (ATQ)]

Just to keep you guys in the loop and for those who don't have an case open with HP, here's my reply to my case with them.

---
First, have you taken the time to read this thread ?

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?
threadId=1135440

Second, nothing in the updates you sent me list anything
regarding my problem, so I won't be upgrading/updating anything
that would require a reboot or anything like that.

Third, I can give you an answer for the first question only, the
second would need a reboot and downtime which is not possible on
my server.

Here's the IPMI package installed: hp-OpenIPMI-7.9.0-110.rhel5

This is the package that I have downloaded from your site.
---

I sincerely hope they can at least try to replicate the problem on their side. Or corroborate this issue with other cases they have before asking me to do a bunch of things like that, it is not like I'm running a test lab here...

Patrick