SCSI POST Error Codes
Subsystem Physical Design
The IBM SCSI subsystem is a 16-bit Micro Channel subsystem. Looking at the
IBM SCSI subsystem one will note that it has a 32-bit Micro Channel extension.
This extension enables the Subsystem to have 32-bit addressing capabilities
when installed in a 32-bit slot. The data signal pins for 32-bit data transfers are
not implemented.

NOTE: This page covers the SCSI errors during POST. The Advanced Diagnostics SCSI Error codes are different!

SCSI POST Code Decryption

Error Code Format 



SCSI POST Code Decryption   

0
 DDD
 P
 L
 S
 C
 QEEx=0000
 T






QEET=0nnn






Q=1






Q=2






Q=3






Q=4






Q=5






Q=6






Q=7
"0" Always zero: NOTE: you may see "RDD" where "R" means Reserved.
"DDD" SCSI device or adapter causing error.
"P" SCSI device PUN (lD): Physical Unit Number or SCSI ID.
"L" SCSI Device LUN: Logical Unit Number. Always zero for a SCSI adapter.
"S" System Micro Channel slot: 0 = Board SCSI.
"Q" Error code qualifier: and "EE" Error Codes
"T" Test State
NOTE:  All of the IBM SCSI devices are single LU devices.

DDD Code - SCSI Device Causing Error (037-206 Adapter, 209-219 Device)

037 : SCSI on System board
096 : 32-BIT CACHED SCSI ADAPTER
104 : SCSI-2 (Patriot)
112 : 16-BIT NON-CACHED SCSI ADAPTER
206 : SCSI-2 F/W adapter
208 : UNKNOWN SCSI DEVICE TYPE
209 : DIRECT ACCESS - REMOVABLE MEDIA AND/OR OTHER THAN 512 BYTE BLOCKS
210 : DIRECT ACCESS - NON REMOVABLE MEDIA. 512 BYTE BLOCKS (FIXED DISK)
211 : SEQUENTIAL ACCESS (IE. TAPE)
212 : PRINTER
213 : PROCESSOR
214 : WRITE ONCE, READ MULTIPLE (W.O.R.M.)
215 : READ ONLY (IE. CD-ROM)
216 : SCANNER
217 : OPTICAL MEMORY
218 : CHANGER (IE. MULTIPLE TRAY CD-ROM OR JUKEBOX)
219 : COMMUNICATIONS

NOTE: AS/400 SCSI Drives use 520 byte sectors! DDD of 209...

C Codes - Capacity  
A 60MB B 80MB C 120MB D 160MB E 320MB
F 400MB G 40MB H 1GB I 104MB J 212MB
K CD-ROM M 2GB (Wide) N 540MB O 1GB P 2GB
Q 540MB T 360MB V 270MB W 540MB a 364MB
b 728MB d 2GB t 1GB U Unknown



QEET 0000 Codes ("S" = 0)
  NOTE: When "S" is 0, DDD will be 096 or 112.

DDD0100 0000 : On systems with NVRAM, SCSI setup data not located or the checksum did not verify. On systems w/o NVRAM (ex. 8550) setup data must be on 1st NON-SCSI fixed disk.
DDD0200 0000 : Configuration error. No fixed disk at PUN 6, LUN 0 for 161, 162, 165 system error path. Might be unsupported configuration.
DDD0300 0000 : No space available in EBDA for SCSI data table. (too many adapters installed?)
DDD0400 0000 : ROM modules not found on adapter (IML systems only) Running Setup -MIGHT- correct it.
DDD0500 0000 : ROM checksum error on 2nd 16K portion of 32K ROM
DDD0600 0000 : ROM access control port error

Q = 0 (other than 0000) 

These are specific QEET error codes, preceded by a DDD indicating an adapter.

NOTE: A number for S other than 0 indicates an error on an adapter-card, (or device attached to the adapter) in slot S. If S is 0, suspect the system board.

001x:8032/80188/80C186 ROM test failure
002x:Local RAM test failure
003x:If RDDD=0096: Bad TERM-fuse or bad termination.
If RDDD=0112: local RAM address test failure.
004x:8032/80188/80C186 internal peripheral test failure
005x:If DDD=0112 or 0096: Buffer control test failure, or LTB failed.
If DDD=0037: system-board SCSI failed.
006x:DDD=0096: Buffer RAM test failure, DDD=0112: Undefined error condition
007x:System interface control chip test failure
008x:SCSI internal interface test failed
00Ax:SCSI external interface test failed

Q = 1
NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes are from CCS (Rev 4.8) of ANSI SCSI-1 Specification

107x    Adapter hardware failure
10Cx    Command failed
10Ex    Command error (invalid command or parameter)
10Fx    Sequencing error
110x    Adapter internal error log contains entries. (Reported if no other errors on adapter exist.)
180x    Time out
181x    Adapter busy error
182x    Unexpected interrupt presented by adapter
183x    Adapter register test failure
184x    Adapter reset failure
185x    Adapter buffer test failure (on cached adapters)
186x    Adapter reset count expired
187x    Adapter registers not cleared on reset
188x    Card ID in adapter microcode did not match ID in POS registers
190x    Expected device did not respond
19Yx    DMA Y arbitration level conflict (Y=assigned arbitration level)

Q = 2 Command error field of command complete status block returned by the adapter
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes with "Q" = 2 are from IBM SCSI Adapter Tech Ref

220x    Adapter hardware error
221x    Global timeout on adapter (device did not respond)
222x    Adapter DMA error
223x    Adapter buffer defective
224x    Command aborted by adapter


Q = 3  SCSI Status field of the command complete status block or command error field values indicating software problems (<20H)
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes with "Q" = 3 are from IBM SCSI Adapter Tech Ref

301x    Invalid parameter in SCB
303x    Command not supported
304x    Command aborted by system
305x    Command rejected (buffer not disabled)
306x    Command rejected (Adapter diagnostic failure)
307x    Format rejected
308x    Assign rejected (command in process)
309x    Assign rejected (device already assigned)
30Ax    Command rejected (device not assigned)
30Bx    Command rejected (maximum LBA exceeded)
30Cx    Command rejected (16 bit card slot address range exceeded)
313x    Invalid device for command
3FFx    Status not returned by adapter

Q = 4 Sense key value returned by a device (might be manufacturer-dependent)
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes are from CCS (Rev 4.8) of ANSI SCSI-1 Specification
NOTE: may report EE codes not listed here or can actually have a definition other than that given, depending on the device.

401x    Recovered error (not an error condition)
402x    Device not ready
403x    Device medium error
404x    Device hardware error
405x    Illegal request for device
406x    Device unit attention would not clear
407x    Device data protect error
409x    Device vendor unique error
40Ax    Copy operation aborted by device
40Bx    Device command aborted
40Cx    Device search data command satisfied
40Dx    Device volume overview (residual data remains in buffer)
40Ex    Device mismatch (source data did not match medium data)


Q = 5  Additional sense byte (byte 12) of sense information from device
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes are from CCS (Rev 4.8) of ANSI SCSI-1 Specification
NOTE: may report EE codes not listed here or can actually have a definition other than that given, depending on the device.

500x    Check condition on device, no sense data returned
501x    No index or sector
502x    Seek incomplete
503x    Write fault
504x    Drive not ready
505x    Drive not selected
506x    No track zero found
507x    Multiple drives selected
508x    Logical unit communication failure
509x    Head positioning error (track following error)
510x    CRC or ECC error in ID field
511x    Unrecoverable read error
512x    No address mark (ID field)
513x    No address mark (data field)
514x    Record not found
515x    Seek error
516x    Data synchronization error
517x    Recoverable read error
518x    ECC recovered read error
519x    Defect list error
51Ax    Parameter overrun
51Bx    Synchronous transfer error
51Cx    Primary defect list not found
51Dx    Compare error
520x    Invalid command
521x    Illegal logical block address (LBA)
522x    Illegal function for device type
524x    Illegal command block field
525x    Invalid LUN
526x    Illegal field in parameter list
528x    Media changed
529x    Power-on or bus device reset occurred (not an error)
52Ax    Mode select parameters changed (not an error)
531x    Media format corrupted
532x    Defect spare location unavailable
540x    Device RAM failure
541x    Data path diagnostic failure
542x    Power-on diagnostic failure
543x    Message rejected
544x    Internal controller error
545x    Device was unable to reconnect
547x    Interface parity error
548x    Initiator detected error
549x    Illegal command or command out of sequence error
5F0x    Format in progress (not an error)
5F1x    Spinup in progress

Q = 6  Device error code field of command complete status block
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes with "Q" = 6 are from IBM SCSI Adapter Tech Ref

601x    SCSI bus reset occurred
602x    SCSI interface fault
610x    Selection timeout error (device not available)
611x    Unexpected bus free
612x    Mandatory SCSI message rejected
613x    Invalid SCSI phase sequence
620x    Short length record error

Q = 7 Device errors not normally considered an error, but considered an error based on when the code was returned (medium corrupted error on device with non removable media)
NOTE: When "Q" >1, it is from information returned by either an adapter or device. NOTE: The "Q" value shows the origin of the EE code that is reported
NOTE: "EE" error codes are from CCS (Rev 4.8) of ANSI SCSI-1 Specification

702x    Device not ready (removable media devices)
704x    Device not ready (non removable media devices)
728x    Media changed error would not clear
731x    Medium format corrupted (format unit interrupted - format must be issued again)
7F0x    Format in progress (prior format unit issued being completed)
7F1x    Spinup in progress

Test Status Codes "T" (NOTE: A-H = Adapter, I-S Device)
0    Not applicable for error code
A    Adapter initialization error
B    Adapter reset
C    Adapter register test
D    Adapter buffer test phase 1 (on cached adapters)
E    Adapter buffer test phase 2 (on cached adapters)
F    Adapter buffer test phase 3 (on cached adapters)
G    Adapter buffer test phase 4 (on cached adapters)
H    Adapter (buffer enable, buffer size, retry, enable)
I    Device assignment sequence
J    Device not ready (initial unit attention clearing)
K    Device reset
L    Device starting phase
M    Device in process of starting
N    Device block size determination
O    Device self-test
P    Device single block read (LBA)
Q    Device double block read (LBA)
S    Error occurred after device testing completed