7024 E20/E30 and 7025 F30 Microcode
Contents
7024 E20/E30 and 7025 F30 microcode description
New level description
This release of microcode for the 7024 E20/E30 and 7025 F30 Series of PowerPC
servers is version VIC97276.
The typical time to install this Firmware is 0.5 hrs. As part of the
firmware installation, the system is rebooted. This reboot
time will vary depending on the features installed, the amount of
drawers attached, etc.; this estimate is for a typical system. The
reboot could run as high as 1.0 hrs for a very complex system.
Year 2000 Support
Systems with installed microcode at a version level prior to release VIC96108
must be updated to be Year 2000 ready*.
You will want to update your microcode to version VIC97276 if your currently
installed level of microcode is prior to VIC96108. If your installed microcode
level is version VIC96108 or later, update is not required to make your
system Year 2000 ready*. However, VIC97276 provides functional enhancements
that most customers desired. See the next section.
* Please consult the IBM Year 2000 web page at
http://www.ibm.com/IBM/year2000
for IBM's definition of "Year 2000 ready" and the latest information of
the status of IBM products and the Year 2000.
Enhanced Function
VIC97276 contains of the features of the previous release, VIC97066, plus
the following enhancements:
-
Added IBM 10/100 PCI Ethernet boot support.
-
Added capability to dynamically determine the system Machine type and Model
ID should errors occur when attempting to read this information from the
system VPD module.
-
Added capability to display SCSI LUN number on boot device screen
-
Allow ROS to send heartbeats while in the TTY SMS menus.
-
Year 2000 support (which was not included in levels below VIC96108).
You will want to update your microcode if you would like to add these enhancements
to your system. Users are encouraged to upgrade to this version.
Previous level description
ROS VERSION : VIC97066
-
Added 233MHz Processor support.
-
Added full duplex boot support for the IBM PCI Ethernet card. NOTE: If
you are at AIX 4.1.M and wish to add IBM PCI Ethernet Full duplex boot
to your system, in addition to upgrading your firmware you also need AIX
APARs IX67249 & IX61334.
-
Required enhancements for 3COM Fast Etherlink XL Boot support.
ROS VERSION : VIC96277
-
FW Tape Drive Enhancement - When an unrecognized tape is in the tape drive
during boot time, the microcode may perform many queries/retries to ensure
there is not a supported boot image on the tape. This query/retry
process has been improved to decrease the overall boot-time.
-
NT/GXT110P fix - A must if you are running NT with a GXT110P graphics adapter.
Without it NT will load a standard graphics device driver which does not
take advantage of the GXT110P features.
-
3COM FAST ETHERLINK XL boot support
How to determine your microcode version
Checking your microcode version using AIX
To check your microcode version, type the following command locally at
an AIX command prompt or remotely via a telnet session established on the
target machine:
-
For AIX 4.1.x:
lscfg -vr | grep VIC
-
For AIX 4.2.x and AIX 4.3.x
lscfg -pv | grep VIC
On E20, E30 and F30 machines, this will net one line of output which looks
similar to the following:
Device Specific.(RM)........01281997 085803 VIC97027
The string starting with "VIC" at the end of this line is the indentifier
of the installed microcode level.
This method has the advantage that it can be done either locally or
remotely and rebooting the machine is not required.
Checking your microcode version using System Management Services
You can check your microcode version using the System Management Services
as follows:
-
Turn on or shutdown and restart the computer.
-
When the first screen appears, press the F4 key to use the text-based
System Management Services. If you are using an ASCII display, press 4
NOTE: You must press F4 (or 4 for ASCII) after
the keyboard indicator appears on the screen, but before the last indicator
appears. After you have pressed the F4 (or 4 for ASCII) key,
the initialization indicators will continue to display, and the System
Management Services screen will display after the last indicator.
-
Read the version off of the header that appears at the top of the main
SMS menu. It should look similar to the following:
Version VICXXXXX, built on mm/dd/yy at hh:mm:ss
XXXXX = Your microcode version number
mm/dd/yy = the date of the microcode build
hh:mm:ss = the time of the microcode build
How to update your system microcode
Using Graphical SMS
To update your system microcode:
-
Power on your system and go to the SMS menus. Reference Chapter Three,
System Management Services, of your User's Guide, or reference
Getting
to the SMS Menu
if you do not know how to invoke the System Management
Services Menus.
-
Select the Tools icon.
-
Select the Update icon.
-
Insert a blank DOS diskette into the system to create a backup of your
existing firmware.
-
Once the backup is complete and you are prompted to enter the Firmware
Update diskette, remove the backup diskette and enter the Firmware update
diskette.
Using text-based SMS
-
Power on your system and go to the SMS menus. Reference Chapter Three,
System Management Services, of your User's Guide, or reference
Getting
to the SMS Menu
if you do not know how to invoke the System Management
Services Menus.
-
Select option three, Utilities.
-
Select option seven, Update System Firmware.
-
Press Enter to confirm that you want to update your system firmware.
-
Press Enter to create a backup diskette of your current firmware.
-
Insert a blank DOS disk and press Enter.
-
Remove the backup diskette and insert the firmware update diskette and
press Enter.
-
When the update has completed, press Enter to reboot your system.
Getting to the SMS Menu
-
Turn on or shutdown and restart the computer.
-
When the first screen appears, press the F1 key to use the graphical
System Management Services. To use the text-based System Management Services,
press the F4 key or
4 on the ASCII terminal.
NOTE: You must press F1, F4 (or 4 for
ASCII) after the keyboard indicator appears on the screen, but before the
last indicator appears. After you have pressed the
F1, F4
(or 4 for ASCII) key, the initialization indicators will continue
to display, and the System Management Services screen will display after
the last indicator.
Privacy |
Legal
|
Contact IBM