ServeRAID iBBU not fully charging after relearn operation - IBM ServeRAID SAS/SATA Controller

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H21631

Symptom

When installing a new Intelligent Battery Backup Unit (iBBU) on any of the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) controllers listed, the battery may report 'Battery charge complete' before the Relative State of Charge and Absolute State of Charge reach 100 percent.

Affected configurations

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM options:

• ServeRAID M5014 SAS/SATA Controller, option part number 46M0916, any replacement part number
• ServeRAID M5015 SAS/SATA Controller, option part number 46M0829, any replacement part number
• ServeRAID M5025 SAS/SATA Controller, option part number 46M0830, any replacement part number
• ServeRAID M5110 SAS/SATA Controller Card, option part number 81Y4481, any replacement part number
• ServeRAID M5110 SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x (CTO), any replacement part number
• ServeRAID M5110e SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x, onboard, any embedded
• ServeRAID M5120 SAS/SATA Controller for IBM System x, option part number 81Y4478, any replacement part number
• ServeRAID-MR10ie (CIOv) Controller for IBM BladeCenter, option part number 46C7167, any replacement part number

This tip is not system specific.

This tip is not software specific.

Workaround

No action is required.

Additional information

The following firmware levels added an enhancement called Limited Band Charging.

For ServeRAID MR10ie

• Package 11.0.1-0046

For ServeRAID M5000 Series SAS/SATA Controllers

• Package 12.12.0-0111 for the iBBU07
• Package 12.13.0-0179 for the iBBU08

For ServeRAID M5100 Series SAS/SATA Controllers

• Package 23.12.0-0011 for the iBBU09

Limited-Band Charging extends the overall life of the battery. Rather than keeping the battery at a constant 95-100 percent charge, it instead reduces this to the minimal amount required to safely hold cache data retention for the required retention period. (Retention periods vary between controller, and can be adjusted through various modes on iBBU08 and iBBU09.)

As the battery ages, more of the overall capacity of the battery will be charged. The only times the battery will be fully charged will be during the charge phase of a relearn cycle, or when the battery has reached a point where fully charging it is required to hold the required cache data retention.

Unless instructed by IBM technical support, no battery relearn cycle should be manually initiated. Running a battery relearn cycle more often will fully charge up the battery, however this can reduce the overall battery life.

The default battery re-learn cycle is 30 days.

The default battery re-learn cycle is 30 days.