On a ServeRAID M5014, M5015, or M5025 SAS/SATA Controller with an iBBU08 attached, after a relearn has completed, the virtual drives unexpectedly remain in Write-Through mode, causing reduced disk access performance.
(where iBBU = Intelligent Battery Backup Unit)
MegaRAID Storage Manager reports that the battery has degraded, and MegaCLI reports Remaining Capacity as being Low.
Source
RETAIN tip: H211101
Symptom
On a ServeRAID M5014, M5015, or M5025 SAS/SATA Controller with an iBBU08 attached, after a relearn has completed, the virtual drives unexpectedly remain in Write-Through mode, causing reduced disk access performance.
(where iBBU = Intelligent Battery Backup Unit)
MegaRAID Storage Manager reports that the battery has degraded, and MegaCLI reports Remaining Capacity as being Low.
MegaCLI command:
| | MegaCLI -AdpBBuStatus Battery Type: iBBU08
Remaining Capacity Low : Yes
Date of Manufacture: 03/12, 2013 |
Only firmware level 12.13.0-0153 is affected with the iBBU08. iBBU07 is not affected.
Users can determine which battery is attached (iBBU07, or the newer iBBU08) by looking under the Physical tab in MegaRAID Storage Manager, and selecting the BBU.
Note: A battery type of 'iBBU' in this output indicates iBBU07. A battery type of 'iBBU08' indicates iBBU08.
MegaCLI can also be run with the following command:
Affected configurations
The system can be any of the following IBM servers:
- System x3200 M3, type 7327, any model
- System x3200 M3, type 7328, any model
- System x3250 M3, type 4251, any model
- System x3250 M3, type 4252, any model
- System x3250 M3, type 4261, any model
- System x3400 M2, type 7836, any model
- System x3400 M2, type 7837, any model
- System x3500 M2, type 7839, any model
- System x3500 M3, type 7380, any model
- System x3550 M2, type 4198, any model
- System x3550 M2, type 7946, any model
- System x3550 M3, type 4254, any model
- System x3550 M3, type 7944, any model
- System x3620 M3, type 7376, any model
- System x3630 M3, type 7377, any model
- System x3650 M2, type 4199, any model
- System x3650 M2, type 7947, any model
- System x3650 M3, type 4255, any model
- System x3650 M3, type 7945, any model
- System x3650 M3 HF, type 5454, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7147, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7148, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7149, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7192, any model
- System x3755 M3, type 7164, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7143, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7145, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7146, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7191, any model
The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM options:
- ServeRAID M5014 SAS/SATA Controller, option 46M0916, any replacement part number
- ServeRAID M5015 SAS/SATA Controller, option 46M0829, any replacement part number
- ServeRAID M5025 SAS/SATA Controller, option 46M0830, any replacement part number
This tip is not software specific.
The 12.13.0-0153 level of firmware for the ServeRAID M5000 Series SAS/SATA Controller is affected.
The system has the symptom described above.
Solution
This behavior was corrected in firmware version 12.13.0-0179-1 of the ServeRAID M5000 Series SAS/SAS Controller firmware.
The file is available by selecting the appropriate Product Group, type of System, Product name, Product machine type, and Operating system on IBM Support's Fix Central web page, at the following URL:
http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral
Workaround
Upgrade to the latest available firmware on IBM Fix Central.
Additional information
Firmware version 12.13.0-0153 introduced a feature called Limited Band Charging (LBC) for the iBBU08. LBC is described in RETAIN Tip H21631 (MIGR-5093515).
The addition of Limited Band Charging introduced this issue. The root cause is that the threshold for marking a battery degraded is not taking LBC into account. Therefore, batteries were being prematurely marked as bad.
System x:Operating system independent / None
System x Hardware Options:Operating system independent / None
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