IBM Support

Intel Pentium 4, Xeon, and Xeon MP CPU (errata N91, P7X, and O6X) - IBM Servers

Troubleshooting


Problem

A number of Intel Pentium 4, Xeon and Xeon MP processors could have an internal timing marginality in the instruction decoder unit issue, if encountered, some of the potential symptoms may result in a system hang, reboot, blue screen in Windows or kernelpanic in Linux.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H181994

Symptom

A number of Intel Pentium 4, Xeon and Xeon MP processors could have an internal timing marginality in the instruction decoder unit issue, if encountered, some of the potential symptoms may result in a system hang, reboot, blue screen in Windows or kernel panic in Linux.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM eServer servers:

  • IBM eServer BladeCenter HS40, type 8839, any model
  • IBM eServer BladeCenter HS20, type 8678, any model
  • IBM eServer BladeCenter HS20, type 8832, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 445, type 8870, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 440, type 8687, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 365, type 8862, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 360, type 8686, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 345, type 8670, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 335, type 8676, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 305, type 8673, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 255, type 8685, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 235, type 8671, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 225, type 8649, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 225, type 8647, any model
  • IBM eServer xSeries 205, type 8480, any model

The system may be any of the following IBM IntelliStation workstations:

  • IBM IntelliStation E Pro, type 6216, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation E Pro, type 6226, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation M Pro, type 6219, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation M Pro, type 6220, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation M Pro, type 6229, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation M Pro, type 6230, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation M Pro, type 6850, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation Z Pro, type 6221, any model
  • IBM IntelliStation Z Pro, type 6865, any model

The system is configured with Intel Pentium 4, Xeon or Xeon MP processor(s).

Solution

This behavior is corrected in the latest release of the system's BIOS.

Additional information

The latest BIOS flash image update will contain an Intel errata patch for the microprocessor firmware that addresses this potential issue.

The fix will be in the following versions for each machine type:

BladeCenter
  • HS40, Type 8839, any model, version 1.24
  • HS20, Type 8678, any model, version 1.09
  • HS20, Type 8832, any model, version 1.06
xSeries Server
  • x445, Type 8870, any model, version 1.06 for RSA I
  • x445, Type 8870, any model, version 1.13 for RSA II
  • x440, Type 8687, any model, version 1.12
  • x370, Type 8681, any model, version 1.10
  • x365, Type 8862, any model, version 1.06
  • x360, Type 8686, any model, version 1.13
  • x345, Type 8670, any model, version 1.17
  • x335, Type 8676, any model, version 1.12
  • x305, Type 8673, any model, version 1.66
  • x255, Type 8685, any model, version 1.07
  • x235, Type 8671, any model, version 1.13
  • x225, Type 8649, any model, version 1.06
  • x225, Type 8647, any model, version 1.41
  • x205, Type 8480, any model, version 1.48
IntelliStation
  • E Pro Type 6216, any model, version 1.48
  • E Pro Type 6226, any model, version 1.48

  • M Pro Type 6219, any model, version 1.29
  • M Pro Type 6220, any model, version 1.18
  • M Pro Type 6229, any model, version 11A
  • M Pro Type 6230, any model, version 1.18
  • M Pro Type 6850, any model, version 1.43

  • Z Pro Type 6221, any model, version 1.41
Details

The next release of BIOS flash image update will contain an Intel errata patch for the microprocessor firmware that addresses a potential issue which might cause a system to exhibit erratic behavior. If encountered, some of the potential symptoms may result in a system hang, reboot, blue screen in Windows or kernel panic in Linux.

IBM very strongly recommends installation of these BIOS updates as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of the issues listed above. If your system encounters the same symptoms after the recommended BIOS has been applied, refer to other published tips and treat the symptoms with known corrective actions.

 

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

IntelliStation Pro:All operating systems listed

Older System x:All operating systems listed

BladeCenter:Operating system independent / None

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Document Information

Modified date:
29 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-55708

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