ordering of A5000 patches

[Joy Silva]

Your plan would work but you don't need to do all that. The 
incompatibility problem is with the new drivers and the old disk 
firmware. The only difference between 106129-01 and -02 is an
improved download program. You have already successfully
downloaded your disks so don't need -02.

Again, the new disk firmware is compatible with all older drivers.
The old disk firmware can cause errors with the new drivers. This
is important because if you replace a disk make sure you check the
new disk's firmware and upgrade if needed.

Load 104708-12 then 105310-05, upgrade the soc and IB then reboot.
Make sure the arrays are idle during this of course. 

Also note that you don't need to power cycle the arrays after
downloading the new firmware. This can actually cause a problem if
the download has not completely finished. Use the array's front panel
to check the IBs and make sure they have the new firmware.

> From owner-ssa-managers@Eng.Auburn.EDU Sun Mar 22 13:19:33 1998
> X-Authentication-Warning: windsor.research.att.com: ft owned process doing -bs
> Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 16:15:53 -0500 (EST)
> From: Fred True <ft@research.att.com>
> To: SSA Managers <ssa-managers@Eng.Auburn.EDU>
> Subject: ordering of A5000 patches
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> X-Info: To unsubscribe, send 'unsubscribe ssa-managers' to majordomo@Eng.Auburn.EDU in message body
> 
> Folks,
> 
> We've had a few problems with installing the latest IB, fcal, and disk
> firmware in our A5000 systems, and I am looking for second opinions
> regarding our current situation on a particular host.
> 
> On this host, we have 3 A5000s attached.  Several weeks ago, per the
> instructions in the SSA support matrix, we updated the disk firmware on
> all our FC disks (106129-01).  We subsequently found out that the SSA
> matrix had an error in it regarding the order in which the patches should
> be installed.  So, we have not yet applied the 105310-05 patch (IB and
> fcode firmware).  Everything is working fine now, but I am a bit wary of
> moving forward with the IB and Fcode firmware until someone can confirm
> that this order of firmware updating will not do something nasty.
> 
> We are currently at the following firmware levels:
> 	Disks: 117*
> 	IB: 1.03
> 	Fcode: 1.10
> 
> We have the following patches installed:
> 
> 104708-09  SSD driver, luxadm and etc.
> 105310-04  IB, Fcode firmware and SOC-AL ucode.
> 106129-01  Download util and the disc firmware.
> 
> So, we need to install:
> 
> 104708-12
> 105310-05
> 
> Given the strict orders to install these in the listed order (see attached
> note), and the fact that we followed an erroneous procedure and installed
> 106129-01 first, what do you think we should do from here?
> 
> My plan was to try to be safe and avoid any incompatible disk/firmware
> interaction by doing the following:
> 
> . Suspending all disk access (vxvx etc.)
> . Spinning down all FC disks and physically unplugging them
> . Install the two remaining patches, updating the IB and Fcode f/w
> . Power cycle the A5000's, plugging the disks back in when off
> . Rebooting the system
> 
> Anyone think this is a bad plan?  Attached below are the notes which make
> me wary about this.
> 
> thanks,
> Fred
> 
> 
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> 
> 	PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
> 
> 	Recently a series of patches have been released to support the A5000
> 	Enterprise Storage Array.  These patches need to be applied in a given
> 	sequence or problems could be encountered.  Portions of the SOC-AL ucode
> 	and the disc firmware make certain assumptions of each other, so if they
> 	are not installed at the same time, problems can result (incompatibilies
> 	between the disc firmware and the SOC-AL ucode).
> 
> 
> 	CORRECTIVE ACTION:
> 
> 	The system is *NOT* to be rebooted during this sequence, it should only
> 	be booted at the completion of installing all the patches.  The patches
> 	should be applied in the following sequence:
> 
> 	Solaris 2.5.1   Solaris 2.6     Content
> 	-------------   -----------     ------------------------------------
> 	104708-12       105356-02*      SSD driver, luxadm and etc.
> 	105310-05       105375-05*      IB, Fcode firmware and SOC-AL ucode.
> 	106129-01/02**  106129-02**     Download util and the disc firmware.
> 
> 	Now Reboot The System....
> 
> 	*  These patches will be release approximately 30 Mar 98.
> 	** The 106129-01 patch is presently released, the 106129-02 will be
> 	   released approximately 15 Mar 98
> 
> 	   Patch 106129-01 may abort with a segmentation fault during install.
> 	   This can occur when A5000s are not installed with consecutive
> 	   controller numbers (c1, c2).  This could happen when other scsi
> 	   devices are present or the A5000s were installed as add ons. You
> 	   would have to reconfigure the c#s to fix (NOT recommended for a
> 	   production system!), or wait for the -02 rev of the patch which
> 	   fixes this bug.
> 
> --
> Fred True				"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
> AT&T Labs Network Mathematics Research	 Look on my works, ye Mighty,
> ft@research.att.com			 and despair!"
> 						-P. B. Shelley
> 
> 
>