Interface Card OL* Support Guide

IMPORTANT: If a system is booted, or an Online Addition operation is completed, with the

latch on a PCI slot in the open position, the slot may become unusable, requiring a boot to return

the slot to a usable state.

The three scenarios where this may happen are:

• Booting with the latch of an occupied PCI slot in the open position results in the card in that

slot being unusable. The ioscan command will show the software state for the card in that

slot as UNUSABLE. Also, a PCIError Reported at <H/W path> message will appear

on the console.

• Booting with the latch of an unoccupied slot in the open position, then adding a card to that

slot and executing an ioscan command, will result in the card being in the UNUSABLE state

(provided the -k option is not used and the ioscan is not restricted from covering the path

to that slot). In this scenario, the card will become UNUSABLE, regardless of whether the

latch is closed or left open, after the card is added to the slot.

• Performing a PCI card online addition (OLA) operation using the olrad command or the

pdweb GUI, and leaving the latch of the slot opened while bringing the card online, results

in the card being in the UNUSABLE state.

This behavior is due to a firmware issue. Until a firmware fix is available, you can use the

following procedure to recover:

1. Close the latch on the PCI slot that is in the UNUSABLE state.

2. Reboot the system; the slot will become usable again.

Scope:

This problem occurs under the following conditions:

• Operating System: HP-UX 11i v3

• HP 9000 servers: rp8420 or rp7420

• Firmware Version: PDC firmware version: 24.1

To verify the PDC firmware version, you can run STM, or you can run the sysrev command

from the management processor Command Menu (CM) prompt as follows:

MP:CM> sysrev

NOTE: Certain classes of hardware are not intended for access by users. At this time this includes

V class and Superdome systems. HP recommends that these systems only be opened by a qualified

HP Engineer. Failure to observe this requirement can invalidate any support agreement or

warranty to which you may otherwise be entitled.

Each of the three OL* methods has similarities and differences and a chapter is devoted to each

method, as well as an additional chapter with flowcharts showing all of the methods together

for comparison and to act as a quick reference.

pdweb The pdweb (pdweb) Web based method of OL*. For more information,

see Chapter 2 (page 25).

Attention Button The hardware system slot based method of using OL*. For more

information, see Chapter 3 (page 59). The availability of this method

depends on the specific hardware involved. See your hardware

documentation for specifics.

olrad

The command-line method of using OL*. For more information, see

Chapter 4 (page 65).

You can use these three tools to perform similar tasks using different techniques. For a direct

comparison of the methods to help you decide which method to use in a particular situation, see

Chapter 5 (page 71).