Communicator e3000 MPE/iX Release 7.5 (Software Release C.75.00) (30216-90336)

Chapter 5
Technical Articles
Support Tools Manager (STM) Updated for MPE/iX 7.5
103
Support Tools Manager (STM) Updated for MPE/iX 7.5
by Allen Hertling — CSY
The newest released version of the On-Line Diagnostics (aka MESA Diagnostics) for the HP e3000 product
named Support Tools Manager (STM) is B8343AA.75.01. This release provides support for new hardware,
improvements in the functionality of STM, and correction of several reported defects. Additionally, the content
of STM has been slightly changed in that the Menu version of STM (known as MSTM) is no longer provided
on the HP e3000. Also, the DTC support tool known as TERMDSM is no longer a part of STM, but is
supported separately as part of the HP 32022 MPE/iX Terminal IO product.
New Hardware Support
STM provides support for the new HP e3000 PA8700 processors for the N4000s and the A500s. The software
will properly identify the hardware for display by the MAP command and provide information as to the
specific hardware status via the INFO and IL (Infolog) commands. The newly supported Fibre Channel
Interface Card and the VA7100 disk array are also identified.
Improved Functionality
STM operates by starting a system process (aka a daemon) named DIAGMOND. This happens automatically at
bootup and as the result of running the STMSTART.In previous versions, DIAG.SYS program. DIAGMOND and its
child processes ran at a very high priority (13) in the A linear queue. This high priority caused some problems
of competition (and hangs) for system resources between STM and the network software which STM is
dependent upon. With the A.75.01 release, DIAGMOND and its child processes (CCLOGD, MEMLOGD, DIAGLOGD,
etc.) now run in the B queue at priority 150. Customers should no longer utilize the various scripts provided
by the HP Expert Center that provided workarounds to the resource problems by changing the queue and
priority of the older versions of the STM programs.
When STM is started, the software conducts a hardware mapping of the system (also when a REMAP
command is issued by a user). This process may take several minutes (typically 2 to 5, but sometimes more)
during which the user interface program (CSTM) will not generally be usable. Once the system mapping is
complete, the continuously running system log processes of DIAGLOGD, MEMLOGD, and CCLOGD are started as
child processes of DIAGMOND. These processes have been improved to use fewer system resources and to
consume less CPU time. A side effect of these changes may be evident in that some commands within CSTM
may report that the commands are disabled for a few seconds after exiting a command (like INFO) or utility
(like LOGTOOL or an expert tool). A short wait of 5 to 15 seconds should allow the background processes to
complete and the online interface of CSTM to be re-enabled.
Corrected Defects
The A.75.01 release includes code changes for over a dozen service requests that were reported against the
MPE/iX 6.5 and 7.0 releases of STM. The causes of various System Aborts (1746), machine checks, and hangs
have been corrected and the A.75.01 release has been more robust during testing of the MPE/iX 7.5 Release so
much so that the same software has been packaged into Patches for MPE/iX 6.5 and 7.0.
Some user interface changes are that the FF command within LOGTOOL no longer fails, Firmware Updates
to DLTs no longer report FAILED when the updates were actually successful, Process PIM Information is
now reported for the N- and A-series, and Console messages of “*** DIAGNOSTIC MONITOR ABORT FAILED”
have been replaced with a more explanatory message of “STM Diagnostic Monitor already stopped”.