How to Flashupdate a Single board on Sun Fire[TM] v1280, E2900, 3800, 4800, 4810, 6800, E4900, E6900, or Netra 1280, 1290 servers

Asset ID:	1-71-1012868.1
Update Date:	2017-02-02
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1012868.1 : How to Flashupdate a Single board on Sun Fire[TM] v1280, E2900, 3800, 4800, 4810, 6800, E4900, E6900, or Netra 1280, 1290 servers

Applies to:

Sun Fire E6900 Server - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Netra 1280 Server - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Fire 3800 Server - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Fire 4800 Server - Version Not Applicable and later
Sun Fire 4810 Server - Version Not Applicable and later
All Platforms

Goal

The following message may appear in the showlogs file on a Sun Fire[TM] System Controller:

Cpu boards have mixed or old firmware.

Fix

The error indicates that a new board (perhaps a newly replaced or installed board) has different firmware then the existing boards or the System Controller (SC).

It is not supported to run in mixed firmware configurations, so the new board needs to be upgraded or downgraded to match the rest of the configuration.
This document describes how to perform the procedure.

Steps to Follow
Procedure
Execute flashupdate on ANY new board after replacement so that it matches the firmware revision of the boards already in the platform (new boards often arrive with a higher firmware revision then the existing configuration).

schostname:SC> showboards -p v

Component   Compatible Version
---------   ---------- -------
SSC0        Reference  5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/IB6     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/IB7     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/IB8     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/IB9     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/SB0 Yes 5.20.6 Build_03  <<<<
/N0/SB1     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/SB2     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/SB3     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/SB4     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01
/N0/SB5     Yes        5.20.4 Build_01

1. Make sure the board is powered on. In the example above, SB0 is powered on and has a higher version of firmware then the other boards and the SC.

2. Do one of the following:

Copy firmware from another board of the same type, run:
```
flashupdate -c  
```

From our example above:
flashupdate -c SB2 SB0

To use a URL as the source of the firmware, run:
```
flashupdate -f  
```

3. Run the showboards command to check the board status again. Validate the firmware revision matches that of the other boards and SC. You might have to power the board off, then on, to clear any "Failed" status if that is how it is currently marked.

4. Now, proceed to adding the board to a platform domain:

If your domain is NOT running DR, proceed to the non-DR procedure.
If your domain IS running DR, add it to the domain per the instructions in Sun Fire[TM] V1280/E2900/3800/4800/4810/6800/E4900/E6900 & Netra 1280/1290: How to add CPUs and System Boards to a running domain (Doc ID 1006136.1). For more information on using DR to add a replacement board to a domain, refer to the Sun Fire Midrange Systems Dynamic Reconfiguration User Guide.

**************************************************************
Procedure for non-DR enabled machines
**************************************************************

1. Run the showboards -p version -v command to verify that the SCs and domains are now running the proper firmware version. (STEPS 1 and 2 above)

2. Shut down the domain in which the new board is to be used by halting the Solaris operating environment.

# halt
  or
# init 0

3. Power off all CPU/Memory boards and I/O assemblies in the domain by setting the keyswitch position to off:

schostname:A> setkeyswitch off

4. Add the board to the domain (if not already a part of the domain - the example below adds SB1 to Domain A):

schostname:SC> addboard -d a sb1

5. Bring up the domain with the new board by setting the keyswitch position to on:

        schostname:A> setkeyswitch on

6. Boot Solaris on the domain (if the domain did not automatically boot).

To discuss this information further with Oracle experts and industry peers, we encourage you to review, join or start a discussion in an appropriate
My Oracle Support Community - Oracle Sun Technologies Community.

Product
Sun Fire 3800 Server
Sun Fire 4800 Server
Sun Fire 6800 Server
Sun Fire 4810 Server
Sun Fire v1280 Server
Sun Fire E2900 Server
Sun Fire E4900 Server
Sun Fire E6900 Server
Netra 1280 Server
Netra 1290 Server

References

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