Sun Fire T2000 Server
 
Sun Blade T6300 Server Module
 
Sun Netra T6340 Server Module
 
Sun Netra T2000 Server
 
Sun Blade T6320 Server Module
 
Sun SPARC Enterprise T2000 Server
 
Sun Blade T6340 Server Module
 

PLA-Support>Sun Systems>SPARC>CMT>SN-SPARC: Tx000
 

The following document provides instructions on recognizing and properly diagnosing a Sun Fire T2000 or Sun Blade T63XX Service Processor Battery Failure

Applies to:

Goal

 The following document provides instructions on recognizing and properly diagnosing a Sun Fire T2000 Service Processor Battery Failure

Solution

Troubleshooting Details:

Symptoms

The following error messages may be seen on the System Controller (SP),  or Advanced Lights Out Manager (ALOM) console logs:

/var/adm/messages or showlogs -v:

Also, you may show faults reported on the SP via ALOM command "showfaults" and will see the faulted reported similar to:

When connected to ALOM on the Tx000 machine, running the "showenvironment" command at the sc prompt will provide you with greater detail of the environmental statuses of the basic system components installed in the machine such as:
System Temperatures, System Indicator Status, Fans Status, Voltage sensors (in Volts), etc., and will appear similar to the following:

As you will notice above under "Voltage sensors (in Volts):" section, for the service processor battery, we see the following key indicators of a battery failure:

Sensor          Status      Voltage LowSoft LowWarn HighWarn HighSoft
SC/BAT/V_BAT    WARNING       0.57      --    2.25      --       --

1- The current voltage of the SP battery is currently low (at only .57 Volts),
2- the "LowWarn" warning voltage is set to 2.25 (Volts), and when the voltage of the battery falls below the 2.25V threshold, it will generate a warning message which will be logged in the console logs and appear similar to the following:

Also, we will find the fault reported on the SP via ALOM command "showfaults" and will see the fault reported similar to:

Also, to verify the system firmware level:

Cause

The root cause of this issue is dropping voltage of the battery over time, per normal usage. The battery is located on the System Controller (SC), or System Processor (SP)

NOTE (1): A known issue has been identified where good SC Batteries on the T2000 machines were being marked "failed" prematurely. This issue is attributed to voltage thresholds used by the ALOM software for determining battery status. The issue was seen on systems with firmware releases prior to 6.2.4. Before ultimately replacing the SC battery on the T2000, please ensure proper FW is applied, in order to avoid an unnecessary outage for a needless battery replacement. Please use the following ALOM command to check the currently installed firmware on your machine: sc> showhost (more details are also available in the following knowledge article: How to Determine the System Firmware Version on T1000/T2000 (Doc ID 1012949.1))

NOTE (2): The latest and most recommended Firmware Release available is 6.7.13. The patch containing this firmware is labeled as 139434-10 FIRMWARE: Sun Fire T2000 - Sun System Firmware Update 6.7.13
and can be found in the System Handbook under the Patch Readmes and Downloads link. See the following for the available ways of "Accessing the Oracle System Handbook on My Oracle Support (Doc ID 1227213.1)."

Additional References
Frequently Asked Questions About Sun System Firmware (Doc ID 1021792.1)
How to Download Firmware for Oracle Systems and Storage (Doc ID 1342226.1)
Selecting the firmware upgrade method on T1000/T2000 (Doc ID 1011226.1)
How to Update the Firmware from the OS on T1000/T2000 (Doc ID 1501504.1)



Solution

Replace the failing Service Processor Battery as soon as available.

Please Log an Oracle Service Request*** for this issue to request a new battery to be shipped for the replacement of the failing SP Battery of the server. When opening the SR, you should have ready, or be prepared, to provide (at a minimum) the following ALOM commands output, in order to quickly have this matter resolved:

For ALOM based units:

  sc>  showhost
  sc>  showenvironment
  sc>  showlogs -v
  sc>  showfaults -v

For T63x0 units not using ALOM compatibility mode, these are the equivalent ILOM commands:(Note: ILOM data appears in a different format )

-> show /HOST
-> show -o table -level all /SYS
-> show /SP/logs/event/list
-> show faulty
-> version

*** Note: for greatest ease and fastest turn-around for this issue, when creating a Service Request(SR) via My Oracle Support Portal, please have a new/fresh Explorer file available for upload during SR creation. Please be sure to select "PSU, Fan, Battery failure" and then proceed to upload the ready Explorer file. ***

Upon receipt of the new SP Battery, please see the following document for detailed instructions on replacing the SP Battery:

How to Remove and Replace a Sun Fire T2000 Service Processor Battery:ATR:1180:1 [VIDEO] (Doc ID 1308278.1)

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