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Some of this is from an article I kept around....
***NOTE*** If replacing the battery pack before the warning message or
failure occurs... the changed pack won't register unless the error is
forced by the CE. Of course, this should be done when the system is in
restricted state, etc. The directions for forcing the error are available
from within the BATTERYINFO are mentioned in the article below. Once the
error has been forced and the battery pack replaced, the count of days
until warning and failure will be reset when the system comes back up.
Admin Alert: Checking Your iSeries Batteries
by Joe Hertvik
You may not realize it, but your iSeries boxes contain a set of nickel
batteries,
which are used as cache battery packs on your systems' I/O adapters. And, like
any
battery, they eventually have to be replaced; otherwise your system may start
to
malfunction. This week's "Admin Alert" explains how to check the batteries on
your
system, so you can determine when they need to be replaced.
Most people don't pay attention to their cache batteries until they spot an
OS/400
error message stating that their cache battery is about to die. If you're
under
maintenance, you can call IBM to arrange for a replacement battery, as well as
a visit
from a technician to install the new battery and to reset the error. Because
of the
potential for system problems, you should call IBM as soon as possible after
getting a
battery warning error. But these errors are generally timed so that you have
about 90
days to replace the battery before it fails. So don't panic, but don't ignore
the
warning, either, or you may find yourself in trouble if the battery suddenly
fails
before its 90 days are up.
IBM will send you a replacement battery (which is about the size of a battery
you
might see in a portable phone), and will give you instructions for calling for
a
replacement appointment once the battery arrives. To replace the battery, you
must
take down the partition where the I/O adapters with the failing cache battery
resides,
so that the technician can pull the I/O adapter card and put in the new
battery.
But the batteries don't always fail at the same time, especially if you've
added or
replaced I/O adapters on your system. So while you're planning to take down a
partition or two (especially if the failed battery resides in a primary
partition,
which will disable the whole system), you may want to inventory the other
batteries on
your system and ask IBM to change any that are close to issuing a failure
warning.
This way, you only have to take your system down once to replace all of your
older
batteries.
To find the status of batteries, open a green-screen 5250 session and go into
each
partition's "system service tools" menu, by typing in the Start System Service
Tools
(STRSST) command. Beginning with OS/400 V5R1, IBM requires you to type in a
user ID
and password before entering SST. While this sounds easy, it's also incredibly
easy to
disable or forget your SST password. (If you need help understanding how to
set or
reset an SST password, see "Bringing V5R1 DST Passwords Under Control.")
Once you enter the SST menu, perform the following commands to display the
status of
your batteries.
1. Type in option 1 from the "system services" menu, "start a service
tool."
2. Select option 4 from the "start a service tool" menu,
"display/alter/dump."
3. Select option 1 from the "display/alter/dump" output device menu,
"display/alter
storage.
4. Select option 2, "licensed internal code (LIC) data," from the "select
data"
menu.
5. Select option 14, "advanced analysis," from the "select LIC data" menu.
6. On the "select advanced analysis command" screen, place a 1 in front of
the
BATTERYINFO command, and press Enter.
7. On the option line for the BATTERYINFO command, type -INFO ?ALL, and
press
Enter.
Performing this procedure displays the status of all batteries assigned to
your
partition. This BATTERYINFO results screen shows the frame and card position
of each
battery, the battery type, and the estimated time (in days) before OS/400
issues an
oncoming failure warning on that battery, as well as the estimated time (in
days)
before the battery actually could fail. And if you have multiple partitions
with
multiple I/O adapter cards on your system, you should run this procedure on
every
partition to get a complete inventory of batteries needing maintenance.
My personal guideline is to ask IBM to replace any battery that is within a
year of
issuing a failure warning. Since iSeries boxes are renowned for running for
months or
even longer without a shutdown, this should be a reasonable timeframe. After
you get
the complete information on all batteries on the system that need to be
replaced
within a year, call IBM to order the batteries and schedule the service call.
There are several other options you can run once you're inside BATTERYINFO.
You can
find these options by running the BATTERYINFO macro with the "help" option.
But be
careful when running this command, because it contains one option that will
force an
error on an active battery cache pack.
Also be aware that, if you're running OS/400 V5R2, there is a PTF that you
must apply
in order to display battery pack status information or to force a battery pack
error.
The PTF number is MF32343, which is applied to licensed program 5722999.
By following these simple instructions, you can easily inventory your battery
pack to
monitor the health of your I/O adapter cards and to plan for orderly battery
replacements.
Pete Helgren
<Pete@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: To
midrange-l-bounce Midrange Mailing List
s+chadb=wheeling- <MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
nisshin.com@midra cc
nge.com
Subject
Impending cache battery pack
02/27/2006 03:08 failure
PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems
Technical
Discussion
<midrange-l@midra
nge.com>
We had this message on the system console on our model 800 yesterday:
*Attention* Contact your hardware service provider.
Which indicated that we will have to replace the battery soon. How
soon? The disks are still showing in operational status so I am not
sure what triggers the "impending" message. Anybody have experience
with actually waiting until it failed and how long that took? I'd like
to put off bringing the system down until the weekend but, if impending
meant hours, I'd better get on it tonight.
Thanks,
Pete Helgren
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