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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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