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  3. December 2006

Re: IXA resource failures - SOLVED

Just a post to memorialize this resolution. The problem was a couple of jumpers on the xSeries motherboard. I made reference to them in my post two weeks ago but they are so blasted small and well hidden on the board that couldn't find them and thought the documentation was wrong. The solution is to look for them carefully, and change the settings. They basically put the System i in control of the power on/off. That and the SPCN cabling. The mini-brick for the SPCN cable was the other fix. There is a J15 in the IXA but that is used by the brick's connector. The "brick" end has the J15 and J16 connectors. Cable those to the System i.
Being at a customer's site in Alaska, I was hoping we didn't have bad hardware. With the help of a guy named Dwight in Rochester, we walked through the full laundry list of checklist and diagnostics. Dwight knew his stuff, having worked with integrated HW since day one, he took me places in SST, ASM and RSA where I will never go again. Nice to know that Rochester still has quality, competent, knowledgeable people on staff. The trick is getting to them.
Final step was an FSP firmware upgrade ("just to be sure") and an IPL. Voila! Another Windows server is born.....
Dwight, and others on this list, have talked about iSCSI and how it simplifies this. That is a good thing. I'd rather do an IXS than an IXA again. The IXA has too many points of failure. An IXS or an iSCSI implementation, on the other hand, is pretty straightforward. 

Pete

Pete Helgren wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a question to the list about IXA, cabling and a failure for the resource to be recognized by the System i. I have sorted out some of the issues but I still haven't gotten this resolved. The resource is now recognized but is fails to become operational. 

Charles Wilt replied with:
--------------------------------------------------
It's been awhile since I did an IxA, I don't recall the jumper info you
described.

But IIRC, the HSL loops are directional, both the cables and the ports
themselves have to be connected in the right direction.  The cables have
tags with arrows on them.  The port directionality can be found in the
manual.

Also, the SPCN cabling is a little strange, I remember spending a lot of
time looking at the diagrams till I figured out how it was supposed to
be.

If all else fails, call IBM.

---------------------------------------------------
First, the HSL cabling: The cables are unidirectional, fortunately I can't connect them in the wrong "direction" since each end has a unique connector that only plugs in one way. However, I could have them in the wrong *order* (I am guessing). I have them as follows: Cable 1 goes from the xSeries Port 0 to the HSL port on the System i called "T1". Cable 2 from the xSeries Port 1 to the HSL port on the System i called "T2". Is that correct?
Second, the SPCN cabling. There is a J15 port on the xSeries. I cabled this to the SPCN 0 port on the System i. Is this correct? 

Actually, ALL of the cables go to a card in the xServer (the 1519-001 IXA).
The diagrams with the instructions are pretty minimal. It usually just says "Make sure the cables are connected correctly and are tight". Not much help.
WRKHWDRSC *CMN originally showed the 2689 as "Not Operational" with resource CC01. After IPL it shows "Not Detected". SST shows the following in the Product Activity Log: 

Class . . . . . . . . . . :   Informational
System Ref Code . . . . . : B6005120 System LIC detected a program exception 
Class . . . . . . . . . . :   Informational
System Ref Code . . . . . : B6005275 URC Information not available 
When I look at HSL resources, drilling down a bit I see:
Opt Description Type-Model Resource Name Status Multi-adapter Bridge 2689- PCI04D Unknown HSL I/O Bridge 2689- BC02 Operational Bus Expansion Adapter 2689- BCC08 Unknown Communications IOP 2689-001 CC01 Unknown
Finally, Charles suggested "Call IBM". Did that (they have a 24/7 support contract). They guy at level 1 hardware support said that he didn't know much about the iSeries and xSeries working together. He said he would call the local service representative. He did that, and the rep called me and said that he hadn't actually worked on an IXA before so he wasn't sure where to start. He did say that we should get the customer to cut a P.O. so he could fly down here and take a look at it. He said that support wasn't for MES, Customer installed troubleshooting. 

Sigh.

Any help on diagnostic steps to take would be helpful.

Thanks,

Pete Helgren

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