Response from IBM Support:
That's because the MH PTF is lower than the FW level, and OS won't allow the backlevel (Not allowed status - which is normal). I did check with our SME and this is a non-issue Once you apply a more current MH PTF (than MH01708) to upgrade the FW that will change and it will be allowed.
What I think happened here is that the system came with SV860_109 installed and someone loaded the PTF for SV860_063. So the running Firmware level is newer than the OS PTF for the firmware update. Also explains why the status of “Not Allowed”
PTFs have not been touched since the system was installed in 2017.
From: Rob Berendt<mailto:rob@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021 9:10 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion<mailto:midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: DSPFMWSTS on OS controlled system
I had to paste the sample that the OP posted in his last reply to notepad to get columnar line up. That helped to understand it.
Nowhere in there does it list any MF* type PTF's. Just MH* and language associated with firmware.
"Server firmware" column is the same for *ACTIVE, *TEMP, *PERM.
"Operating system" column is blank for *ACTIVE, detailed for *TEMP, and *NONE for *PERM. And the value for *TEMP is different, and behind, than the values in "Server firmware".
As far as why they are different I would only be guessing. One of those guesses might be that firmware got updated without IPLing the OS but if you're updating from the operating system is that even possible?
Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1
Group Dekko
Dept 1600
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-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roberto José Etcheverry Romero
Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021 8:33 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: DSPFMWSTS on OS controlled system
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
If I had to guess, I would say that it is referencing which firmware the
installed PTFs for the OS could provide. This would be weird because it
would be implying that the OS is actually backlevel compared to the server.
The only way for that to happen would be for the server to have been
updated before installing the OS and that the OS never got PTF'ed...
On Thu, 6 May 2021 at 09:03, Steve Pavlichek <spavlichek@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mark,
I understand the A and B side IPLs and why there would be different
firmware and/or PTFs there. My question is why is there a “Server Firmware”
and a “Operating System Firmware” level.
Service partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Firmware update policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : *OPSYS
Server IPL source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Temporary
Firmware product ID/release . . . . . . . . . . . : 5733908 V1R1M0
Update access key expiration date . . . . . . . . : 01/01/21
Server IPL required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
--Server firmware-- -Operating system--
Fix PTF Fix PTF Update
Copy pack ID pack ID Status
*ACTIVE SV860_109 MH01708
FW860.31
*TEMP SV860_109 MH01708 SV860_063 MH01672 Not allowed
FW860.31 FW860.11
*PERM SV860_109 MH01708 *NONE *NONE None
FW860.31 *NONE
midrange.com
