Howdy. Here's a rather strange one. I have an F330 that absolutely
insists that its NVRAM card is empty - 0MB present. It isn't. It's fully
populated, with NVRAM SIMMs that were working just fine before I shut the
machine down. Over the last week I have:
Swapped motherboards;
Swapped NVRAM boards;
Replaced the batteries, even though the originals tested good;
Tried every combination of NVRAM SIMMs, in 2-, 4- and 8MB configs.
Last night I booted up the diagnostics (v2.1) disk, which reports that the
motherboard is fine - everything passes. The first NVRAM test (checking
the onboard EEPROM?) passes, but then it states that 0MB is present and
stops. This is really quite nutty. I can't believe that out of the 10 or
12 NVRAM SIMMs (the original 4MB that were working, plus others scavenged
from two other F330s) in all the combinations that I've tried, that *all*
of them have mysteriously gone bad.
At the OpenBoot prompt, test-all works, as does test /memory, but test
/nvram causes a reset. Hmmm.
What led up to this? This machine had been running for months without a
glitch (5.3.7R3). The last shutdown was a clean and orderly 'halt' so
that I could move the rack and install a new machine and reorganize some
cabling. After rolling the rack back into place, the filer refused to
boot. It complained about memory errors. The LCD panel lit up solid.
The fans sound like they are running at full speed, and never drop down to
a normal operating speed. The serial console went dead.
That's when I replaced the motherboard (but transferred the IDPROM -
assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the Ethernet MAC address and system
serial number might be tied into the license key and I ought to preserve
that). I then swapped out (painstakingly) the bad memory. Finally got
that all worked out, and then ONTAP would boot, but refuse to run because
it couldn't find any NVRAM. That's when I had to start playing swap
monkey with the other components.
It is on a UPS. The cabinet/environment is plenty cool and airflow is
unrestricted. Even with this new motherboard the fans and LCD still are
wonky, although I've had no problems with the serial console. I'm really
at a loss. (I've actually *replaced* the LCD assembly too - it behaves
the same way as the original.)
Any NetApp hardware techs ever heard of these symptoms before? Should I
swap out the power supply next? Re-write the firmware (already at 1.9_i)?
The only way I can figure on the odd behavior of the fans and LCD panel
following me from one system to the next is that I missed some internal
component - a corrupted IDPROM, or the power supply, or a chafed wire, or
who knows what? It's a simple machine, and there just aren't many parts
left to swap! I've never had a filer die on me before, so this whole
thing has been kinda wierd.
Am I just cursed?
Thanks,
-- Chris
--
Chris Lamb, Unix Guy
MeasureCast, Inc.
503-241-1469 x247
<skeezics@measurecast.com>
insists that its NVRAM card is empty - 0MB present. It isn't. It's fully
populated, with NVRAM SIMMs that were working just fine before I shut the
machine down. Over the last week I have:
Swapped motherboards;
Swapped NVRAM boards;
Replaced the batteries, even though the originals tested good;
Tried every combination of NVRAM SIMMs, in 2-, 4- and 8MB configs.
Last night I booted up the diagnostics (v2.1) disk, which reports that the
motherboard is fine - everything passes. The first NVRAM test (checking
the onboard EEPROM?) passes, but then it states that 0MB is present and
stops. This is really quite nutty. I can't believe that out of the 10 or
12 NVRAM SIMMs (the original 4MB that were working, plus others scavenged
from two other F330s) in all the combinations that I've tried, that *all*
of them have mysteriously gone bad.
At the OpenBoot prompt, test-all works, as does test /memory, but test
/nvram causes a reset. Hmmm.
What led up to this? This machine had been running for months without a
glitch (5.3.7R3). The last shutdown was a clean and orderly 'halt' so
that I could move the rack and install a new machine and reorganize some
cabling. After rolling the rack back into place, the filer refused to
boot. It complained about memory errors. The LCD panel lit up solid.
The fans sound like they are running at full speed, and never drop down to
a normal operating speed. The serial console went dead.
That's when I replaced the motherboard (but transferred the IDPROM -
assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the Ethernet MAC address and system
serial number might be tied into the license key and I ought to preserve
that). I then swapped out (painstakingly) the bad memory. Finally got
that all worked out, and then ONTAP would boot, but refuse to run because
it couldn't find any NVRAM. That's when I had to start playing swap
monkey with the other components.
It is on a UPS. The cabinet/environment is plenty cool and airflow is
unrestricted. Even with this new motherboard the fans and LCD still are
wonky, although I've had no problems with the serial console. I'm really
at a loss. (I've actually *replaced* the LCD assembly too - it behaves
the same way as the original.)
Any NetApp hardware techs ever heard of these symptoms before? Should I
swap out the power supply next? Re-write the firmware (already at 1.9_i)?
The only way I can figure on the odd behavior of the fans and LCD panel
following me from one system to the next is that I missed some internal
component - a corrupted IDPROM, or the power supply, or a chafed wire, or
who knows what? It's a simple machine, and there just aren't many parts
left to swap! I've never had a filer die on me before, so this whole
thing has been kinda wierd.
Am I just cursed?
Thanks,
-- Chris
--
Chris Lamb, Unix Guy
MeasureCast, Inc.
503-241-1469 x247
<skeezics@measurecast.com>