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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.
Jerry Adams
<jerry@bwwholesal
e.com> To
Sent by: Midrange Systems Technical
midrange-l-bounce Discussion
s@xxxxxxxxxxxx <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
cc
04/20/2006 12:23 Subject
PM Re: Slow AS400 performance
Please respond to
Midrange Systems
Technical
Discussion
<midrange-l@midra
nge.com>
When I had a similarly described problem, it turned out to be the disk
cache battery. There should be a way to find out in System Service
Tools, but I'm not sure where; it's been quite awhile.
* Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
voice
615.995.7024
fax
615.995.1201
email
jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Condon, Mike wrote:
>I am getting vague complaints from our users/developers that one of our
>AS400's (a 270, v5r3) is "running slow".
>I don't think it's a CPU problem, more like IO is getting thrashed.
>One Developer suggested that it may be QYIVRIPS. I did notice the
>message "Attempt to download a current phone list was unsuccessful." in
>it's job log, but I'm not too excited over that.
>
>What tools/methods are there for determining who/what is thrashing the
>IO on the machine?
>I'd rather start this way rather than calling IBM, telling the vaguely
>"our machine is running slow", and then imagining the IBM Tech's eye's
>rolling back in his head upon hearing the question.
>
>
>
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