BU040211_EW01

HP Tru64 UNIX - Potential false temperature error condition on DS10/DS10L and TS10 systems

Tru64 UNIX

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DESCRIPTION

A sensor error can potentially indicate a false over-temperature condition on DS10/DS10L and TS10 systems.  While the sensor still accurately reports the temperature, it falsely reports the high temperature threshold.  This false reporting of the threshold value can get the Insight Management SNMP Agents to forward false traps and can potentially result in the Tru64 UNIX environmental monitoring daemon (envmond(8)) initiating the shutdown process.  This false reporting condition is temporary however, and the high temperature threshold soon returns to normal, at which point envmond cancels the shutdown.

HP is addressing this problem in the form of a workaround and will provide a permanent fix in the next scheduled aggregate Patch Kit or Service Pak.

Please Note:  The workaround identified in this advisory ONLY corrects the problem as detected by the environmental monitoring daemon (envmond).  Other environmental management software may still provide warnings based on the false over-temperature condition until such time the permanent fix is available in the next aggregate Patch Kit, Service Pak, or an interim fix is provided. 

SCOPE

The following hardware platforms and OS product versions are affected. 

AlphaServer DS10/DS10L and TS10 systems running:

• HP Tru64 UNIX 5.1B  (All base levels)
• HP Tru64 UNIX 5.1A  (All base levels)

RESOLUTION

Until the HP Tru64 UNIX corrections are available in a mainstream release patch kit or Service Pak, HP is providing the following workaround publicly for use by any customer.

Workaround procedure

Simply use envconfig(8) to manually set the high temperature threshold to its current default value.  While this does not change the value, the act of setting it manually forces envmond to use the manually applied value. Once set via envconfig, the ENVMON_HIGH_THRESH variable persists in the /etc/rc.config database. This will permanently work around the issue for current and future envmond sessions.

Example:

# sysconfig -q envmon | grep thresh

env_high_temp_thresh = 60

Take the value (usually 60 on the DS10) and set the threshold value using envconfig(8):

# envconfig -c ENVMON_HIGH_THRESH=60

The correction to this potential problem is currently scheduled to be available in the following mainstream patch kits: 

• HP Tru64 UNIX 5.1B   PK4
• HP Tru64 UNIX 5.1A   PK7