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                     FIELD INFORMATION NOTICE
            (For Authorized Distribution by Sun Service)

FIN #: I1195-1

Create Date: May/10/05

SunAlert: No

Top FIN/FCO Report: No

Products Reference: Sun Fire V880/V890 Server Products

Product Category: Server / Diag-Doc-Service

Product Affected: 

Systems Affected:
-----------------
Mkt_ID    Platform    Model    Description               Serial Number
------    --------    -----    -----------               -------------
  -          A53       ALL     Sun Fire V890 Server            -
  -          A30       ALL     Sun Fire V880 Server            -

X-Options Affected:
-------------------
Mkt_ID     Platform     Model     Description          Serial Number
------     --------     -----     -----------          -------------
  -           -           -            -                     -

Parts Affected: 

----------------------
Part Number        Description                 Model      
-----------        -----------                 -----    
501-4300-10        ASSY Motherboard A30          -
501-6323-05        ASSY Motherboard A30          -
501-6753-01        ASSY Motherboard A30          -
501-6352-01        ASSY Motherboard A30          -
501-6771-02        ASSY Motherboard A30          -

References: 

Bug: 4809875 - v880 onboard ge link flaps on Cisco 3.5k.
     4871053 - GE card links up/down when backing up one 
               particular filesystem.
     4843704 - Customer can not transfer files with onboard 
               ge on v880 reliably.

Escalation: 545201 
            545710 
            546866 
            546236

Issue Description: 

It has been observed that with particular data patterns in combination
with newer network switches while transferring data sets, the on-board
ethernet device (GEM), located on the Motherboard assembly may fail to
complete packet transfers.  To be more specific, when using the onboard
ethernet port (GEM) on the Sun Fire V880 and Sun Fire V890 for data
transfers or backups, connected via various external ethernet switches,
the processes can intermittently fail and not complete the transfer. 

No error messages are generated within the Solaris OS and the data 
transfer command never completes, it appears to hang. 

Some of the symptoms are netbackups will fail to complete unexpectedly. 
FTP file transfers will appear to hang. 

Usually errors will be seen on network switches similar to the ones 
below.  This error is from a Cisco 3550 switch which reports link down 
errors: 

   Jan 16 14:30:24.552: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface 
                        GigabitEthernet0/2, changed state to down 
   Jan 16 14:32:16.036: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface GigabitEthernet0/2, 
                        changed state to up 

Please note that this problem is seen in conjunction with specific 
network switches that are sensitive to these data transfer failures. 
The list below are known switches to date that have been able to 
catch the issue: 

   Cisco 3550 
   HP 5308XL 
   Netgear 
   NPI Cornerstone 

Product Engineering is currently working on the implementation and
testing of changes to the Motherboard GEM circuitry to resolve this
issue.  The motherboard is being re-designed to elimiate grounding
crosstalk.

Implementation: 

---
     |   |   MANDATORY (Fully Proactive)
      ---


      ---
     |   |   CONTROLLED PROACTIVE (per Sun Geo Plan)
      ---


      ---
     | X |   REACTIVE (As Required)
      ---

Corrective Action: 

The following recommendation is provided as a guideline for authorized
Sun Services Field Representatives who may encounter the above
mentioned issue.

If the MTU size is lowered from 1500 to 512 the transfers
will work fine. By lowering the MTU size you break the pattern up
which causes the issue, hence no pattern no issue.

   Eg:
   # ifconfig eri0 mtu 512
   # ifconfig -a
     eri0: flags=1001000843
           mtu 512 index 2
     inet 129.148.99.214 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 129.148.99.255
           ether 0:3:ba:68:18:45 

Depending on the MTU size required to allow backups to work, the
performance hit for the GEM port only can be anywhere between 23%
slower (64 MTU size), worst case, and 1% slower (1024 MTU size), best
case.

Comments: 

Acronyms used in this FIN.

   MTU - Maximum Transmission Unit 
   GEM - Gigabit Ethernet Module 


============================================================================

NOTE: FIN Tracking Instructions for Radiance/SPWeb:
--------------------------------------------------

If a Radiance case involves the application of a FIN to solve a customer
issue, please complete the following steps in Radiance/SPWeb prior to
closing the case:

 o Select "Field Information Notice" in the REFERENCE TYPE field.

 o Enter FIN ID number in the REFERENCE ID field.
   For example; I1111-1.

If possible, include additional details in the REFERENCE SUMMARY field
(ie. implementation complete, customer declined, etc.)
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Implementation Notes:
--------------------

In case of "Mandatory" FINs, Sun Services will attempt to contact
all known customers to recommend proactive implementation.

For "Controlled Proactive" FINs, Sun Services mission critical
support teams will initiate proactive implementation efforts for
their respective accounts as required.

For "Reactive" FINs, Sun Services and partners will implement
the necessary corrective actions as the need arises.


Billing Information:
-------------------

Warranty: On-Site Labor Rates are based on specified Warranty deliverables
       for the affected product.

Contract: On-Site Labor Rates are based on the type of service contract.

Non Contract: On-Site implementation by Sun is available based on On-Site
           Labor Rates defined in the Price List.

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