H165854:  DATA CORRUPTION ON HPFS386 DRIVES OR BOOT FAILURE


 TEXT:

 Fixpak IP08528 can cause data corruption on HPFS386 drives or
 boot failure.

 SYMPTOMS:

 LAN Server FixPaks starting with FixPak IP08508 contain
 performance enhancement code that can cause data corruption or
 boot failure when turned on. The boot failure is sometimes seen
 as a Trap 00E at boot time. The default state of this
 performance enhancement code was off until FixPak IP08528.
 Starting with FixPak IP08528 the default state of this code is
 ON. On the first reboot after installing IP08528, corruption
 can occur.

 PROBLEM ISOLATION AIDS:

 - The system is any of the following IBM servers:

      a Netfinity 7000-M10 server, Type 8680, any Model.
      a Netfinity 7000 server, Type 8651, any Model.
      a Netfinity 5500-M10 server, Type 8661, any Model.
      a Netfinity 5500 server, Type 8660, any Model.
      a Netfinity 5000 server, Type 8659, any Model.
      a Netfinity 3500 server, Type 8644, any Model.
      a Netfinity 3000 server, Type 8476, any Model.
      a Netfinity 704 server, Type 8650, any Model.
      a PC Server 720, Type 8642, any Model.
      a PC Server 520, Type 8641, any Model.
      a PC Server 500, Type 8641, any Model.
      a PC Server 330, Type 8640, any Model.
      a PC Server 325, Type 8639, any Model.
      a PC Server 320, Type 8640, any Model.
      a PC Server 315, Type 8638, any Model.
      a PC Server 310, Type 8639, any Model.
      a PC Server 300, Type 8640, any Model.

 - NOS affected:

      OS/2 Warp Server Advanced Version 4 with
      FixPack IP08528 applied.

 - The system has the described symptoms.

 WORKAROUND:

 The temporary fix for the problem is to not turn the
 performance enhancement code on in FixPaks prior to IP08528, or
 to turn it off if IP08528 is installed. To turn it off, type
 HPFSPERF NO at the command line if the system can be booted. If
 the system will not boot, boot from HPFS386 boot diskettes and
 add the following four lines to the bottom of HPFS386.INI:

      [commit_heuristics]
      async = no
      sort = no
      merge = no

 HPFS386.INI is found in the ibm386fs directory on the boot
 drive.

 DETAILS:

 Final fix not available yet.

 All FixPaks after IP08528 will have the feature off as the
 default until the actual problem with the code can be
 corrected.



DATE: February 11, 1999