TECHNICAL SUPPORT BULLETIN

July 30, 2010

TSB 2010-001-O

SEVERITY: High Operational

P RO D U CT S AF FE CTE D :

Brocade 5470; Brocade 8Gb SAN Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter.
IBM part numbers: 44X1920, 44X1921 and 42C1828.
CORRECTED IN RELEASE:
N/A

BULLETIN OVERVIEW
For the Brocade 5470, an FPGA upgrade is necessary after upgrading from Fabric OS v6.2.0_bc3
to Fabric OS v6.3.1b or later.

Brocade produces and publishes Technical Support Bulletins to OEMs, partners and customers that
have a direct, entitled, support relationship in place with Brocade.
Please contact your primary service provider for further information regarding this topic and
applicability for your environment

PROBLEM STATEMENT
In order to alleviate the potential for a high numbers of enc_out errors and improve link
stability, Brocade 5470 users need to update the firmware to Fabric OS v6.3.1b or later.
Encoding errors that occur outside of a frame boundary are reported as enc_out errors. At the
same time, the user should upgrade the FPGA code on the Brocade 5470 to version 97. Defect
284426 within the Fabric OS v6.3.1b Release Notes documents the error condition noted earlier.
Warning: Updating the FPGA code
code disrupts I/O data traffic and reboots the Brocade 5470.

2010 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TSB 2010-001-O

RISK ASSESSMENT
If the FPGA is already up to date, the fpga_update command returns a message confirming the
latest FPGA and exits.
If the FPGA is not up to date, this command asks the user to confirm the upgrade before
proceeding. If the user answers, "no", the command exits without any disruption or change to the
FPGA code. Therefore, it is safe to run this command to verify the version of FPGA code.
Proceeding with the update is disruptive.
disruptive Upon completion of the fpga_update script, the system
resets automatically.

WORKAROUND
No workaround is available for this problem.
In order to prevent potential link instability issues, the fpga_update command must be performed
during a maintenance window when data I/O disruption is acceptable.

CORRECTIVE ACTION
1. Check the FPGA version by executing the fpga_update command
a.

Brocade recommends FPGA version 97 for all Brocade 5470 switches running FOS
v6.3.1b and later.

2. Update the firmware to Fabric OS v6.3.1b or later

3. If necessary, update the FPGA image on the Brocade 5470 to version 97.
a.

Example
brocade8Gb:admin> fpga_update
The current FPGA version is 95.
FPGA version 97 is available.
You should update the FPGA to the new version.
Warning: FPGA update will disrupt traffic flowing through this switch.
It will also cause the switch to restart.
Do you want to update the FPGA to version 97? [N] y
Please avoid powering off the switch during programming.
When programming completes, the switch will reset itself.
JTAG programming file /fabos/share/63-1000427.xsvf

2010 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TSB 2010-001-O

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