LSISAS6160 SAS Switch

r201.13.00.00 Firmware
Release Notes

Version 1.0
February 2012

DB07-000118-00
LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.12.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012

Revision History

Version and Date Description of Changes

Version 1.0, February 2012 Initial release of the document.

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Document Number: DB07-000118-00

Copyright © 2012 LSI Corporation
All Rights Reserved
LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Upgrading from Older Versions

LSISAS6160 SAS Switch Firmware Release Notes

These release notes correspond to r201.13.00.00 of the LSISAS6160 SAS switch firmware.

ATTENTION Read the following instructions for upgrading from older versions of the firmware.

Upgrading from Older Versions

If you have an earlier version of the firmware, perform the following instructions.
 If your version is earlier than 200.05.03.00, you must install version 200.05.03.00.
 If your version is earlier than 200.10.00.00, you must install version 200.10.00.00.
 If your version is earlier than 200.11.02.00, you must install version 200.11.02.00.
After performing these steps, as needed, you can install version 201.13.00.00.

Upgrading to r201.13.00.00

Refer to the LSISAS6160 SAS Switch User Guide for complete instructions on upgrading the switch firmware to
r201.13.00.00. The following situations might occur when you upgrade the firmware:
 Depending on the current running version of firmware, the notes in the Update Firmware- Activate window
might state “The switch automatically resets after the update.” This is incorrect, you must click the Activate
button to complete the upgrade.
 An error message might appear stating “Could not reset expander [SAS Address]: Error occurred while
communicating with server. Server connection lost! Please log in again.” This is expected behavior, because the
switch was reset, and during a reset you lose all networking capabilities.
 When you click the OK button, you can return to the SAS Domain Manager (SDM) login screen. At this point, close
the browser and reconnect to the SDM.
 If you do not close the browser, you might get an error stating “Could not get information for expander [SAS
Address]: Protocol error occurred while communicating with server.” Close the browser and reconnect to the SDM
at this point, and everything will work correctly.

New Features

This section lists the new features included with r201.13.00.00 of the LSISAS6160 SAS switch firmware. Refer to the
LSISAS6160 SAS Switch User Guide for more information about these features.
 Switch is not marked as permanently failed when a master expander or a slave expander fails.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Support Matrix

Support Matrix

The LSISAS6160 SAS switch is designed to be compatible with SAS 2.1-compliant devices. Perform the following steps
to see a list of the operating systems and hardware that have been explicitly tested for compatibility with the
LSISAS6160 switch:
1. Go to this website: http://www.lsi.com/channel/products/storagecomponents/Pages/LSISAS6160Switch.aspx
2. Click on the Resources tab.
3. Scroll down to Compatibility Documents.
4. Click on the latest version of the LSI SAS6160 Switch Hardware Compatibility Matrix.

Firmware and Hardware Advisories

This section lists the firmware and hardware advisories for the LSISAS6160 switch.

Aliases

Technical Description: When a large number of aliases (180 or more) are created using the SDM-CLI, any aliases-related
SDM-CLI command such as, "show_aliases" fails with this error: "Problem getting alias information Error code is
(-5:MESSAGE_INVALID)."

Observed Behavior When a large number of aliases (180 or more) are created using the SDM-CLI, any aliases-related
SDM-CLI command such as, "show_aliases" fails with this error: "Problem getting alias information Error
code is (-5:MESSAGE_INVALID)."
Impact The SDM-CLI cannot be used to show, add, or delete aliases when a topology has 180 or more aliases.
Workaround Do not use the SDM-CLI when having 180 or more aliases. Use the SDM-GUI.

Link Reset under Heavy I/O

Technical Description: Link reset is observed on phys after long period of arbitrations in process (AIPs).

Observed Behavior If heavy I/Os are running, then the LSISAS6160 switch might reset phys on which AIPs are observed for
a long duration. This issue is intermittent and the frequency depends on the load and the size or
configuration of the topology.
Impact Unnecessary repetitive discovery is triggered in the topology. During the AIP issue and subsequent
reset and discovery, the performance on the impacted links is degraded. The issue is resolved when the
I/O load decreases so that long periods of AIPs no longer occur.
Workaround N/A

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Firmware and Hardware Advisories

Loss of DHCP Settings when Downgrading from Phase 11 to Phase 10

Technical Description: To apply IP configuration settings on the switch, Phase 11 FW refers a different configuration
page ID (0xFD10) than Phase 10 (0xFF10). The downgrade operation results in a return to IP configuration defaults
(which is a DHCP disabled state).

Observed Behavior After the downgrade, the DHCP setting is disabled.

Impact The switch IP address changes and reverts back to default static IP address.
Workaround Re-enable DHCP by using the Xip or the ipcontrol command in FWCLI.

Upload Firmware Fails While Uploading from a Wireless System or Laptop

Technical Description: While performing upload firmware operations with SDM-GUI, firmware data (TCP/IP) packets are
divided into multiple fragments. Sometimes, one of the fragments is dropped and the firmware upload operation
hangs. This happens due to the network fire wall policy, which does content-based filtering for a particular 4 Kb IP
fragmented packet. This filtering, in turn, causes loss in uploaded data.

Observed Behavior While performing upload firmware operation, the operation hangs and the SDM-GUI times out. This
issue occurs with SDM-GUI on wireless networks.
Impact Switch firmware cannot be uploaded.
Workaround Retry the upload or use a wired network to upload the firmware. Contact the locally available
IT/networking team.

Zoned Switch with Failed Master Phys Does Not Send Zoned Broadcast Change SMP

Technical Description: In certain failed topologies, the switch does not properly forward a broadcast out of a port that
is inside the ZPSDS.

Observed Behavior When the switch is in a condition with one port degraded or multiple ports degraded, the device
attached to the switch might not receive a broadcast from the switch.
Impact The attached device might not properly update when the topology changes occur.
Workaround  Replace the cable between the switch and the attached device.
 Replace the switch.
 Replace the attached device.

Switch Discovery Does Not End in a Large Topology with Multiply Phy Failures

Technical Description: In the failing case, the switch’s discovery might not end. In this case, repeated SMP REPORT
GENERAL commands could be observed on the bus.

Observed Behavior In a large topology, when multiple switch phys fail on a repeated basis, discovery might not end.
Impact I/O impact because the switch is incorrectly configured.
Workaround Make sure that all cables are good and power cycle the switch.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Firmware and Hardware Advisories

Cascaded Switches with SAS-1 and SAS-2 HBAs

LSI has identified a potential setup problem when integrating SAS-2 switches in cascaded topologies.
Technical Description: Cascaded switches are supported only for SAS-2 HBAS in which the Allow Table-to-Table Links bit
is enabled. SAS-1 HBAs do not support cascaded switches.

Observed Behavior In both SAS-1 and SAS-2, the host bus adapter (HBA) reports the following topology discovery error
when booting up the system:
SAS discovery error 0x00000400
Impact  In SAS-1, the firmware does not display devices behind a cascaded switch. Topology changes can
affect future discovery and driver stability.
 In SAS-2, discovery only reports the error as required for informational purposes and takes no
further action.
Workaround  In SAS-1, cascaded switches are not supported.
 In SAS-2, ignore the SAS discovery error message. This error will be removed from future releases
of the LSI HBA firmware.

I/O Fails when Activating a Zone Set

LSI has identified an issue that occurs when zone sets are activated while I/O transactions are running. This issue
applies to JBODs only. RAID boxes are supported.
Technical Description: All ports lock and there is a large burst of arbitrations in process (AIPs) when zone sets are
activated while I/O transactions are running.

Observed Behavior If a zone set is activated while I/O transactions are running, the LSISAS6160 switch and the attached
JBODs might become unresponsive.
Impact I/O activity stops and management is not possible.
Workaround Contact your JBOD manufacturer for an updated version of the firmware that supports changing zone
sets while I/O transactions are running.

SATA Drive Capacities Appear as UNKNOWN

Technical Description: The SATA protocol assumes that it is always communicating with a single initiator. SATA over SAS
(STP) is implemented so that the first initiator that sends an I/O to a SATA drive is then affiliated with that drive. No
other initiator can communicate with an affiliated SATA drive, and therefore the LSISAS6160 switch cannot send I/Os
to the SATA drive to query it and to retrieve the drive size. Therefore, SATA drives capacities are reported as
UNKNOWN.

Observed Behavior SATA drive capacities are reported as UNKNOWN in SDM.

Impact None.
Workaround None. Limitations in the SATA specification do not allow the SAS switch to display SATA drive capacities.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Firmware and Hardware Advisories

Cannot Use Cables Longer than 10 m with SATA Drives

Technical Description: The SATA specification does not allow cables longer than 10 m.

Observed Behavior The LSISAS6160 switch cannot establish connections with SATA drives if using cables longer than 10 m.
Impact Intermittent or nonexistent communication with SATA drives.
Workaround Use shorter cables.

SDM Error after Firmware Upgrade

Technical Description: The SDM error window indicates a reset expander failure after you upgrade and activate
firmware on the LSISAS6160 switch from r200.05.03.00.

Observed Behavior While waiting to reset the LSISAS6160 switch with the new firmware, SDM times out and displays an
error message stating that it failed to reset the expander and that it lost communication with it. This
happens only when upgrading from 200.05.03.00
Impact None. The switch actually did reset.
Workaround Ignore the error window and log back in to SDM.

Using the Xip Utility with MegaRAID® and 3ware® SAS RAID Controllers

Technical Description: Before the Xip utility can gather and set IP information for the LSISAS6160 switch, its SCSI
enclosure must be presented to the operating system.

Observed Behavior Xip fails to initialize when using 3ware and MegaRAID SAS RAID controllers and displays the error IAL or
HAL API Failed.
Impact Unable to retrieve or set IP information for the LSISAS6160 switch when using 3ware and MegaRAID
SAS RAID controllers with the Xip utility.
Workaround With MegaRAID controllers, you can enable the ExposeEnclDevicesEnbl bit by issuing the following
megacli command before booting the operating system:
MegaCli -AdpSetProp ExposeEnclDevicesEnbl 1 -a0
3ware SAS RAID controllers do not support the Xip utility. Use another HBA model that supports Xip.

Attaching a Tape Drive to a Master Phy Causes the Master to Lock Up and Become Permanently Failed

Technical Description: If you connect certain tape drive models to an even-numbered port connector (top row) of the
switch, they might cause the switch to go into a permanently failed state.

Observed Behavior A tape drive attached to an even-numbered port connector (top row) might cause the switch to fail.
Impact The switch is permanently failed and cannot be recovered.
Workaround Only attach tape drives to odd-numbered port connectors on the bottom row of the switch.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Firmware and Hardware Advisories

SAS Port Might Not Be Marked as Invalid when All Phys in the Port Are NOT Configured to Be in the
Same Zone Group

Technical Description: The SAS specification requires that all phys in a port have the same zone phy information. Any
port that does not meet this requirement is not a valid SAS port and should be marked as invalid. The switch
implementation hides these invalid ports during discovery.

Observed Behavior Ports might show up in discovery with invalid zone configuration.
Impact None.
Workaround Reconfigure zoning.

SAS Devices Can Disappear When the Switch is in Failed or Degraded State

Technical Description: If both phys of the master or both phys of the slave in a wide port fail, the switch might
mistakenly fail SAS frames, causing the devices to be eventually removed from the SAS domain.

Observed Behavior SAS devices are removed from the SAS domain.
Impact Device does not show up in SAS domain display, or I/Os to the device fail.
Workaround Replace the switch.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Resolved Firmware and Hardware Issues

Resolved Firmware and Hardware Issues

This section lists firmware and hardware issues for the LSISAS6160 switch that have been resolved.

Connector Can be Marked as Invalid if a Link Reset Occurs When Specific HBAs are Attached

Technical Description: If a link reset occurs with specific HBAs attached, the connector can be marked as invalid and
the switch can be marked as degraded. The behavior is observed only with 1068 revision B1.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Switch Sends Broadcast (Change) Instead of SMP Zoned Broadcast Over Certain Port Configurations

Technical Description: After zoning is enabled, the switch sends a Broadcast (Change) primitive instead of an SMP
Zoned Broadcast over links that are configured to be inside ZPSDS.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Phy is Sometimes Dropped while Combining and Separating Connections with a x2 Cable

Technical Description: If a connection between an HBA and a switch is combined or separated by connecting and
disconnecting a x2 cable between the devices, sometimes a phy is dropped in SDM-CLI and SDM-GUI. This occurs
because a series of connect and disconnect events is generated continuously, and SDM cannot get proper data during
discovery.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

SDM-GUI Takes a Long Time to Download Firmware

Technical Description: The firmware image (lynx6160.fw) takes 8 or 9 minutes to download, using SDM-GUI. This
defect applies to an upgrade from r200.09.01.00 to another release, such as r200.11.02.00.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Configuration Restore Fails for Topology that has 100+ drives

Technical Description: Configuration restore fails on a topology that has 100 or more drives. Backup works fine but
when that backed-up file is restored, the timeout happens and client loses the connection with switch. Also, until this
times out, no new GUI or CLI session can connect to the switch.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Erratic Response to VoltageSense03 Threshold Changes

Technical Description: VoltageSense03 does not always respond the first time to threshold changes.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

SDM-CLI Displays Incorrect Device Type for SAS-1 x12 Expander

Technical Description: SDM-CLI displays an incorrect device type for SAS-1 x12 expanders.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Resolved Firmware and Hardware Issues

Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

End Device Wizard Auto Selects Multiple Targets

Technical Description: The End Device Wizard selects multiple targets with a topology that has many targets. This
happens when selecting a target at the top of the list.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

In SDM-CLI with Discovery Disabled, an Attempt to Change Configuration Returns an Improper Error

Issue: After discovery is disabled, SDM-CLI returns a MESSAGE_INVALID error when you deactivate or deactivate a
zoneset. This occurs because zoneset activation and deactivation are not supported when discovery is disabled. SDM
generates an error in this case, and SDM-CLI cannot catch the error properly.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Slave Phys Always Report Zoning Enabled = 1 and Saved Zoning Enabled = 0 in Discover Response

Issue: When a Discover SMP request is sent to a slave phy, it always reports Zoning Enabled = 1 even if zoning is
disabled. When zoning is enabled, the slave reports Saved Zoning Enabled = 0.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Phys from Unconnected Switch Ports Can Be Mistakenly Added to an Existing Wide Port

Issue: If both phys of the master or both phys of the slave in a wide port are repetitively enabled or disabled, the switch
might mistakenly add an unconnected and incorrect phy to the wide port.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Malformed Zone Set Error Occurs in SDM-GUI

Issue: If you erase region 10 and region 11 after zoneset activation when using a x2 connection, all zonegroups and
zonesets created at the SDM end are lost. Therefore, SDM cannot map an activated zoneset with any of its database,
and it displays the Malformed Zone Set error.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

SDM Connector Wizard Displays x2 Ports Incorrectly

Issue: The SDM-GUI Connector Wizard displays x2 ports incorrectly if a x4 connector is split and devices are connected
to it through x2 connections.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

An Incomplete File Can Be Created When Creating a Backup after Zoneset Activation

Issue: Discovery is initiated after zoneset activation. If the topology is not stable, and SDM cannot see all the devices in
the topology, an incomplete backup file might be created. Do not create a backup file until the topology is stable,
after zoneset activation.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Troubleshooting

SDM Allows Temperature Threshold and High Critical Voltage Threshold to be Set Inconsistently

Issue: You cannot change temperature threshold values beyond the range of 1 °C to 79 °C. This prevents you from
accidentally changing important system values. However, the range check is independent of all four thresholds. For
example, the Low Critical setting retains its original value if the range check fails for it, but the Low Warning setting
gets the new value, which might be lower than the old Low Critical value but still within the range.
You cannot change voltage threshold values beyond the range of 5.5 percent to 24.5 percent. However, the range
check is independent of all four thresholds. For example, the High Critical setting retains its original value if the range
check fails for it, but the High Warning setting gets the new value, which might be higher than the old High Critical
value but still within the range.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Heavy Activity Causes Telnet Functionality to Become Unresponsive

Issue: The Telnet connection might become unresponsive if the maximum number of Telnet sessions are open, with
command activity.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

SNMP v3 No Such Name Response is Malformed

Issue: When requesting an object that does not exist using SNMP v3, some managers do not correctly interpret the No
Such Name response from the switch.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Portstatus Does Not Update If One Phy in a x16 Connection Is Removed and Connected to a
Different Device

Issue: Starting with a connection of between two and four connectors attached to the same SAS address, the switch
creates a very wide port to that device. (A very wide port is a port larger than x4, such as x8, x12, or x16.) If one phy from
this port is connected to another SAS address, that connector is invalid. However, it stays mapped into the very wide
port, creating an invalid port mapping.
Resolution: This issue is resolved in the latest version of the switch firmware.

Troubleshooting

This section lists troubleshooting tips for the LSISAS6160 switch.

Internal Fans Change to Critical State when Downgrading Firmware from r200.09.04.00 to r200.05.03

Description: The status of the internal fans changes to Critical state if you downgrade the LSISAS6160 firmware from
r200.09.04.00 to r200.05.03.

Observed Behavior The internal fans spin up to full RPM and do not spin down.
Impact Internal fan state becomes Critical.
Workaround Press the Restore Defaults button on the front of the switch.

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LSISAS6160 SAS Switch r201.13.00.00 Firmware Release Notes
February 2012 Troubleshooting

Switch Becomes Locked when Upgrading the Firmware

Description: If you do not follow the specified firmware upgrade sequence for the LSISAS6160 switch, or if the upgrade
process is disrupted in some way, the switch management GUI can become unavailable.

Observed Behavior The LSISAS6160 switch is still operational, but the SDM-GUI interface becomes unavailable and an
error page is displayed.
Impact You cannot manage the LSISAS6160 switch through the SDM interface.
Workaround Download the switch recovery utility and its Readme file from the LSI website and follow the
instructions to restore management functionality to your switch.

Cannot Connect to Switch for Management

Description: SDM uses several Ethernet ports for management functions. You must enable these ports before you can
connect to the switch for management.

Observed Behavior You can ping the LSISAS6160 switch, but you cannot connect to the switch through a browser for
management.
Impact You cannot manage the LSISAS6160 switch.
Workaround Enable these ports on the Ethernet switch and/or on the firewall:
 Port 22: SSH (Secure SHELL)
 Port 23: Telnet.
 Port 80: HTTP.
 Port 5573: SDM port. Enables the GUI to log in to the switch.

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