June 20, 2014

NOTICE:

THIS FIELD NOTICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY KIND OF GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE FIELD NOTICE OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE FIELD NOTICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS FIELD NOTICE AT ANY TIME.

Revision History

Revision	Date	Comment
1.0	20-JUN-2014	Initial Public Release

Products Affected

Products Affected	Line/SW ID	Comments
UCS-CPU-E52609B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52620B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52630B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52630LB	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52637B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52640B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52643B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52650B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52650LB	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52660B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52670B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52680B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52690B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52697B	C220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52403B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52407B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52420B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52430B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52430LB	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52440B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52450B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52470B	C22M3S/C22M3L C24M3S/C24M3L	Not supported in any UCSM release currently
UCS-CPU-E52667B	UCSC220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.
UCS-CPU-E52695B	UCSC220M3S/C220M3L C240M3S/C240M3L	Do Not Downgrade Rack server FWs having Ivy Bridge CPU to below the minimum supported Software and Firmware.

Problem Description

Cisco Unified Computing System (USC) Manager managed Cisco C-Series Rack Servers that have Intel E5-2600 / E5-2400 v2 Series CPUs might not power on if the user accidentally downgrades the C-Series Server Firmware to earlier than the minimum required firmware. 

Cisco UCS C220/C240 Minimum Software and Firmware Requirements 

Software or Firmware	Minimum Version
Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM-managed system only)  "ucs-k9-bundle-infra.2.1.3a.A.bin" &  "ucs-k9-bundle-c-series.2.1.3a.C.bin"	2.1(3)
Server CIMC  "ucs-c240-k9-cimc.1.5.3.bin" or  "ucs-c220-k9-cimc.1.5.3.bin"	1.5(3)
Server BIOS  "ucs-c240-bios.C240M3.1.5.3b.0.082020130616.bin" or  "ucs-c220-bios.C220M3.1.5.3b.0.082020130601.bin"	1.5(3)

Refer to Downgrade Scenario 1: UCSM-Managed Server for complete Minimum Software and Firmware Requirements. 

Background

UCS Manager does not prevent nor warn users when they try to downgrade a C-series server that has Intel E5-2600 / E5-2400 v2 Series CPUs (Ivy Bridge CPUs) to a version earlier than the minimum supported firmware. This results in server boot failure and the FSM Associate Bios Post Completion task being stuck. 

The error message shown under Finite State Machine (FSM) tab in the UCS Manager tool is: Waiting for BIOS POST Completion information from IBMC. 

In order to prevent the server failure described previously, before you integrate Cisco C-Series Rack Servers that have Intel E5-2600 / E5-2400 v2 Series CPUs into the current UCS Manager environment, take these precautions: 

• If the "Default" Host Firmware Package is configured under Servers > Policies > Host Firmware Packages > Default, then the Default Host Firmware Package must point to an Ivy Bridge CPUs supported Firmware (FW) package. 
  
  
• Do not select an unsupported Host Firmware Package in the Service Profile in order to downgrade FWs. 
  
  
• Do not downgrade FWs with the Activate Firmware feature under Equipment > Firmware Management > Installed Firmware > Activate Firmware to lower than the minimum required FW. 

Problem Symptoms

Newly discovered Cisco C-Series Rack Servers that have Intel E5-2600 / E5-2400 v2 Series CPUs might not power on if the user accidentally downgrades the C-Series Server Firmware to lower than the minimum required firmware.

Workaround/Solution

In order to recover a server FW upgrade failure described previously, attempt this procedure: 

1. Upgrade UCS Manager (infra-bundle) to a required software and download the corresponding C-bundle to the FI if the running version does not match the requirement. 
   
   Refer to Downgrade Scenario 1: UCSM-Managed Server for Minimum Software and Firmware Requirements. 
   
   
2. Select the impacted server under the Equipment tab, and then click Activate BIOS Firmware under Inventory > Motherboard > Action. 
   
   
3. Select the desire BIOS FW version, check the Force check box, and click OK. 

If this procedure does not recover the impacted server, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) in order to be guided through these steps (also documented in Cisco bug ID CSCuo48978). If recovery is unable to be achieved, the Service Request (SR)/case must be escalated. 

Optional: You can also Activate BIOS Firmware via the UCS Manager CLI. 

DDTS

In order to follow this bug ID link and see detailed bug information, you must be a registered customer and you must be logged in.

DDTS	Description
CSCuo48978 (registered customers only)	UCSM - Prevent downgrade of FW to lower than min required for IVB CPUs

How To Upgrade Software

Here are the steps: 

Log in to the UCS Manager GUI and verify the CPU name under Server-x > Inventory > CPUs. 

Look for the string v2 in the CPU Name, which indicates that this is Ivy Bridge CPU. 

Optional: You can also verify the CPU name via the UCS Manager CLI. 

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions about this field notice, contact the Cisco Systems TAC by one of these methods:

• Open a service request on Cisco.com
• By email
• By telephone

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