Source
RETAIN tip: H21708
Symptom
On controller firmware levels 7.77, 7.83, 7.84, and 7.86, the IBM System Storage DS Storage Controller may experience an issue during a Flashcopy volume creation on a Protection Information (PI) enabled array whereby both controllers will lock down with both controllers’ seven (7)-segment LCDs displaying ‘0E’ and ‘L4’.
When this occurs, any hosts connected to the storage controller will have a loss of access.
Affected configurations
The system may be any of the following IBM servers:
- IBM System Storage DCS3700 Storage Subsystem, type 1818, any model
- IBM System Storage DS3512, type 1746, any model
- IBM System Storage DS3524, type 1746, any model
- IBM System Storage DS3950 Express, type 1814, any model
- IBM System Storage DS5020 Disk Controller (1814-20A), any model
- IBM System Storage DS5100 Storage Controller, type 1818, any model
- IBM System Storage DS5300 Storage Controller, type 1818, any model
This tip is not software specific.
This tip is not option specific.
The following system firmware level(s) are affected: 7.77, 7.83, 7.84, and 7.86
The system has the symptom described above.
Solution
The fix for this issue is resolved in 7.84.50.00 and later levels and 7.86.36.00 and later levels of the controller firmware.
The files will be available by selecting the appropriate Product Group, type of System, Product name, Product machine type, and operating system on IBM Support’s Fix Central web page, at the following URL:
Until the files are available on Fix Central, they can be obtained by calling IBM Technical Support.
Workaround
Do not create Flashcopy volumes on PI enabled arrays until the above mentioned fix has been installed.
Additional information
To hit the PI error, read requests must be issued that are the size of a Flashcopy repository cluster or larger. The read request must contain regions that are on the base volume and the repository volume. When the controller breaks up the read requests to the respective regions the code neglected to set a variable correctly, thus causing PI errors when the reads are sent to the drives.
See more details here
Storage CH Blog 