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This
is a disk controller write cache battery.
Disk controller cache batteries can wear out over time
and when they do
disk performance will be degraded
and slower response may be seen on the system.
Today I'll show you how to identify degraded disk drives
and determine whether a write cache battery needs to be replaced.
This is a frequently asked question
and thankfully one of the easiest to diagnose.
The system will alert you that a write cache battery needs to be replaced in a few ways
Most commonly you might see message
CPPEA13
"Attention contact your hardware service provider."
This message can be found in the system operator message queue
and indicates the cash battery needs to be replaced.
If you have RAID protected drives the WRKDSKSTS command will show if cache batteries have
completely failed.
Pressing F11 will show you the disk protection status.
A status of degraded means the batteries have failed
and the system performance to that drive controller has degraded.
WRKDSKSTS will not show cash battery failure for mirrored drives.
If your drives are mirrored
or if you're cache batteries have not failed yet,
you can use the system service tools to review the product activity log
and see the status of your batteries.
STRSST and login as QSECOFR.
Take option 1 to start a service tool,
option 1 for product activity log,
option 1 for analyze log,
an option 1 for all logs.
The from date and time should be adjusted to the last IPL time.
The to date and time
can be the current
date and time.
In the select analysis report options screen,
the statistic parameters should be set to Y for yes.
You can type in 8008
and 809
for the reference code parameter.
These are the codes used for cache battery messages.
An SRC code starting with the disk controller type and ending
with 8009
indicates the batteries will fail soon
and a replacement needs to be scheduled.
An SRC code starting with the disk controller type and ending with 8008
indicates the write cache batteries have completely failed
and system performance has degraded.
A replacement should be scheduled
immediately.
If the CPPEA13 is seen in QSYSOPR or QHST,
a degraded status is displayed on the WRKDSTSTS command,
or the SRC is reported in the product activity log,
it is recommended that you contact your hardware service provider to have the cache battery
pack of an IO card
replaced.
For reference the hardware service manager
in the system service tools can be used to monitor the cache battery status.
Take option 1 to start a service tool,
option 7 for hardware service manager,
option 9 to work with resources containing cache battery packs,
and option 5 to display battery information.
The battery information displays the estimated time to warning
an estimated time to error
in days.
in order to safeguard data
write caching is prohibited
until the batteries are fully charged.
For safety reasons batteries being shipped and kept in the field stock
are not fully charged
and will require time to charge when first installed.
The charge time can take
up to five and a half hours.
It is recommended to take this into consideration when replacing non failed batteries
concurrently
during production hours.