Re: AMD Opteron FPU Bug

[David Knight clubcorp com]

HP just released the following advisory.
Can any one elaborate on what the symptoms are. That is how to tell if
the "Inconsistency" has occurred?

Thanks in advance,
David Knight

"Foiles, Neil" <Neil Foiles hp com>

05/01/2006 02:33 PM

To	"Foiles, Neil" <neil foiles hp com>
cc
Subject	Advisory: CUSTOMER ATTENTION REQUIRED: CPU Frequency Margin Test Escape on Small Number of Single-Core 2.6-GHz and 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Processors

SUPPORT COMMUNICATION - CUSTOMER ADVISORY
Document ID: c00659053
Version: 1

Advisory: CUSTOMER ATTENTION REQUIRED: CPU Frequency Margin Test Escape on Small Number of Single-Core 2.6-GHz and 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Processors

NOTICE: The information in this document, including products and software versions, is current as of the Release Date. This document is subject to change without notice.
Release Date: 2006-04-28
Last Updated: 2006-04-28

---

DESCRIPTION

IMPORTANT: HP strongly recommends attention to the issue and the prescribed action detailed below. Neglecting to perform the prescribed action could potentially result in sub-optimal server performance, server lockups or failures, ungraceful server shutdowns, or data corruption or loss. By disregarding this notification, the customer accepts the risk of incurring future related events.

As described in the AMD Opteron Processor Model x52 and
x54 Production Notice, "AMD has identified, and subsequently corrected,
a test escape that occurred in a post-manufacturing product testing process
for a limited number of single-core AMD Opteron� processor models x52
and x54. No other single-core AMD Opteron processsors and no dual-core
AMD Opteron processors are affected." 
Single-core AMD Opteron x52 and x54 microprocessors (2.6-GHz
and 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron processors) are shipped in the HP systems listed
in the table below. 
The AMD Opteron Processor Model x52 and x54 Production
Notice states:

"A small number of these processors manufactured in 2005 and early 2006 have been observed to produce inconsistent results in a non-production synthetic test environment with the convergence of the following three simultaneous conditions:
1.        The running of floating point-intensive code sequences (note: observed only in synthetic test environment),
2.        Elevated CPU temperatures, and
3.        Elevated ambient temperatures.
Note: After thorough testing, these results have not been observed on systems running commercially available applications, such as Web servers, application servers, transaction processing servers, database servers or file print servers."
The AMD Opteron Processor Model x52 and x54 Production Notice can be accessed at the following location:

www.amd.com/opteron/productionnotice

SCOPE
Single-core 2.6-GHz and 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron processor models that could potentially be affected were shipped in the following ProLiant servers and HP Workstations:

Server or Workstation	AMD Models Used
ProLiant DL585	Single-core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 852 and Single-core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 854
ProLiant DL385	Single-core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 252 and Single-core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 254
ProLiant DL145 G2	Single-core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 252 and Single-core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 254
ProLiant BL25p	Single-Core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 252 and Single-Core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 254
ProLiant BL45p	Single-Core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 852 and Single-Core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 854
HP xw9300 Workstation	Single-Core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 252 and Single-Core 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron Model 254
HPxw25p Blade Workstation	Single-Core 2.6-GHz AMD Opteron Model 252

Note: HP systems that have been upgraded with single-core
2.6-GHz and 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron processors could also potentially be affected.

RESOLUTION
All processors that are affected have been removed from HP inventory. HP is currently shipping no potentially affected systems, option kits, or spares kits. AMD and HP have implemented a screening process to identify processors that are affected by this manufacturing process issue.
HP is recommending that customers take the following measures in order to determine if further action is needed:
1.        Determine if ProLiant servers or HP Workstations in your environment could be affected by identifying the number of HP systems that are configured with single-core 2.6-GHz or 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron processors.
2.        Contact HP Customer Support with this information and request AMD Opteron CPU Verification.
Determining ProLiant Servers and HP Workstations
that Could Potentially be Affected
Customers should first identify if they have systems that could potentially be affected. Systems could potentially be affected if they meet all of the following criteria:

• If the system is aProLiant DL145 G2, ProLiant DL385, ProLiant 585, ProLiant BL25p, ProLiant BL45p server, HP xw9300 Workstation, or HP xw25p Blade Workstation.
  Note: No other ProLiant servers and HP Workstations are affected, even though they may use an AMD processor, because only these servers and workstations use the specific models of AMD processors that could potentially be affected.
• If the processor is a single-core 2.6-GHz or 2.8-GHz Opteron processor.
  Note: Dual-core processors are not affected. ProLiant servers and HP Workstations with dual-core AMD processors are not affected.
• If the processor isOpteronmodel 252, model 254, model 852, or model 854.
  Note: Other models of the Opteron processor are not affected.

  IMPORTANT: If you do not own one of the systems listed above or if your system does not include a 2.6-GHz or 2.8-GHz single-core Opteron processor model 252, model 254, model 852 or model 854, as described in the table above, your system is not impacted by this issue.

Customers can obtain processor
information using any of the following methods:

• Linux environment. On a ProLiant server or HP Workstation operating in a Linux environment, execute the command: cat /proc/cpuinfo and look for the processor model name field as shown in the following example:
  model name: AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 252
• Microsoft Windows environment. On an HP system in a Microsoft Windows environment, view the CPU information presented in Device Manager by selecting the CPU in the hardware list as shown below.

Note: For Linux and Microsoft Windows environments,
verify the processor model, as well as the core frequency, as the processor
may have downshifted to a slower core frequency in systems with AMD PowerNow
support.

• HP Insight Diagnostics. ForProLiant servers, customers can also runHP Insight Diagnostics to obtain this information.
• HP Systems Insight Manager and SMH. For ProLiant servers, customers can also use server system management tools, such as HP Systems Insight Manager and the HP System Management Homepage (SMH), to obtain this information.
• Visual Inspection. For processors that have not been installed in a system, use the part number laser-printed on the AMD Opteron processor to identify the processor information. Refer to the AMD Opteron Processor Quick Reference Guide, which is available on the AMD website at the following URL:

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/opteron

NOTE: Visual inspection can only be performed on processors that have not been installed in a system. For processors already installed in a system, the processor heat sink will cover the processor information; therefore, one of the other methods above must be used.
If additional assistance is required to identify potentially affected processors, contact HP Customer Support.
Contacting HP Customer Support for AMD Opteron CPU Verification
For customers with HP Systems that are potentially affected, contact HP using either of the following methods. Customers should provide HP Customer Support with the following information for systems that are potentially affected: model number, serial number, number of processors in each system, type of processor(s) in each system, as well as the location of the potentially affected system(s).
An HP customer support representative will assist customers in scheduling an HP service representative to perform the AMD Opteron CPU Verification onsite, as discussed in more detail below.

• Contact Customer Support at 1-800-HP-INVENT.

OR

• For Service Outside North America, contact the appropriate HP Customer Support Center. A list of Customer Support Centers and appropriate phone numbers is available at the following URL:

http://h10018.www1.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact.html

 
AMD CPU Verification Tool 
AMD is providing HP with the AMD CPU Opteron Verification
Tool, a rigorous software verification tool for identifying AMD Opteron
x52 and x54 processors that may be affected, in order to help customers
identify any processors that may need replacement. The AMD CPU Verification
Tool will also indicate which processors pass the verification test in
order to avoid replacing processors unnecessarily. 
Even though this issue appears to affect only a small
number of AMD Opteron processors, the AMD CPU Verification Tool has been
designed to be aggressive to ensure that all potentially affected processors
are flagged. As such, it will identify not only processors that are affected
by the issue and need replacement, but it will also identify additional
processors that may not be affected. Therefore, due to the aggressive nature
of the AMD CPU Verification Tool, AMD and HP anticipate that the test could
flag for replacement more processors than those that are actually affected
by the issue. All processors that do not pass the CPU Verification process
will be replaced.

RECEIVE PROACTIVE UPDATES : Receive support alerts (such as Customer Advisories), as well as updates on drivers, software, firmware, and customer replaceable components, proactively via e-mail through HP Subscriber's Choice. Sign up for Subscriber's Choice at the following URL:
http://www.hp.com/go/myadvisory

SEARCH TIP : For hints on locating similar documents on HP.com, refer to the Search Tips document .
To search for additional advisories related to Opteron based HP ProLiant Servers, use the following search string:
+ProLiant +Advisory +Opteron
KEYWORDS : opteron, work station, workstation, processor, CPU

---

Hardware Platforms Affected: HP ProLiant DL585
Server series, HP ProLiant BL25p Server series, HP ProLiant DL385 Server
series, HP ProLiant BL45p Server series, HP ProLiant DL145 G2 Server series,
HP xw9300 Workstation, HP ProLiant DL585 Storage Server, HP ProLiant xw25p
Blade Workstation
Operating Systems Affected: Not Applicable
Software Affected: Not Applicable
Support Communication Cross Reference ID: IA00659053

©Copyright 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Hewlett-Packard Company shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information provided is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. To the extent permitted by law, neither HP or its affiliates, subcontractors or suppliers will be liable for incidental, special or consequential damages including downtime cost; lost profits; damages relating to the procurement of substitute products or services; or damages for loss of data, or software restoration. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Hewlett-Packard Company and the names of Hewlett-Packard products referenced herein are trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Company in the United States and other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Please note that all documentation provided in this e-mail is copyrighted material of HP. It is provided solely to complement our service efforts and provide further information for your reference. The documentation is provided "as is" without any warranties or representations of any kind. In particular, HP does not warrant that the materials are accurate, complete and up-to-date, and HP specifically disclaims all other warranties and conditions, in fact or in law, express or implied, including the warranties and conditions of merchantable quality, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property of others.

Brian Long <brilong cisco com>
Sent by: taroon-list-bounces redhat com

04/28/2006 08:49 AM

Please respond to
"Discussion of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (Taroon)" <taroon-list redhat com>

To	nahant-list redhat com, taroon-list redhat com
cc
Subject	AMD Opteron FPU Bug

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/28/amd_opteron_fpu_bug/

I wanted to tell folks I just learned of the AMD FPU bug that will be
announced today.  This affects x52 and x54 CPUs.  You should work with
your AMD Opteron vendors to determine if you have the affected CPUs.
Later today the AMD announcement will come out and include a diagnostic
image which will determine if you have an affected CPU.

/Brian/
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