Recovery from LED 551, 555, or 557 in AIX V5

 Technote (FAQ)

Question

Recovery from LED 551, 555, or 557 in AIX V5

Answer

This document describes the typical causes for LED 551, 555, or 557 during an IPL. Also outlined is a recovery procedure. This document applies to AIX Version 5.

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Some typical causes of an LED 551, 555, or 557 during an IPL are:

• a corrupted file system
• a corrupted journaled file system (JFS) log device
• a failing fsck (file system check) caused by a bad file system helper
• a bad disk in the machine that is a member of the rootvg

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To diagnose and fix these typical problems, you must boot from bootable media and run fsck to fix any file systems that may be corrupted. If fsck fails when calling logredo then run logform on /dev/hd8.

WARNING: Do not use this document if the system is a /usr client, diskless client, or dataless client.

1. Power down your system. If it has a key mode select switch (that is, if it is a Microchannel-based system), turn the key to the Service position.

2. With bootable media of the same version and technology level as the system, boot the system.

   The bootable media can be any one of the following:

   • Bootable CD-ROM
   • NON_AUTOINSTALL mksysb
   • Bootable Install Tape

   Follow the screen prompts to the following menu:

      Welcome to Base Operating System 
      Installation and Maintenance 
   

3. Choose Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery (Option 3). The next screen has the Maintenance Menu.
   • Choose Access a Root Volume Group (Option 1).

     The next screen displays a warning that indicates you will not be able to return to the Base OS menu without rebooting.

   • Choose 0 continue.

     The next screen displays information about all volume groups on the system.

   • Select the root volume group by number.

   • Choose Access this volume group and start a shell before mounting the filesystems (Option 2).

   If you get errors indicating that a physical volume is missing from the rootvg, run diagnostics on the physical volumes to find out if you have a bad disk. Do not continue with the rest of the steps in this document.

   If you get other errors from the preceding option, do not continue with the rest of the steps in this document. Correct the problem causing the error. If you need assistance correcting the problem, contact one of the following:

   • your local branch office
   • your point of sale
   • your AIX support center
4. Next, run the following commands to check and repair file systems. (The -y option gives fsck permission to repair file systems when necessary.)

      fsck -y /dev/hd1 
      fsck -y /dev/hd2 
      fsck -y /dev/hd3 
      fsck -y /dev/hd4 
      fsck -y /dev/hd9var 
   

5. If fsck fails during the logredo phase, you will have to format the default jfslog (or j2fslog) for the rootvg JFS (or JFS2) file systems.

      /usr/sbin/logform /dev/hd8 
   

   Answer yes when asked if you want to destroy the log.

6. Type exit. The file systems will automatically mount after you type exit.
7. If you are running the Andrew File System (AFS), use the following commands to find out whether you have more than one version of the v3fshelper file. Otherwise, skip to .

      cd /sbin/helpers 
      ls -l v3fshelper* 
   

   If you have only one version of the v3fshelper file (for example, v3fshelper), proceed to .

   If there is a version of v3fshelper marked as original (for example, v3fshelper.orig), run the following commands:

      copy v3fshelper v3fshelper.afs 
      copy v3fshelper.orig v3fshelper 
   

8. If rootvg is mirrored, verify that all drives in the volume group are active:

        lsvg -p rootvg
   

   If either one of the drives is either in a "Missing" or "Removed" state, or if you see just the PVID along with the following error:

        0516-304 Unable to find device id in the device configuration database
   

   You will need to perform the approriate procedures for reducing that drive out of rootvg. This procedure can be found in the document, "Removing and Replacing a Fixed Disk." Once that has been completed, you can proceed to the next step.
9. Determine which disk is the boot disk with the lslv command. The boot disk will be shown in the PV1 column of the lslv output.

      lslv -m hd5 
   

   WARNING: Do not proceed further if the system is a /usr client, diskless client, or dataless client.

10. Recreate the boot image and alter the boot list. (hdisk# is the boot disk determined in .)

       bosboot -a -d /dev/ipldevice
       bootlist -m normal <hdisk#>
    

11. If you copied the v3fshelper file in , copy AFS file system helper back to v3fshelper:

       copy v3fshelper.afs v3fshelper 
    

12. With the key in Normal position, run

       shutdown -Fr 
    

If you followed all of the preceding steps and the system still stops at an LED 551, 555, or 557 during a reboot in Normal mode, you may want to consider reinstalling your system from a recent backup. Isolating the cause of the hang could be excessively time-consuming and may not be cost-effective in your operating environment.

To isolate the possible cause of the hang would require a debug boot of the system. Instructions for doing this are included in the document "Capturing Boot Debug", available at

It is still possible, in the end, that isolation of the problem may indicate a restore or reinstall of AIX is necessary to correct it.