Ralph Bagen asks:
==================================

Dear group:
Can anyone share any information on HPMC (high
priority machine check) errors on a 99x server?
The system FLTs with a CxF3 error code (lower
left on the console)... the x has varied from
CAF3, CBF3... CEF3, CFF3... nothing has changed
hardware configuration wise since the box booted
ok this morning.
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Others on the list are much better qualified
than I am to speculate on what all can cause
HPMC errors...  I'll just throw out one thing
that I know will cause them:  We started
getting HPMC errors on our 959-400 a couple
years ago;  after we added two CPU cards to
what was originally a 959-200.  Turned out two
CPU boards had intermittant cache problems.
HP eventually replaced the two CPU boards, and
AFAIR we have never had any more HPMC system
halts since then.

SIDEBAR:  Don't recall exactly what halts they
caused, but we had another series of system
crashes associated with adding those additional
CPU boards; and with adding more memory to our
959:  It was originally powered up new as a
959-200 in December of 1995. Ran very well for
like 4+ years before we made it a 959-400.
After a series of somewhat painful system halts,
I found out that even in a relatively "clean"
environment you do get some surface corrosion
("coating" is perhaps a better word) on
motherboard and memory carrier contacts.  It
ended up that all that was required to get a
"solid" connection to the new CPU boards and
SIMMs was to "work them" in and out of the
contacts 10 or 12 times;  to scrape through the
surface corrosion...  No problem since then..

Ken Sletten

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