Edit: I am pretty sure we all have HMCs by now. The first link still works, the second does not. At the end of the post I am including information that may be useful, although I imagine this issue is pretty rare these days.
Originally posted October 28, 2008 on AIXchange
Having a Hardware Management Console (HMC) in your environment has its benefits. You can remotely power a machine on and off. You can remotely get to a console from the HMC. You can use the HMC to create logical partitions. And, should problems arise with the actual POWER server or the HMC, IBM can help you. If you’re using another vendor’s solution for your remote console and remote “power off and on” solutions, who knows what kind of support you might get from them if things are not working properly.
After running your machine in stand-alone mode with an async terminal for a console, you may have an issue defining your console after you attach it to the HMC. Sometimes when logging into the HMC and trying to bring up a console window, I’ve seen strange characters on the screen, or no characters at all. I call this gobbledygook, though I’m not sure that phrase translates well for our international readers.
In one scenario, IBM Support had me remove devices from the ODM and then reboot, so that it would give me the opportunity to select the console. On another occasion, the machine was still in manufacturing default configuration (MDC) and IBM had a document that advised us to take it out of MDC. In each case, the console worked fine once I followed IBM’s suggestions.
I thought I’d pass on these items should you ever find yourself with a non-working console from your HMC. If you click on the links below, you can find information on the problems and the solutions.
- “Problem: Terminal window to the default partition is unusable on new managed systems due to system being in MDC. Symptom: Users receive garbage characters on terminal window to newly added p5 or p6 managed systems or do not get a login prompt once default partition is activated.”
- “Problem: System p is newly attached to an HMC and the server property for MDC is false. The vterm console works in hardware mode (i.e., SMS and for displaying hardware parameters when LPAR is activating). However, the vterm does not display login prompt after AIX has been booted. Cause: AIX was installed on system p server when it was attached to an async console prior to attaching system to HMC.”
Read both of these links and add them to your toolkit. As always, if you get stuck, call IBM Support. They will know how to help you.
Edit 2: The second link no longer works, but I found a post about it in the developerworks community, before it went away, so I am posting it here for completeness.
Remove stand-alone Power 520 /550/9117 from Serial and add to HMC
Apr 16, 2012
I am having issues setting up my power systems to use vterm on HMC. I get a error that the system is reserved for serial connection. This is understandable cause they were setup via serial. They are 1 Lpar machines , and have now been setup to connect to HMC.
This is the IBM technote that I followed but still no luck. I removed serial and only had HMC connected , but still couldn’t connect VIA vtmenu .
Any advice ?
Technote (troubleshooting)
Problem(Abstract)
System p is newly attached to a hardware management console (HMC) and the server property for manufactoring default configuration (MDC) is false. The vterm console works in hardware mode (i.e. SMS and for displaying hardware parameters when lpar is activating). However, the vterm does not display login prompt after AIX has been booted.
Symptom
Cause
AIX was installed on system p server when it was attached to an async console prior to attaching system to HMC.
Resolving the problem
To reconfigure the AIX’s console device to use the new hardware connection you will need to do the following:
Either telnet (or SSH) into the server if networking had been configured or boot into a maintenance shell and run following procedure.
The procedure will completely remove vty0, vsa0 (and any other vty or vsa device) and syscons objects from the ODM and allow them to be recreated by AIX when system reboots.
Once telneted in or in a maintenance shell, as root execute the following:
- odmdelete -q name=vty0 -o CuDv
- odmdelete -q name=vty0 -o CuDv
- odmdelete -q name=vsa0 -o CuDv
- odmdelete -q name=vsa1 -o CuDv
- odmdelete -q attribute=syscons -o CuAt
- bosboot -ad /dev/ipldevice <—- customer hung trying to run this
command
- sync
#reboot
When system comes up it should reconfigure vsa0 and vty0
and since we removed “syscons” from ODM it should prompt
you to select a terminal. This time, the only device
connected for a console should be the HMC’s vterm.
You should messages similar to following when LPAR is booting back up:
- Please define the System Console. *********
Type a 1 and press Enter to use this terminal as the
system console.
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