The StorEdge T3 array can take well over two minutes per controller to boot (become online and ready) after the power has been turned on.  In a partner group, it can take up to 7 minutes for the entire partner group to go online and start accepting commands from the host.  If the host system is powered on at the same time as the T3, it is possible for the host system to boot 'quicker' than the array, and therefore not detect the presence of LUNs on T3 partner groups that are still coming online.  This can cause a multitude of problems at bootup time for the host.

Workaround(s):

An obvious, manual solution to this problem is to prevent the host system from booting until the T3 has completed its boot cycle.  This would involve manual intervention to interrupt the host boot cycle until the  T3 units come online.  In an unmanned data center that experiences a catastrophic AC power loss and recovery, something better is needed.

As an alternative, host systems can be sent into an Open Boot PROM sleep cycle, allowing enough time for the T3 arrays to fully boot.

This can be accomplished in 2 ways:

Note: This method will erase existing contents from the nvramrc.  The nvramrc is often used to hold boot configuration commands or parameters and may cause boot failure if overwritten.  This method should only be used if there are no existing nvramrc contents. Use the second method to populate the nvramrc if there are existing nvramrc contents.

To determine whether nvramrc contents exist, use either of the following commands:
 

From the unix command line:

% eeprom nvramrc                

ok printenv nvramrc
                

#!/bin/sh
eeprom fcode-debug\?=true
eeprom use-nvramrc\?=true
eeprom nvramrc='probe-all install-console banner
: wait_for_t3
." Waiting 90 seconds for T3 " cr
d# 90 0 do
i .d (cr
d# 1000 ms
loop
;
wait_for_t3'                

Enter the following command sequence at the OBP prompt on the host system connected to the T3 partner group.  Control character and carriage return sequences are shown inside brackets [ ].

  
ok nvedit
[ctl a]  >>> These three commands will populate  
[cr]     >>> the sleep script ahead of any  
[ctl p]  >>> preexisting nvramrc commands.
probe-all install-console banner
: wait_for_t3
." Waiting 90 seconds for T3 " cr
d# 90 0 do
i .d (cr
d# 1000 ms
loop
;
wait_for_t3
[ctl c]
ok nvstore 
ok setenv use-nvramrc? true
ok reset