WoodEngineer Nov 23, 2009   4:42 PM GMT

It sounds like the battery on one of your I/O processors which controls writes to disk. When the system determines the battery is at end of life, the system requires a write to disk to be completed before continuing processing. This is because the write cache on the IOP is no longer protected. Your system will continue to run but you may notice it is responding a bit slower. Something to keep in mind - whenever IBM has replaced that battery on our system they always recommended an Option 21 save (save entire system). Of course, this is up to you but can really extend the down time. That extended down time pales in comparison to a messed up disk array if there are problems with the battery replacement. That said, we have never had any problems related to battery replacement. Good luck!

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DanD Nov 23, 2009   5:23 PM GMT

I can attest to cache battery replacement causing the weekend from hell. We did have a full backup immediately before the IBM CE INITIALIZED CACHE AND WIPED OUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. I had to do a full restore. There are other CEs I have let do concurrent cache battery replacement, but make sure you have a save that will keep you from loosing data. This question does sound more like it refers to the internal system batteries and you can run without them without performance degredation but you are more exposed if you have a power failure. If you have a good UPS system it should be OK to wait 15 days if it is system batteries and not Disk Cache Batteries. If it is a cache battery the message should really use the words Cache Battery.

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Batman47 Nov 23, 2009   5:51 PM GMT

From my experience waiting 15 days is not a problem. Even if the SRC code is 8008 I never noticed any degraded performance from the system. The message can make you nervous but IBM has assured me on several occasions not to worry. Your customer wants to wait 15 days, that's fine so don't make him nervous either.

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TomLiotta Nov 23, 2009   7:41 PM GMT

Minor note on "cache battery"... The message is apparently not a warning that the battery is failing; but rather it is a message that the cache battery message timer has expired. The difference is that in the first case the battery will definitely fail and disk write performance will be degraded. But because it is apparently the second case, you may be able simply to disconnect the existing battery, wait a minute or two for some capacitance to discharge, reconnect the battery and reset the timer. If the battery isn't actually failing, you can get additional cycles from it. The full process begins with going into DST to work with the battery settings and putting the battery into "failed" status. For some reason, that status must be reached in order to get the timer to recycle upon replacement. Then battery removal and reconnection can be done. And finally, the normal cleanup of the battery status after "failing" is done. We've gotten multiple cycles from some batteries. Obviously, this is only done when no other options are available at the moment, and you really do want to get moving on obtaining a replacement battery. But there are times when it's handy. And again, this is "cache battery" not system power internal battery. Tom

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Splat Nov 24, 2009   3:32 PM GMT

If it's the cache battery you may notice some slowdown of the system until the battery is replaced. We shut down the system to replace the battery. The CE was insistent that I use the *CNTRLD option on the power down - I don't know if this applies to all models, but on a 525 if you use *IMMED it doesn't write the cache to disk, meaning you'll lose the contents of the cache when the battery is replaced.

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