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Messages Guide and Reference

888 in the Three-Digit Display

A flashing 888 in the three-digit display indicates that a message is encoded as a string of three-digit display values. Obtain the display values to record on the Problem Summary Form by performing the procedures for the following:

Three-Digit Display Values

Obtain the string of three-digit display values by performing the following procedures:

  1. Turn the key mode switch to the Normal position.
  2. Press the Reset button to display the next value in the string.

    Note: Every time you press the Reset button, hold it for about 1 second to allow the system to sense the change.

  3. Record this value in item 5 of the Problem Summary Form.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until a flashing 888 is displayed again. Up to 30 three-digit display values may be included in the string.

To display the entire string of values again, repeat this procedure.

The first value following the 888 indicates the type of information contained in the remainder of the string. If the value is 102, go to "System Halts." For any value other than 102, go to "Diagnostic Messages" .

System Halts (Type 102)

For unexpected system halts, the string of three-digit values has the following format:

888 102 mmm ddd

An initial value of 102 indicates that an unexpected system halt occurred during normal operations. The value of the mmm variable indicates the cause of the halt, and the ddd value indicates whether your system completed a system dump. If the mmm value is 300, 400, or 700, go to "Dump Status Three-Digit Display Values" .

For further information on system halts, refer to "Hardware Diagnostics" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference. If the diagnostic programs return a service request number (SRN), record this number on item 4 on the Problem Summary Form.

The following list gives the possible values of mmm, the first value following the 888, and the cause of the system halt starting that value:

000 Unexpected system interrupt.
200 Machine check due to memory bus error (RAS/CAS parity).
201 Machine check due to memory time out.
202 Machine check due to memory card failure.
203 Machine check due to address exception: address out of range.
204 Machine check due to attempted store into ROM.
205 Machine check due to uncorrectable error correction code due to address parity.
206 Machine check due to uncorrectable error correction code.
207 Machine check due to undefined error.
208 Machine check due to an L2 uncorrectable ECC.
300 Data storage interrupt: processor type.
32x Data storage interrupt: input/output exception—input/output channel controller. The number represented by x is the bus unit identification.
38x Data storage interrupt: input/output exception—serial link adapter. The number represented by x is the bus unit identification.
400 Instruction storage interrupt.
500 External interrupt: scrub—memory bus error (RAS/CAS parity).

External interrupt: direct memory access—memory bus error (RAS/CAS parity).

External interrupt: undefined error.

52x External interrupt: input/output channel controller type—channel check.

External interrupt: input/output channel controller type—bus time out.

External interrupt: input/output channel controller type—keyboard external.

The number represented by x is the input/output channel controller number.

53x External interrupt because of an IOCC bus timeout; x represents the I/O bus number.
54x External interrupt because of an IOCC keyboard check.
700 Program interrupt.
800 Floating point unavailable.

Dump Status Three-Digit Display Values

The value of ddd (the second value following the 888) indicates the dump status. If any of the ddd value descriptions lead you to another step, return to "Diagnostic Messages" . The possible values and meanings of ddd are:

000 The kernel debugger is started. If there is an ASCII terminal attached to one of the native serial ports, enter q dump at the debugger prompt (>) on that terminal and then wait for flashing 888s to appear in the three-digit display. After the flashing 888 appears, go to "System Dump Facility" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference.
0c0 The dump completed successfully. To retrieve the dump, go to "System Dump Facility" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference.
0c1 An I/O error occurred during the dump. A partial dump was written to the dump device. To retrieve the partial dump, go to "System Dump Facility" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference.
0c2 A user-requested dump is in progress. Wait at least 1 minute for the dump to complete and for the three-digit display value to change. If the three-digit display value changes, find the new value on this list. If the value does not change, then the dump did not complete due to an unexpected error. Complete the Problem Summary Form, and report the problem to your software service department.
0c4 The dump did not complete successfully. A partial dump was written to the dump device. There is not enough space on the dump device to contain the entire dump. To prevent this problem from occurring again, you must increase the size of your dump media. Go to "System Dump Facility" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference.
0c5 A system-initiated or user-requested dump did not complete. To retrieve the system dump, which may be a partial dump, go to "System Dump Facility" in in AIX Problem Solving Guide and Reference. Complete the Problem Summary Form, and report the problem to your software service department.
0c7 A network dump is in progress, and the host is waiting for the server to respond. The value in the three-digit display should alternate between 0c7 and 0c2 or 0c9. If the value does not change, then the dump did not complete due to an unexpected error. Complete the Problem Summary Form, and report the problem to your software service department.
0c8 The dump device has been disabled. The current system configuration does not designate a device for the requested dump. Enter the sysdumpdev command to configure the dump device.
0c9 A system-initiated dump has started. Wait at least 1 minute for the dump to complete and for the three-digit display value to change. If the three-digit display value changes, find the new value on the list. If the value does not change, then the dump did not complete due to an unexpected error. Complete the Problem Summary Form and report the problem to your software service department.
Occ (For AIX 4.2.1 and later).An error occured dumping to the primary device; we've switched over to the secondary device. Wait at least 1 minute for the dump to complete and for the three-digit display value to change. If the three-digit display value changes, find the new value on this list. If the value does not change, then the dump did not complete due to an unexpected error. Complete the Problem Summary Form, and report the problem to your software service department.
c20 The kernel debugger exited without a request for a system dump. Enter the quit dump subcommand. Read the new three-digit value from the LED display.

Diagnostic Messages

An initial value other than 102 indicates a diagnostic message. Diagnostic messages display in the three-digit display when the console display is not present or is unavailable because of a display or adapter failure, or when a failure is detected that prevents the completion of a system restart.

To interpret diagnostic messages, refer to "Reading Flashing 888 Numbers" in your system operator guide.

Go back to Three-Digit Display Values.


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