Description
This incidence indicates Microsoft IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) driver is in conflict with the OSA/Avocent IPMI driver.
The IPMI device driver communicates with the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) on many of the IBM systems. The BMC is an IPMI compliant service processor. IPMI is one of the leading industry standards for server platform management.
Service processors, sometimes also called management controllers or management processors, are used not only to monitor system health but also to manage systems. IBM RSA-II (Remote Supervisor Adapter II) is another kind of the service processors that IBM offers. Often, these management controllers provide out-of-band management capability, so systems can be managed remotely even if the OS is absent, or even if the system is not fully powered on.
The IPMI device driver is a required component for OS or applications to communicate with the BMC and tab into its platform management functionality. Many of IBM platform management tools require this driver to be in place. Such tools include ASU (Advanced Settings Utility), DSA (Dynamic System Analysis), ESA (Electronic Service Agent), Director Agent, Hardware Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007, and so on.
Causes
On Windows Server 2008 or later, the native Microsoft IPMI driver is used in the place of the OSA/Avocent IPMI driver; the OSA/Avocent IPMI device driver should be uninstalled and should not be installed.
Or, when Microsoft Hardware Management feature on Windows Server 2003 R2 is enabled, if both Microsoft IPMI driver and OSA/Avocent IPMI driver are installed and enabled, there could also be sporadic errors caused by both drivers contending for the BMC.Implications
In the case both Microsoft IPMI driver and OSA/Avocent driver are installed and enabled, it could lead to erratic system behaviors, which can result incorrect health reporting, or even more severely with sporadic system resets.
This conflict could also result errors reported on the IPMI driver and/or sporadic error log entries recorded in the BMC SEL (System Event Log).
Resolutions
1. Follow Microsoft's documentation to uninstall the OSA/Avocent IPMI device driver. The IPMI device is listed under "System devices" in the Device Manager, with the name "Avocent IPMI driver". You may have to make the Device Manager to show all the hidden devices to see the device. Consult Microsoft's documentation on the exact steps to uninstall a device driver.
2. Follow the steps provided in the "Additional information" section below to collect information of how to troubleshoot issues with the OSA/Avocent IPMI device driver and/or the BMC.
3. Check the system compatibility matrix provided in the "Additional information" section below.
Additional information
For more information about Microsoft IPMI device driver, issues with the driver installation or troubleshooting the driver, visit Microsoft Web sites -- " IPMI Driver Functionality", or Hardware Management Introduction. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, visit the IBM BladeCenter support search Web site and follow similar steps.
To troubleshoot issues with the OSA IPMI device driver or the BMC, visit the "IBM System x support search" Web site, select "Troubleshooting" for "Task", and then select "Product Family", "Machine type" and "Operating system" of interest (from the pull-down lists). Then, in the "Refine results" select either "OSA IPMI" or "Baseboard Management Controller". In the result list, follow the links that are applicable and read through the articles and follow instructions that are applicable. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, visit the IBM BladeCenter support search Web site and follow similar steps.
For the compatibility matrix between IBM System x systems and Windows, consult IBM ServerProven System x and xSeries compatibility - Microsoft. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, consult IBM ServerProven Compatibility for BladeCenter products.
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