IBM AIX 7.3 – Common Problem 101 – Diagnosis and Fix

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

errpt shows repeated DISK_ERR4 entries and I/O latency spikes.

Environment & Reproduction

Common on aging SAS/SSD bays or when MPIO paths flap.

Root Cause Analysis

Underlying hdisk reports SCSI sense data via diagela/errdemon.

Quick Triage

Run errpt -a | more and check lspath -l hdiskN status.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Use errpt -aN hdiskN to capture sense bytes and timestamps.

Solution – Primary Fix

Replace failing disk or fail/recover MPIO path with chpath -s disable/enable.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Migrate LV off the disk with migratepv before swap.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

errpt clean of recurring DISK_ERR; I/O latency back to baseline.

Rollback Plan

Re-enable original path with chpath if false positive confirmed.

Prevention & Hardening

Schedule diagela alerts and SMART polling via cron.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Often paired with FSCSI_ERR or LVM_SA_QUORCLOSE events.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for aix-7.3.

View all aix-7.3 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

IBM Docs: errpt, diag, MPIO administration.