IBM AIX 7.3 – Common Problem 141 – 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

After a panic, `sysdumpdev -L` shows `Status: -1` and no dump was written to the dump LV.

Environment & Reproduction

AIX 7.3 LPAR with primary dump device on `/dev/lg_dumplv` sized below the recommended minimum.

Root Cause Analysis

Dump LV is too small for the configured memory size, or compression is disabled.

Quick Triage

Run `sysdumpdev -e` to estimate required size and `sysdumpdev -l` for current config.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect `errpt | grep DUMP_STATS` and check free PPs with `lsvg rootvg`.

Solution – Primary Fix

Resize the dump LV: `chlv -x lg_dumplv` then `extendlv lg_dumplv `.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Move dumps to a dedicated VG: `mklv -y dumplv -t sysdump dumpvg ` and `sysdumpdev -P -p /dev/dumplv`.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

`sysdumpdev -e` returns a size smaller than `lg_dumplv` and `sysdumpstart -p` writes a test dump.

Rollback Plan

Revert to previous dump device with `sysdumpdev -P -p /dev/hd6` and shrink the new LV.

Prevention & Hardening

Enable compressed dumps with `sysdumpdev -C` and snmp-trap `DUMP_STATS` failures.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Related to LED `0c2`, `0c5` boot-time dump copy failures.

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: `sysdumpdev`, AIX system dump configuration.