🟠 High   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: IBM AIX 7.3

📖 ~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

Server stops at LED 553 or 581 during boot and does not reach login.

Environment & Reproduction

After bosboot, rootvg disk replacement, or interrupted update.

bootlist -m normal -o
bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk0
shutdown -Fr

Root Cause Analysis

Bootlist points to a disk without a valid boot image or /etc/inittab is corrupt.

Quick Triage

Boot from maintenance media and inspect rootvg.

bootlist -m normal -o
lspv
check via SMS or HMC

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Mount rootvg in maintenance mode and inspect /etc/inittab and /sbin/rc.boot.

getrootfs hdisk0
cat /etc/inittab
ls /sbin/rc.boot
Illustrative mockup for aix-7.3 — terminal_or_shell
Reviewing bootlist and rootvg on AIX — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Rebuild the boot image and correct /etc/inittab, then update bootlist.

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bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk0
bootlist -m normal hdisk0 hdisk1
shutdown -Fr
Illustrative mockup for aix-7.3 — log_or_config
Rebuilding boot image with bosboot — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Boot an alternate disk created by alt_disk_install or restore mksysb to recover.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

System completes boot to runlevel 2 and lpp services start.

who -r
lssrc -a | head
errpt | head

Rollback Plan

Boot from a previous bootlist entry or alt_disk while the issue is fully resolved.

bootlist -m normal -o
bootlist -m normal hdisk1
shutdown -Fr

Prevention & Hardening

Maintain mirrored rootvg, regular mksysb, and run bosboot after critical updates.

Related to LVM SA quorum loss, JFS2 superblock errors, and update_all 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 AIX 7.3 boot recovery and SMS reference.

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