Data Domain: Disk Firmware MK7OA870 causes multipath and Filesystem Instability

Summary: Disks running firmware version MK7OA870 may trigger SAS path instability, multiple disk failures, and filesystem panics. Firmware upgrade is required to restore system stability.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Affected Products:

  • Data Domain
  • ES30
  • DD4200, DD4500, DD5300, DD6300, DD6800, DD7200, DD9300, DD9500, DD9800, DD990 Appliances

Symptoms:

  • Disks in attached storage enclosure with firmware version MK7OA870
  • Multiple disk failures occur within a short timeframe
  • Filesystem restarts or panics due to multiple degraded disks
  • SAS/Multipath path loss events appear in system logs
  • Log entries include sas_exm_handle_timeout and sas_exm_handle_api_error messages
  • Example log entries
    • Look out for 'ses_exm_handle' events
    • Such as, 'timeout' & 'api_error' 
  • sas_exm_handle_timeout: request_status(0x3) io_state(0x60000001) sas_addr(0x50060480049c4294)
sas_exm_handle_api_error: status(0x12) login_state(0x1000000d)

     

  • Disk Firmware version is MK7OA870  
    • This can be verified using the command:
# disk show hardware
  • For example:
8.1          0      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJP2UDA       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.2          1      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YGJP7DUA       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.3          2      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJPKZ6A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.4          3      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJPKY9A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.5          4      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJPBD4A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.6          5      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJNPY7A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.7          6      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJP6KDA       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.9          8      HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJP6P3A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.11         10     HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJPHU7A       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.13         12     HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJP6VWA       1.81 TiB     SATA
8.15         14     HUA723020ALA640                            MK7OA870   YFJPHHSA       1.81 TiB     SATA

Cause

Firmware version MK7OA870 on Mars-K disks (model HUA723020ALA640) causes NCQ/PIO request timeouts. These timeouts lead to:

  • IO errors and SAS target resets
  • Transient communication loss with disks sharing the same SAS path
  • RAID layer reaching maximum degraded state
  • Filesystem restart or disablement due to disk unavailability


 

Resolution

Customers must contact Dell EMC Data Domain Technical Support to apply the required firmware fix for affected disks; referencing this KB article.

Important Notes:

  • Dell Support will perform the necessary remediation steps, including upgrading disk firmware from MK7OA870 to MK7OAA30
  • A system reboot is required to apply the firmware upgrade.

Do not attempt manual firmware upgrades unless instructed by Dell Support.

 

Affected Products

Data Domain

Products

Data Domain, ES30, DD4200 Appliance, DD4500 Appliance, DD5300 Appliance, DD6300 Appliance, DD6800 Appliance, DD7200 Appliance, DD9300 Appliance, DD9500 Appliance, DD9800 Appliance, DD990 Appliance
Article Properties
Article Number: 000033021
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 03 Oct 2025
Version:  4
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