Error message coding conventions

How to determine error message type

When a diagnostic test encounters an error, the diagnostic tool generates an error message. The type of message that is generated and displayed on your console helps you determine what failed during the diagnostic test.

Error messages are composed of four components. The alphabetic portion of the error message code helps you identify the system generating the error, the module generating the error, and the type of error encountered.

The numeric portion of the error code uniquely identifies the error for the module reporting the error. The numeric identifier is followed by a colon and the error message text. The following is an example of error message syntax.

Example:

"SMTnnnn: The XYZ card failed to reset"

System code

The system code identifies the kernel for which the error is generated.

The types of system codes are shown in the following table.

System code letter	System generating the error
C	Data ONTAP kernel critical problem
D	Diagnostic kernel error
E	Data ONTAP kernel error
F	Firmware error
W	Data ONTAP kernel warning message

Note
Error codes of the type "ENVxxxxxx" indicate that an environmental error code was generated. These codes, along with the corrective action, are listed in Environmental Error Messages.

Module code

The module code identifies the software driver, hardware adapter, or firmware for which the error is generated. Typically, the hardware error messages generated by the diagnostic tool are associated with the diagnostic kernel system code.

Also generated by the diagnostics are Data ONTAP kernel and firmware error messages. Only the diagnostic kernel messages are documented in this section.

The types of diagnostic kernel module codes are shown in the following table.

Module code letter	Module generating the error
A	ATM
B	Hardware bridges
D	Disk errors
E	Ethernet adapters
F	FDDI adapters
G	GbE adapters
H	Disk shelf
L	FC-AL adapters
M	Memory and onboard SIMMs
N	NVRAM
O	Floppy drive
P	CompactFlash unit
R	Remote management card (RMC)
S	SCSI adapters
T	Baseboard management controller
U	Cluster interconnect adapters
Z	Motherboard and backplane adapters

Type code

The last letter of the error message code identifies the probable error type; what caused the error to be generated.

The types of probable type codes are shown in the following table.

Type code letter	Type generating the error
H	Hardware card or adapter
S	Software error
U	User error

Message variable conventions

In the online message text, you see values displayed for conditions found on the system. These values change as conditions in the system change.

In error messages in this guide, these values are displayed in italics. The following table illustrates this convention.

Convention	Definition
ASCII_value	This denotes that an ASCII code is displayed.
dec_value	This denotes that a decimal value is displayed.
hex_value	This denotes that a hexadecimal value is displayed.