Symptoms of a failed memory module on RSA SecurID hardware appliance

[#1]

Article Number

000038908

Applies To

RSA Product Set: SecurID
RSA Product/Service Type: Hardware Appliance
RSA Version/Condition: 8.x

Issue

If there is a failed memory module on an RSA SecurID Hardware Appliance, three symptoms display. The appliance must show all three symptoms to be diagnosed with all three symptoms to confirm that there is a failed memory module. 

Resolution

Symptom 1

The RSA SecurID hardware appliance Attention/Error amber LED is on if there are any failed hardware components, including memory modules. For more information about status LEDs, review article 000037800 - Understanding status LEDs for the RSA SecurID Hardware Appliance.

Symptom 2

The operating system of the RSA SecurID hardware appliance shows less total memory than it should. You can check the total memory using the following steps and then compare them to the info in the notes section. 

1. Enable SSH on RSA Authentication Manager server.
2. Log On to the Appliance Operating System with SSH.
3. Launch an SSH client, such as PuTTY.
4. Log in to the primary RSA Authentication Manager server as rsaadmin and enter the operating system password. 

During Quick Setup another username may have been selected. Use that username to log in.

login as: rsaadmin
Using keyboard-interactive authentication.
Password:<enter operating system password>
Last login: Mon Apr 20 16:39:41 2020 from jumphost.vcloud.local
RSA Authentication Manager Installation Directory: /opt/rsa/am

4. Check the memory available for the operating system using the following command:

rsaadmin@am84:~> free -oh
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          7.8G       3.9G       3.9G        81M        13M       182M
Swap:         4.0G       5.9M       4.0G

Symptom 3

When checking the populated slots with dmidecode command output, the populated memory slots are less than what it should be for each hardware appliance model. To check the populated memory slots, follow the steps below: 

1. Follow step 1 - 4 above to login to the RSA SecurID hardware appliance.
2. Elevate to root:

sudo su -

3. Run the following command to show the Appliance memory slot information:

dmidecode -t memory

4. In the output, a populated memory slot will look something like this (note text in bold):

Handle 0x0048, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0041
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_B1
        Bank Locator: NODE 0 CHANNEL 1 DIMM 0
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MHz
        Manufacturer: Micron
        Serial Number: 335E13C3
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: 18JSF25672AZ-1G4G1
        Rank: 2

5. An empty memory slot looks something like this (note text in bold):

Handle 0x0048, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0041
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_B1
        Bank Locator: NODE 0 CHANNEL 1 DIMM 0
        Type: Unknown
        Speed: NO DIMM
        Manufacturer: NO DIMM
        Serial Number: NO DIMM
        Asset Tag: Unknown
        Part Number: NO DIMM
        Rank: Unknown

6. Count the populated slots. If they are less than what they should be for the RSA SecurID hardware appliance model, you have a failed memory module. 

If you suspect that there is a failed memory module, contact RSA Customer Support for further assistance to confirm the failure or replace the appliance. 

Notes

Memory installed per appliance for each appliance model

Appliance model	Total memory installed in GBs	Number of modules installed
Dell PowerEdge R210	8GBs	2 x 4GBs
DellPowerEdge R710	16GBs	4 x 4GBs (or) 2 x 8GBs
Intel S1200BT	8GBs	4 x 2GBs (or) 2 x 4GBs
Intel S2600GZ	16GBs	4 x 4GBs (or) 2 x 8GBs
DELL PowerEdge R230	16GBs	4 x 4GBs
DELL PowerEdge R630	32GBs	4 x 8GBs
DELL PowerEdge R640	32GBs	4 x 8GBs

To confirm the appliance model, run the following command and look for the Base Board Information for manufacturer and product name, as shown below:

rsaadmin@AM81-intel-A130-2:~> sudo dmidecode -t 1,2
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
        Manufacturer: EMC
        Product Name: ..
        Version: FFF
        Serial Number: FC6RS142200044
        UUID: DAC4DE75-4AE8-11E3-A783-18A9052F2EAC
        Wake-up Type: Power Switch
        SKU Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
        Family: To be filled by O.E.M.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
        Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
        Product Name: S1200BTL
        Version: E98681-352
        Serial Number: QSBT34512492
        Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
        Features:
                Board is a hosting board
                Board is replaceable
        Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
        Chassis Handle: 0x0003
        Type: Motherboard
        Contained Object Handles: 0