JACE-600 Error Correction Code Patch

Tridium encountered an anomaly in flash memory from a specific manufacturer which affects the JACE-600 platform. We apologize for this issue and have put in place an OS patch to correct a bit error problem with the NAND Flash memory. This patch will also restore a JACE that has the error described in the Serial Shell Dump section below.  

The problem could potentially present itself when a JACE-600 reboots after a power interruption. A potentially fallible JACE may reboot many times with the affected memory and still not fail. Regardless, we recommend that you install the patch.   

We have implemented an Error Correction Code (ECC) change to the OS to run when reading the raw boot partition. This corrects 1-bit failures of the NAND Flash allowing the JACE to boot normally. The next maintenance builds for the 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 will include this Boot ROM enhancement. For revisions mentioned above, you can use the technical tip procedures Installation of ECC patch on Running JACE-6 and Installation of ECC patch on JACE-6 that fails to boot in the Niagara Central Knowledge Base at www.niagara-central.com to upgrade the Boot ROM using your existing software on the JACE-600. All other JACE platforms will have the same correction implemented in the next maintenance builds.

Whether a JACE-600 is running or has failed on error, this patch can be loaded and the JACE will repair itself.

Date Codes and Serial Numbers

Specifically, we discovered that some batches of JACE-600 products that were manufactured between August 25, 2008 and October 13, 2008 were made with NAND Flash chips that are known to have a manufacturing die problem. Tridium shipped these units from Mid September 2008 until January 20 2009.

  • Everything shipped from Tridium since January 20, 2009 does not have this problem.
  • Not all units in a batch were made with the problem chip.
  • The serial numbers identified fall between 323479 and 330447. The serial number is located on the outer box and under the plastic cover in the barcode label and on the hostId label above the text "Use Copper Conductors Only".
  • Affected JACE-600 date codes are believed to be between 0835C to 0848C. The date code is located on the outer box and under the plastic cover on the hostId label above the text "Use Copper Conductors Only".

The NAND Flash Chip

The ST Microelectronics NAND Flash chips involved so far have a production date code of 745 or 747. In general any date code that begins with a "7xx" is suspected to have the problem. The chip is labeled as: NAND01GW3B2BN6E across the top of the chip. The date code is on the bottom right corner.

Only the Flash memory chip that has a date code of

We have concluded this is an isolated case and relates only to the Flash memory chip that has a date code of "7xx and contains the mark B" as a designator on the identification tag.

Serial Shell Dump

The problem will manifest itself by not allowing the JACE-600 to recover from a standard reboot command or a simple power failure. This is the result of a failure of the Initial Program Loader (IPL) to successfully load. If a serial terminal is connected to COM1 and the jumper is set for Serial Shell mode, the following message is generally displayed on power up or reboot:

Flash error message on JACE-600 start-up:

Press <ctrl-c> to stop autoboot...
Autobooting...

Try again.

Commands:

  0: serial
  1: nand flash
  2: nand flash (verbose)
  3: sdram test, 1 iteration
  4: sdram test, continuous iterations
IPL> 

Conclusion

While we realize this is unfortunate, engineering was able to create a patch so that whether a JACE-600 is running or has failed on error, the patch described in the Knowledge Base can be loaded and the JACE will repair itself.

Please accept our apologies.

Respectfully,

Jim McGlone
Vice President Sales, Tridium