8590/95, 486-SX-25MHZ DISKETTE DATA LOSS

THIS PROBLEM MAY ALLOW BAD DATA TO BE READ FROM, OR WRITTEN TO, A DEVICE WITHOUT ANY ERROR INDICATIONS OR OTHER EVIDENCE OF SYSTEM FAILURE. THIS PROBLEM APPLIES TO ANY DEVICE ATTACHED TO THE DISKETTE DRIVE CONTROLLER "SEEN" BY THE SYSTEM AS A DISKETTE DRIVE, SUCH AS SOME TAPE BACKUP DEVICES.

AFFECTED SYSTEMS:

PS/2 MODELS 90 AND 95 SUPPLIED WITH, OR UPGRADED TO THE 486SX/25MHZ PROCESSOR COMPLEX.
THIS OPTION CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY A SYSTEM LABEL DESIGNATION OF P5 OR P6. THIS SYSTEM LABEL IS FOUND TO THE RIGHT OF THE EXISTING SERIAL NUMBER.

ONLY SYSTEMS WHICH HAVE THE 486SX/25MHZ PROCESSOR BOARD INSTALLED ARE SUBJECT TO THIS PROBLEM. THIS PROCESSOR BOARD MAY BE IDENTIFIED BY:

A. FRU P/N92F0079 ON THE BOARD B. SUB-MODEL BYTE CODE 58, WHICH APPEARS ON THE SYSTEM PARTITION "DISPLAY REVISION LEVELS" SCREEN.

DETAIL:

A NEW VERSION OF THE SYSTEM REFERENCE DISKETTE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO FIX THIS POTENTIAL PROBLEM. REFERENCE DISKETTE TYPE 2, VERSION 1.02 FOR 8590, AND REFERENCE DISKETTE TYPE 2, VERSION 1.02 FOR 8595, ARE AVAILABLE TO ELIMINATE THE DATA INTEGRITY EXPOSURE.

THE SYSTEM PARTITION SHOULD BE UPDATED WITH THE NEW LEVEL REFERENCE DISKETTE.

NOTES:

AS A RESULT OF THIS PROBLEM, IBM IS WITHDRAWING SUPPORT FOR THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS IN THE 8590 AND 8595 486SX/25MHZ MODELS:

IBM PS/2 5.25 INCH DISKETTE ADAPTER/A (6451007)
IBM PS/2 4869-001 360KB EXTERNAL DISKETTE DRIVE
IBM PS/2 4869-002 1.2MB EXTERNAL DISKETTE DRIVE

THESE OPTIONS USE A SEPARATE DEVICE DRIVER (NOT BIOS), AND DMA VERIFY. AS A RESULT, THEY ARE EXPOSED TO THE PROBLEM EVEN AFTER THE SYSTEM PARTITION IS UPDATED. CUSTOMERS WITH THIS CONFIGURATION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THEIR POINT OF SALE FOR ASSISTANCE. APPROPRIATE MARKETING INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED.