Description

This article describes the following syslog message:

KERNEL:parity error detected, fll reinit: mpfe

This message is reported in the system message file when a parity error is detected in memory on the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE), but the Junos OS software is able to correct it.

Symptoms

When a memory parity error is detected on the PFE and a reset of the ASIC on the PFE resolves the problem, this log message is sent to the system messages file.

An example of the message is below. It states that the error was seen on PFE 1. No other useful information is included in the log message.

/kernel:%KERN-3:parity error detected, fll reinit: mpfe1 0x10001,0,0 simulated 0

Sometimes, the message can also look like the ones below:

/kernel: Transmit Queue Descriptor parity error detected in mpfe0, value 0x21, re-init the PFE

/kernel: Buffer management parity error detected in mpfe2, value 0, re-init the PFE

Solution

The two possible causes for this message are as follows:

  • Failing PFE memory - PFE memory that is going bad can cause this error message to repeatedly happen.

  • Single-bit flip in PFE memory - A one-time memory-bit flip might have occurred.

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Perform these steps to determine the cause and resolve the problem (if any). Continue through each step until the problem is resolved.

  1. Collect the show command output to help determine the cause of this message.

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    Capture the output to a file (in case you have to open a technical support case). To do this, configure each SSH client/terminal emulator to log your session.

    show log messages.N.gz | match parity

  2. Analyze the show command output:

    1. Determine if the log message has occurred three times or more in the past two years. If the show log messages.N.gz | match parity command doesn't contain the historical data, you will need to check the retention on a syslog server.
    2. If the log message was reported three times in the past two years, it is most likely caused by the memory on the PFE failing, so the FPC should be replaced. Open a case with JTAC to raise an RMA.
    3. If the error is rarely logged, monitor the messages log to see if this message is reported again. Meanwhile, there is no need to take further action unless the error occurs again, in which case proceed with the hardware replacement.

  3. If these efforts do not resolve the problem, contact your technical support representative to investigate the issue further.

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