Under z/OS 1.12, if an undetermined I/O error occurs while a file that is not a SAS file is processing, the session does not terminate cleanly and must be canceled. You can circumvent this problem by specifying BUFNO=1 either in the JCL if the external file is allocated with a DD statement, or in the FILENAME statement if the file is allocated within the SAS program.

SAS normally terminates with a return code of 8 when it encounters an undetermined I/O failure. Specifying BUFNO=1 for the file keeps the SAS session from becoming unresponsive, but the job will then terminate and surface the return code of 8.

This problem occurs with SAS 9.2 and earlier releases.

The following characteristics apply to this problem:

1. The SAS program is running on a system under z/OS 1.12.
2. The SAS task is not consuming any CPU or might terminate with a system abend 522 due to an inactive time-out interval that is set on the system.
3. Messages similar to the following display toward the bottom of the SAS log:

   ERROR: Undetermined I/O failure.
   FATAL: Unrecoverable I/O error detected in the execution of the data step program.  Aborted during the 
          EXECUTION phase.
   

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Operating System and Release Information

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) for this issue is available at:

A fix for SAS 9.1.3 (9.1 TS1M3) with Asian Language Support (DBCS) for this issue is available at:

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.21_M3 is available at: