1. A method for operating a communications adapter having microcode control, said method comprising: responsive to starting a microcode task in said adapter, setting a bit corresponding to said microcode task in an adapter state register, the adapter state register tracking states of running microcode tasks in the adapter, and the set bit indicating that the microcode task has started an operation; responsive to issuance of a disruptive command to said adapter, copying said adapter state register to a snapshot register; responsive to completing the microcode task in said adapter, clearing said bit corresponding to said microcode task in said adapter state register and in said snapshot register, the clearing indicating completion of the operation by the microcode task; and responsive to issuance of a command to query said snapshot register by a data processing node coupled to said adapter, said snapshot register used to determine whether one or more microcode tasks on the adapter are operating with old information, wherein said data processing node determines from said query that microcode tasks that were active at the time of the disruptive command have completed operations in progress at the time of the disruptive command.