bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430

[george1421]

Yeah my bet is because that server is SOOOO new that the FOS Engine kernel is miss identifying the network adapter and tries to patch it. Ideally it would be to get one of those nics to work but that may take some time for the linux developers (not FOG developers) to create the drivers. The quickest way to get this up and running is to install an older GbE nic in a riser slot. And then pxe boot off of that.

Do you have windows running already on one of these R430s? If so could you get the vendor ID and hardware ID of these nics? The FOG developers will need this information.

And lastly I have to be “that guy” FOG is intended to image workstations not servers. Moving into the server area opens up a new can of worms with raid controllers and crazy redundant hardware, all requiring specific linux hardware drivers. That’s not a space the developers are interested in, at this moment in time. Understand I’m not saying no, just meh.

[george1421]

From the Dell spec sheets (and from the error message) I can see the LOM NIC adapters are broadcom. From the spec sheet they appear to be “Broadcom BCM5720”.

[george1421]

This is probably the broadcom driver pack needed for the network adapter.
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=PXJ15&fileId=3542331442&osCode=RH60&productCode=poweredge-r430&languageCode=en&categoryId=NI

(not providing a solution here only collecting data right now)

[grey]

@george1421

I think your right about the misidentification, as for servers not being supported, i understand that, but i’ve had a lot of luck with other (older) machines. The Fog servers real job is to image a bunch of intel NUCS which it works flawlessly for. It just would have been nice to bring these servers under it too as they are 1 use and then rebuilt.

02:00.1 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

[george1421]

@grey That output looks like its from linux. The developers will really need the id codes. I think the command is lspci -M or one other command switch. I think in linux it will be something like 8086:1453 (made up number) the first group is the manufacturer and the second one is the nic model.

[grey]

@george1421
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe [14e4:165f]
04:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:168e] (rev 10)

good call the actual parameters are -nn and yes the servers run Linux :), that should have what they want.

[george1421]

@grey yep thats it. I didn’t have lspci on my vm. I just found the package that had it and I can confirm its -nn.

@Developers when you get a chance can you look into the FOS kernel and see if these specific nics are supported?

[Tom Elliott]

@george1421 it’s easier to find out what fw those are looking for if they’re bnx2 from debug and loglevel

[grey]

@george1421 said in bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430:

@grey yep thats it. I didn’t have lspci on my vm. I just found the package that had it and I can confirm its -nn.

@Developers when you get a chance can you look into the FOS kernel and see if these specific nics are supported?

i tried to figure that out, but while i’m comfortable in linux, i don’t know how to get into the fog kernel while its running, i tred ssh and it did’nt connect. is there a write up on how to do that? I’d be happy to try.

[george1421]

@Tom-Elliott Tom just to be sure I understand. This info is not impacted by the FOG logging level, the OP needs to look at dmsg inside FOS for clues on what firmware is missing?

Is there any kernel parameter we can pass to increase the verbosity of the FOS linux debug messages?

[george1421]

@grey said in bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430:

@george1421 said in bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430:

@grey yep thats it. I didn’t have lspci on my vm. I just found the package that had it and I can confirm its -nn.

@Developers when you get a chance can you look into the FOS kernel and see if these specific nics are supported?

i tried to figure that out, but while i’m comfortable in linux, i don’t know how to get into the fog kernel while its running, i tred ssh and it did’nt connect. is there a write up on how to do that? I’d be happy to try.

There isn’t a specific write up but I can tell you how to go about it.

Manually register one of these servers. Then schedule a image capture and be sure to check the debug option. Then pxe boot the target computer it should after a few messages drop you to a command prompt. Now with that firmware message you may never get to a FOS Engine command prompt. But lets assume you do. You can either navigate around using the server console, or simply give root a password, then you can connect via putty or ssh.

On the FOS linux you will want to navigate to /var/log and look at boot or dmsg files to see if you can find out any more details about the firmware.

[grey]

@george1421 said in bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430:

@Tom-Elliott Tom just to be sure I understand. This info is not impacted by the FOG logging level, the OP needs to look at dmsg inside FOS for clues on what firmware is missing?

I think thats the plan, i need to come up to speed on how to access that information

[Tom Elliott]

@grey FOG Configuration Page->FOG Settings->FOG Boot Settings->FOG_KERNEL_LOGLEVEL

[george1421]

@grey OK I just… dang he’s fast.

As Tom posted you need to crank up the logging level first then do the process I outlined. That will increase the linux kernel verbosity so hopefully it will give us a better idea what firmware it wants.

[george1421]

@george1421 I do have to say that getting the networking working is only your first roadblock. You still have to deal with the disk (raid) controller.

[grey]

@george1421

I’ve enabled debug and cranked logging to 7 (max) so i’m going to restart the server and see what we get.

[grey]

@grey

Ok this is probably my ignorance showing, but under reports/imaging logs i have nothing, i checked the other listings too. where are the logs supposed to show?

[george1421]

@grey are you looking in the FOS Linux on the target computer? These logs will not be on the fog server.

[grey]

@george1421
darnit yes i was looking on the fog server, how do I access the kernel on the target computer?

[george1421]

@grey Well I guess we miss something here. Lets start over.

1. In the fog gui go to the following location: FOG Configuration Page->FOG Settings->FOG Boot Settings->FOG_KERNEL_LOGLEVEL and set the logging level to 7.
2. Register this server with fog you will need the mac address of the interface you are going to pxe boot from.
3. Once the target computer is registered, then schedule a debug capture in the FOG web gui
4. PXE boot the target computer this should start the FOS linux on the server, you should see the error about the firmware and not being able to pickup an IP address, but after some time on the target computer you should be dropped to a linux command prompt. Again this is on the target computer.
5. From here you can navigate to the /var/log directory (on the target computer) and inspect the logs. You will have to do this from the server’s console since your networking is not working yet, or you could connect via ssh if you set root’s password (which is blank by default, so sshd will not let you connect).