bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430

[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).

[grey]

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

@grey Well I guess we miss something here. Lets start over.
ok, sat through the whole boot process, once i get the errors it drops to a menu with reboot, network info, partition info, etc etc. it never actually gets me to a login prompt. it doesn’t recognize ctl C. really all i can do is reboot from that point.

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).

[george1421]

@grey Well that didn’t work out well. Can you take a screen shot where you see the error with a mobile phone and post it here?

I would still like to see you disable pxe booting on all LOM network adapters and have you attempt to pxe boot off an older nic installed in a riser slot. The only goal here is to get to a FOS linux command prompt. From there we should be able to review the boot time logs.

[Tom Elliott]

@george1421 I believe you should hit enter, at least that how I normally do it.

[grey]

@Tom-Elliott said in bnx2x fails to load firmware on Dell R430:

@george1421 I believe you should hit enter, at least that how I normally do it.

< i didn’t try that, its sitting at the menu in debug mode now, i’ll go try that

[grey]

@grey ok just needed to hit enter… here is the relevant part of the syslog
I have the whole log if I did’nt capture what you wanted.

Sep 15 22:45:51 fogclient user.warn kernel: bnx2x 0000:04:00.1: Direct firmware load for bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw failed with error -2
Sep 15 22:45:51 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_init_firmware:13444(eth1)]Can't load firmware file bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw
Sep 15 22:45:51 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_func_hw_init:5785(eth1)]Error loading firmware
Sep 15 22:45:51 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_nic_load:2727(eth1)]HW init failed, aborting
Sep 15 22:46:26 fogclient user.warn kernel: bnx2x 0000:05:00.0: Direct firmware load for bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw failed with error -2
Sep 15 22:46:26 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_init_firmware:13444(eth2)]Can't load firmware file bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw
Sep 15 22:46:26 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_func_hw_init:5785(eth2)]Error loading firmware
Sep 15 22:46:26 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_nic_load:2727(eth2)]HW init failed, aborting
Sep 15 22:47:01 fogclient user.warn kernel: bnx2x 0000:05:00.1: Direct firmware load for bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw failed with error -2
Sep 15 22:47:01 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_init_firmware:13444(eth3)]Can't load firmware file bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.13.1.0.fw
Sep 15 22:47:01 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_func_hw_init:5785(eth3)]Error loading firmware
Sep 15 22:47:01 fogclient user.err kernel: bnx2x: [bnx2x_nic_load:2727(eth3)]HW init failed, aborting
Sep 15 22:48:47 fogclient user.notice kernel: random: nonblocking pool is initialized

[george1421]

@grey When you do a debug capture the FOS engine will boot just like its going to do a capture, but instead of capturing it will print a bunch of instructions on the screen. You have to press enter a few times (on the target computer)

… ok you just posted the logs that is a good find in the logs.

[grey]

@george1421
i’ve been reading through all this and i wanted to make this distinction

this is the RJ45 1 gig ethernet nic, the one i’m using for imageing
2:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe [14e4:165f]

this is a 10g fiberchannel port and is not important for imaging
04:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM57810 10 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:168e] (rev 10)

just don’t want anyone to waste effort on the 10g port as its not being used for this.