PXE Boot Error (NO DHCP Repsonse) - Realtek Driver - HP ProBook G3

[Tom Elliott]

Did you use ipxe.pxe or ipxe.kpxe?

[noelpd]

@Tom-Elliott Looks like we tried ipxe.kpxe and not ipxe.pxe

[Tom Elliott]

@noelpd Can you try ipxe.pxe?

[noelpd]

@Tom-Elliott We made the change on the DHCP to ipxe.pxe and updated to RC-13 with ipxe.pxe in the .fogsettings file. Still no go. Any ideas? Is there another file location on the server that needs to be changed to ipxe.pxe to make it work?

[Sebastian Roth]

@noelpd Re-reading your inital post I see that you were saying that you got the message “No DHCP Response on interface eth0”. This is happening way beyond the iPXE stuff within the linux network startup script (code here: https://github.com/FOGProject/fogproject/blob/dev-branch/src/buildroot/system/skeleton/etc/init.d/S40network). AFAIK there is no way you can change this by using a different iPXE binary!

We have seen different timing issues with the network stuff. More often than not this is caused by spanning tree protocol (STP) being enabled on the switch but the client port not being set to port fast. Please get a dump mini switch and connect it between the client and your main switch. See if the problem goes away then.

[george1421]

@Sebastian-Roth That what I was seeing. The issue is in the kernel (??). The OP pulled this information from the running FOS kernel.

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15)

That realtek nic should be supported. The only thing I can think is that the device id [10ec:8168] is not in the hardware list, but I suspect that is not the case since 10ec:8168 IS the device name too. Could this be another slow start interface?

[Tom Elliott]

I’ve been under the impression that the issue was with PXE after it initially booted into FOG. Meaning, the first go around all worked fine, but after that, the iPXE side is having issues loading.

Am I incorrect with this?

[noelpd]

@Tom-Elliott With the HP 470 G3 I can get to the FOG Menu itself, but after the menu when I go to inventory the machine I get the mentioned error messages.

[Sebastian Roth]

@noelpd As I said already: We have seen different timing issues with the network stuff. More often than not this is caused by spanning tree protocol (STP) being enabled on the switch but the client port not being set to port fast. Please get a dump mini switch and connect it between the client and your main switch. See if the problem goes away then.

[Wayne Workman]

@noelpd I concur with Sebastian. You need to try a dumb unmanaged mini-switch between the computer and the building. Most I.T. places have a few laying around. If you don’t have one, they are pretty cheap to get - you should go out and get one.

You should also try brand-new patch cables too.