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Ethernet packet timeouts when using the TSO function - IBM BladeCenter

Troubleshooting


Problem

When using TSO property of the TG3 driver to transmit a packet with a large header, such as over 80 bytes, an error message similar to the following appears in the Kernel log when using the TG3 3.66d version of the driver with GA3 firmware under RHEL4: Jan 21 01:43:59 m1 kernel: NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out Jan 21 01:43:59 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: transmit timed out, resetting Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: tg3_stop_block timed out, ofs=2c00 enable_bit=2 Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: tg3_stop_block timed out, ofs=1400 enable_bit=2 Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Link is down Jan 21 01:44:01 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Link is up at 1000 Mbps, full duplex Jan 21 01:44:01 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H191322

Symptom

When using TSO property of the TG3 driver to transmit a packet with a large header, such as over 80 bytes, an error message similar to the following appears in the Kernel log when using the TG3 3.66d version of the driver with GA3 firmware under RHEL4:

Jan 21 01:43:59 m1 kernel: NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
Jan 21 01:43:59 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: transmit timed out, resetting
Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: tg3_stop_block timed out, ofs=2c00 enable_bit=2
Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: tg3_stop_block timed out, ofs=1400 enable_bit=2
Jan 21 01:44:00 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Link is down
Jan 21 01:44:01 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Link is up at 1000 Mbps, full duplex
Jan 21 01:44:01 m1 kernel: tg3: eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX
Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

  • BladeCenter Chassis, type 8677, any model
  • BladeCenter H, type 8852, any model
  • BladeCenter HT, type 8740, any model
  • BladeCenter HT, type 8750, any model
  • BladeCenter JS21, type 7988, any model
  • BladeCenter JS21, type 8844, any model
  • BladeCenter T, type 8720, any model
  • BladeCenter T, type 8730, any model

This tip is not option specific.

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, any update
  • SuSE Linux SLES 10, Service Pack 1

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information:

http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/
Solution

This issue is under investigation. The target checkpoint is scheduled for First Quarter 2008.

Workaround

Turn off the TSO functionality of the driver using the following command from Linux:

ethtool -K eth0 tso off

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

BladeCenter:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4

BladeCenter:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

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Document Information

Modified date:
11 April 2023

UID

ibm1MIGR-5071755

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