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Server blades fail to establish link with Cisco Ethernet Switch Module (ESM) under Linux operating system - IBM BladeCenter

Troubleshooting


Problem

All blades using Linux Operating Systems with the tg3 Ethernet driver , fail to establish a link with the Cisco Ethernet Switch Module (ESM)

Resolving The Problem

Source
RETAIN tip: H162355
 
Symptom
All blades using Linux Operating Systems with the tg3 Ethernet driver, fail to establish a link with the Cisco Ethernet Switch Module (ESM). This occurs when the processor blade is installed in the BladeCenter chassis and operational. If a Cisco ESM is then installed in the I/O module Bay the internal link between it and the processor blade is not established. Therefore, no traffic can be communicated with that particular blade.
 
Establishing a telnet session or attaching a serial cable to the ESM and issuing the "show interface status" command results in this problem. When this command is issued, either the "not connected" or "err disabled" error message appears.

Affected configuration
The system may be any of the following IBM BladeCenter:  
  • IBM BladeCenter, Type 8677, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter HS40, Type 8839, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter HS20, Type 8678, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter HS20, Type 8832, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter JS20, Type 8842, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter T, Type 8730, any model
  • IBM BladeCenter T, Type 8720, any model

The following operation system(s) are affected:  

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux, version 3 Update 4.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux, version 3 Update 5.
  • SuSE Linux Professional .
  • SuSE Linux Professional , 64-Bit Version.
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server .
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for Intel Itanium.
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server x86.
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for AMD Opteron.

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/systems/support

The system has the symptom described above.

Solution
Install Update 5 of the Red Hat Operation system.
 
For those using SuSE install use the set of commands below to resolve the problem. For those not wanting to upgrade their Red Hat operating system, the following workaround is available for Cisco switches at version 12.1(22)AY1 or later.

Work around
Customers who have proper Red Hat entitlement can contact Red Hat or IGS and ask for the fix to Red Hat Issue Tracker 64633. Customers can also use the bcm5700 driver instead of tg3.The bcm5700 driver does not have this problem.
 
Customers using other Linux operating systems such as SuSE, may install the bcm5700 driver until the correction to the tg3 driver is incorporated in their Linux operating system.
 
The following workaround is available in the Cisco switch for those customers not wanting to upgrade their operating system. Establish a telnet session with the Cisco switch. As an alternative the customer can connect a serial cable to
the switch.
 
At the Switch prompt enter the following commands:
 
en
config t
int gi0/x
speed nonegotiation
end
write
 
Note: Where x is the blade interface in question. The nonegotiation command takes effect once the Enter key is pressed. The write command this saves the configuration.

Addition information
The current, Linux tg3 Ethernet driver fails to allow enough time for the Cisco ESM to establish a good link. The tg3 driver can establish a good receive link, but then
terminates the auto negotiation process. The Cisco ESM has not completed the autonegotiation process. The tg3 driver included in update 5 allows 200 milliseconds for the auto negotiation process on the Ethernet switch to complete.
The bcm5700 driver does not have this problem. The commands shown above force the Cisco switch to link without using the auto negotiation process.
 
 

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

BladeCenter:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3

BladeCenter:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8

BladeCenter:SUSE Linux Professional 8

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Document Information

Modified date:
29 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-59169

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