cKVM via NIC2 requires I/O module in bay 2 for operation - IBM BladeCenter

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H19786

Symptom

Concurrent Keyboard, Video and Mouse (cKVM) appears to not be operational if an Ethernet Switch I/O Modules that support Serial over LAN (SOL) is not present in the bay matching the Network Interface Card (NIC) number configured on the Broadcom Chip. Typically, that configuration exists when users setup NIC2 for SOL and should have an Ethernet Switch I/O Modules in Bay 2.

The symptoms are:

1. Revision lists as not applicable on the Advanced Management Module Firmware VPD page.
2. Analog video is presented to Remote Control clients (if chosen by the applet user).
3. Status of cKVM may be listed as not ready.

This occurs when the I/O Module is off, booting, or failed in the bay associated with the NIC's configuration, or a Copper Pass-Thru or Optical Pass-Thru Module is the only I/O Module installed in the chassis. The user may recognize this by the symptoms above.

To recreate the symptom, set up one (or more) cKVM blades during Broadcom's DOS firmware update tool to use NIC2. Keep only one Ethernet Switch I/O Module installed in Bay 1. All cKVM blades still using NIC1 should work as expected, but those (misconfigured) to use NIC2 will not work.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter Chassis, type 7967, any model
• BladeCenter Chassis, type 8677, any model
• BladeCenter H, type 8852, any model
• BladeCenter HS21, type 8853, any model
• BladeCenter LS21, type 7971, any model
• BladeCenter LS41, type 7972, any model
• BladeCenter T, type 8720, any model
• BladeCenter T, type 8730, any model

This tip is not option specific.

The configuration chosen during updates to the firmware for the Broadcom NIC is affected.

This tip is not software specific.

Solution

If the user sets up any NIC2 blades with a cKVM option card, then the user needs to install an I/O Module in Bay 2 or reconfigure all Broadcom NICs to use Bay 1 (assuming an I/O Module is installed in Bay 1).

Refer to SOL documentation on how to properly configure NICs and I/O Modules for BladeCenter.

Note: The Copper Pass-Thru Modules and Optical Pass-Thru Modules are not considered Ethernet Switch I/O Modules. I/O Modules must be Ethernet Switch I/O Modules that support SOL.

Additional information

The configuration must be correct to operate as designed.