NetXen 10 Gigabit Ethernet Card (Linux update) - IBM BladeCenter

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H195396

Symptom

The flash firmware update may fail for the NetXen 10 Gigabit (Gb) Ethernet Expansion Card with a Linux Operating System (OS) using UpdateXpress System Pack (UXSP) or UXLite. This failure case may also be encountered when updating firmware manually using the update package provided by NetXen.

A Linux OS may have a NetXen Linux in-kernel General Public License (GPL) driver included. The GPL driver cannot be used for the NetXen firmware update. The GPL driver must be removed before installing the commercial driver, which is provided with the package.

The driver update may falsely appear to have completed, but the firmware flash update will fail if the original driver is still in control.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM Servers:

• BladeCenter LS21, type 7971, any model
• BladeCenter LS22, type 7901, any model
• BladeCenter LS41, type 7972, any model
• BladeCenter LS42, type 7902, any model
• BladeCenter HS12, type 1916, any model
• BladeCenter HS12, type 8014, any model
• BladeCenter HS12, type 8028, any model
• BladeCenter HS21 XM, type 1915, any model
• BladeCenter HS21 XM, type 7995, any model
• BladeCenter HS21, type 1885, any model
• BladeCenter HS21, type 8853, any model

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM Options:

• IBM 10 GbE PCIe SR Server Adapter, option 42C1760

This tip is not software specific.

Workaround

Manually remove the GPL driver and install the commercial device driver included with the distribution.

Additional information

1. 4.270.tar.gz.nx is a compressed tar code distribution package that includes the following:
   

• NetXen device driver (3.4.216) source files
• NetXen firmware (3.4.250)
• nxflash binary tool (3.4.270) used to install the NetXen firmware
  

NetXen firmware must be loaded using the device driver (nx_nic.ko) included in the distribution package. Red Hat OS have a GPL NetXen device driver (netxen_nic.ko) that is incompatible with the package device driver (nx_nic.ko).

Before installing NetXen firmware, you need to replace the native Red Hat device driver with the one built from the distribution package. A typical procedure to replace the GPL driver is as follows:

1. Determine if the Red Hat GPL device driver is installed at root by typing the following command:
   
   

   lsmod | grep netxen_nic

   
   
2. If the native device driver is installed, remove it by typing the following command:
   
   

   locate netxen_nic.ko

   
   
3. Rename the device driver to prevent an unexpected install by typing the following command:
   
   

   mv <located_path>/netxen_nic.ko <located_path>/netxen_nic.ko.save

   
   
4. Take down the NetXen cards' interfaces (usually eth0/eth3), then remove the driver from the running kernel by typing the following commands:
   
   

   ifdown eth2 ifdown eth3 rmmod netxen_nic

   
   
5. Verify that the native device driver is removed by typing the repeating the command from step 1:
   
   

   lsmod | grep netxen_nic

   
   
6. Build the NetXen package device driver by typing the following commands:
   
   

   tar -xzf 3.4.270.tar.gz.nx cd 3.4.270 make insmod driver/nx_nic.ko

   
   
7. Verify that the package device driver is installed by typing the following command:
   
   

   lsmod | grep nx_nic

   
   
8. Install NetXen firmware (for eth2 and eth3 interfaces) by typing the following command:
   
   

   cd bin nxflash -i eth2 -a

   
   
9. Now that the NetXen firmware is installed, you need to decide which device driver you want to use operationally:
   
   - If you want to use the GPL device driver (netxen_nic), type the following command:
   
   

   mv <located_path>/netxen_nic.ko.save <located_path>/netxen_nic.ko - reboot system

   
   - If you want to use the commercial device driver (nx_nic), type the following command:
   
   

   cd .. make install

   
   
10. Reboot the system.
    
    
    
11. Verify the device driver by typing the following command:
    
    

    lsmod | grep nic

You should see nx_nic and not netxen_nic.