UEFI systems unable to disable PXE ROM on NIC ports - Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H196141

Symptom

The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) system attempts to Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) boot from the disabled Network Interface Controller (NIC) even though the PXE Read Only Memory (ROM) boot option has been disabled on one or more NICs via UEFI.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter HS22, type 1936, any model
• BladeCenter HS22, type 7870, any model
• System x3400 M2, type 7836, any model
• System x3400 M2, type 7837, any model
• System x3500 M2, type 7839, any model
• System x3550 M2, type 7946, any model
• System x3650 M2, type 4199, any model
• System x3650 M2, type 7947, any model

This tip is not software specific.

This tip is not option specific.

The following system firmware level(s) are affected:

• And all lower code levels.

Solution

Update the UEFI/Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware to Version 1.03 or higher.

The file is available at the "Software and device drivers - IBM BladeCenter' web site at the following URL:

• http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-63017

Once the firmware has been updated, complete these steps:

1. Under F1 Setup, select System Settings.
2. Select Devices and I/O Ports.
3. Select Enable/Disable Legacy ROM Execution.
4. Select Device(s) to Disable.
5. Press ESC to return to the Configuration/Setup Utility window.
6. Select Save Settings.
7. Select Exit Setup.

Workaround

If the UEFI firmware is not updated to Version 1.03 and above, the following process is recommended to disable the PXE ROM of the device(s) that you do not want to PXE boot from:

1. Under F1 Setup, select System Settings.
2. Select Devices and I/O Ports.
3. Select Enable/Disable Legacy ROM Execution.
4. Select Device(s) to Disable.
5. Under F1 setup, select System Settings.
6. Select Network.
7. Select individual NIC.
8. Select MBA Configuration Menu.
9. Select Legacy Boot Protocol.
10. Select None (instead of PXE).
11. Press ESC to return to the Configuration/Setup Utility window.
12. Select Save Settings.
13. Select Exit Setup.

This process will disable the PXE ROM boot for the particular NIC(s) selected.

Additional information

The issue only occurs when IBM Director scans a blade that does not have a Director Agent installed. Installing any version of the Director Agent on each blade will prevent the errors.