Chelsio 10GB ethernet adapter: rare possibility for data corruption - IBM Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H201937

Symptom

If the Chelsio 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express Adapter experiences a failure and has a detected parity error, then there is a rare possibility of data corruption.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter HS22, type 1936, any model
• BladeCenter HS22, type 7870, any model
• BladeCenter JS23, type 7778, any model
• BladeCenter JS43, type 7778, any model
• BladeCenter LS22, type 7901, any model
• System x3550 M2, type 4198, any model
• System x3550 M2, type 7946, any model
• System x3650 M2, type 4199, any model
• System x3650 M2, type 7947, any model
• System x3755, type 7163, any model
• System x3755, type 8877, any model
• iDataPlex dx360 M2 Server, type 7321, any model
• iDataPlex dx360 M2 Server, type 7323, any model
• iDataPlex dx360 M3 Server, type 6391, any model

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

• Chelsio 10GbE Expansion Card (CFFh) for BladeCenter, option 46M1817, replacement part number 46M1819
• Chelsio S310E Single-port 10GbE PCI-E 2.0 x8 Adapter, option 59Y1952, replacement part number 59Y1954
• Chelsio S320E Dual-port 10GbE PCI-E 2.0 x8 Adapter, option 59Y1956, replacement part number 59Y1958
• Chelsio Single-port, CX4, 10GbE, PCI-E x8 Adapter, option 46M1813, replacement part number 46M1815
• Chelsio Single-port, SFP+, 10GbE, PCI-E x8 Adapter, option 46M1809, replacement part number 46M1811

This tip is not software specific.

The OS specific device driver for the Chelsio 10GBE adapter is affected.

• Chelsio 10GBE adapter
  

Solution

For Microsoft Windows, apply device driver version 1.5.13.46 or later.

For Linux, apply device driver version 1.5.0.3 or later. These drivers are available from Chelsio's web site at the following URL:

For additional information and alternative Linux download locations, also visit the IBM Linux on Power alert site at the following URL:

For AIX, the fix is incorporated into the following APARs:

These APARs, or the service packs that include them, can be downloaded from Fix Central at the following URL:

Select "Product Group" Power, "Product" AIX, "Version" <5.3 or 6.1 or 7.1>, "Fix Type" Fix Search, and then search on the appropriate APAR number listed above.

Additional information

While testing POWER7-based servers, IBM recently found an issue with Chelsio 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express Adapters. Even though the issue was discovered while using POWER7-based servers, these PCI Express adapters are also supported with the System x and BladeCenter servers in the above-listed affected configurations section.

This issue has the potential to cause undetected data corruption in the event that the adapter fails with a detected parity error. IBM believes it is unlikely that users would experience any data corruption due to this issue and is not aware of any users being affected by it. Nevertheless, IBM strongly recommends that if your system has any of the above-listed option parts installed, you should apply the fix(es) listed above for your Operating System (OS) distribution.