When the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is set to Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) mode, the boot fails when the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server is not also the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server. The following error message is displayed, and the system drops through to the next item in the boot sequence: PXE-E99: Unexpected network error.
Source
RETAIN tip: H196402
Symptom
When the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is set to Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) mode, the boot fails when the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server is not also the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server. The following error message is displayed, and the system drops through to the next item in the boot sequence:
| |
PXE-E99: Unexpected network error. |
Affected configurations
The system may be any of the following IBM servers:
- BladeCenter HX5, type 1909, any model
- BladeCenter HX5, type 7872, any model
- BladeCenter HX5, type 7873, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7147, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7148, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7149, any model
- System x3690 X5, type 7192, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7143, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7145, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7146, any model
- System x3850 X5, type 7191, any model
- iDataPlex dx360 M2 Server, type 6380, any model
- iDataPlex dx360 M2 Server, type 7321, any model
- iDataPlex dx360 M2 Server, type 7323, any model
This tip is not software specific.
This tip is not option specific.The following system BIOS or uEFI level(s) are affected:
Solution
This behavior is corrected in the following UEFI versions:
BladeCenter HX5:
- UEFI version HIE170A and higher.
DataPlex dx360 M2:
- UEFI version 1.05 and higher.
System x3690 X5:
- UEFI version 1.40 build ID mle142a and higher.
System x3850 X5:
- UEFI version G0E170A and higher.
The file is or will be available by selecting the appropriate Product Group, Product name, Product machine type, and operating system on IBM Support's Fix Central web page, at the following URL:
Workaround
There are two (2) workarounds for this issue.
Workaround 1:
Select PXE legacy mode instead of PXE UEFI mode.
Workaround 2:
Configure the DHCP server to be the same server as the TFTP server, and then PXE UEFI mode boots successfully.
Additional information
If the DHCP server specifies a different server as the TFTP server, then the UEFI PXE firmware should send the TFTP request for the bootfile to that server. However, in the fail case, the request is instead sent to the DHCP server. Because the fail symptom is caused by PXE UEFI firmware, PXE legacy mode should still work normally.
BladeCenter:Operating system independent / None
System x:Operating system independent / None
[{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU03TEU","label":"System x->System x iDataPlex dx360 M2 server->7323"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU03VIF","label":"System x->System x iDataPlex dx360 M2 server->7321"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU054","label":"Systems w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"QU03WSY","label":"System x->System x iDataPlex dx360 M2 server->6380"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU04SRF","label":"System x->System x3850 X5->7146"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"HW233","label":"BladeCenter HX5"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB57","label":"Power"}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU04SRO","label":"System x->System x3850 X5->7145"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"SUNSET","label":"PRODUCT REMOVED"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU04WDX","label":"System x->System x3690 X5->7149"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU04WDY","label":"System x->System x3690 X5->7148"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU90ABO","label":"System x->System x3850 X5->7191"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU90ABQ","label":"System x->System x3690 X5->7147"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU90ABX","label":"System x->System x3850 X5->7143"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"QU90ACM","label":"System x->System x3690 X5->7192"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}},{"Type":"HW","Business Unit":{"code":"BU016","label":"Multiple Vendor Support"},"Product":{"code":"SUNSET","label":"PRODUCT REMOVED"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Line of Business":{"code":"","label":""}}]