ServerGuide 7.X: Broadcom NIC configuration problems - Servers

Resolving The Problem

Source
RETAIN tip H084456

Symptoms
When attempting to configure the second port of an onboard dual-port Broadcom NIC with a static IP address during a Microsoft unattended installation, the static IP address information is lost and replaced with a DHCP setting.
 
The problem is always with the second port on the dual-port Broadcom NIC, with the first port or other NIC adapters unaffected.
 
The problem has been reproduced on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, but other Windows operating system versions may also have the same problem.
 
This problem will occur when using either ServerGuide 7.x or ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0 to perform the unattended installation of the listed Microsoft operating systems.

Affected configurations
The system may be any of the following IBM eServer servers:

• xSeries 445, type 8870, any model
• xSeries 440, type 8687, any model
• xSeries 365, type 8861, any model
• xSeries 365, type 8862, any model
• eServer 325, type 8835, any model

The following NOS(es) are affected:

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

NOTE: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.
 
Please see the IBM ServerProven compatibility page for more information.
 
Solution
This behavior will be corrected in a future release of the next ServerGuide version, 7.2.02. The target date for the release is scheduled for March 2004. It will be available from the IBM ServerGuide electronic fulfillment Web site.

Workaround
There are two (2) workarounds:
 
Workaround 1
The static IP address setting for the second port on the dual-port NIC can be added manually once the operating system in fully installed on the target machine.

1. To manually update the IP address information, perform the following actions:
2. Go to "My Network Places" icon, right click on this icon and select properties from the popup menu.
3. In the opened folder, select the icon representing the second port on the dual-port Broadcom NIC.
4. Right click on this icon and select properties.
5. From the General tab of the properties window, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click on the properties button to bring up the TCP/IP properties window. Enter in the static IP address for this NIC.

Workaround 2
Use ServerGuide, updating the GUI screens and providing the requested Windows CD as usual.
 
Next ServerGuide will prompt the user to remove the Windows CD and once the CD is removed, calls for a reboot.
 
At this point, during this reboot, the user needs to interrupt the ServerGuide process.
 
This can be done by pressing F8 during the booting of PC DOS from the hard drive.
 
When F8 is pressed, the user will be presented with a DOS menu, and should select Cancel the unattended install.
 
The user will then be prompted to confirm the loading of config.sys and autoexec.bat.
 
The user should answer Y to all questions, as this will load the proper DOS environment.
 
Once the user is at a DOS prompt, the user should change directories (cd) to the wininst directory on the C drive.
 
The unattend.txt file is located in this directory.
 
This file is not yet complete, ServerGuide will add the hardware specific information once the ServerGuide processing continues.
 
However, the problem is present and can be corrected at this time.
 
Open the unattend.txt file for editing, the DOS e editor is available in this environment.
 
Search for the following, which identifies the Broadcom dual-port adapter:
 
[params.Adapter0]
PciBusNumber = 1
PciDeviceNumber = 4
PciFunctionNumber = 0
 
[params.Adapter1]
PciBusNumber = 1
PciDeviceNumber = 4
PciFunctionNumber = 0
 
Change the PciFunctionNumber for params.Adapter1 to 1
 
[params.Adapter0]
PciBusNumber = 1
PciDeviceNumber = 4
PciFunctionNumber = 0
 
[params.Adapter1]
PciBusNumber = 1
PciDeviceNumber = 4
PciFunctionNumber = 1
 
Save the file and reboot the system.
 
Upon rebooting the system, the ServerGuide processing will restart where it left off.

Additional information
The problem has been found with the hardware detection of the Broadcom dual-port adapter in ServerGuide; it is not returning the correct Function Number for both ports.

This incorrect information is be passed to the unattend.txt for the Microsoft Windows installation of the second port; in effect ServerGuide is not telling Microsoft to configure the second port, therefore the Microsoft default configure of DHCP is applied.