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Troubleshooting: Broadcom NetXtreme® 57XX User Guide

Hardware Diagnostics

Troubleshooting Checklist

Checking for Network Link and Activity

Checking if Current Drivers are Loaded

Running a Cable Length Test

Testing Network Connectivity

Software Problems and Solutions

NOTE: For additional information, go to Broadcom Ethernet NIC Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.broadcom.com/drivers/faq_drivers.php


Hardware Diagnostics

Loopback diagnostic tests are available for testing the adapter hardware. These tests provide access to the adapter internal/external diagnostics, where packet information is transmitted across the physical link (for instructions and information on running tests in an MS-DOS environment, see User Diagnostics. For Windows environments, see Diagnostics).

Troubleshooting Checklist

CAUTION! Before you open the case of your system, review Safety Precautions.

The following checklist provides recommended actions to take to resolve problems installing the Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX Gigabit Ethernet Controller or running it in your system.

Checking for Network Link and Activity

See Testing Network Connectivity or Vital Sign to check the state of the network link and activity as indicated by the port LEDs.

Checking if Current Drivers are Loaded

Windows

See Vital Sign to view useful information about the adapter, its link status, and network connectivity.

NetWare

To verify that the driver is loaded properly, type

LOAD B57.LAN FRAME_ETHERNET_II NAME=B57_1_EII

This command automatically verifies if the link is active. If the link is active, the command returns Link is up.

From the command line, type config then press ENTER. The following status information is displayed:

Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter 
Version:
Hardware Setting:
Node Address:
Frame Type:
Board Name:
LAN Protocol: ARP (see note)
LAN Protocol: IP Addr: (see note)

NOTE: The LAN protocol status is displayed after an IP address is assigned to the adapter.

Linux

To verify that the TG3 or the Broadcom BCM5700 Linux driver is loaded properly, run:

lsmod | grep tg3

If the driver is loaded, a line similar to the one below is displayed, where size is the size of the driver in bytes, and n is the number of adapters configured.

Table 1: Linux Driver
Module
Size
Used by
BCM5700
size
n
TG3
size
n

Running a Cable Length Test

In Windows environments, a cable length test can be run. See Cable Analysis for information about running a cable length test.

Testing Network Connectivity

NOTE: When using forced link speeds, verify that both the adapter and the switch are forced to the same speed, or that at least one link partner is configured for auto-negotiation

Windows

Use the ping command to determine if the network connection is working.

NOTE: Network connectivity can also be tested using the Network Test feature in Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 2.

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. Type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
  3. Type ipconfig /all to view the network connection to be tested.
  4. Type ping IP address, and then press ENTER.

The ping statistics that are displayed indicate whether the network connection is working or not.

NetWare

Ping an IP host on the network to verify connection has been established:

From the command line, type ping IP address, and then press ENTER.

The ping statistics that are displayed indicate whether the network connection is working or not.

Linux

To verify that the Ethernet interface is up and running, run ifconfig to check the status of the Ethernet interface. It is possible to use netstat -i to check the statistics on the Ethernet interface. Go to Linux Driver Software for information on ifconfig and netstat.

Ping an IP host on the network to verify connection has been established:

From the command line, type ping IP address, and then press ENTER.

The ping statistics that are displayed indicate whether the network connection is working or not.

Software Problems and Solutions

How to Add a Third-Party OEM Network Adapter to a RIS Installation

Problem: An error is encountered when attempting to load the Broadcom device driver for a 32-bit version of Windows XP, or later operating system, using a Windows 2000 Remote Installation Server: File b57w2k.sys caused an unexpected error (21) at line 3752 in d:\xpsp1\base\boot\setup\setup.c.

Solution: A modification to the b57win32.inf file can be made to allow for the installation to complete successfully. This will be in conjunction with instructions from the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 315279 that describe "How to Add Third-Party OEM Network Adapters to RIS Installations."

Requirement: The Windows 2000 Server must be running Service Pack 3 or later.

  1. Obtain the latest driver for your Broadcom adapter. The driver files included for the Broadcom 57xx adapter are b57win32.inf, b57win32.cat, and b57xp32.sys.
  2. Create a copy of the b57win32.inf and b57xp32.sys files and save them in a separate folder called RIS. This allows you to distinguish the duplicate files from the originals.
  3. For the b57win32.inf file located in the RIS folder, make the following change using a text editor such as Notepad:
    1. Locate [Manufacturer] within the file.
    2. Review the line below which reads: %BRCM% = Broadcom, NTx86.5.1, NTamd64.
    3. Modify that line to read: %BRCM% = Broadcom.NTx86.5.1, NTamd64. (The change replaces the comma and the space after "Broadcom" with a period.
    4. Save the file.
  4. On the RIS server, copy the b57win32.inf and b57xp32.sys files from the RIS folder to the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Dir_name\i386 folder. This allows Setup to use the driver during the text-mode portion of the installation.
    1. At the same level as the i386 folder on the RIS image, create a $oem$ folder. Use the recommended structure: \$oem$\$1\Drivers\Nic
    2. Copy the original b57win32.inf, b57xp32.sys, and b57win32.cat driver files to this folder.
    3. Make the following changes to the .sif file that is used for this image installation:
    4. [Unattended]
      
      OemPreinstall = yes
      
      OemPnpDriversPath = \Drivers\Nic 
      

      Stop and then restart the Remote Installation service on the RIS server. To do this, type the following from a command prompt:

      net stop binlsvc
      
      net start binlsvc
      
Using the System Preparation Tool

Problem: I want to be sure that my Broadcom NetXtreme adapter works properly if I use the System Preparation utility (Sysprep.exe) to install an existing configuration on my system.

Solution: On the Sysprep.inf file, modify the [Unattend] header as shown below:

[Unattend]
OemPnPDriversPath=Drivers\Net
OemPreinstall = Yes

The driver files for the Broadcom NetXtreme adapter must reside in this folder, which is located on the system drive (where the operating system resides). If other drivers are to be loaded, then Drivers\Net can be appended to the paths listed and separated by a semicolon:

Example:

OemPnpDriversPath=Drivers\Video;Drivers\Net

For Windows XP, the driver files to be included are B57win32.inf, B57win32.cat, and B57xp32.sys.

For Windows 2000, the driver files to be included are B57win32.inf, B57win32.cat, and B57w2k.sys.

The Sysprep utility must run with the –pnp switch, which enables the system to rescan for new devices that can be added during the mini-setup.

A Sample Sysprep.inf file for Windows XP is shown below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
;SetupMgrTag
[Unattended]
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\Windows
UnattendedInstall=Yes
OemPnpDriversPath=Drivers\Net
[GuiUnattended]
AdminPassword="password"
EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
AutoLogon=Yes
AutoLogonCount=99
OEMSkipRegional=1
OEMDuplicatorstring="XP System"
TimeZone=4
OemSkipWelcome=1
[UserData]
FullName="User"
OrgName="Organization"
ComputerName=*
[SetupMgr]
DistFolder=C:\sysprep\i386
DistShare=whistlerdist
[Identification]
JoinDomain=workgroup
[Networking]
InstallDefaultComponents=Yes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linux BASP

Problem:
When obtaining the IP address for an SLB virtual interface through DHCP, the IP address gets lost during heavy traffic.
Answer:
Always set a static IP address for all of the virtual interfaces in an SLB team.
   
Problem:
When compiling BASP under Red Hat 4 AS, numerous warnings are displayed.
Answer:
This is not a problem. These warnings are harmless and BASP will compile correctly.
   
Problem:
In the event of a failover when using a BASP Smart Load Balancing type of team, BASP temporarily switches the MAC address of the newly-promoted primary adapter and/or the address of the failing primary adapter. System management software that requires a static MAC address may be affected.
Answer:
This is only the case with a Smart Load Balancing type of team. A Generic Trunking (GEC/FEC)/802.3ad-Draft Static type of team or a Link Aggregation 802.3ad type of team is a better choice if MAC switching is a problem.
   
Problem:
I am running a distribution with a 2.6.x kernel. After I start Broadcom Advanced Server Program, a call trace is placed in the message file.
Answer:
This is not a problem, but a harmless event that can be ignored.

Linux and ASFIPMon

Problem:
I brought down the interface and now I cannot bring it back up. When I try, the following message appears, `SIOCSIFFLAGS: Resource temporarily unavailable.'
Answer:
When ASFIPMon is running, it does a quick access to flash ROM every 30 seconds or so. If the interface is brought down while this is happening, you cannot bring the interface back up in the usual way. To bring up the interface, unload and then reload the driver module.

Broadcom Boot Agent

Problem:
Unable to obtain network settings through DHCP using PXE.
Answer:
For proper operation make sure that the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is disabled or that portfast mode (for Cisco) is enabled on the port to which the PXE client is connected. For instance, set spantree portfast 4/12 enable.

Broadcom Advanced Server Program (BASP)

Problem: The 802.3ad team member links disconnect and reconnect continuously (applies to all operating systems).

Solution: This is a third-party issue. It is seen only when configuring an 802.3ad team with more than 2 members on the system and connecting to an HP2524 switch, with LACP enabled as passive or active. The HP switch shows an LACP channel being brought up successfully with only 2 team members. All other team member links disconnect and reconnect. This does not occur with a Cisco Catalyst 6500.

Problem: A Generic Trunking (GEC/FEC) 802.3ad-Draft Static type of team may lose some network connectivity if the driver to a team member is disabled.

Solution: If a team member supports underlying management software (ASF/IPMI/UMP) or Wake-On-LAN, the link may be maintained on the switch for the adapter despite its driver being disabled. This may result in the switch continuing to pass traffic to the attached port rather than route the traffic to an active team member port. Disconnecting the disabled adapter from the switch will allow traffic to resume to the other active team members.

Miscellaneous

Table 2: Miscellaneous  
Problem
Solution
When the bus on the system is operating in PCI mode, the Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX Gigabit Ethernet Controller performs at PCI mode if it is added after the system has booted.
When the system is booted up without any adapter, the bus operates at the lowest mode, which is PCI mode. Reboot the system after the adapter has been added.
The Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter may not perform at optimal level on some systems if it is added after the system has booted.
The system BIOS in some systems does not set the cache line size and the latency timer if the adapter is added after the system has booted. Reboot the system after the adapter has been added.
Large Send Offload (LSO) and Checksum Offload are not working on my team.
If one of the adapters on a team does not support LSO, LSO does not function for the team. Remove the adapter that does not support LSO from the team, or replace it with one that does. The same applies to Checksum Offload.
The teaming changes I made when I modified my team using INETCFG did not take effect.
When you modify a team using INETCFG, you may need to reboot after reinitialization for the changes to the team to take effect.


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