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Troubleshooting: Broadcom NetXtreme™ 57XX User Guide

Hardware Diagnostics

Checking Port LEDs

Troubleshooting Checklist

Checking If Current Drivers Are Loaded

Running Cable Diagnostics

Testing Network Connectivity

Software Problems and Solutions

Dos Diagnostics


Hardware Diagnostics

Loopback diagnostic tests are available for testing the adapter hardware under Windows. These tests provide access to the adapter's internal/external diagnostics, where packet information is transmitted across the physical link (see Diagnostics in Broadcom Advanced Control Suite).


Checking Port LEDs

See Network Link and Activity Indication in Introduction for troubleshooting LED states.


Troubleshooting Checklist

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


Checking if Current Drivers are Loaded

Windows

The information listed on the Vital Sign tab of Broadcom Advanced Control Suite includes important network adapter information, the network status, and network connectivity for each of the installed adapters.

  1. On the Vital Sign tab, click the name of the Broadcom Ethernet controller to be tested.
  2. Click Refresh to display the driver status of the selected controller.

Note: Information for non-Broadcom controllers is less comprehensive than the information for Broadcom controllers.

Linux

To verify that the bcm5700.o driver is loaded properly, run:

lsmod

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.

Module
Size
Used by
BCM5700
<size>
<n>

Running Cable Diagnostics

Cable diagnostics are run from the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite application. See Cable Analysis in Broadcom Advanced Control Suite for information and setup and initialization instructions.

Note: This test is designed to work for a Gigabit Ethernet copper link (1000BASE-T) only.


Testing Network Connectivity

The following section describes how to test network connectivity for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, NetWare, and Linux.

NOTE: Ensure that when using forced link speeds, that both the adapter and switch are forced to the same speed OR at least one link partner is configured for Auto-negotiation.

Windows

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

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

  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.

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

Microsoft Remote Installation Service(RIS) Instructions for Windows RIS Servers

Problem: Microsoft Remote Installation Service (RIS) installation fails for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Solution: Refer to Microsoft Article Knowledge Base, "How to Add Third-Party OEM Network Adapters to RIS Installations."

To deploy a Windows 2000 Image

  1. Verify that the Windows 2000 RIS server has Service Pack 3 or later installed.
  2. Follow the steps described in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 246184 article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b246184.
  3. If the Windows 2000 RIS server does not have Service Pack 3 or later installed, modify the b57win32.inf file as described below. In the .inf file that is to be placed in the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Dir_Name\i386 folder, remove NTx86.5.1 in the manufacturers section (see the following example).
    Original Revised

    [Manufacturer]
    %BRCM% = Broadcom, NTx86.5.1

    [Manufacturer]
    %BRCM% = Broadcom

  4. Follow the steps in the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 246184 article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b246184, skipping step 1 as shown above.

To deploy a Windows XP Image

  1. Follow the steps described in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 315279 article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315279.
  2. Modify the b57win32.inf file. In the .inf file that is to be placed in the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Dir_Name\i386 folder.
    1. Remove the [Broadcom] section (see the following example):

      [Broadcom]
      %OEM1_DEV5% = OEM1_DEV5.Inst, PCI\VEN_14e4&DEV_165D&SUBSYS_865d1028
      .
      .
      %BCM5750B0F% = BCM5750B0MF.Inst, PCI\VEN_14e4&DEV_167E&SUBSYS_057D1014&REV_10
    2. Remove NTx86.5.1 in two locations (see the following example).
      Original Revised

      [Manufacturer]
      %BRCM% = Broadcom, NTx86.5.1

      [Broadcom.NTx86.5.1]

      [Manufacturer]
      %BRCM% = Broadcom

      [Broadcom]

  3. Follow the steps in the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 315279 article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315279, skipping step 1, as shown above.

Linux

The following table lists known problems and solutions using Linux:

Linux-Basp

Problem: When obtaining the IP for a SLB's virtual interface via DHCP, the IP-gets lost under heavy traffic. Solution: Always set a static IP for all the virtual interfaces in a SLB team.

Broadcom Boot Agent

The following table lists known Broadcom Boot Agent problems and solutions:

Problem: Unable to obtain network settings through DHCP using PXE.

Solution: For proper operation make sure that the STP (spanning tree protocol) is disabled or portfast mode (for Cisco) is enabled on the port to which the PXE client is connected. For instance, set spantree portfast 4/12 enable.

Miscellaneous

The following table lists known miscellaneous problems and solutions:

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 by Hot-Plug. When the system is booted up without any adapter, the bus operates at the lowest mode, which is PCI mode. This problem can be resolved by rebooting the system.
The Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter may not perform at optimal level when it is added by Hot Plug on some system. This is because the system BIOS in some systems does not set the cache line size and the latency timer, after the adapter is added by Hot-Plug. This problem can be resolved by rebooting the system.
The Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter can not be seen on the PCI BUS. This is because some of the older servers are advertising themselves as PCI-X capable systems. This causes the Broadcom NetXtreme network adapter to operate in PCI-X mode, in which case it cannot to be seen by the PCI bus. This problem can be resolved by configuring the firmware to operate in forced PCI mode. Refer to b57diag for configuration instructions.

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