Nc552sfp Firmware

[Kayleen]

HelloI have a Emulex Corporation HP NC550SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adapter installed in my 6.7u3 with all patches completed. Both vmnics, vmnics2 and vmnic3 always show their Link Status as "Down" even if the receiving side shows the status is up.

For instance:

If I plug vmnic2 into an SFP+ interface on my switch, the switch shows the link status is up (ESXi still shows link "down") (both switch and card show a link light and activity light) and can see the mac address. DHCP is enabled but not DHCP is given. If I statically set an IP on vmnic2, I cannot ping the gateway of the subnbet.

While keeping vmnic2 plugged in and plug vmnic3 into TrueNAS device (that has the same card installed) the TrueNAS shows the link status as "Up", both link lights at each end with activity lights illuminate, but the ESXi host still show link down.

If I take the remaining port on the card that is in the TrueNAS device and plug it into another SFP+ port on the switch say interface 50, it shows link up and traffic can pass.

If you are only going to use the card for NIC, enter the card configuration (during server startup or from the server BIOS) and verify that it is configured only as a NIC (Ethernet), and not virtualized (i.e. a single port).

In the OP, I described the failure of updating the firmware. I used this link to perform the update. I was informed this could be the issue based off of this article about PSOD when rebooting and using emulex 10G cards

Did you see my request about how to change the configuration mode? I placed the card in a Dell R720 but when prompted to enter a

"config" mode the only options I am able to change is the MAC address, VLAN ID and it I want to be able to PXE boot or not.

Furthermore, could you please elaborate on exactly how you did to update the FW? Did you prep a USB stick and boot from it (physically or ILO) or did you do it via the ILO web interface... mine is complaining about not finding the image file when I booted a prepped USB.

Both Dell PowerConnect N4000 Series and Dell Networking PC8100 Series switches shares the same firmware image version (for example., N4000v6.1.0.1.stk). Dell Networking N4000 series switches can be stacked with Dell Networking PC8100 series switches with the entire stack required to run 6.0.0.8 or later firmware (6.1.0.1). Dell Networking PC8100 series switches can support both 5.x and 6.x firmware versions, but Dell Networking N4000 can support only 6.0.0.8 and later firmware versions (6.1.0.1)

It is the same hardware, it was just renamed to go with the new naming convention of the networking line. N4000 series ship with the powerconnect OS version 6, 8100 used version 5, but can be upgraded to 6 and then will report as N4000s.

This "Fix" was a no go for us. We have 20 servers with 2 10Gb NC523SFPs and we continue to have an issue with random NIC flapping. One of the 2 nics will randomly lose connection to the switch for about 2 seconds, long enough to trigger that network redundancy was lost. We are running DL380 G7s and we have two separate datacenters with 10 Esx hosts in each one. We even tried putting two NC522SFPs in a server and when it "flapped" the only way I could get the network connection to stop bouncing was to reboot the server.

I can believe that. I know a number of customers still have ongoing problems with their NC522 and NC523 NIC's and are still experiencing some disconnections, although much less frequently and more minor on the whole. The real solution would be to change to NIC's that don't have these problems. I use the Intel X520 dual port cards and have not had any issues. But in a lot of cases it may not be possible to change. I was made aware recently of another firmware revision for these cards, not sure about the driver. So it's even more important with these cards to keep up to date with firmware and drivers, but really these problems should not happen with equipment that has been tested and certified to work.

I tried going to support.hp.com, but the drivers are not accessable that way. Instead, go to and then in the search box on the top right of the page, put the card in that you are looking for. A list where you can select your operating system should come up. Click "vmware esx/esxi 4.1". Download the HP Qlogic P2P Flash Update Kit. You have to create a CD/DVD to boot off of, and it will patch the firmware from that.

Hi Simon, The customers I've helped with issues related to this advisory got the firmware and drivers directly from HP support (and had HP Techs update them). It is a bit of a process to go through when doing the update though as you have to boot from CD or USB stick. HP definitely do support the servers if it is one they have certified that is on the VMware HCL. Your colleagues in NZ IT experienced exactly the same issue and I helped them resolve it.

Hi Simon, Just so you are aware there are a bunch of other BIOS settings that are recommended in addition to the drivers and firmware. It's recommended that you configure static high performance for power management and enhanced cooling. One of the main reasons for this is that the cards are overheating under load, which is one of the problems. With these settings and the new drivers / firmware the symptoms should be greatly reduced, although I'm not 100% sure it's a complete fix.

HP techs have confirmed to me that for some customers their firmware and drivers fixed the flapping, but for others it continues. Our solution was to replace our NC523SFP cards with Intel x520-DA2 cards. We have had no more issue and are now able to move on with our migration plans.

HP does have some techs configuring firmware dumps for the network cards to try to capture what is causing the problem, but we had already replaced the nics when HP sent this to me. When calling them, make sure you ask about this.

Hi Simon, Thanks for your update today and for the link to the download for the service pack ( _packs/en/index.html), which I have included in the post now. I hope this fixes the problems. Please post a comment back here if it is successful.

I notice HP haven't updated the advisory I linked to above which still suggests people go to Qlogic for the firmware, which is strange considering that the Qlogic firware hangs on these servers (our 6 core CPU builds anyway), and the HP SPP is bootable and does update the firmware succesfully.

Hi J, thanks for the feedback, it's unfortunate how many customers have been impacted by these problems. The first release of vSphere 5 from HP had issues with the OneConnect Emulex NIC's (mainly in blade infrastructures). This has been fixed in the latest patch releases. For a while the OneConnect wasn't on the HCL and wasn't supported by HP. So when the time is right to upgrade to ESXi 5 it would pay to run a test for a bit with the OneConnect cards and make sure you use the latest patch release.

We have never had reliable networking with these servers (ESX 4.1, ESXi 4.1, ESXi5.0) and it is constantly a battle between ESXi versions and updates, driver updates, firmware updates and hope to keep things running. The only reliable way to ensure network connectivity is to reboot the servers every 4 weeks or so, before the network cards poop themselves.

As an update to this issue, I have been in contact with HP support for the last few weeks about this problem and it has done the rounds of their various support people. The short answer is I will be receiving new Main Boards and possibly NIC's for my 5 x DL585G7 servers in late May. I can't give any details unfortunately because the new boards aren't available yet but they are an update, not a direct replacement, of the existing boards. If you are still having this issue with your HP servers and these (IMO) dodgy QLogic NIC's hassle HP support, log a case, follow it up and don't take "No" for an answer until they rectify the problem.

HP came onsite almost two weeks ago to replace all 10 of the NIC's on two of my servers. They had to replace the riser board that houses the 4 x LOM NC375i NIC's, they replaced the 4 Port NC375T and the 2 Port NC522SFP.

Everything seems good now and there have been no problems since. I can't guarantee that this will fix the issue, but it's a start and HP appear confident for the first time. I have HP coming onsite later this week to do the same thing on the last of my servers.

I also have another client with same problem on a number of servers that are experiencing the same issue. They have vSphere 4.1, but are seeing the same problems I have with vSphere 5.0u1. Same escalation with HP and same fix.

Again there's are a couple of advisory's from HP. And I'm very frustrated because since 2 years there's again again issues with the Bios FW and EMULEX FW and Drivers. I would be really interested how many people have the same problems with the G7 Server. So i created a facebook group:

Hi Stefano, my customers have seen an improvement when using the BIOS settings of Static High Performance and Enhanced Cooling. However there is additional power consumption with these settings. I would encourage you to work with support and get a resolution. Many customers have had their NIC's replaced, and others have decided to change hardware platforms completely as a result of the experience.

The Intel X710-DA2 ML2 2x10GbE SFP+ Adapter addresses the demanding needs of the next-generation data center. By providing unmatched features for server and network virtualization, small packet performance, and low power; the data center network is flexible, scalable, and resilient.

The first time that you install the Intel X710-DA2 ML2 2x10GbE SFP+ Adapter in a ThinkSystem server, you must update the firmware for the adapter to a level that is supported by ThinkSystem servers. The first time that you update the firmware, you might need to follow the procedures listed here:

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