Server crashing (PSOD) upon running fpga_dma_test

[yashael]

I installed Intel PAC D5005 to a server with vmware.

The VM OS is Ubuntu 18.04, with the PAC configured in passthrough mode.
I installed the accelerator stack provided, and tested by seeing the correct output of fpgainfo fme.

Then I successfully programmed the board with dma_afu_unsigned.gbs. when running the following code,

sudo fpga_dma_test -s 104857600 -p 1048576 -r mtom
// or
fpgadiag -B 0x82 -D 0x00 -F 0x00 --mode=write --read-vc=vh0 \
--write-vc=vh0 --multi-cl=4 --begin=1024 --end=1024 --timeout-sec=5 --cont

the server crashed with the following fatal error.

Is there something's missing from the setup, or driver i need to check in order to solve this?

[HRZ]

The source of your problem is very likely VMWare. Intel does not claim they support VMWare ESXi for their FPGA boards anywhere in their documentation. The only reference I can find is from VMWare's own blog:

https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2020/01/vsphere-support-for-intel-fpga.html

The blog post claims support for the A10 PAC (and not the S10 PAC you are using) in ESXi 6.7 Update 1 (you seem to be using 6.7.0?). If you really want to use the board with ESXi, then you should probably reach out to VMWare. On the other hand, if you want to save yourself the headache of spending days or weeks just getting the board to work, your best bet would be to drop VMWare and just use the board in a non-virtualized environment. Docker could also be an option if that type of virtualization works for you.

[JohnT_Intel]

Hi,

Could you try with vSphere 6.7 Update 1?

[yashael]

In the current setup, it's configured as a passthrough device which is i think pretty similar to the DirectPath I/O mentioned in the blog.

But thank you for the info, i will try that first.

[JohnT_Intel]

Hi,

Sure. Let me know if you are still facing any issue after using the updated version.