I210-T1 "The NVM Checksum Is Not Valid"

[OwenG05]

Hi, I am a computer science student and having trouble with NVM checksum. I would like it to work on Windows 10/11, but I do not have access to the Windows driver source, so I have been using the Linux igb driver. When booting, the igb probe returns err -5 and "The NVM Checksum Is Not Valid", when igb_get_flash_presence_i210(hw) = true. However, when this is not true, the driver loads perfectly fine on Linux but does not start on windows. Is there any way to get access to the windows driver if possible? Thanks.

[RyanFeeko]

Hi @OwenG05 , you may download the full package driver at below link:

It is completed with OS Independent, FreeBSD*, Microsoft Windows*, Linux*, VMware*
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.html

[Fikri_Intel]

Hi OwenG05,

Thank you for posting on the Intel Communities.

Based on your description, we can see that you are looking for a driver for Windows OS. Kindly find the below Intel I120-T1:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/68668/intel-ethernet-server-adapter-i210t1/downloads.html

Regards,

Fikri_Intel

[OwenG05]

Sorry, I think you may have misunderstood since I have probably posted this in the wrong section. I have designed a custom board and I am programming it to be compatible with the windows driver but I am stuck on the fact that I have sort of got it working with the linux driver, but not the windows one. What does the windows driver do differently that could make the driver not load with my card? On linux I already have EEPROM and PHY reads working and the mac address showing up, but in windows the driver just doesnt load at all.

Sorry for the inconvenience

[OwenG05]

What I am trying to do is support NVM instead of iNVM, for iNVM, the driver loads on linux but not windows. And for NVM, the checksum is invalid, and doesn’t load on either OS, even though I have programmed the EEPROM from another existing board I have.

[Dineshbabu]

Hi OwenG05,

Please refer to the readme text file for the Ethernet driver link provided below to find out the supported OS versions.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.html

Regards,

Dinesh

[OwenG05]

The OS version is supported, I'm testing this on Windows 10 first. I have fixed my checksum issue but my project requires support for high DMA speeds, even when the device is down with no connections, but I have tested this and my DMA reads are either failing or very slow. I normally get about 200MB/s read speeds with another ethernet card. Is there anywhere in the driver source code that could be messing with DMA speeds while the device is down? And is there any way I could turn this feature off by returning a specific value from a register read? I have looked thoroughly but found nothing yet.

Thanks for the help.

[Pintu]

Hi OwenG05,

Greetings for the day!

As per this case, we are actively working on this case, and we will provide you with an update as soon as we can. We kindly request your cooperation during this time.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

Regards,

Manoranjan Das.

[OwenG05]

Hi @Pintu 

I have found that it may be an issue with my Z490 chip motherboard in pair with the i210's configuration space. I have tested my exact setup on my AMD system and found that it works as intended, and tested on another intel motherboard to find that it also doesn't work there. However, I intend to use this on my current motherboard. Do you have any ideas on what could be causing this issue on only intel motherboards? And how I could go about fixing this issue?

Thanks.

[Pintu]

Hello OwenG05,

Greetings for the day!

Kindly help with the question to proceed further.

1. Which Intel motherboard are you using?

2. What is the version of the driver you're currently using for the i210 network adapter?

3. Could you please share the details of your system, such as the processor, amount of RAM, and any other relevant components?

4. Prior to experiencing this issue, have you made any changes to the software or hardware configuration of your system?

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

Regards,

Manoranjan Das.

[OwenG05]

Hi @Pintu 

1. I'm using an MSI Z490-A Pro (Model number MS-7C75)

2. Tried speeds on both the latest driver in ubuntu and the latest driver on windows (still getting bad TLPs and low dma speeds)

3. CPU - i5-10600K

    RAM - 16GB DDR4-3600Mhz

    GPU - NVIDIA RTX 3060

    SSD - NvMe M.2 1TB

4. Tried turning off features in the BIOS such as SR-IOV and resizable bar support however these have not worked.

Thanks for the help.

[OwenG05]

Hi @Pintu , another test I just did confirmed that it works when BIOS is in CSM mode instead of UEFI.

Does this give some insight into what could be causing the issue? Alongside the fact that other ethernet cards work without CSM?

Thanks,

Owen

[Pintu]

Hello OwenG05,

Greeting for the day!

As per this case, kindly help with below steps to proceed further.

1. Have you encountered compatibility issues with other hardware components when using UEFI mode on your system?

2. Have you checked the UEFI settings related to device initialization and compatibility?

3. Have you verified that you're using the latest drivers and firmware for both the Ethernet card and the motherboard?

4. Is Secure Boot enabled in your UEFI settings, and if so, have you tested whether disabling it temporarily resolves the issue?

5. Have you checked if there are any BIOS/UEFI updates available for your motherboard?

6. Have you tested the Ethernet card on other systems to see if the issue persists?

Thank you for choosing Intel products and services.

Regards,

Manoranjan.

[OwenG05]

Hi @Pintu thanks for the quick reply.

1. No other compatibility issues. All other components work with UEFI and the same components were used on one of the AMD motherboards I tested on apart from the CPU. The other I used completely different hardware.

2. I've disabled virtualization features which can mess with DMA, fast boot, msi fast boot, secure boot. Other than that I don't see any compatibility settings that can be changed apart from CSM.

3. Yes, everything is up to date.

4. Tried with both secure boot on and off. Still low speeds in UEFI mode.

5. Will update BIOS to the latest version to test right now, and reply if it fixes.

6. Yes, so far I have tested on 2 intel systems and 2 AMD systems. On both AMD systems the card's DMA speeds work fine even in UEFI mode, but on both intel systems I get bad TLPs and low DMA speeds.

[Pintu]

Hello OwenG05,

Greetings for the day!,

As per this case, kindly sign in to CNDA access for Intel; after that, you will be able to apply for RDC using this link. How to Apply for an Intel® Resource and Documentation Center

How to Apply for an Intel® Resource and Documentation Center

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

Regards,

Manoranjan

[I_Nawf]

Hi Intel Support,

Can we get Windows NVM link?
I think OwenG05 looking for the NVM Windows driver since his having checksum error.

[Pintu]

Hello OwenG05,

Greetings for the day!

Regarding the issue, please find the link below where you will find the updated NVM Windows driver:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18634/non-volatile-memory-nvm-update-utility-for-intel-ethernet-adapters-700-series-windows.html

Thank you for choosing Intel products and services.

Best Regards,

Manoranjan