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Intel 82599 X520-2 adapter will not work with Windows 2008 SP2 64-bit

idata
Employee
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I have multiple identical servers all showing the same problem. On a vanilla install of Windows 2008 SP2 64-bit with Intel drivers, the driver will not function. This problem does not occur on the same hardware when using Windows 2008 R2 or VMware 4.1.

My setup:

Dell R710

Dual Intel Xeon X5680, 3.33Ghz, 12M Cache,Turbo, HT

Intel X520 DA 10GB, Dual Port SFP+,PCIe-8 NIC

192 GB RAM

I have tried all three driver versions (16.0, 15.8.1, 15.7) posted on Intel's site and get the same results. The driver will load with cables unplugged, but it will report "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems (Code 43)" when the cable is plugged in.

If I boot the server with the cable plugged in it reports: "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

I have tried enabling I/OAT in the BIOS but there was no change in behavior.

I have applied all available Windows Updates (using the 1Gb onboard links) but there was no change in behavior.

I can recreate the problem on multiple machines and cards.

The Windows install is vanilla from a Microsoft VL disk.

I have a case open with Dell, but they have not yet found a solution.

If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate the help.

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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To help get a complete picture of your setup, what is the PBA number on your adapters?

On the http://www.intel.com/support/network/adapter/pro100/sb/CS-031543.htm serial number tag on the component side of the board the last part of the serial number is the PBA number, e.g. E98793-002.

In a working version of Windows with PROSet installed, this is the part number shown under Identify Adapter.

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idata
Employee
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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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What kind of cables are you using? Any cable that works in one version of Windows should work in the other version, but I want to look at all the possibilities.

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idata
Employee
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HP ProCurve 10-GbE SFP+ 7m Direct Attach Cable

PN 8121-1155 Product J9285B

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idata
Employee
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A couple more items of information

I/OAT DMA Engine is set to disabled in the BIOS (I have tried enabled with no change)

SR-IOV Global Enable is set to disabled in the BIOS (I have not tried changing it)

Boot mode is BIOS not UEFI (I tried changing this but had problems with the Windows install)

There are no other cards in the server

I did try disabling every extraneous device in the BIOS to see if that would help. I also moved some interrupts around--none of that seemed to help.

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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I saw that you are also following the similar thread at /message/116323# 116323 http://communities.intel.com/message/116323# 116323. If you can, try the older software and drivers that I listed in that thread. Better yet, you might try whatever software and driver versions that Dell recommends. Either way, let me know what happens.

Of course, I will keep you posted on anything that we figure out at this end.

Mark H

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idata
Employee
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I just rebuilt five of these servers and noticed I get this message in the system log. Not sure how I missed it before.

Intel(R) Ethernet Server Adapter X520-2 PROBLEM: The driver was unable to load due to an unsupported SFP+ module installed in the adapter. ACTION: Replace the module. ACTION: Install the latest driver from "http://www.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/home.htm http://www.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/home.htm".

Is it possible that the 2008 R2 driver has a different list of supported SFP+ modules than the 2008 SP2 driver?

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Thank you for posting that information. The http://www.intel.com/support/network/adapter/pro100/sb/CS-030612.htm supported module list is the same for any operating system. I will look into why you might be getting that message in the log and let you know what I find.

Mark H

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Are all of your cables J9285B? Or do you have some older cables that are J9285A? The "A" version cables are not compatilbe with the X520 series.

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idata
Employee
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Sorry for the delayed response--I was out of town and couldn't physically verify the cables.

Unfortunately they are not the old cable. They are J9285B cables.

My network engineer tells me that only HP cables will work with HP switches--so I don't know if I have any other cable testing options. Is there a way to determine within WIndows 2008 SP2 what SFP module is being reported? Some sort of diagnostic log?

Benj

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Good question. Unfortunately, the only possible message in the Windows event log will be "The driver failed to load because an unsupported SFP+ module type was detected," and nothing will be recorded if a supported module is detected.

As far as differences in the driver between Windows Server 2008 R2 and non-R2, the module detection works the same way.

I want to step back a bit and make sure we do not have a hardware issue either with the cables or the adapters. I know you have multiple servers, adapters, and cables. You have servers running Windows Server 2008 R2 where the adapters and cables are working and servers running Windows Server 2008, 64-bit where they do not. Have you used the same physical cables and physical adapters that you verified working in Windows Server 2008 R2 under Windows Server 2008? What I am trying to eliminate here is the possiblility of a bad batch of cables or a bad batch of adapters.

IF this is some sort of issue with the driver, then trying an older driver might cause the issue to disappear. Would you be willing to uninstall the Intel(R) Network Connections software you currently have and try an older version? You could try the driver package at http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19305 http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19305.

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idata
Employee
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I have used the identical hardware (server, adapter, cable, switch port) and simply installed ESXi 4.1 and WIndows 2008 R2. Both of those operating systems will work fine. I've tried that path on multiple systems with no change in results.

I did try the 15.4.1 driver and that did not work either. I've tried all publically available Intel and Dell drivers.

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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I installed Windows Server 2008 SP2 (not R2) standard. I intstalled Intel(R) Network Connections version 16.0 using the defaults. My X520-2 has an SR Optical module in one port and a direct attach cable in the other port. Unfortunately, I do not have an HP cable to test with, nor is the test machine at my desk a server. I checked my WIndows System log for messages from ixgbn. I do not get any errors pertaining to an unsupported module.

Because of the error you are getting, I would blame the cables except that they worked with Windows Server 2008 R2.

If this is a driver issue, then maybe the difference is in what features are installed with the Intel Network Connections or a difference in roles enabled for the server. Let's take a look where we might have possible differences.

Which Intel Network Connections features do you have installed?

  1. Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager?

     

  2. Advanced Network Services?

     

  3. FCoE using Data Center Bridging?

     

  4. iSCSI using Data Center Bridging?

     

Have you changed any adapter settings from the defaults?

What roles have you added or removed from the vanilla WIndows Server 2008 SP2 installation?

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