Intel I210 Controller – NVM Checksum Invalid and NVM Contents Show FFFF

[Manish_Kotni]

Hello Intel Community,

I have designed a custom board incorporating the Intel I210 Ethernet controller. We have chosen to use the internal NVM for this design. Initially, we successfully flashed the NVM using the eeupdate64e utility (downloaded from Intel RDC), and the Ethernet controller functioned correctly.

However, we are now encountering the following error during boot, as observed in dmesg:

max@mypc:~$ sudo dmesg | grep igb
[65.807043] igb: Intel(R) Gigabit Ethernet Network Driver
[65.817248] igb: Copyright (c) 2007-2014 Intel Corporation.
[65.831193] igb 0000:61:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[65.849397] igb 0000:61:00.0: The NVM Checksum Is Not Valid
[66.436509] igb: probe of 0000:61:00.0 failed with error -5

To debug the issue, I re-flashed the NVM using eeupdate64e, but the problem persists. I then attempted to take an NVM dump and noticed that the entire NVM region appears to be filled with 0xFFFF.

This raises the concern that the NVM content might be corrupted or erased.

Could you please help us understand:

What could cause the internal NVM to suddenly get corrupted or erased?

Are there any known issues that might trigger this?

What steps can we take to recover or reinitialize the NVM correctly?

Is it possible the internal NVM is permanently damaged, or is there a way to reprogram it successfully?

We would appreciate any insights or guidance to resolve this issue.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Attaching the dump for reference

[ManoranjanDas]

Hello Manish_Kotni,

Greetings from Intel!

Thank you for contacting Intel Support.

Based on your query, we understand that you have designed a custom board incorporating the Intel® I210 Ethernet controller. To proceed further, please share the following details:

1. The complete system information.

2. The full model number of the Ethernet controller.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

Best regards, 

Manoranjan 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Manish_Kotni]

Hi Intel Team,

Kindly find the below details.

1. The complete system information.
->  We made its as a Pcie NIC Card (Half Height Half Length).

2. The full model number of the Ethernet controller.

-> WGI210IT

[Ragulan_Intel]

Hello Manish_Kotni,

Greetings from Intel!

Thank you for providing the details, as pertaining to your query, you may refer to the datasheet for details.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/secure/design/internal/content-details.html?DocID=333016

We would also recommend you open IPS ticket if needed further support regarding the issue. IPS case at IPS Support. After registration, you will be able to open a case on the Intel® Premier Support (IPS) platform and your request will be handled by one of our engineers as soon as possible.

Thank You & Best Regards,

Ragulan_Intel