i350T2 ports down (linux)

[MichelStumpf]

Hello,

we use the Intel i350 T2 network card for several workstations. Some workstations are experiencing the following problem: If we unplug the network cable from one port, the other port suddenly stops sending data as well. If we swap the card with another workstation, the error persists. What could be the cause? The cards are all identical.

Best Regards,

Michael

[Fikri_Intel]

Hi MichelStumpf,

Thank you for contacting Intel.

We appreciate you reaching out to us regarding the reported issue. To assist you more effectively and provide an accurate solution, we kindly request the following details:

1- What system model are you currently using?

2- Does the I350 card come with the system or purchased separately?

3- Have any changes been made prior to the issue happening?

Once we have this information, we will be able to guide you better and provide the appropriate support.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Fikri O.

[MichelStumpf]

Hi Fikri,

thank you for your attention.

1-The system is a Dell Precision T7820 Workstation.

2-The network card came with the system. We bought several hundreds of them, but unfortunately the warranty period has just expired.

3-No changes have been made to hard- or firmware.

Best regards,

Michael S.

[Fikri_Intel]

Hi MichelStumpf,

Thank you for your update.

To assist further with the investigation, could you kindly confirm the following details:

1- Is NIC teaming currently enabled on the affected systems?

2- Please try disabling any advanced PCIe power management options in the BIOS to rule out any power-related behavior.

3- What is the current driver version in use for the affected NICs?

4- If feasible, we recommend testing one of the NICs in a clean OS installation or live boot environment. This can help determine if the issue is related to software configuration or the operating system.

Your input will help us narrow down the root cause and proceed with appropriate next steps.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Fikri O.

[MichelStumpf]

Hi Fikri,

1-NIC teamnig is not enabled on the affected card. However in the system are additional network cards (i350 F4) with partially teaming enabled.

2-We checked already that all adanced PCIe powermanagement options are disabled.

3-The driver version is igb 5.6.0-k (RHEL7.7).

4-We install our machines automatically, so everything is identical except for a few details (hostname, IP address, etc.). After identifying the issue in about 20 percent of the machines in our operational environment, we repeated multiple tests in a test environment with eight machines, and two of them exhibited the same error. We checked carefully the network environment as well as the OS installation. If we exchange the network card of an affected machine with the one of a working machine and vice versa , the error migrates with the network card. Now the former working machine is affected and the former affected machine is working.

Best regards,

Michael S.

[Sachinks]

Hello MichelStumpf,

Greetings!

Thank you for your reply and thank you for the details.

As you have mentioned that if you moved the effected Nic's from one system to another the issue migrates to that system as well, this might be an issue with the NIC card itself.

As this is a built-in nic card in Dell Precision T7820 Workstation, we request you to contact Dell regarding this so that they can check it from their end. Since it's a built in card, they would have customized the card according to their configuration. So we request you to check this with the OEM directly so that they can provide their analysis.

Regards,

Sachin KS

Intel Customer Support Technician