I210 Ethernet Controller interfaced to i.Mx6Q over PCIe is overheating (55 to 60 C in less than 10 minutes after powerup)

[LMoha3]

I210 overheats (reach 55 C to 60 C) in 10 to 15 minutes of operation (Normal; Even under no packet transmission). I210 series used is I210AT with option I and used in Flash-less operation. The iNVM is not programmed except the MAC address and Vendor/Device ID. The Device ID is read as 157B. The processor i.Mx6Q interfaces with the I210 through PCIe. There are not management interfaces used in the design (NC-SI is disabled). But the SMBus is connected to the processor I2C3 bus and not used. CRYSTAL 25MHz20PF is connected between the XTAL1 and XTAL2. I have used IGB 5.3.5.22 driver. One observation is that once the PCIe driver enumerates the I210 device, the device starts getting hotter. If we disable the PCIe link, the device is under normal temperature of (32 to 35 deg C). Please help in identifying the cause of the I210 overheating.

Note: The board is a custom embedded display unit of various size (from 3.5 to 7 inch). The overheating is observed in all the manufactured boards.

[CarlosAM_INTEL]

Hello, @LMoha3​:

Thank you for contacting Intel Embedded Community.

In order to be on the same page, could you please let us know the sources (documents, schematics, and others) that you have used to develop the affected design? Please include document number, revision, and version of the sources.

Could you please inform us if this design has been reviewed by Intel?

Please give us the information that should answer these questions.

Best regards,

@Mæcenas_INTEL​.   ​

[LMoha3]

Hello Maecenas,

The issue is resolved. The problem is identified to be the incorrect MUX configuration of internal Pfuze100 (PF100) I2C lines of the i.Mx6q processor which led to the improper initialization of PMIC driver and hence the processor running at high power and frequency. This might have led to the I210 getting heated up when connected to the host PCIe interface.

When the i.Mx6 PFuze control (I2C) lines are configured properly to point to I2C-2 COL3/ROW3, the processor and the I210 chip operates at 46C.

To be precise, the I210 chip is not the cause for the board overheating.