Broadcom (R) NetXtreme II (TM) Ethernet Software CD for IBM eServer

BladeCenter and System x NetXtreme II Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet products

README version 7.8.52.0
(01/09/2014)
================================================================================
=====
This software readme package is based on the Broadcom T7.8.4.3 Drivers Software
CD Kit.
The CD provides all device drivers and associated software for all IBM BladeCent
er
and System x Broadcom-based NetXtreme II Ethernet products, including 1Gb Ethern
et
and 10Gb Ethernet for both on-board Ethernet and adapter options.
The Microsoft Windows device drivers are Microsoft digitally signed.
WARNING:
Any x3850M2/x3950M2 server is required to be updated to at least Version 1.05
(Build A3E145A) system BIOS, or later, prior to any device driver software updat
e.

CONTENTS
-------1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0

Overview
Drivers Software Details
Installation and Configuration
Web Sites and Support Phone Number
Trademarks and Notices
License and Disclaimer

1.0 Overview
_____________
This software CD includes device drivers, related software, and installation gui
de
for all IBM BladeCenter and System x Broadcom-based NetXtreme II products, acros
s
1Gb Ethernet and 10Gb Ethernet, for both on-board Ethernet and options.
The supported Broadcom (R) NetXtreme II (TM) chipsets include BCM5706, BCM5706S,
BCM5708, BCM5708S, BCM5709, BCM5709S, BCM5710, BCM57711, BCM57712, BCM57800 and
BCM57810.
The supported adapter options include:

39Y6066 - NetXtreme II 1000 Express Ethernet Adapter

42C1780 - NetXtreme II 1000 Express Dual Port Ethernet Adapter
42C1790 - NetXtreme II 10 GigE Express Fiber SR Adapter
44W4479 - 2/4 Port Ethernet Expansion Card CFFh for IBM BladeCenter
44W4465 - 2/4 Port 10Gb Ethernet Expansion Card CFFh for IBM BladeCenter
The operating systems supported include Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2,
Windows 2012 and Windows 2012 R2.
The server platforms supported include x86, x64, and AMD64.
Windows 2003 is not supported in this package.

2.0 Drivers Software Details

______________________________
NOTES:
(1) When updating drivers via UXSPi, the utility will prompt version
number(s) of drivers loaded on system that are pertinent to the
Operating System being updated. After the utility completes and
drivers are updated, there may be some driver version(s) where the
New Version does not match the Installed Version. This may be because
the adapter corresponding to the driver is not installed. Adapters
must be installed to gain proper version numbers from the utility.
Please disregard version numbers that do not pertain to the adapter(s)
you have installed.
(2) When extracting files from this package, Windows 2008 R2 extract
to floppy may not work. This is due to change in Windows security
settings, and may become a limitation.
**Currently known issues and limitations with Broadcom NetXtreme drivers and dev
ices. **
1. BASP (the Broadcom Advanced Server Program) will appear to be bound to all ad
apters
in the system once loaded. This binding is normal and is used only to determ
ine
compatibility with BASP. The binding is not active, as indicated by the gray
background
of the selection box. This pre-binding will not interfere with bindings to ot
her software
protocols.
2. The NetXtreme II drivers have two parts, the VBD driver and the NDIS Client d
river. This
combination of drivers can be used for WinPE installations as long as the Win
PE image is
built with the /PnP option. WinPE images that are booted with the -miniNT op

tion will only

load the NDIS driver so NetXtreme II network devices will not be functional i
n this
environment. Use the -winpe option instead of the -minint option to boot Win
PE when using
NetXtreme II devices or use the special RIS driver contained in the distribut
ion package in
the NX2_RIS_Driver directory of the unpacked files.
3. Specifying network settings for NetXtreme II devices using the Microsoft unat
tended answer
file does not work using the PCI Bus/Device/Function designation to specify a
dapters. This
is due to the NDIS personality of the NetXtreme II device being a virtual dev
ice which
means it does not have a physical Bus/Device/Function address. MAC address d
esignation
does work and may be used in conjunction with Bus/Device/Function for a compl
ete solution.
A program called netset.exe from Microsoft, available in the Windows 2000 Ser
ver Resource
Kit, can also be used to apply network settings after the unattended install.
Netset.exe
uses the answer file to apply the network settings specified to the adapters
in the system.
See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 268781 for more information on netset.ex
e.
4. The first time diagnostics are run in a Windows environment on NetXtreme II d
evices, the
diagnostic driver must be installed. Windows will either automatically instal
l the driver,
in which case, no action is required by the user, or Windows will ask to be d
irected to the
INF file for the diagnostic driver. If you are prompted to install the driver
, please direct
the Windows dialog to search for the driver in the directory where the Broadc
om driver
package was unzipped. You may also search your hard drive for the file bxdiag.
inf.
5. When loading drivers through the PNP (Plug and Play) method, users can occasi
onally end up
loading the RIS drivers accidentally. Generally this occurs when a user is a
sked to point
to the proper driver for the device, and the user selects the folder containi
ng the RIS
drivers as the driver for the device. This can result in network connections
that fail to
communicate across the network, as the NDIS driver will fail to bind to the d
evices. The
most obvious way to identify the problem scenario is to open BACS and look at
the network
adapters displayed. Adapters that have the RIS drivers installed will be gra
yed out.
Observing the driver loaded for the System Device portion of the Broadcom Net
Xtreme II
devices will show that the RIS driver is loaded. Additionally, attempts to l
oad the
drivers using the installer will result in NDIS drivers displaying a yellow b

ang, as they re
not able to bind to the VBD driver. The easiest way to correct the problem is
to run
add/remove programs on all installed Broadcom devices, and then re-run the in
staller.
6. Windows Pre-installation Environment (WinPE for short) does not contain nativ
e support for
5708, 5709, 5716, 57710 and 57711 devices on operating systems prior to Windo
ws Server
2008 R2. In order to inject driver support into Windows PE, refer to the steps
provided by
Microsoft at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923834/en-us. Broadcom 5708 Ne
twork Controller
support is available as a native driver package in the Windows Server 2008 OS
.
7. Network Teaming limitation with iSCSI offload: When iSCSI offload is enabled
on Broadcom
NetXtreme II NIC's or LOM's, only SLB teaming mode is supported. In order to
create other
teaming modes like 802.3ad and FEC/GEC, you will need to disable iSCSI offloa
d. You can
disable the iSCSI offload by
a. launching the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 (BACS 3).
b. select the adapter you want to add to the team
c. click the configurations tab, extend resource reservations.
d. Uncheck iSCSI resource.
8. When iSCSI devices are installed on Windows Server 2003 or Server 2008, they
will have the
same friendlyname. View devices "by connections" in BACS3 on for managing iSC
SI devices.
9. Restoring the team configuration with static IPv6 addresses may fail. Use eit
her DHCP
addresses for team configuration, or restore the team and re-apply the IP add
ress manually
if this issue is encountered.
10. When working in BACS while being logged into W2K3 x86 with a non-administrat
or account, the
same icon that is used for a non-teamed adapter is being displayed for a team
ed adapter. This
is due to the fact the non-admin account cannot query the driver due to insuf
ficient privileges.
11. Windows Server 2008 R2 is expected to support the ability to utilize the TCP
Offload Engine
(TOE) on child partitions for supported Guest operating systems. However, th
e stack
supporting this feature was not fully matured upon the completion of this Win
dows drivers
release. As a result, we do not recommend enabling this capability with thes
e drivers until
an update to resolve these issues are released. This is now understood to be
a third-party
issue.
12. After upgrading to this version of the software in W2K8 we have noticed that

during a team
restore in BACS3 that not all of the IPv4 addresses for VLANS are restored pr
operly. This
may require that the team be recreated and saved.
13. Remote install of Windows Server 2008 R2 over non-offload path (MSFT stack)
with new Broadcom
adapters, e.g. 57711, which are not supported by the inbox driver will fail.
The problem is
due to a conflict between the inbox (boot.wim) driver not able to support the
new adapters.
Although the installer provides a newer driver externally during the installa
tion, the OS
reverts back to the inbox. Please refer to the workaround provided through t
he following
link:http://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/JA9hJcVpHrEi11mJ19vYVg%3D%3D23856.
Alternatively, Microsoft s proposed solution is to build a custom install DVD b
y extracting
the boot.wim and overwrite the .INF and .SYS files with Broadcom s newer driver
set. Please
read Microsoft s WAIK documentation for instruction process.
Note: Remote install of Windows Server 2008 R2 over Broadcom iSCSI Offload pa
th does not have
an issue.
14. Flow control statistics (MAC Sent X-ON, MAC Sent X-OFF and MAC Rx w/ no Paus
e Command) are
reported incorrectly within BACS for 57710 based adapters. There is no functi
onal impact and
device is working as expected.
15. Receive Side Scaling (RSS) on TCP offloaded connections require a minimum of
8 gigabytes of
RAM and only works for the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 and Windows
Server 2008 R2.
This feature is not supported in Windows Server 2003 due to a limitation in t
his operating
system. RSS on non-offloaded connections, however, is supported for Windows
2003 SP2 and later.
16. WoL with NPar: When using Wake on LAN (WoL) with NIC Partitioning, all of th
e devices that
comprise a port must be shut down to cause the WoL configuration to be writte
n to the
controller during operating system shutdown. If only a single function is sh
ut down, the
WoL configuration might not be written to the controller, and the controller
might not wake.
17. Editing BASP teams: There is a known problem where editing a BASP team in BA
CS can sometimes
cause a failover to occur on another team. This is currently believed to be
a Microsoft issue,
and Broadcom is pursuing a fix or workaround.
18. NC-SI with IOMMU: There is a known problem using NC-SI with IOMMU enabled, t
hat can cause
link down/up under stress conditions. If this occurs, disabled IOMMU in the B

IOS.

Please check this support URL for the latest drivers sw release update:
http://www.ibm.com/support/us

3.0 Installation and Configuration

____________________________________
WARNING:
Any x3850M2/x3950M2 server is required to be updated to Version 1.05 (Build A3E1
45A)
system BIOS prior to any device driver software update.
Please go to \Manuals\English for other installation and configuration
information.
Or run the launch.exe, in Windows, and select Users Guide.
From launch.exe, you can also install drivers from the Driver Installer selectio
n,
and BASP/BACS3 from the Management Applications selection.
Also, read the Windows_Install.txt file.
4.0 WEB Sites and Support Phone Number
________________________________________
IBM Support Web Site:
http://www.ibm.com/support/us
If you have any questions about this update, or problems
applying the update go to the following Help Center World
Telephone Numbers URL: http://www.ibm.com/planetwide.

5.0 Trademarks and Notices

____________________________
The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the
United States or other countries or both:
IBM
eserver xSeries
eServer System x
eServer BladeCenter

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks

or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or
other countries.
Broadcom and NetXtreme II are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Broadcom Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or
service marks of others

6.0 License and Disclaimer

___________________________
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IBM
DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR
PURPOSE AND MERCHANTABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS
DOCUMENT. BY FURNISHING THIS DOCUMENRANTS NO LICENSES TO ANY
PATENTS OR COPYRIGHTS.

Note to U.S. Government Users -- Documentation related to restricted

rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions
set forth in GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.