TECHTIP:rBuilder on Dell PowerEdge 2950

From rPath Wiki

Some Dell™ PowerEdge™ 2950 servers have a known bug in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) implementation on their on-board Broadcom Ethernet controller. (This is popularly known as the "bnx2 firmware bug" as it affects the Broadcom NetXtreme II with bnx2 driver.) Click here for more information about the devices and supported Linux drivers.

Systems that run older Linux kernels (such as the Xen Dom0 kernel used in rBuilder 4.0.0) are affected by this bug.

As a workaround for this known issue for rBuilder 4.0.0, rPath recommends applying an update that disables the IPMI management firmware:

1. Use the following link from Broadcom to download a bootable CD image with a DOS utility to disable IPMI management firmware. Scroll to the bottom of the page and use the download under DOS Diagnostic Utilities:
   http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/netxtremeii.php
2. Create a bootable CD with the downloaded image.
3. Boot the created CD (a DOS command environment), and use the following steps to get into the DOS environment:
   1. At the initial boot: prompt, press Enter to continue.
   2. Select 1. Install to harddisk using FreeDOS SETUP (default).
   3. Press Enter to select English.
   4. Important: Select Run FreeDOS from CD-ROM (return to command prompt).
4. Use the diagnostics utility from the CD (assuming the CD is drive "a") to disable particular diagnostic tests. See this page for more information about this uxdiag utility. Run the following commands:
   1. Run: a:\uxdiag -c 1 -mfw 0 -t abcd
   2. Run: a:\uxdiag -c 2 -mfw 0 -t abcd
5. Reboot the system and test to be sure it works as desired. If there are still issues with the Ethernet adapter, use the uxdiag utility again to disable the management firmware:
   1. Run: a:\uxdiag -c 1 -mfw 0
   2. Run: a:\uxdiag -c 2 -mfw 0

This known issue will be addressed in newer versions of the Xen kernel, and such a newer kernel will be used in future versions of rBuilder.