Proliant ML570 and Gigabit Card issue

[millap]

Morning all,

Can anyone help with a problem I have on a ProLiant ML570. I've swapped a Compaq 7131 Gigabit NIC from one of my Citrix servers with the ML570 to try and improve performance. The problem is, the card refuses to run at gigabit speeds.

If I try to force gigabit in Compaq Teaming it accepts to the change but then shows "Network Cable unplugged" in Network and Dialup Connections.

It's plugged into a 3Com SuperStack 4900 switch and I've looked on there to force gigabit but it doesn't allow you to do that either, however, the switch is advertising 1000mb/s as an available speed.

I've installed the latest drivers from the Compaq website and tested with diagnostics from there as well. It's kinda stumped me.

Anyone any ideas?

 

[patrickrouse]

The only way I can get the 7131 to work at 1000Mb half or full duplex is to set both the switch port & NIC to autonegotiate. If you try to force the switch to 1000 Half or 2000 full the 7131 will not connect because it's not a valid setting for the driver, i.e. you'll notice there's no 1000 half or 2000 full selection available for the NIC. I found this on Compaq's tech support website.

I'm using the 7131 in an ML370(G1) with D-Link 3226-SM switches & GBIC and they're working at 1000 Full Duplex, via the autonegotiate setting on both ends.

P.S. Normall I force the connections to the speed I want, but in this case it's not possible.

 

[millap]

Thanks for the reply Patrick. I have tried Auto on both ends and it still doesn't like it. Bit strange really.

 

[patrickrouse]

Are your jacks & patch panel connections terminated using all 4 pairs?

 

[millap]

That cabling goes straight from the server to switch and is certified CATVe

 

[patrickrouse]

So did this card work on the machine running MetaFrame? Are you connected to a different Switch Port? Are you using the same physical cable as before.

My point is to try to narrow down your search for the cause of the problem.

If it worked on a different server, then you know the card isn't defective.

If it doesn't work on a new machine, connecting using the same cabling & switch port then the problem is with the server (hardware or software).

Please spell out what exactly you've done to troubleshoot this problem. What does Compaq/HP say?

 

[millap]

Hiya Patrick,

Yes the card worked perfectly in the Citrix Server, I think half of the problem might be that the Citrix Server was built using SmartStart with the card pre-installed and I've now installed it in the ML570 with the system already built.

I'm using the same physical cable as before. I've tried forcing the switch not to auto-sense, and the server not to auto sense. Forcing the speed drops the connection.

I found a RomPaq download on the Compaq website today which might just help. All to do with the system bios being out of date which fault fixes NIC speeds with high speed NIC's. I'll keep you posted <ahem>

millap