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Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

 
panzer_hier
Senior Member

Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hello !

 

I wonder if you would help me with my issue.

 

I've got c7000 blade enclosure with blade servers bl620g7 and bl460g7 inside, which have embedded nc553i network cards, and I would like to change Personality setting of them from iSCSI/FCoE to NIC. I tried to do it in different ways:

1. Using RBSU (I had success but only from-to iSCSI<-->FCoE)

2. Using Ctrl-P combination during booting the server and entering to UCNA change sessings program. When I changed personality, server rebooted twice (second time it wrote something like rebooting in order to apply personalities), but Personality setting wasn't changed.

3. Using OneCommand Manager (OCM) command line tool and graphical interface on operation system SLES11SP2 x86_64, like

 

/usr/sbin/ocmanager/hbacmd changepersonality 44-1E-A1-72-9F-a2 nic

 

Result was the same like in the item 2 (see upper)

 

I've noticed the document in HP Support Site, called "Title: Advisory: HP ProLiant Servers: HP CN1100E Dual Port Converged Network Adapter - CN1100E PXE Select Utility Is Unable to Change the CN1100E Personality from "iSCSI" to "NIC" or "FCoE"", where possible resolutions were:

- Use the ROM-Based Setup Utility (RBSU) to change the CN1100E personality from iSCSI to FCoE 

- Use HP Virtual Connect in the FLEX Environment ( Server Profiles ) to change the CN1100E personality from iSCSI to FCoE or NIC

- Use the HP Emulex OneCommand Manager (OCM) to change the CN1100E personality from iSCSI to FCoE or NIC

 

I don't have any Virtual Connect controlling devices. Third suggestion in my case doesn't work. 

 

Are there any other desicions to change personality of CNA ? Thank you

9 REPLIES 9
Jan Soska
Honored Contributor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hello,

maybe it is firmware related issue, do you have latest firmware (and server bios) installed?

 

Jan

panzer_hier
Senior Member

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hello, Jan, thank you for answer !

 

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention about it. For instance, on bl620g7 I have:

1. Operation system SLES11 SP2 x86_64 (kernel 3.0.13-0.27-default, OS without any updates) 

2. Server's BIOS:

 

BIOS Information
Vendor: HP
Version: I25
Release Date: 04/20/2012

 

3. CNA's firmware:

 

/usr/sbin/ocmanager/hbacmd hbaattrib 44-1E-A1-72-9F-9e
No Adapter Found!

HBA Attributes for 44-1E-A1-72-9F-9e

Host Name : bris-2
Manufacturer : Emulex Corporation
Serial Number : H3314900FB
Model : NC553i
Model Desc : HP NC553i 10Gb 2-port FlexFabric Converged Network Adapter
HW Version : E3 A1
FW Version : 4.1.450.16
Vendor Spec ID : 19A2
Number of Ports : 2
Driver Name : be2net.ko
Device ID : 0710
Operational FW : 4.1.450.16
PXE Boot : Enabled
Driver Version : 4.1.450.7
Board Temperature : Normal
Function Type : NIC
Sub Device ID : 3315
Port Number : 1
PCI Bus Number : 4
PCI Func Number : 0
Sub Vendor ID : 103C
Firmware Status : Working
IPL Filename : N/A
NCSI Version : N/A
Start-up Boot Code Version : 2.0.27.768
FCoE Universal Version : 7.05a6
FCoE x86 BIOS Version : 4.03a0
FCoE EFI Version : 5.02a4
FCoE FCODE Version : 4.01a1
UEFI BIOS Version : N/A
UEFI NIC Version : 4.1.450.16
UEFI FCODE Version : 4.1.450.16
UEFI iSCSI Version : 4.1.450.16
PCI Express Link Speed : 5GT/s
PCI Express Bus Width : x8

 

By the way, the weird message ('No Adapter Found!') from the beginning of output appears every time when any commands from hbacmd are executed.

 

Dmitry

SwisspostIT
Valued Contributor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hi,

 

We're also using BL460c G7 and there is no other personality option than "FCoE" or "iSCSI"!

And btw the CN1100E is a total different Adapter than the NC553i controller so you shouldn't mix the manuals of these adapters!

 

Regards,

Ville

panzer_hier
Senior Member

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hi!

 

Sorry for a long silence.

 

Maybe, you're right ! But I can't understand why OneCommandManager (in both command line and graphical interfaces) shows NIC personality option as accessible.  For example:

 

1. Before server's restart

 

/usr/sbin/ocmanager/hbacmd showpersonalities 44-1E-A1-72-9F-A6
No Adapter Found!

Adapter Personalities:
NIC
iSCSI
FCoE (active & configured)

 

2. Server hasn't yet restarted. See the attachment

 

3. Server hasn't yet restarted

 

/usr/sbin/ocmanager/hbacmd showpersonalities 44-1E-A1-72-9F-A6
No Adapter Found!

Adapter Personalities:
NIC (configured)
iSCSI
FCoE (active)

 

4. Server's restarted

 

/usr/sbin/ocmanager/hbacmd showpersonalities 44-1E-A1-72-9F-A6
No Adapter Found!

Adapter Personalities:
NIC
iSCSI
FCoE (active & configured)

 

By the way, the documentation shows following:

 

Personality Option

 


The “personality” reflects the protocol, or protocols, of the adapter. This option
specifies a list of available protocols that can be configured on an adapter. Depending
on the personality for which the adapter is licensed, one of the following selections
appears:
NIC (iSCSI and FCoE are not allowed)
NIC and iSCSI (FCoE is not allowed)
NIC, iSCSI, and FCoE.
With this option, you can choose the personality that the adapter will run (if permitted
on your system) by selecting it from the Controller Configuration drop-down menu.
The menu only displays the available personalities, including both free and licensed
personalities.
The NIC personality implies that all the enabled functions provide NIC/TOE
functionality. iSCSI and FCoE personalities are enabled on one function per
OneConnect port and include NIC functionality on the other enabled functions.

 

In other words, pure (clear) NIC personality is free not licensed feature and should be accessible in any case, whether CNA is nc553i or another (IMHO).

 

Anyway, thank you all for participation and answers.

 

Dmitry

SwisspostIT
Valued Contributor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

I've never used OneCommand Manager until now, so I tested it on a BL460c G7 and you're right:

There's the possibility to set the personality to "NIC-only"...

 

I just don't understand why you can set this through the OCManager but not in the BIOS...

 

So I tested to set the setting through OCManager to "NIC-only" and rebooted the server but after reboot the setting was still "FCoE"!

 

Regards,

Ville

panzer_hier
Senior Member

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Hi !

I expired it didn't set through BIOS (using BIOS of nc553i), exactly as in your test example. I tried it through RBSU and  nic's BIOS (and enclosing firmware versions etc.) at the beginning of all experiments. It seems I only need to borrow (...jocking...) HP Virtaul Connect to switch personality to NIC-only :)

Anyway, thank you for the support, Ville

Dmitry

AuZZZie
Frequent Advisor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Did you find a solution to this? I'm having the same problem. 

dupre299
Advisor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

This is a known issue. You cannot change the personality mode through the PXE POST screen - you have to change it through the F9 BIOS or the Emulex Onecommand utility.

AuZZZie
Frequent Advisor

Re: Unable to change personality of Converged Network Adapter NC553i

Which also doesn't work. In the end, HP ended up admitting the hardware was junk and doesn't work as advertised (ok those were my words) and they soaked up the cost of providing us a workaround with additional hardware.