PXE problems on new BL460c G7

[Simran Hansrai]

Hello,

I have running into problems pxe booting all of my new BL460c G7 blades. They are all able to get a DHCP address but fail with the following PXE error:

--
PXE-E74: Bad or missing PXE menu and/or prompt information
PXE-M0F: Exiting ServerEngines PXE ROM
--

Attached is a screenshot of the pxe error with additional information. The mac address for the client is 00:17:A4:77:14:20 and looks like my proxy-dhcp/tftp server is receiving and replying to this request:

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

-- tcpdump --
pxeserver:/ # tcpdump -n -i eth0 -vvvv | grep 128.137.84
tcpdump: listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 96 bytes
13:31:48.878957 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 351, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:31:50.619961 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 125, id 10448, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 229) 128.137.84.64.138 > 128.137.45.37.138:
13:31:50.619984 IP (tos 0xc0, ttl 64, id 4933, offset 0, flags [none], proto: ICMP (1), length: 257) 128.137.45.37 > 128.137.84.64: ICMP 128.137.45.37 udp port 138 unreachable, length 237
IP (tos 0x0, ttl 125, id 10448, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 229) 128.137.84.64.138 > 128.137.45.37.138:
13:31:55.360162 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 356, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:31:55.360242 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 64, id 0, offset 0, flags [DF], proto: UDP (17), length: 438) 128.137.45.37.67 > 128.137.84.253.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Reply, length: 410, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:31:57.621937 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 362, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 328) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:50:56:b2:04:f0, length: 300, hops:1, xid:0x39ff62b2, flags: [none] (0x0000)
Client IP: 128.137.84.84
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:31:57.666672 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 365, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:04.179005 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 370, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:04.179074 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 64, id 0, offset 0, flags [DF], proto: UDP (17), length: 438) 128.137.45.37.67 > 128.137.84.253.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Reply, length: 410, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:06.510154 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 376, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:13.019011 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 381, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:13.019097 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 64, id 0, offset 0, flags [DF], proto: UDP (17), length: 438) 128.137.45.37.67 > 128.137.84.253.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Reply, length: 410, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
13:32:15.353434 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 253, id 387, offset 0, flags [none], proto: UDP (17), length: 576) 128.137.84.253.67 > 128.137.45.37.67: BOOTP/DHCP, Request from 00:17:a4:77:14:20, length: 548, hops:1, xid:0xa5771420, secs:4, flags: [Broadcast] (0x8000)
Gateway IP: 128.137.84.253
3192 packets captured
6384 packets received by filter
0 packets dropped by kernel
--

[Johan Guldmyr]

Hey, which DHCP options have you set? Do you see activity on the tftp server too?

What are you trying to boot up on the blade?

[Simran Hansrai]

PXE/DHCP services are running fine with the older g6/g5 servers and we are not using any special DCHP options that would conflict with PXE. I don't see any traffic on the tftp port when these new g7 servers try to pxe boot. I am trying to put either a SLES 11 or a RHEL 5.6 image on these servers.

Thanks,
-Simran

[Martin Mckay]

Hi, I am seeing the same thing when attempting to PXE (RHEL5.5) a G7. No menu error, just :-

PXE-M0F: Exiting ServerEngines PXE ROM

The TCPDUMP showed no tftp requests arriving on the PXE server, just the initial DHCP ...same as above.

[Gregory Gore]

We are seeing same issue. Has anyone resolved this??? HP said they have no known issues with G7 blades and PXE boot. Any help would be GREAT!!!

[Simran Hansrai]

Our problem was fixed by removing option 43 from our DHCP server. We were able to pxe boot our servers after this was done.

HTH's,
-Simran

[Casper42]

There are other known (speed) issues with the G7 and PXE.
They have been fixed but as is always the case it is taking forever to work the code through the proper QA channels for it to be publicly released.

If you read between the lines this means if you complain enough you might be able to get your hands on the Beta Firmware and test on a single G7 blade to see if that fixes your problems as well. I know that Level 2 support in Costa Rica reproduced the problem in my particular case, so they shouldn't play dumb once you get to level 2.

[Jimmy Vance]

Interesting, I pretty much PXE boot G7's on a daily basis and haven't seen any issues

[Vittal_TechM]

We are facing problems in PXE booting BL460c. Looks like it is not able to pick the correct network drivers (when I do ipconfig from winpe it does not show any IP address). Can some one point to the correct drivers you are using ?

OS: Windows Server 2008 R2.

Thanks

Vittal