Knowledge Base

The VMware Knowledge Base provides support solutions, error messages and troubleshooting guides
 
Search the VMware Knowledge Base (KB)   View by Article ID
 

VMware ESX 4.0, Patch ESX400-201105218-UG: Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 bnx2 device driver (1032831)

Details

Release date: May 05, 2011

Patch Classification
 Critical
Build Information
For build information, see KB 1031732.
Also see KB 1012514.
Host Reboot Required
Yes
Virtual Machine Migration or Shutdown Required
Yes
PRs Fixed
545093
Affected Hardware
N/A
Affected Software
N/A
VIBs Included
 vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2
Related CVE numbers
N/A

 
 
 

Solution

Summaries and Symptoms

This patch resolves the following issue:

A bnx2 NIC reset might fail due to firmware synchronization timeout, and in turn cause the ESX host to fail with a purple screen. The following is an example of a backtrace of this issue:

0x4100c178f7f8:[0x41802686d9f4]bnx2_poll+0x167 stack: 0x4100c178f838 0x4100c178f878:[0x4180267a3ec6]napi_poll+0xed stack:
0x4100c178f898 0x4100c178f938:[0x41802642abaf]WorldletBHHandler+0x426 stack:
0x417fe726c680 0x4100c178f9a8:[0x4180264218f7]BHCallHandlersInt+0x106 stack:
0x4100c178f9f8 0x4100c178f9f8:[0x418026421dc1]BH_Check+0x144 stack:
0x4100c178fae0 0x4100c178fa28:[0x41802642e524]IDT_HandleInterrupt+0x12b stack:
0x418040000000 0x4100c178fa48:[0x41802642e9f2]IDT_IntrHandler+0x91 stack:
0x0 0x4100c178fb28:[0x4180264a9b16]gate_entry+0x25 stack: 0x1

This issue is resolved by applying this patch. The fix prevents the ESX host from failing, by forcing the NIC to a link down state when the firmware synchronization times out. The following message is written to the VMkernel log:

bnx2: Resetting... NIC initialization failed: vmnicX.

Deployment Considerations

None beyond the required patch bundles and reboot information listed in the table above.

Patch Download and Installation

See the VMware vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide for instructions on using Update Manager to download and install patches to automatically update ESX 4.0 hosts.

To update ESX 4.0 hosts when not using Update Manager, download the patch zip file from http://support.vmware.com/selfsupport/download/ and install the bulletin using esxupdate from the command line of the host. For more information, see the ESX 4 Patch Management Guide.

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature page.

Feedback

  • 3 Ratings

Did this article help you?
This article resolved my issue.
This article did not resolve my issue.
This article helped but additional information was required to resolve my issue.
What can we do to improve this information? (4000 or fewer characters)
  • 3 Ratings
Actions
KB: