Network driver problems with IBM X336 & BroadCom chipset

[msullivan]

Hello all,

I am in the process of building a cluster using Gentoo. I have a bunch of IBM X335 servers on the back end, which I've built up and are running perfectly. I have a single X336 server as a gateway, and this one is causing me headaches.

The problem is that it refuses to recognise the ethernet NICs on the machine. Now, when I boot using either the Gentoo or Knoppix CDs, ethernet works perfectly and it has loaded the BroadCom drivers (tg3). However, when I load up from my Gentoo install (followed basically straight from the handbook), it says no such device exists when I try to mdoprobe the tg3 drivers in.

I figure it is not and IRQ conflict problem as the CDs all work fine? One of the big differences between the X335 and X336 AFAIK is the the X336 has PCI-X. Would this affect the detection of the NIC and hence cause the drivers not to load?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, things to try, likely causes of this problem or even a solution or two.

Thanks,

Matt

[msullivan]

Hey all,

The problem was that the tg3 driver does not, in fact, work with the Broadcom card (even though it should?). I have no idea if this is due to the particular chipset in the X336s, but be warned. I had to compile up the official Broadcom linux driver, bcm5700, and it now works like a charm.

[Cintra]

Thanks for the info.. I'm using the bcm5700 driver too, though tg3 also worked OK with my onboard NetXtreme BCM5702 Gigabit Ethernet. I'm booting with pci=noacpi, but its time for me to find out whether it is actually needed..

mvh
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