Technical Announcement on Unidentified NV CX8 Series Network Cards and PXE Function Anomalies in R5500 G6 Intel Series Servers

H3C R5500 G6 Intel Series Servers configured with CX8 8240 series intelligent network card IB-C8240-LP-2P-400G (Part Number: 0231ATRJ) paired with a secondary card IB-C8180X-LP (Part Number: 0231ATRK)

The following phenomena occur when the primary card is configured with a secondary card installed in the SW slot: 

 HDM page does not display the primary card's network port information, and the LLDP out-of-band (OOB) function is unavailable; The BIOS does not identify the network card, it cannot be configured in the BIOS and the network card's PXE function is unavailable; 

 The HDM OOB optical transceiver module is not identified, the external optical module of the HDM is not recognized, and the temperature sensing of the optical module cannot be obtained. Therefore, the combined temperature sensing cannot be used for speed regulation. 

Due to limitations in the NV network card firmware version, data synchronization anomalies may occur when the primary and secondary cards acquire the same PCI_BUS. When the primary card is configured with a secondary card in the SW slot, the BIOS may fail to obtain the network card's port information, and the HDM page may not display the primary card's network port information. Since the BIOS cannot identify the network card, the PXE function becomes directly unavailable, and network card configuration within the BIOS is impossible. 

Furthermore, the failure of the optical module temperature sensor function is due to the HDM's inability to identify the primary card's ports, leading to the optical module not being recognized. Consequently, the combined temperature sensor cannot participate in automatic fan pacing, and neither the primary nor backup temperature sensors can be activated.  

1. Wait the release of the latest firmware from NV vendor to resolve issues where the CX8 network card and its ports are not recognized by HDM, BIOS, as well as abnormal, temperature sensor information identification for optical modules. 

 2. Upgrade the HDM2 firmware to version 2.32 or later. This version incorporates optimized heat dissipation strategy code for the C8240 primary and secondary cards in the R5500 Intel G6 model, ensuring the primary card's temperature sensor covers the optical module's heat dissipation, thereby enabling normal speed adjustment strategies to meet the optical module's cooling requirements.