Ethernet NIC FAQs

User manuals are available from our driver download section.

• NetXtreme I Desktop/Mobile
• NetXtreme I Server
• NetXtreme II 1 Gigabit Server
• NetXtreme II 10 Gigabit Server
• NetLink 57xx
• NetLink 57xx
• NetLink 4401

• Broadcom NetXtreme II 1G Copper Adapter: Links at 10 Mb, 100 Mb, and 1000 Mb.
• Broadcom NetXtreme II 10G utilizes external PHYs and depending on PHY capabilities, can operate at: 10, 100, 1000, 10000 Mb/s.
• Broadcom NetXtreme Copper Adapter: Links at 10 Mb, 100 Mb, and 1000 Mb.
• Broadcom NetXtreme Fiber-Optic Adapter: Only links at 1000 Mb.
• Broadcom NetLink 57XX: 1G Copper Adapter: Links at 10 Mb, 100 Mb, and 1,000 Mb.
• Broadcom NetLink 440X 10/100 Integrated Controller: Only links at 10 Mb and 100 Mb.

To better support users, Broadcom has been actively supporting, maintaining, and testing the in-kernel Linux drivers for the NetXtreme, NetXtreme II, NetLink and 4401 product lines. The following is list of drivers supported for each product line:

• NetXtreme and NetLink - tg3
• NetXtreme II - bnx2 1G
• NetXtreme II - bnx2x 10G
• 4401 - b44

Broadcom officially releases the Linux drivers as packages. The Linux driver packages released by Broadcom are based on the latest in-kernel drivers with some added compatibility code to make it backwards compatible with most 2.6 kernels and some 2.4 kernels (generally newer than 2.4.24). If you are using the latest upstream kernel from www.kernel.org, you generally do not need to download the Linux driver packages from Broadcom as the latest upstream kernel has the latest Linux driver patches.

For the NetXtreme and NetLink product lines, the tg3 driver is now the only Linux driver that Broadcom supports. Accordingly, Broadcom has discontinued support for the bcm5700 driver and no longer provides updates.

Yes.

Yes.

Go into the BIOS and assign another IRQ for your adapter. Make sure it's not sharing an IRQ with another device.

1. Check your IP address and IP Mask (please refer to documentation for respective OS).
2. Ping your default gateway.
3. Ping another client on the same subnet connected to the same switch or HUB.
4. Ping the switch's management IP address if it is on the same subnet as yours.
5. Refer to the troubleshooting section of the user manual.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the General tab.
3. Set the speed to 10 Mb Full, 10 Mb Half, 100 Mb Full, 100 Mb Half, or Auto.

Netware: Adapter speed is forced by adding "Speed=XXXX" parameter to driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file, where XXXX are 10 HD, 10 FD, 100 HD or 100 FD.

Linux: See heading: "How do I force speed and duplex under Linux?"

The "802.1p QOS" parameter is a standard that enables Quality of Service (QoS). It is responsible for the QoS provisions on the local segment, and the avoidance of the "all packets are treated equally" issue, which falls onto the hub or switch servicing segment. 802.1p QOS provides prioritization of packets traversing a subnet.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in "Network Connections" and click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the General tab.
3. Set the "802.1p QOS" parameter to Enable or Disable.

Normally the TCP Checksum is computed by the protocol stack. By selecting one of the "Checksum Offload" parameters, the checksum can be computed by the Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. For IPv4, set the TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4) parameter to Disable, Rx & TX Enabled, Rx Enabled or Tx Enabled.
4. For IPv6, set the TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv6) parameter to Disable, Rx & TX Enabled, Rx Enabled or Tx Enabled.

Netware: Checksum Offload is configured by adding the "CHECKSUM=ON" parameter to the driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file. To disable, change the value to OFF or do not include the parameter, since the default is set to disable.

Linux: This can be done using the "ethtool -K <device> <parameter>" command. Run the following to view the current settings on a device: "sudo /sbin/ethtool -k <device>"

"Ethernet@WireSpeed" is a parameter that enables a 1000BASE-T Ethernet adapter to establish a link at a lower speed when only two pairs of wires are available in the cable plant.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and, then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Set the "Ethernet@WireSpeed" parameter to Enabled or Disabled.

In Linux, SCO, Unixware and Solaris operating systems this feature is always enabled on supported Broadcom adapters.

"Flow Control" is a parameter that allows the user to enable or disable the receipt or transmission of PAUSE frames. PAUSE frames enable the adapter and the switch to control the transmit rate. The side that is receiving the PAUSE frame temporarily stops transmitting.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Set the "Flow Control" parameter to Auto, Disable, Rx & Tx Enabled, Rx Enabled, or Tx Enabled.

Netware: Flow Control is configured by adding either the "TxFlow=ON" or "RxFlow=ON" (transmit and receive respectively) parameter to the driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file. Both transmit and receive can be enabled concurrently. To disable, change the value to OFF or do not include the parameter, since the default is set to disable.

Linux: The can be done using the "ethtool -A" command. Please refer to the respective man page for command syntax.

"Jumbo MTU" is a parameter that allows the adapter to transmit and receive oversized Ethernet frames that are greater than 1514 bytes but less than 9000 bytes in length. Note that this parameter requires a switch that is able to process large frames.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab. Jumbo MTU is set at 1500 bytes by default. To increase the size of the received frames, increase the byte quantity in 500-byte increments up to 9000 bytes.

Netware: Jumbo Frame is configured by adding the "Jumbo=XXXX" parameter to the driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file, where XXXX is a value between 1514 and 9000 bytes.

Linux: The MTU can be changed on the device that supports this feature using the following command: "ifconfig <device> mtu <MTU Size>". <Value> can be between 1500 and 9000, <device> is the ethernet device. You can also use "ip" to set the MTU: ex: ip link set <device> mtu <MTU Size>"

NOTE: Please note that not all Broadcom networking devices support Jumbo-Frame. Please consult the respective product documentation to confirm that your device supports this feature.

Normally the TCP segmentation is done by the protocol stack. By enabling the Large Send Offload value, the TCP segmentation can be done by the Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Set the "Large Send Offload" parameter to Disable or Enable.

Network Address is a user-defined address that is used in place of the MAC address that was originally assigned to the adapter. Every adapter in the network must have its own unique MAC address. This locally administered address consists of a 12-digit hexadecimal number.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Configure the "Network Address" parameter by assigning a unique node address for the adapter.

Netware: The Mac Address is configured by the adding Node=XXXXXXXXXXXX parameter to driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file, where XXXXXXXXXXXX is the Locally Administered address.

Linux: Virtual MAC addresses can be set using "ifconfig" hardware Ethernet address option. ex: "sudo ifconfig <device> hw ether <xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" or "sudo ip link set <device> address <xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx<"

The "Wake Up Capabilities" parameter allows the user to set the adapter to wake up from a low power mode when it receives a network wake up frame. There are two wake up frames: Magic Packet and IP frame.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Set the "Wake Up Capabilities" parameter to Both, Magic Packet, None, or Wake Up Frame.

Netware: Only supports DOS WOL and is configured by adding "MagicP=1" parameter to driver load command line in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file. To disable, change value to "0" or do not include parameter, since default is set to disable.

Linux: The can be done using the "ethtool -s" command. First determine if the device supports Wake on LAN (WoL): To display WoL support and current setting:: "sudo ethtool <device> If the device supports WoL, ethtool will report "g" ex: "Supports Wake-on: g". If the device doesn't supports WoL, ethtool will report "d" flag ex: "Supports Wake-on: d". If the device supports WoL and WoL is already enabled; ethtool will report "g" flag ex:Wake-on: g" If the device supports WoL and the WoL flag is not set to "g", the user can enable WoL using the settings command; ex: ethtool -s <device> wol g

"WOL Speed" is a parameter that allows the user to select the speed at which the adapter connects to the network during Wake-on-LAN mode.

1. In Microsoft Windows, right-click the Network Adapter in Network Connections and then click Properties.
2. Click the Configure button and then the Advanced tab.
3. Set the "WOL Speed" parameter to Lowest Speed Advertised, 10 Mb, 100 Mb, or Auto.

In Linux, the feature is not supported. The interface will automatically link at the lowest speed supported by your switch.

PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) is a software module that allows your networked computer to boot with the images provided by remote servers across the network.

To set forced 100 Mbps full duplex:

Use ethtool settings options

ethtool -s <device> speed 100 duplex full autoneg off

For the setting to be persistent across reboots edit "/etc/udev/rules.d/71-ethtool.rules"ff and add "SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", NAME=="<device>", RUN+="/sbin/ethtool <device> -s speed 100 duplex full autoneg off"

Per the IEEE standard, the only IEEE compliant way to operate at 1000Mb/s-Full duplex is through auto-negotiation. If the network switch being used is IEEE compliant, the link speed will auto-negotiate to 1000Mb/s-Full duplex when autoneg is selected.

Microsoft's implementation of the Windows Firewall feature included in Service Pack 2 appears to cause Large Send Offload (LSO) to stop working correctly. They provide the solution to this problem in Knowledge Base article 842264. If the problem persists, you may need to run the latest Windows update in order for this feature to begin working again. Specifically, the security update available at the following link should re-activate the LSO capability of our adapter: Microsoft security update.

This problem is not isolated to the Broadcom adapter. However, based on several inquiries, we list the following instructions based on other customers successfully working around this issue:

1. Place the Broadcom driver files in the original image folder (the image folder created when risetup.exe was executed for the first time).
   Example: i:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\(Original Image)
2. Place the Broadcom driver files in the i386 subfolder under the original image folder
   Example: i:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\(Original Image)\i386
3. Place the Broadcom driver files for the network adapter in the RIPREP Image folder.
   Example: i:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\(RIPREP Image)
4. Place the Broadcom adapter drivers in the i386 subfolder where the RIPREP Image is located.
   Example: i:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\(RIPREP Image)\i386
   
   The Microsoft Knowledge base articles listed below were used as a reference for the following instructions:
   
   http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;254078
   http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;246184
   
   
5. Create the following path and place all Broadcom driver files in ..\(RIPREP Image)\$oem$$1\Drivers\network
6. Edit the riprep.sif file located in ..\(RIPREP Image)\i386\Template to include the following information under the [Unattend] section:
   OemPreinstall = yes
   OemPnPDriversPath = "Drivers\network"
   DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
7. Create the following path and place all Broadcom driver files in ..\(Original Image)\$oem$\$1\Drivers\nic
8. Edit the ristndrd.sif file located in ..\(Original Image)\i386\templates to include the following information under the [Unattend] section:
   OemPreinstall = yes
   OemPnPDriversPath = "Drivers\nic"
   DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
9. Restart the Remote Installation service. This can be performed from a command line with the following commands:
   net stop binlsvc
   net start binlsvc

Currently, Microsoft does not support assigning network properties through an answer file for devices that use a virtual bus when using the PCI Bus Number, Device Number, and Function Number as the network adapter's identifier. Due to the current and future advanced offerings of the NetXtreme II adapter, the use of a virtual bus device was required. Please refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 920293 at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920293/en-us for information on its proposed workaround based on the current operating system limitation.

iSCSI boot allows a Windows or Linux operating system boot from an iSCSI target machine located remotely over a standard IP network. For both Windows and Linux operating systems, iSCSI boot can be configured to boot with two distinctive paths: non-offload (also known as Microsoft initiator) and offload (Broadcom's offload iSCSI driver or HBA). Configuration of the path is set with the HBA Boot Mode option located on the General Parameters screen of the iSCSI Configuration utility.

The Broadcom NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet adapters support iSCSI boot on the following operating systems:

• Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit (supports offload and non-offload paths)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit (supports offload and non-offload paths)
• Linux RHEL 5.5 and later, SLES 11.1 and later (supports offload and non-offload paths)
• SLES 10.x and SLES 11 (only supports non-offload path)

The iSCSI boot setup consists of:

• Configuring the iSCSI Target
• Configuring iSCSI Boot Parameters
• Preparing the iSCSI Boot Image
• Booting

For detailed instructions on each step, see the iSCSI Boot User guide.

Install or upgrade the Broadcom Virtual Bus Device (VBD or eVBD) along with the OIS driver prior to switching the iSCSI boot path.

This is a known third-party issue. To work around this issue, disable the Xen hypervisor's EDD feature by editing the grub.conf file in the boot/grub folder to add the edd=off switch to the end of the kernel line. For example, kernel /xen.gz edd=off..

10GBASE-T is a 10GE interconnect and places demands on the cabling used. Broadcom's 10GBASE-T solutions work well over any cabling that meets the TIA requirements defined in IEEE 802.3. The following are some general guidelines when selecting and deploying cabling:

• Broadcom recommends Category 6a (Cat 6a) cabling to be used in all structured cabling environments. Cat 6 cabling is only specified up to 250 MHz, and is certified for 10GBASE-T as defined in TSB155-A.
• Specify brand name cabling. There are a number of mainstream suppliers of Cat 6 and Cat 6a cabling that Broadcom has had excellent experience with. Our expectations are that product from brand name cabling OEMs provide margin over the specification, and are one important element of a successful implementation.
• Ensure solid terminations. Be sure to use credible sources for pre-terminated cables and patch cords. For field-terminated cabling, be sure to have the vendor performing the termination test and certify that the link segments are specification compliant.
• Be cautious with legacy cabling. It is not uncommon for testing with 10GBASE-T to start with any available UTP. Cables that still work well at gigabit speeds may be damaged or have poor control in the termination that cause issues at 10GBASE-T due to the higher bandwidth requirements.
• Pay attention to gauge. Normal Cat 6a is 23ga, suitable for 100m. A number of vendors offer a 26ga Cat 6a. In many cases, this 26ga cable is preferable, it is smaller in diameter, and should be lower in cost and easier to work with. However, there is a 30% distance derating required as a result of the smaller conductor diameter, so is not suitable for 100m lengths.

1. Make sure the adapter is not defective either by visually inspecting it or by using an adapter diagnostic program.
2. Check your cabling system and its connectivity; check the link LED on the adapter and/or on the switch.
3. Ensure the adapter is placed properly into the PCI/PCIe slot.
4. Move the adapter into a different PCI/PCIe slot.
5. Inspect the driver configuration; please refer to the user manual for instruction.
6. In Linux issue command lspci to check if your adapter is listed

• Follow the instructions posted at: http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/determine_driver.php

1. Open Control Panel. Click on Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features
2. For Windows XP/2003 choose add/remove programs. Click on Broadcom Drivers and then click remove
3. For Windows Vista/2008, Windows 7/2008R2 choose Program and Features. Click on Broadcom Drivers and then click Uninstall
4. Uninstalling the driver from Device Manager is not recommended and may lead to incomplete removal of the device

1. Boot to WinPE command line environment - either the startup repair or by using a Boot USB or CD or DVD
2. Change to the drive that contains the windows directories
3. In the root, delete all instances on that drive (the "\S") of the applicable Broadcom driver files by typing the following:
   1. "del \S bxnd*.*" for the NetXtreme II 1G/10G NDIS drivers
   2. "del \S evbd*.*" for the NetXtreme II 10G VBD drivers
   3. "del \S bxvbd*.*" for the NetXtreme II 1G VBD drivers
   4. "del \S bxfcoe*.*" for the NetXtreme II 1G/10G FCoE storage drivers
   5. "del \S bxois*.*" for the NetXtreme II 1G/10G iSCSI storage drivers
   6. "del \S b06nd*.*" for the NetXtreme II 1G WinPE Monolithic drivers
   7. "del \S evnd*.*" for the NetXtreme II 10G WinPE Monolithic drivers
   8. "del \S b57nd*.*" for the NetXtreme I 1G drivers

   Note that the b06nd and evnd driver files should not be present. These driver files are ONLY used during WinPE's pre-boot to enable the applicable ethernet device before the OS is installed - such as when doing a PXE boot and diskless OS installation.

4. Change to the ...\windows\inf\ directory
5. Find all "oem*.inf" files with "14e4" devices in them by using the 'find /I /C "14e4" x:\windows\inf\oem*.inf' command
6. Delete those OEM INF files by typing "del oemNN.*" where "NN" is the applicable file's number
7. Reboot the host system and now you can "uninstall" or "update" the device without the OS automatically reloading a driver

1. Run the latest Broadcom Driver Installation Software
2. For the NetXtreme II product line, upgrading the driver from Device Manager is not recommended since these devices use a 'split driver' model consisting of a virtual bus driver (VBD), NDIS driver, and in some cases an iSCSI HBA driver. All three of these must be installed in the proper order and the Driver Installation Software does this.

1. Run the latest Broadcom Driver Installation Software
2. Installing the driver from Device Manager is not recommended on the NetXtreme II product line, since these devices use a 'split driver' model consisting of a virtual bus driver (VBD), NDIS driver, and in some cases an iSCSI HBA driver. All three of these must be installed in the proper order and the Driver Installation Software does this.

The following are the steps to manually change a Broadcom NetXtreme II driver on Windows Server 2008 R2. This procedure should be similar on other versions of Windows and all versions of the NetXtreme II 1Gbps and 10Gbps devices.

In a normal MS Windows device driver installation, you should always use the NetXtreme II "Umbrella" driver installer software utility to load the correct combinations of MS WHQL signed drivers, but if installing a special bug fix build or debug check build of the drivers you would follow these procedures. The NetXtreme II "split" driver model has a network adapter NDIS driver ("bxnd" for both 1G and 10G devices), iSCSI storage driver ("bxois" for both 1Gbps and 10Gbps devices) and FCoE storage driver ("bxfcoe" for both 1Gbps and 10Gbps devices) all stacked on top of the virtual bus driver ("bxvbd" for 1Gbps devices and "evbd" for 10Gbps devices). These drivers need to be installed in the correct order for proper device functionality.

Note that there are single or monolithic NetXtreme II drivers ("b06nd" for 1Gbps devices and "evnd" for 10Gbps devices) that are used exclusively in Windows Vista/Server 2008 (pre-R2) and earlier WinPE versions - they are not used by the OS. They provide simple network functionality only for earlier versions of WinPE's pre-OS DOS like boot mode. Furthermore these single drivers are no longer needed for Windows Server 2008 R2's WinPE version which now uses the split drivers.

1. Open Windows Device Manager go to the Systems Devices instance of the Broadcom NetXtreme II Virtual Bus Driver (VBD) you wish to change and right click and select "Update Driver Software...". If no driver is currently loaded, you will only see network devices in the Other Devices subsection, update these as if they were the VBD system device and the other devices will enumerate after the VBD driver is loaded.
2. In the next "Update Driver Software" window, select "Browse my computer for driver software".
3. In the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer". Do not select "Browse" at this point since that may not allow the desired driver to be loaded. This is true for all the following steps - you should use the "HAVE DISK" method when you need to install a specific driver set.
4. In the next window, select the "Have Disk�" button.
5. In the "Install from Disk" window, now select the "Browse..." button.
6. Browse to the desired INF file - "bxvbd" (for 1G devices) or "evbd" (for 10G devices) - then select "Open".
7. Back in the "Install from Disk" window select "OK".
8. Back in the "Update Driver Software" window select "Next".
9. You may see a "Windows Security" message if this is an unsigned driver. Normally this window should not appear, but in this example, the driver is a check build debug version. Select "Install" to continue.
10. You should now see a "Windows has successfully updated your drive software" message, select the "Close" button.
11. Repeat steps 1-10 for all other 1Gbps and 10Gbps NetXtreme II system devices on your host system, before proceeding to step 12.
12. Back in the Windows Device Manager, right click the Network Adapter instance of the device you need to change and select "Update Driver Software...".
13. As with the VBD, select "Browse my computer for driver software" in the "Update Driver Software" window.
14. Again, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".
15. Again, select the "Have Disk" button.
16. Now select the "Browse" button.
17. Browse to the desired NDIS INF file ("bxnd") then select the "Open" button.
18. Now select the "OK" button in the next window.
19. In the next window select the "Next" button.
20. You may see a "Windows Security" message if this is an unsigned driver. Select "Install this driver software anyway" to continue.
21. You should now see the "Windows has successfully updated your drive software" message, select the "Close" button.
22. Repeat steps 12-21 for all the other 1Gbps and 10Gbps Network Adapter devices on this host system.
23. Repeat steps 12-21 for any other enumerated/licensed Storage Controller devices (such as iSCSI or FCoE) you need to change that are related to the previously changed devices.
24. You may need to reboot your system for all of these driver changes to take effect. This can be done after all driver changes have been made.

NOTE: All NetXtreme II 1Gbps and 10Gbps devices on the host system will use the same common NDIS/iSCSI/FCoE drivers. All 1Gbps devices will use the same "bxvbd" driver and all 10Gbps devices will use the same "evbd" driver. You should not have the 1Gbps devices use the previous NDIS driver when changing the 10Gbps devices to a new set of drivers. All NetXtreme II devices should be updated to the same/compatible driver versions at the same time. In the above example, if a BCM57711 10Gbps devices was also installed on the same host system as the BCM5709 1Gbps device, it's VBD driver would need to be changed right after changing the BCM5709's in step 12, and it's applicable NDIS/iSCSI/FCoE drivers would need to also be changed in steps 22 and 23. This is because the NDIS, iSCSI and FCoE are common to all NetXtreme II devices on the host system, and one device should not use an "incompatible" common driver with a specific VBD driver.

NOTE: In some cases, the previous drivers may need to be totally removed from the host system before installing a debug driver. See the previous steps for manually removing a driver.

Requirements:

1. Microsoft Network Client version 3.0 for MS-DOS from Windows NT Server 4.0 installation CD.
2. Blank MS-DOS bootable 3.5" High Density floppy disk.
3. Broadcom NDIS2 driver. (B57.dos or B44.dos)

Windows NT 3.51/4.0 Server users:

1. When using the "Network Client Administrator" tool available in Windows NT, simply choose any other network card from the list (NE2000 Compatible for example) to create the diskette.
2. After creating the diskette, follow the instructions below under "Modifying boot diskette for Broadcom network card".

Windows 2000/XP users:

Method 1: Running "Network Client Administrator" tool from Windows 2000/XP:

1. Create a folder called "NCADMIN" in the root of the C: drive.
2. Copy NCADMIN.CN_, NCADMIN.EX_, and NCADMIN.HL_ from the I386 folder on the Windows NT Server 4.0 cd.
3. Open a command prompt window and change directory to C:\NCADMIN.
4. Type expand -r ncadmin.* and press enter.
5. Close the command prompt window.
6. Start Windows Explorer
7. Open the NCADMIN folder and double-click NCADMIN.EXE.
8. Follow the instructions to make the network startup disk. (Choose "NE2000 Compatible" when selecting the network adapter.)
9. After creating the diskette/USB flash drive, follow the instructions below under "Modifying boot diskette/USB flash drive for Broadcom network card".

Method 2: Running Microsoft Network Client version 3.0 for MS-DOS setup from a DOS prompt:

1. Copy the NETSETUP directory from the Windows NT Server 4.0 CD located under <cd-rom drive letter>:\clients
2. Open a command prompt window.
3. From the "C:" prompt type cd \NETSETUP and press the ENTER key.
4. Type setup and press the ENTER key.
5. Press the ENTER key to continue.
6. Accept the default installation path of "C:\NET" by pressing the ENTER key.
7. Use the down arrow to scroll down the network adapter list and highlight "NE2000 Compatible". Press ENTER.
8. Accept "Network Buffer" defaults by pressing ENTER.
9. Enter a user name that is valid on the Windows system to which you will be attaching. Press ENTER.
10. On the next screen arrow up to "Change Setup Options" and press ENTER.
11. Arrow up to "Change Redir Options" and press ENTER.
12. Arrow up to "Use the Basic Redirector" and press ENTER.
13. Press ENTER on the next screen. ("The listed options are correct" will be highlighted.)
14. Arrow up to "Change Network Configuration" and press ENTER.
15. Choose and configure the desired protocols from this screen.
16. Once the protocols are configured, select "Network configuration is correct" and press ENTER.
17. Press ENTER again. ("The listed options are correct" should be highlighted.)
18. The configuration files will then be copied to C:\NET. Press ENTER to exit setup.
19. Start "Windows Explorer" and view the contents of the C:\NET directory.
20. Delete any of the following files that exist to insure the directory will fit on the floppy disk/USB flash drive: ADDNAME.EXE, EXPAND.EXE, IPCONFIG.EXE, NE2000.DOS, PING.EXE, WIN_SOCK.DLL, WINSOCK.DLL, WSOCKETS.DLL, VSOCKETS.386, VBAPI.386, SETUP.EXE, SOCKETS.EXE
21. Copy C:\NET to a bootable floppy/USB flash drive.

Modifying boot diskette/USB flash drive for Broadcom network card:

Note: for BCM4401 use "B44" in place of "B57" in the following examples.

1. Edit A:\NET\PROTOCOL.INI with Notepad or similar text editor.
   • Change "DriverName=<current value>$" to "DriverName=B57$"
   • Remove all other parameter entries under the [MS$NE2CLONE] or equivalent section such as "IOBASE=0x300" or "INTERRUPT=3", etc.

   Example Protocol.ini for IP:

   [network.setup]
   version=0x3110
   netcard=ms$ne2clone,1,MS$NE2CLONE,1
   transport=tcpip,TCPIP
   lana0=ms$ne2clone,1,tcpip
   
   [MS$NE2CLONE]
   DriverName=B57$
   
   [protman]
   DriverName=PROTMAN$
   PRIORITY=MS$NDISHLP
   
   [tcpip]
   NBSessions=6
   DefaultGateway=0
   ; SubNetMask=255 0 0 0
   ; IPAddress=192 168 0 1
   DisableDHCP=0
   DriverName=TCPIP$
   BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
   LANABASE=0
   

   Example Protocol.ini for IPX:

   [network.setup]
   version=0x3110
   netcard=ms$ne2clone,1,MS$NE2CLONE,1
   transport=ms$ndishlp,MS$NDISHLP
   transport=ms$nwlink,MS$NWLINK
   lana0=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$nwlink
   lana1=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$ndishlp
   
   [MS$NE2CLONE]
   DriverName=B57$
   
   [protman]
   DriverName=PROTMAN$
   PRIORITY=MS$NDISHLP
   
   [MS$NDISHLP]
   DriverName=ndishlp$
   BINDINGS=ms$ne2clone
   
   [ms$nwlink]
   DriverName=nwlink$
   FRAME=Ethernet_802.2
   BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
   LANABASE=0
   

   Example Protocol.ini for NetBEUI:

   [network.setup]
   version=0x3110
   netcard=ms$ne2clone,1,MS$NE2CLONE,1
   transport=ms$ndishlp,MS$NDISHLP
   transport=ms$netbeui,MS$NETBEUI
   lana0=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$ndishlp
   lana1=ms$ne2clone,1,ms$netbeui
   
   [MS$NE2CLONE]
   DriverName=B57$
   
   [protman]
   DriverName=PROTMAN$
   PRIORITY=MS$NDISHLP
   
   [MS$NDISHLP]
   DriverName=ndishlp$
   BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
   
   [MS$NETBEUI]
   DriverName=netbeui$
   SESSIONS=10
   NCBS=12
   BINDINGS=MS$NE2CLONE
   LANABASE=0
   

2. Edit A:\NET\SYSTEM.INI.
   • Change "netcard=<current value>" to "netcard=b57.dos"
   • Check for references to "C:\NET" and change "C:\NET" to "A:\NET" if necessary.
   Example SYSTEM.INI

   [network]
   sizworkbuf=1498
   filesharing=no
   printsharing=no
   autologon=yes
   computername=MYPC
   lanroot=A:\NET
   username=USER1
   workgroup=WORKGROUP
   reconnect=yes
   dospophotkey=N
   lmlogon=0
   logondomain=
   preferredredir=basic
   autostart=basic
   maxconnections=8
   
   [network drivers]
   netcard=B57.dos
   transport=ndishlp.sys,*netbeui
   devdir=A:\NET
   LoadRMDrivers=yes
   

3. Copy B57.dos to A:\NET.
4. Create the appropriate AUTOEXEC.BAT file in A:\ for the chosen protocol as shown below.
   • For TCP/IP:

     path=a:\net
     a:\net\net initialize
     a:\net\netbind.com
     a:\net\umb.com
     a:\net\tcptsr.exe
     a:\net\tinyrfc.exe
     a:\net\nmtsr.exe
     a:\net\emsbfr.exe
     a:\net\net start basic
     net use z: \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME
     

   • For IPX:

     SET PATH=A:\NET
     A:\net\net initialize
     A:\net\nwlink
     A:\net\net START BASIC
     net use z: \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME
     

   • For NetBEUI:

     SET PATH=A:\NET
     A:\net\net START BASIC
     net use z: \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME
     

   • Create a CONFIG.SYS file in A:\ as shown below.

     files=30
     device=a:\net\ifshlp.sys
     lastdrive=z

1. Run pkgadd to install the drivers. E.g., pkgadd -d <install_path>.
2. Please follow the UnixWare user manual to configure the NIC.

1. Copy the drivers to a temporary directory.
2. Run custom to install the drivers.
3. To configure the NIC, please follow the directions in the SCO OpenServer manual or the readme.txt.

Determine the family and device to download the correct driver:

1. At a command prompt Execute: sudo lspci | grep -I "broadcom"
2. Look for "NetXtreme II" or "NetXtreme I" and "BCMXXXXX:"
   
   • e.g., "Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 20)
   • Family is: "NetXtreme II" Device is "5709"
3. Download the driver for the matching device
4. In a web browerser, go to URL: http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/downloaddrivers.php
5. Search for the device string manually or use CTRL-F or Edit, Find.
   
   • e.g., CTRL-F and type "5709"
6. When the device is highlighted, click on "Download drivers" above the device.
7. Click on the "ZIP" icon under the Linux row. The file should be around 50 MBs.
8. Accept the terms to download the driver.

1. See section "How do I obtain (download) the latest driver for my device?" and after the steps have been completed and the driver has been downloaded, return to this section.
2. Copy the driver (.linux-x.x.x.zip) into a temporary directory that the user has write permissions to.
   
   • e.g., cp linux-7.0.36 zip /home/usr/tmp
3. Extract the contents of the ZIP archive
   
   • Execute: unzip linux-x.x.36.zip (e.g., unzip linux-7.0.36.zip)
4. Change the working directory to where the driver source is located:
   
   • e.g., cd Server/Linux/Driver
5. Untar the driver source
   
   • tar -xzvpf netxtremex-x.x.x.tar.gz (e.g., tar -xzvpf netxtreme2-7.0.36.tar.gz)
6. Change the working directory to the driver source
   
   • e.g., cd netextreme2-7.0.36
7. Build the new driver from source
   
   • Execute: make clean (if this command fails, make sure the build environment is installed)
8. Install the driver source
   
   • EX:: sudo make install
9. Remove the previously installed driver from memory (WARNING: This command will remove the driver for the network interfaces; only execute if your physically at the system)
   
   • EX: sudo rmmod bnx2 or bnx2x
10. Load the newly compiled and installed driver from disk into memory
    
    • EX: sudo modprobe bnx2 or bnx2x

1. See section "How do I obtain (download) the latest driver for my device?" and after steps have been completed and driver has been downloaded, return to this section.
2. Refer to section "Installing Source RPM Package" in INSTALL.TXT.

Type: B57.COM /s

Type: config

Type: custom

Type: custom

By using the module information utility (modinfo). Execute: modinfo EX: modinfo bnx2

By using device information option of the "ethtool" utility to display the driver version . Execute: ethtool -I EX: ethtool -i eth0 driver: bnx2
version: 2.1.11

By using device information option of the "ethtool" utility to display the firmware version . Execute: ethtool -I EX: ethtool -i eth0 firmware-version: 5.0.12 bc 5.0.11 NCSI 2.0.5

By using port identify option of the "ethtool" utility to blink the LEDs on the specific ethernet port. Execute: fconfig up && ethtool -p 20 EX: ifconfig eth0 up && ethtool -p eth0

For an NX1 device, run B57UDIAG.EXE from a machine booted to DOS. This program will not function properly in Windows.

For an NX2 device, run UEDIAG.EXE from a machine booted to DOS. This program will not function properly in Windows.

Try uninstalling the driver using the Broadcom installer and re-installing upon reboot. If it is still disabled, the driver being used may not support the adapter. Only drivers that were provided on the CD that shipped with the adapter should be used.

There is a folder labeled "MakeDisk" on the CD (provided) where a driver disk can be created for the adapter. Run the setup.exe and follow the directions to create the driver disk.

Microsoft Windows: Go to the Vital Signs tab of BACS (Broadcom Advanced Control Suite) and look for the ASIC/Firmware Version field to identify the chipset.

Netware: There is no simple way to determine a chipset, but PRODID.NLM will output the device ID that can be used to determine a chipset.

Linux: Use the List PCI utility and look for "Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme X BCMXXXXX"

EX: lspci | grep -i Ethernet 01:00.0
Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 20)

SCO and UnixWare: Install the respective driver per documentation. At the shell prompt, type grep BCM /var/adm/messages. The chipset information will be displayed at chip=BCM57xxS for fiber or chip=BCM57xx for copper.

Solaris 8.0 for X86: Install the respective driver package per documentation. At the command prompt, type: kstat -m bcme | grep macDeviceType. The chipset information will display on the screen.

DOS: Execute b57udiag -cmd at the DOS prompt. The first column will display the chipset information.

• Use b57udiag utility with the commands below:
  b57udiag -mba [ 0-disable | 1-enable ] -c <devnum>
• Or:
  b57diag -mba [ 0-disable | 1-enable ] -c <devnum>

• B57diag -c 0 -pxe a:b57mmba.nic

• Use b57udiag utility with the commands below:
  b57udiag -mbas [ 0-Auto | 1-10HD | 2-10FD | 3-100H | 4-100F ]
• Or: B57diag -c 0 -pxes [ 0-Auto | 1-10HD | 2-10FD | 3-100H | 4-100F

In b57diag, check if PXE is enabled, and the Multiple Boot Agent (MBA) Delay Time should not be set to 15.

In b57diag, check if PXE is enabled.

Check the DHCP server to see if it is functioning properly.

Simply follow the steps outlined in the Zenworks Readme file.

1. Download the latest "Netware (ODI16)" driver for 570x.
2. Run PowerQuest "Boot Disk Builder".
3. During the process of creating the "PowerCast Boot Disk" you will be asked to select a network adapter. Choose any Ethernet adapter listed. The 3Com 3C509 will be used in this example.
4. Once "Boot Disk Builder" is finished creating the diskette, open Windows Explorer and view the contents of A: drive.
5. Delete 3C5X9.COM or other existing ODI driver
6. Copy the file B57.COM that was downloaded in step 1 to A:\.
7. Use Notepad or another text editor to edit NET.CFG.
8. In NET.CFG replace references to 3C5X9 with B57
   Example NET.CFG:

   LINK SUPPORT
   	BUFFERS 6 1600
   
   PROTOCOL
   	BIND B57
   
   LINK DRIVER B57
   	FRAME ETHERNET_802.2
   FRAME ETHERNET_II
   

9. Save the changes to NET.CFG.
10. Use Notepad or other text editor to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT
11. In AUTOEXEC.BAT replace 3C5X9.COM with B57.COM.
    Example AUTOEXEC.BAT:

    @ECHO OFF
    @PROMPT $P$G
    kicknic
    lsl
    b57.com
    REM mouse
    ECHO.
    ECHO.
    ECHO ImageCenter 5.0
    ECHO Copyright 1994-2001 PowerQuest Corporation.
    ECHO All rights reserved. U.S. Patents 5,675,769;
    5,706,472; 5,930,831, 6,088,778, and 6,108,759.
    Other patents pending.
    ECHO.
    ECHO Loading. Please wait...
    pqpcast /msn="session1" /dsk=1
    

12. Save changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT.

1. Run the LAN Manager installation.
2. When prompted to select the Network Adapter Driver, choose "Novell NE2000 Adapter (And Compatibles)"
3. Complete the installation.
4. Copy the Broadcom NDIS2 driver (B57.DOS or B44.DOS) to "C:\LANMAN.DOS\DRIVERS\ETHERNET\NE2000\"
5. Edit "C:\LANMAN.DOS\PROTOCOL.INI" and make the following changes to the [NE2000_NIF] section located at the bottom of the file:
   • Change "DRIVERNAME = NE2000$" to "DRIVERNAME = B57$"
   • Remove "IOBASE = 0x300" and "INTERRUPT = 3" entries.
6. Save PROTOCOL.INI
7. Edit "C:\LANMAN.DOS\SETUP.INI" and make the following changes to the [ConfigSys] section:
   • Change the line: "DEVICE = C:\LANMAN.DOS\DRIVERS\ ETHERNET\NE2000\NE2000.DOS" to "DEVICE = C:\LANMAN.DOS\DRIVERS\ ETHERNET\NE2000\B57.DOS"
8. Save SETUP.INI
9. Edit "C:\CONFIG.SYS" and make the following changes:
   • Change the line: "DEVICE = C:\LANMAN.DOS\DRIVERS\ ETHERNET\NE2000\NE2000.DOS" to "DEVICE = C:\LANMAN.DOS\DRIVERS\ ETHERNET\NE2000\B57.DOS"
10. Save CONFIG.SYS

The System Preparation tool, Sysprep.exe, is a disk-image-based deployment tool that you can use to install identical configurations on multiple computers. The information pertaining to how to use this tool is supplied with the Sysprep software or can be located through various sections of Microsoft's website (i.e. Knowledge Base, Technet, etc.). Therefore, our intent is not to instruct on how this tool is used but how to include the driver for our adapter to work in conjunction with this utility.

On the sysprep.inf file, the following will need to be added to the "Unattend" header:

[Unattend]
OemPnPDriversPath=Drivers\Net

The driver files for our adapter depending on the operating system must reside in this directory that will be located in the System Drive (where the operating system resides). If other drivers are to be loaded, then Drivers\Net can be appended to the paths listed and separated by a semicolon (e.g. OemPnpDriversPath=Drivers\Video;Drivers\Net)

For Windows XP, the driver files to be included will be b57win32.inf, b57win32.cat, and b57xp32.sys.

For Windows 2000, the driver files to be included will be b57win32.inf, b57win32.cat, and b57w2k.sys.

The Sysprep utility must run with the -pnp switch in order to rescan for new devices which can be added during the mini-setup. Although there are differences between the Sysprep utility for Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the instructions outlined above should cover the only difference needed to set it up for the different operating systems.

A Sample Sysprep.inf for Windows XP is shown below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

;SetupMgrTag
[Unattended]
	OemSkipEula=Yes
	OemPreinstall=Yes
	TargetPath=\Windows
	UnattendedInstall=Yes
	OemPnpDriversPath=Drivers\Net

[GuiUnattended]
	AdminPassword="password"
	EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
	AutoLogon=Yes
	AutoLogonCount=99
	OEMSkipRegional=1
	OEMDuplicatorstring="XP System"
	TimeZone=4
	OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
	FullName="User"
	OrgName="Organization"
	ComputerName=*

[SetupMgr]
	DistFolder=C:\sysprep\i386
	DistShare=whistlerdist

[Identification]
	JoinDomain=workgroup

[Networking]
	InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

Download the BCM57xx or BCM4401 user diagnostic from our website and follow these instructions:

1. Create a DOS bootable floppy and unzip the respective diagnostic package into it
2. Boot to Dos and run b57udiag or b44udiag, respectively

The reason is that the BASP process is periodically waking up to check for events whereas most other processes will be sleeping indefinitely until woken up by external events. Because we are constantly running and sleeping even when the system is idle, it is showing up in the load average. But the important thing is that the CPU utilization remains at almost 100% idle even when the load average is non-zero.

Due to limitations in Microsoft's operating systems not supporting the Virtual Bus Device architecture of the NetXtreme II adapter under certain circumstances, separate drivers were created to address these limitations. The NetXterme II monolithic driver allows the adapter to behave similarly to standard network adapters and only provides network connectivity without the advanced offerings of the device. The monolithic driver should be used for connectivity during the text mode portion of a RIS installation (by placing in the I386 or MAD directory), in a Windows Pre-Installation Environment (PE), and for the agent used for Microsoft's Automated Deployment Services. There are no additional special instructions necessary when these drivers are used in the above scenarios.

The Broadcom network devices are only supported in Vista and Windows Server 2008 using drivers originally intended for Windows XP and/or Windows Server 2003. Although Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are backward compatible to use drivers from the previous operating systems, Microsoft's NDIS 5.1 to NDIS 6 translation layer used to do so inhibits the feature from working properly.

An IPv6 interesting packet can wake up Vista/Windows 2008. But, it wakes too often by frequent Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) requests and directed packet. In Windows 7 or later, there is a new feature "PM offload" (ARP offload + NS offload) added. Only magic packet can wake the system up if the PM offloads are enabled in your system.

To wake your system up via an IPv6 neighbor solicitation packet, go to driver's advanced tab and change NS offload to disable. Push the machine to sleep state. Delete IPv6 neighbors on the remote host and then send an IPv6 neighbor solicitation packet or telnet IPv6addressOfSUT

Note: Neighbor Solicitation: Similar to ARP for IPV6. Used for neighbor reach ability and address resolution.

The in-box driver supplied in Windows Server 2008 R2 for the NetXtreme II 1Gb device does not contain support for iSCSI devices. Updated drivers from your manufacturer or through our website should contain the necessary drivers for this device.

Download the latest certified driver from Citrix.

To upgrade bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:

# mount /devxxx /mnt
#cd /mnt
#ls
#cp -r(Xen filename) /share (as an example)
Cd Directory(name)/packages
#ls Run# install.sh

To find out the current version of the bnx2 or bnx2x driver:

• #ethtool -I ethx

To load or unload bnx2 or bnx2x drivers manually:

1. # bnx2 or bnx2x (load driver)
2. #modprobe bnx2 or bnx2x (unload driver)

To remove bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:#

.rpm -qa (to query the driver version)

1. #rpm e remove
2. Note: You cannot downgrade, You can only upgrade in Citrix.

1. Make sure your iSCSI Target is setup correctly.
2. Make sure you are using the latest Broadcom driver for your Broadcom Network Adapter. Your in-box driver or your driver CD may be old and is not compatible with your network device.

1. For a Linux system, obtain the netxtreme2_sup-x.x.xx-x.ISO.tar.gz.file from the CD that came with the Broadcom Network Adapter or download it from the Broadcom website. Untar the file and burn the corresponding Linux kernel ISO on a CD. This CD will be provided during the iSCSI Boot installation process. For detailed instruction on installation, consult the iSCSI Boot user's guide.
2. For a Windows system, obtain the corresponding Windows drivers (eVBD, VBD and NDIS) from the CD that came with Broadcom Network Adapter or download it from the Broadcom website. Place the drivers on a USB drive. Provide this USB drive as a source of drivers during Windows iSCSI Boot installation. For detailed instruction on installation, consult the iSCSI Boot user's guide.

1. Go to the VMware Compatibility Guide: I/O Device Search
2. Select the desired Product Release Version or leave at ALL.
3. Select Brand Name: Broadcom or leave at ALL.
4. Select I/O Device Type: All or as desired (such as Network, iSCSI, FCoE CNAs).
5. In Keyword enter part of the device's name in quotes. For example "BCM5719" or "BCM57810".
6. In the Search Results click on the desired Broadcom adapter name in the Model column.
7. In the Model Release Details scroll through the list of compatible device drivers.
8. Click on the expand "+" symbol to see details of the desired driver and to show the link to the VMware driver download web site. You normally want the highest version number selectable.
9. Copy the desired Device Driver(s) information before following the link to the VMware driver downloads web site. You can paste this information into the downloads search box to find the correct driver to download.
10. You can also type "tg3" (for NetXtreme1 devices - such as the 5700/01/02/03/04/05/14/15/18/19/20/21/22/23/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/64/80/81/82/84/88/89/etc) or "bnx2x" (for NetXtreme2 devices - 5706/08/09/16 and 57710/1/2 and 57800/10/etc) to display all available drivers packages. Normally choose the highest version number - i.e. tg3 version 3.123b.vXX.X verses 3.120h.vXX.X and bnx2x version 1.72.54.vXX.X verses 1.72.18.vXX.X.
11. You may need to fine tune the driver search text since sometimes not all of the most current selections will be displayed when typing just the driver name (tg3 or bnx2x) - i.e. in the case of the NetXtreme2 driver package, the 1.72.54.v50.2 will not show up unless you additionally type in "bnx2x version 1.72" in the search window.
12. To download the selected driver, click the desired Download method in the lower right hand side of the window. NOTE that ESX/ESXi 4.x is an ISO file while ESXi 5.x is a ZIP file.
13. In the downloaded driver file, follow the README.TXT instructions to load the driver.

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) is an integrated graphical user interface application that provides the following functions:

• Vital Signs: At-a-glance status reports of all LAN adapters/controllers in your systems.
• Network Test: The Network Test will confirm network connectivity to a remote station.
• Diagnostics: A comprehensive diagnostic for Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet controllers.
• Cable Analysis: An in depth analysis on CAT5 cable characterization performed by the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet controller.
• Load Balance/Virtual LAN: An easy way to configure the load balance and failover by grouping multiple adapters/controllers.
• Statistics: A detailed performance statistics on each selected adapter/controller.

Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2.

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) can be installed from the Management Applications Installer provided on the OEM's CD or from the Broadcom's website.

1. From the Windows Control Panel, double-click Programs and Features.
2. At the Programs and Features window, select "Broadcom Management Programs" and click Uninstall . The InstallShield Wizard screen appears.
3. The Confirm File Deletion screen appears.
4. Click OK. An information screen will appear confirming update.
5. Reboot your system to complete the BACS removal.

1. Click Start button, click Settings, then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Broadcom Control Suite 4 icon.

BASP is a Broadcom intermediate software driver for Windows Operating System, that provides load-balancing, fault-tolerance, and VLAN features. These features are provided by creating teams (virtual adapters) that consist of multiple NIC interfaces. A team can consist of one to eight NIC interfaces, and each interface can be designated as primary or standby. All primary interfaces in a team will participate in load-balancing operations by sending and receiving a portion of the total traffic. Standby interfaces will take over in the event that all primary interfaces have lost their links. VLANs can be added to a team to allow multiple VLANs with different VLAN IDs. A virtual adapter is created for each VLAN added. Load-balancing and fault-tolerance features will work with any third party's NIC adapters. VLANs only work with Broadcom NIC adapters.

Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2.

TCP/IP and IPX protocols. NetBeui is supported in some operating systems. Please refer to the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter user manual for details.

Microsoft Windows: Go to Hosts > Adapter > Port > Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet tab of BACS (Broadcon Control Suite 4) and look for the Driver Name/Version field to identify the driver version.

In Microsoft Windows, a quick network test can be done by going to the NDIS node in BACS, click on the Diagnostics tab and click on Test. Please note, if a default gateway is not specified for the adapter, BACS will prompt for an IP address.

In Microsoft Windows, there is a diagnostics feature in BACS (Broadcom Control Suite 4). For a NetXtreme I device, go to the Port number under Device Management, click on the Diagnostics tab. Click on the "Select Tests to run:" pull down menu, select Diagnostics Tests. For NetXtreme II devices, go to the Port Number, click on the Diagnostics tab, Select "Diagnostics Tests" from the pull down menu. Then click on Run test(s) to perform the tests. The test includes Control Registers Test, MII Registers Test, EEPROM Test, Internal Memory Test, On-Chip CPU Test, Interrupt Test, Loopback Test, and LED Test.

In Microsoft Windows, there is a Cable Analysis feature in BACS (Broadcon Control Suite 4). For a NetXtreme I device, go to the Port number under Device Management, click on the Diagnostics tab. Click on the "Select a Tests to run:" pull down menu, select Cable Analysis. For NetXtreme II devices, go to the Port number, click on the Diagnostics tab, Select "Cable Analysis" from the pull down menu. Then click on Analyze to perform the test.

In Microsoft Windows, go to the Statistics tab of BACS (Broadcom Advanced Control Suite).

The IPv6 Helper Service within the OS may take too long to start or not start correctly. This may occur when multiple VNICs/VLANs have been created on a system where the IPv6 driver has been installed. When the IPv6 driver, which is not native to Windows Server 2003 SP2, binds to many network adapters, it stops responding to all TCP/IPv6 requests.

Applying Microsoft hotfix KB 968597 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968597) will resolve the issue.

In Microsoft Windows Control Panel, click Broadcom Advanced Control Suite, or click the BACS icon in the taskbar located at the bottom of the Windows desktop, select Teams from the menu, and select "Go to Team View". To create a new team, select Create Team from the Team menu or right-click one of the devices in the "Unassigned Adapters" section and select Create Team. A teaming wizard will display. Follow the instructions in the wizard, and then click Finish to create the desired teaming configuration.

In Microsoft Windows, click Broadcom Advanced Control Suite, right-click one of the teams in the list and select Delete Team.

A maximum of eight adapters.

VLAN stands for Virtual Local Area Network. VLAN is a logical grouping of network users and resources connected to a switch. By default, all switches make up a large broadcast domain in the layer-2 switched network. By creating VLAN, we could break up broadcast domains into smaller ones within a switch by assigning different ports of the switch into different subnets. The benefits of using VLAN include broadcast control, security, flexibility, scalability, etc.

Refer to the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter User Guide for details.

A maximum of 64 VLANs.

1. In Microsoft Windows, click on File from the menu in BACS (Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3).
2. Select Team Save As.

Browse to where you want to save this configuration file, type its name and then click the Save button.

1. In Microsoft Windows, click on File from the menu in BACS (Broadcom Advanced Control Suite).
2. Click the Apply/Exit button.
3. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 326152 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326152/) indicates that Gigabit Ethernet adapters may experience problems with connectivity to a domain controller due to link fluctuation while the driver initializes and negotiates link with the network infrastructure. The link negotiation is further affected when the Gigabit adapters are participating in an 802.3ad team due to the additional negotiation with a switch required for this team type. As suggested in the Knowledge Base Article above, disabling media sense as described in a separate Knowledge Base Article 239924 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239924/) has shown to be a valid workaround when this problem occurs.

This is the error message:
[0006] Broadcom BCM5708C NetXtreme II GigE (NDIS VBD Client)
#2 does not support teaming.
Please select an adapter with NDIS 6 driver.

This is due to the fact that BASP expects to have one and only one binding to the miniport driver, in this case some other 3rd party driver has binding to the miniport. This is usually seen when an anti-virus driver is installed. Please ensure there are no other drivers bound to the mini-port driver, if you want to use BASP teaming Software. To see if there are any 3rd party drivers bound to the miniport driver, open device manager, click on show hidden devices, Network Adapters.

Yes. However, be aware of the following:

• Create the team prior to binding the team to the Hyper-V virtual network.
• Create a team only with an adapter that is not already assigned to a Hyper-V virtual network.
• A BASP virtual adapter configured for VLAN tagging can be bound to a Hyper-V virtual network, and is a supported configuration. However, the VLAN tagging capability of BASP cannot be combined with the VLAN capability of Hyper-V. In order to use the VLAN capability of Hyper-V, the BASP team must be untagged.
• When making changes to a team or removing a team, remove the team's binding from all guest OSs that use any of the VNICs in the team, change the configuration, and then rebind the team's VNICs to the guest OS. This can be done in the Hyper-V Manager.

Yes - PXE booting of Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V VMs is supported in Switch Dependent Teaming modes (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation (LACP) and Generic/Static Link Aggregation (Trunking)). The Smart Load Balanced and Failover (SLB) Teaming mode does not support PXE booting of VMs.

Yes - BASP teaming supports Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V VMQs in both Switch Dependent Teaming modes (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation (LACP) and Generic/Static Link Aggregation (Trunking)) and Smart Load Balanced and Failover (SLB) Teaming modes. The number of VMQs will the lowest number supported by all the members of the Team.

Do not delete the team in BACS while the team is connected to a Hyper-V virtual adapter. First delete it as a Hyper-V adapter, then delete the team in BACS as normal.

BASP only supports Hyper-V configured VLANs over a BASP untagged VLAN team. If VLANs are configured using the Hyper-V manager for a BASP tagged VLAN team, the BASP tagged VLAN setting will override the Hyper-V VLAN setting.

There was a compatibility issue between MSVS and IPMI. The issue has been addressed in the latest drivers posted on our website: http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/netxtremeii.php

To find out the current version of the bnx2 or bnx2x driver:

1. In ESX 4.x: esxupdate query --vib-view
2. In ESXi 5.0: esxcli software vib list

To load or unload bnx2 or bnx2x drivers manually:

1. vmkload_mod bnx2 or bnx2x (load driver)
2. vmkload_mod -u bnx2 or bnx2x (unload driver)

Note: Because of ESX limitations, users will not be able to unload the bnx2 or bnx2x.

To upgrade bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:

1. In ESX 4.x: esxupdate update --bundle=<filename> --maintenancemode
2. In ESXi 5.0: esxcli software vib install -d <filename> --maintenance-mode
3. After the update is complete, reboot ESX.

To remove bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:

1. In ESX 4.x: esxupdate query --vib-view (to query the driver version), then esxupdate -b <driver filename> remove
2. In ESXi 5.0: esxcli software vib list, then esxcli software remove -n <driver> (Note: the driver name is the VIB specified name, for bnx2 it is net-bnx2 for bnx2x it is net-bnx2x

To add a vSwitch and assign a virtual NIC as an uplink network:

1. esxcfg-vswitch -a <vSwitch1> (add virtual switch)
2. esxcfg-vswitch -L <vmnicX> <vSwitch1> (assign virtual NIC to the virtual switch)
3. esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg="Console1" vSwitch1 (assign a new portgroup)

To assign an IP to an interface:

1. For ESX 4.x: to create a vswif interface: esxcfg-vswif -a -I <IP_address> -n <Netmask> -p "<port group name>" vswif1
2. For ESX 4.x: to create a vmknic interface: esxcfg-vmnic -a -I <IP address or DHCP> -p <port group name>

To assign an IPv6 to an interface:

1. For ESX4.0: please use the following VMware KB article as a reference http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1010812
2. For ESX4.1: please use the following VMware KB article as a reference http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1021769/li>

To change the port speed as below steps:

1. esxcfg-nics -s 1000 -d full vmnicX
2. esxcfg-nics -l (to observe new speed setting)

To open firewall on ESX 4.xl:

1. esxcfg-firewall --allowOutgoing
2. esxcfg-firewall --allowIncoming

To open firewall on ESX 5.x:

1. esxcli network firewall set --enabled false

To configure jumbo frames on a virtual switch:

1. esxcfg-vswitch -m <size> vSwitchX
2. To configure jumbo frames for the vswif interface:ifconfig vswifX mtu <size>

To configure jumbo frames for the vmknic interface:

1. esxcfg-vmknic -m <size> vmknic<#>

To configure FPT, ensure your system supports and has Virtual Technology enabled.

1. Login to ESX via the VMware vSphere client.
2. Navigate to the host configuration tab and then click on the "Advanced Settings"option on the left column.
3. The PCI devices will be displayed and select the desired NIC.
4. Reboot the ESX server.
5. Add the desired NIC as a PCI device to the appropriate virtual machine.
6. Power on virtual machine and load the driver.

1. For bnx2: esxcfg-module -s "force_netq=X" bnx2
2. For bnx2x: esxcfg-module -s "num_queues=X" bnx2x

After upgrading the bootcode on the BCM5709 (NetXtreme II) devices to 5.2.3, my iSCSI offload adapters no longer appear. Why?

1. Also upgrade to the latest Broadcom drivers from VMware's website.
   ESX5.0: http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/dt_esxi50_broadcom_netxtreme_17034v501/dHRAYnRAJXdiZHAlJQ==
   ESX4.1: http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/dt_esxi41_broadcom_40017034v4111vmw0000000/dHdlYnRAJSpidGRkKg==
2. After upgrading, the bnx2 driver should show bnx2-2.1.12b, or above.

Download the latest certified driver from Citrix.

To upgrade bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:

# mount /devxxx /mnt
#cd /mnt
#ls
#cp -r(Xen filename) /share (as an example)
Cd Directory(name)/packages
#ls
Run# install.sh

To find out the current version of the bnx2 or bnx2x driver:

• #ethtool -I ethx

To load or unload bnx2 or bnx2x drivers manually:

1. # bnx2 or bnx2x (load driver)
2. #modprobe bnx2 or bnx2x (unload driver)

To remove bnx2 or bnx2x drivers:#
1.rpm -qa(to query the driver version)

1. #rpm e remove
2. Note: You cannot downgrade, You can only upgrade in Citrix.

Broadcom NPAR allows a single physical adapter to be partitioned into multiple virtual Ethernet/iSCSI/ FCoE adapters, which present additional PCI Functions that appear as Networking or Storage devices to the operating system. Broadcom NPAR simultaneously supports up to eight virtual Ethernet adapters (four per port) and four virtual Host Bus Adapter (HBAs) (two per port), with user configurable relative weight and maximum bandwidth allocation for traffic shaping and Quality of Service (QoS) control.

Broadcom's NPAR technology enables the user to both reduce the number of adapters needed in virtual server environments by uniting multiple lower rate 1 GbE NICs into a single adapter AND increasing overall bandwidth available on limited PCIe slot rack and blade servers; all the while maintaining flexible traffic ports (i.e., Ethernet and HBA offload being available on the same partition at the same time), traffic isolation, service quality, and bandwidth tuning for your management/ backup/migration/production networks.

On the dual 10GbE port 57712 there are a maximum of four partitions created per port.

• On the 57712, four Ethernet protocol devices can be enabled per port for a maximum of eight on the dual-ported 57712 device.
• For Windows® OSs, the Ethernet protocol can be enabled with or without any other offload protocols being enabled on the same partition.
• For Linux® OSs, the Ethernet protocol for all partitions is always enabled.
• For VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1 OSs, the Ethernet protocol for all partitions should always be enabled.
• Windows® TOE enabling requires that selected partition also have the Ethernet protocol enabled.

• Two iSCSI offload protocol HBA devices can be enabled per port on any two of the available partitions for a total maximum of four on the dual-ported 57712 device.
• In Windows® OSs, the iSCSI offload HBA device can be enabled with or without the Ethernet protocol being enabled on the same partition.
• In Linux OSs, the iSCSI offload protocol must be enabled with the Ethernet protocol being enabled on the same partition.
• The iSCSI offload protocol HBA is not certified by VMWare® for ESX/ESXi 4.1 OSs in NPAR mode. The iSCSI non-offload initiator mode is available for all partitions on every Ethernet protocol enabled port.

• One FCoE offload protocol HBA devices can be enabled per port on any one of the available partitions, for a total maximum of two on the dual-ported 57712 device.
• In Windows® OSs, the FCoE offload HBA device can be enabled with or without the Ethernet protocol being enabled on the same partition.
• In Linux OSs, the FCoE offload protocol HBA must be enabled with the Ethernet protocol being enabled on the same partition.
• Additionally, one iSCSI offload protocol HBA device can be enabled per port on any of the remaining available partitions.
• The FCoE protocol is not supported on VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1 OSs.

• No more than one offload protocol HBA device can be enabled per partition.
• A maximum of four HBA offload protocols can be enabled on the dual-ported 57712 device.

A partition's parameters are controlled in Window's using Broadcom's BACS4 utility or in Broadcom's Comprehensive Configuration Management (CCM) pre-boot utility or by using an OEM specific pre-boot utility such as Dell®'s Unified Server Configurator (USC).

Each individual partition has three parameters - enabled protocol's, Relative Bandwidth Weight and Maximum Bandwidth.

Each port (group of partitions) has one parameter - the IEEE 802.3x link-level flow control setting which is used when DCB's PFC is not enabled. IEEE 802.3x link-level flow control is not settable in the OS when in NPAR mode but must be enabled or disabled here.

Yes, the 57712 can assign iSCSI offload traffic to be Lossless and to its own dedicated priority group independent of the other TCP/IP networking or FCoE traffic, in both Single Function (SF) and NPAR modes.

Each individual partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight value can be from 0% to 100%, but the sum of the Relative Bandwidth Weights for all four partitions on the same port must equal either 0% or 100%.

The Relative Bandwidth Weight value is more than a simple minimum bandwidth setting. It is used to dynamically determine the bandwidth ratio of a partition's send traffic verses the other partition's sending traffic. The send traffic is approximately that partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight value divided by the sum of all the other current actively sending partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight values. This assumes each individual actively sending partition is able to reach that amount via their individual sending applications and that partition's Maximum Bandwidth value is not restricting the flow to below that amount. If an individual partition's send traffic flow cannot fill the level allocated to it, the other actively sending partitions will attempt to use the surplus bandwidth within the constraints of their Relative Bandwidth Weight and Maximum Bandwidth settings.

Setting the individual partition's Relative Bandwidth Weights to equal a sum other than 0% or 100% will result in undefined behavior.

Setting the Relative Bandwidth Weight value to all 0%'s is not exactly the same as setting them all to 25%. All 0%'s means each individual traffic flow gets equal weight with respect to the other traffic flows while setting them all to 25% means each partition's aggregated traffic flow gets equal weight with respect to each of the other partition's aggregated traffic flows.

If the SUM of the four partitions on the same port is not 0%, and one or more of the partitions has a 0% Relative Bandwidth Weight value, then the Relative Bandwidth Weight value used by the sending bandwidth allocation logic is actually 1%. This means that the send traffic percent allocated to a partition with 0% is never zero.

Each individual partition's Maximum Bandwidth value can be from 1% to 100%, in increments of 1% of the port's current Link Speed (in 100 Mbps increments for a 10 GbE link and in 10 Mbps increments for a 1 GbE link). The sum total of the four partition's Maximum Bandwidth values on the same port do not have to equal 100. The allowable sum-total value range is from 4 (undersubscribed - all four partitions set to 1) to 400 (oversubscribed - all four partitions set to 100).

If the four partitions were set to undersubscribe the available bandwidth, then all unassigned transmit/send direction bandwidth would be unavailable for use by any of the four partitions on the same port - i.e., if the Maximum Bandwidth of each of the four partitions on a port was set to 1% (i.e. the sum total was 4%), then the unassigned 96% of the available bandwidth would be unavailable and would not be used.

A partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight and Maximum Bandwidth values affect only its send/transmit/ outgoing traffic.

The receive direction traffic of the four partitions of a single port are not weighted or restricted by the 57712 device NPAR settings. The receive direction acts similarly to when in SF mode: the incoming traffic on the port is controlled by the switch port it is connected to.

TOE is controlled via the BACS4 application in the NDIS Client - Configuration - Advanced Properties window or by using the Windows® Device Manager in the NDIS Client - Advanced Properties window.

TOE can be controlled per partition (in NPAR mode) or per port (in SF mode).

Alternately, TOE can be enabled or disabled for the entire system (i.e., all ports) using the "netsh int tcp set global chimney=x" DOS command line instructions where the "x" can be the "enabled" or "disabled" command.

A partition's Maximum Bandwidth value is used by the OS to display the partition virtual adapter link speed. This value represents that specific partition's send/transmit/outgoing maximum speed and not the receive/incoming link speed, which is always the port's current link speed.

Yes. Jumbo frames up to 9600 bytes are supported in both Windows® and Linux OSs on all partitions, for both Ethernet and iSCSI offload protocol modes, in both SF and NPAR modes.

In SF mode, VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1 currently only supports standard frames (MTU = 1500 bytes) for iSCSI offload and Jumbo frames for L2 Ethernet (which includes iSCSI non-offload initiator mode).

In NPAR mode, VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1 supports jumbo frames (MTU up to 9600 bytes) for L2 Ethernet (which includes iSCSI non-offload initiator mode).

For Windows® and Linux OS's, FCoE protocol's MTU is always fixed at 2500 bytes. The 57712 does not support the FCoE protocol on VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1.

In Windows®, you can see what protocols are enabled for a partition in both Windows® Device Manager and BACS4. You can only see a partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight settings in BACS4. The Maximum Bandwidth value for an Ethernet protocol-enabled partition can be found in the Network Connections Status window or BACS4. If a partition has only the iSCSI or FCoE offload protocol enabled, you will only see the device and not its Maximum Bandwidth value in the Windows® Device Manager but everything is viewable and configurable in BACS4.

In Linux OSs, you can see the Ethernet, iSCSI and FCoE protocol-enabled partitions are loaded and available for an application's use. You will not be able to see a partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight settings. You can see a partition's Maximum Bandwidth settings.

In VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1, you can see the Ethernet protocol-enabled partitions are loaded and available for an application's use. You will not be able to see a partition's Relative Bandwidth Weight settings. You can see a partition's Maximum Bandwidth settings.

On the 57712-k, a switch will see additional MAC addresses (up to four L2 Ethernet MAC addresses) plus two additional iSCSI offload MAC addresses (depending upon the NPAR configuration) which is slightly more than when the 57712-k is in SF mode.

In SF mode, the same port will have one L2 Ethernet MAC address and one additional iSCSI offload MAC address. This is no change from the previous generation's 5709, 57710, and 57711 devices which can also present up to two MAC addresses per port (L2 Ethernet and iSCSI hardware offload).

• Yes. The overall rate would be 1 Gbps instead of 10 Gbps.
• DCB and FCoE are not supported on 1 GbE connections.
• Windows® TOE and iSCSI Hardware Offload are supported on 1 GbE connections on the applicable OS's.

Yes. PFC is negotiated as part of DCB which is controlled on a per-port basis. The Data Center Bridging eXchange (DCBX) negotiated loss-less traffic type will have PFC support. Lossy traffic types are not flow control protected beyond what is provided by the upper layers (such as with TCP/IP). The 57712 DCB supports both loss-less FCoE and loss-less iSCSI (iSCSI TLV) modes of operation.

If PFC is not enabled during the DCBX exchange, IEEE 802.3x link-level flow control's settings will apply.

Yes. Link-level flow control is available in both SF and NPAR modes of operation when DCB's PFC mode is not enabled.

In non-DCB SF mode, link-level flow control is configured on a per-port basis through the Advanced Properties tab of the NDIS driver of Windows® Device Manager, through the Advanced Properties tab of BACS4, or through the Linux/VMWare® ethtool utility.

In non-DCB NPAR mode, link-level flow control is configured on a per-port basis through Broadcom's BACS4 or the pre-boot utility such as Broadcom's CCM or other OEM utility. It is not configured on a per-partition basis since multiple partitions share the same port and link-level flow control operates on a per-port basis. This means that the Advanced Properties (on Windows®) or the ethtool utility (on Linux/ VMWare®) cannot be used to control link-level flow control in NPAR mode.

By default, link-level flow control will only generate pause frames in response to a temporary lack of internal hardware buffering resources.

Due to the nature of Converged NIC's, networking (L2 Ethernet) host buffers and storage (iSCSI/FCoE hardware offloaded) host buffers are maintained separately. If a lack of networking host buffers were allowed to generate link-level pause frames then storage traffic would also be paused. As a result, Broadcom has chosen not to generate link-level pause frames when the L2 host buffers are limited but instead drop frames destined for the host buffer limited function. This behavior is different from previous generation products but is intended to provide the best possible performance across both networking and storage functions in the infrequent case where host buffers are low.

Windows®, VMWare®, and Linux all provide an option to restore the previous link-level flow control behavior of generating pause frames in response to limited L2 host buffers. In Windows®, the option is called "Pause On Exhausted Host Ring" (Windows® Device Manager NDIS Advanced Properties or BACS4's NDIS Configuration Advanced Properties) for each port. In Linux, use the module option parameter named "dropless_fc" (using the "modprobe bnx2x dropless_fc=1" or equivalent "insmod" commands). In VMWare®, use the command "esxcfg-module -s dropless_fc=1 bnx2x".

Both Linux and VMWare® commands control all partitions of both ports simultaneously. When enabled, link-level pause frames will be generated if any host buffers on the designated partition are low, resulting in paused traffic to all functions on all partitions. In non-DCB NPAR mode, in Windows®, all four partitions' "Pause On Exhausted Host Ring" settings must be enabled for it to be ON or disabled for it to be OFF, where as in Linux and VMWare® all bnx2x NetXtremeII devices on the host system are enabled (1) or disabled (0) using a single command.

IEEE 802.3x link-level flow control is disabled when DCB's PFC mode is enabled.

• Remote boots will always use the first partition of each port (as if not in partitioned mode) as that boot port's MAC address.
• Windows® and Linux both support PXE/iSCSI/FCoE remote boots.
• VMWare® ESXi 4.1 supports PXE/iSCSI remote boots.
• VMWare® ESX/ESXi 4.1 does not support FCoE remote boots.
• VMWare® ESX 4.1 (the non "i" version) supports PXE but not iSCSI remote boots.
• In SF or NPAR modes, PXE booting of Windows® Hyper-V VMs over a Smart Load Balanced and Failover (SLB) Team is currently not supported; instead do the VM remote booting through another device port or a 57712 port in SF mode and use a Switch Dependent Teaming mode (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation (LACP) or Generic/Static Link Aggregation (Trunking)).

A team cannot contain more than one partition from the same port.

NPAR adapters can be teamed with other non-NPAR adapters, such as for example the BCM5709 and BCM57711.

In Windows® OS, Smart Load Balanced and Failover (SLB with or without Auto-Fallback) switch independent teaming mode is available for teams using NPAR adapters.

Switch dependent teaming (IEEE 802.3ad LACP and Generic/Static Link Aggregation (Trunking)) cannot use an NPAR virtual adapter. This is due to the way the IEEE standards require Switch Dependent Teaming (IEEE 802.3ad LACP and Generic/Static Link Aggregation (Trunking)) mode to work per entire port instead of MAC address (fraction of a port) granularity.