Z6-G5: Fatal bug in PXE BIOS with Intel X710-DA2 NIC

[tourrilhes]

Hi,

When I plug a Intel X710-DA2 NIC into a Z6-G5, the BIOS fails and the machine can't boot. I get the message "DMA Protection - A Device attempted to access memory that it was not allowed to access". As this happens during the BIOS, the machine is basically unbootable, and I can't even access the BIOS setup & utilities.

If I disable PXE in the BIOS, the machine boots fine, and once booted, the NIC works fine. I'm lucky I don't need PXE. Note that I did not have to disable "DMA protection" in the BIOS, I only disabled PXE, so the bug is clearly in PXE. This smells like a buffer overflow in the PXE code, which has potential security implications. The NIC was pulled out of a Z840 where I never saw such issue.

Regards

Jean

[DGroves]

not really surprised, you people have got to stop trying to use SERVER/Datacenter type nics in non server equipment

in other words the Intel X710-DA2 NIC was never meant for use in non certified systems

https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/641693/Intel%20Ethernet%20Converged%20Network%20Adapter%20X710-DA2-D...

[tourrilhes]

DGroves wrote :

> in other words the Intel X710-DA2 NIC was never meant for use in non certified systems

Is it HP's official position that only certified hardware can be used in HP systems ? I truly want to know, because if it is the case, I will stop buying HP's products.

You say that the "X710 was never meant for use in non certified systems", but the document you point out does not say that, and I never read that about those NICs, and I've been using them for years. So, "citation needed".

The beauty of the PC ecosystem is that it's open, and I can customise it to my needs, and I can use those PCs for needs that HP did not plan for and did not certify. For example, this Z6 has four X710 dual port NICs plugged in and working beautifully, HP clearly could not plan for that, but it works.

Your answer does not make sense for another reason. If it was only a problem of certification, then the error message would be "Unsupported hardware", not "DMA Protection". The way the problem is caught by DMA protection and fixed by disabling PXE indicates that it's not a certification issue, it's not a problem with the NIC, it's a bug in the PXE code in the BIOS, most likely a buffer overrun. And buffer overruns in network code have a probability to be security issues.

Personally, I would have assumed that HP would have been grateful for me to report a bug in their BIOS and said thank you, rather than saying that I'm stupid to put this NIC in this PC. But, what do I know ?

Have a great day...

Jean

[DGroves]

i'm going to comment on several points in your latest reply, then leave this thread, as further posts by me will serve no purpose as it's your card/system

so what you do with them is up to you and please stop trying to put words i never said in your reply

i  never said any non certified products were never meant for HP systems what i did say is that such items are not HP's responsibility, but rather the end user and the card maker

1. your assumption that simply because a card fits into a pci-e slot  that means it should work on any system/configuration  is shortsighted.  it's HP's position that if you want a trouble free system you will use items that either HP has certified or that the 3rd party has certified as compatible with your system

2. HP and other workstation venders take the time to test specific things  in each workstation model, if a user decides to use a non tested part then said compatibility or performance issues are between the user and the card vender not HP which is the case here, it's not HP's fault  that your intel server nic fails to work in a specific HP system

3. the intel data sheet for your card i linked to PLAINLY STATES it's a product designed for servers, and as such  any support issues need to be directed to intel since they make this product not HP and intel support will tell you this card is not supported by them in consumer or workstation configurations and all certification of said product is with the computer company who decides to use this product or the user who decides to use this product (which in this case is you)

so my recommendation is move on and either replace the card with a part that is compatible with your model or live with your found workaround

[tourrilhes]

DGroveswrote :

> i never said any non certified products were never meant for HP systems what i did say is

> that such items are not HP's responsibility, but rather the end user and the card maker

I never said you said that. You were the one that mentioned certification, so I was trying to clarify HP's position on the topic by asking you a question. I'm glad that HP's position is that they don't require certification. Thanks for answering my question, and thanks for the good news.

> 1. your assumption that simply because a card fits into a pci-e slot that means it should work on

> any system/configuration is shortsighted.

The people in the PCI-SIG are working very hard to make this happens, and they case were it does not work are the rare exception. We definitely don't want to return to the world of proprietary systems.

> it's not HP's fault that your intel server nic fails to work in a specific HP system

There are different way things fail. For example, a graphic card may not have enough power supply, a PCIe care may require an unsupported version of PCIe, a SATA drive may require an unsupported version of SATA, etc. Those are expected.

The specific failure in this case is quite different, it's a bug in the BIOS code. The NIC does not fail, it work beautifully in the Z6-G5, the only thing that fails is the PXE code in the BIOS. And PXE is network code, so you don't want to have loose screws rattling around in this code.

As I said, I was expecting HP to encourage people reporting bugs in their code. Especially that I was not asking anything of HP, I was not complaining or criticizing, I was just reporting a bug in HP's code. I'm quite surprised to be treated so poorly when I was thinking of doing HP a favor.

> the intel data sheet for your card i linked to PLAINLY STATES it's a product designed for servers

The delineation between server and desktop  has always been fuzzy.

The Z6-G5 uses Xeon processor. Xeon processors are Intel's line of server processor.

Xeon processors include various server features, such as support for ECC memory. This enable the Z6-G5 to use server memory.

The PXE feature in the Z6-G5 BIOS is definitely not a consumer feature, and pretty much a server feature.

You seem to know all the HP part catalog by heart, so can you tell me what is the purpose of part 2A8Y5AA ?

Regards,

Jean