HP Ethernet 10GB 2P 530sfp + Adapter

[juchestyle]

Hey Everyone,

I have the above adapter (HP Ethernet 10GB 2P 530sfp + Adapter) in an HP Proliant DL380p Gen8 esxi5 host.  It is a brand new install, never worked before.  It shows 8 vmnic (2 ports).  We can't get any routing or networking to come through this card.  We have 1 gig vmnics configured and everything works through there.  It shows up within ESXi as Emulex Corporation NC552SFP 2-port 10Gb Server Adapter.  Any ideas or suggestions?

[juchestyle]

I have a case open with VMWare at 12227564609 and I have a case open with HP at 4863320934.  The tech from HP just told me that he can't find any documentation either on how to configure these cards.  But he tells me if we want to buy software support they will be happy to assist us further.  So it boils down like this.  You can purchase this product from HP, but if you want it to work you have to purchase software support as well.  This is the worst support I have ever seen.

[Liv_Swann]

Hi - did you ever find a resolution for this? We have the exact same card. We have tried everything, firmware/driver updates, checked switch configuration etc to no avail. Even tried a brand new card (same model). We've checked the card is definitely compatible with the server, and that the correct transcievers and fibre cable type are used.  We have lights flickering and it looks like packets are being sent. Network admins say that they can't see anything plugged in from their end. Not an ESX host, but a StoreEasy 1650 (which is a modifieid DL380 Gen 9). We are going to connect one of the 1GB connections just to get internet access but we need the 10GB connection working. We contacted HP and they were no use, told us it's supposed to be plug and play and if the lights are flickering then it's not the card and to go back to our reseller. Short of buying a different model we don't know what else to try?

[juchestyle]

Hey Liv,

Wow, that is so long ago I am trying to remember the resolution.  I honestly don't remember what we did.  If you have a case open with HP or VMware you might try referencing the case I opened and see if there are notes in there.  I will think about it today and see if my recall improves.

I assume your ESXi install ISO is directly from HP correct?  If it is not, it will NOT have the HP drivers included in the ISO.  That does stick out in my mind as a priority.

[Liv_Swann]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I forgot to explain that this is a Windows Storage Server 2012 box, not an ESX host. But it's the exact same card with, what sounds like, the same issues. If it had the same problem with ESX then that indicates it's not an OS problem but either a setting required with the card, or an issue with our switch config, possibly cabling or transceivers that we haven't been able to find yet.

I can try going back to HP with your case ID and see if they can find something in there, but if you can recall how you fixed it, please let me know.

Cheers,

Liv

[Liv_Swann]

Hi,

Just a heads up that I may be onto something. I believe the problem is with the transciever we are using. It's an HPE transciever but apparently Cisco switches don't like third party transcievers.

Some more info here:

https://networkingnerd.net/2013/02/28/why-is-my-sfp-not-working/

It says to run (unsupported) commands to force the Cisco switch to support third party transceivers:

service unsupported-transceiver

no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid

So I've gone back to the network guys and boss to see what they want to do. The official Cisco transceivers are nearly 10x more expensive than third party ones but running unsupported commands on the switch isn't ideal either.

I'll post back with a resolution if we manage to fix it.

Cheers,

Olivia

[Liv_Swann]

So we finally got this working! I'm not 100% sure what the problem was. We removed the HP transceiver, and installed a Cisco one. No change. Then I realised that we had 2 other servers with the same card that were working, and that they were plugged into a differernt switch, a Cisco Catalyst 4500. The switch we were trying to get the card working with was a Cisco 3850. I got our network guy to plug the server into the Cisco 4500 and voila! Started working (on DHCP)! A few things - the server still doesn't work on a static IP and the one from DHCP is on a different subnet. The 3850 doesn't have DHCP enabled. So I'm wondering if it had DHCP enabled, if the card would have worked. So it could be either a problem with connectivity between our various subnets, or it could be a config or firmware issue with the 3850. Hoping this information helps others with the same problem, but it definitely isn't an OS or driver issue in this instance - works with the default 4 year old driver fine, and others have reported issues with both Windows, Linux, and ESX.