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robert1030
Contributor
Contributor

VMWare hosted system with e1000e virtual NICs encounters a kernel panic within "e1000e_cyclecounter_read+0xa7/0xc0 [e1000e]"

We have CentOS7(1503) systems running in VMWare. Last week when the kernel upgraded to 3.10.0-229, after one system rebooted, it immediately hangs to a black screen. I can boot to kernel 3.10.0-123.20.1 without any problems on the failing system.

VM platform is ESXi 6.0 (VMKernel release build 2809209)

vSphere version: 6.0.0 (2502222)

e1000e virtual NICs let centOS7 produce kernel panic on version 3.10.0-229....

e1000e virtual NICs let Ubuntu 14.04.2 can't find Nic

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Alistar
Expert
Expert

Seems a new kernel has caused an incompatibility with the hypervisor, which is odd but happens nevertheless. Have you tried raising a support case with VMware? I think a bug report from this situation would help them avoid such issues in the future.

Also have you tried swapping your virtual nic for vmxnet3 or just plain e1000 to see how that goes?

Stop by my blog if you'd like :slightly_smiling_face: I dabble in vSphere troubleshooting, PowerCLI scripting and NetApp storage - and I share my journeys at http://vmxp.wordpress.com/
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CrashTheGooner
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Dear Robert

e1000 adapter is not supported feature for a linux distribution
Kindly upgrade adapter type to VMXNET3 which supports linux distrubutions.

For further details refer KB : VMware KB: Choosing a network adapter for your virtual machine

If you find this or any other answer useful please mark the answer as correct or helpful. RGS
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robert1030
Contributor
Contributor

1. e1000e at old kernel 3.10.0-123.20.1.el7 is ok, upgrade to 3.10.0-229.7.2.el7, CentOS7 VM will produce kernel panic (Vmware ESxi 6)

2. e1000e can be found on Ubuntu_14.04.01 when iso install, but it can't be found on Ubuntu_14.04.02 when iso install (Vmware workstaion 11.2)

3. We have change to vmxnet3 and e1000, this issue can't be reproduce, but vmxnet3 not support any ptp - ieee1588 feature (we need this function), e1000 not support hardware Timestamp, so we only downward old kernel-3.10.0-123 and use e1000e virtual lan card.

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Alistar
Expert
Expert

Therefore this needs to be directed to VMware support so that they can inspect vmnic firmware / 3.10.0-229.7.2.el7 kernel incompatibility.

Stop by my blog if you'd like :slightly_smiling_face: I dabble in vSphere troubleshooting, PowerCLI scripting and NetApp storage - and I share my journeys at http://vmxp.wordpress.com/
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