DELL X540-T2 10 GbE NIC want allow M/B to boot

[3DCadModeler]

First let me congratulate Dennis Wood on a fine series.

He inspired me to do some testing of my own, now I'm a newbie to both Networking and 10GbE Nics. My problem is I cant even get my hardware to talk to each other.

Motherboards ............1150 Asus Z97-A...................1155 Gigagyte Z77X-D3H
CPU.............................I7-4790K..................................I7-3770K
Memory.......................GSkill 32Gb.............................G Skill 32Gb
SSD.............................128 Gb Samy Pro...................2x256 Samy Pro Raid 0
Video cards removed to give full access to the PCIe slots, running on Intel HD
Both running Windows 8.1 Pro

All was working fine over a 1 GbE Network until I installed a Dell X540-T2 10 GbE Nic into both computers and neither will boot, not even post!

Now I have tested 1 of the cards in my work station (2011 M/B, I7-3930K) and all worked well, set it up to replace a 1GbE Nic.

Has Dell limited the cards compatibility?
Can I rescue them for my test bed,
or do I hand them over to my Grinning Boss for his server?

Stay tuned, the aim is a High Speed Network for Solidworks modelling – 3 stations
Regards to all

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Is MB BIOS up-to-date?

 

[3DCadModeler]

TonyH
I checked the BIOS on each machine,
the Z77 was up to date
the Z97 was not - updated it, still will not post

 

[azazel1024]

Can you get the boot error codes? That would be the first place to start.

Next would probably be contacting the board manufacturers depending on what the boot codes are.

 

[3DCadModeler]

Thanks azazel1024, I'm away from the office/home for another week.
When I return I'll see what codes I can acquire.

Would be nice if it at least worked with the Asus Z97-A as this config is proving to be a nice Solidworks station

 

[mevans336]

Sorry to resurrect this thread from the dead, but I also have a Dell provided Intel X540-T2 10Gbps card and it won't work in my Gigabyte Z97 MB. It did for about 30 minutes, but then it stopped and when I tried to power my system on, it would just turn on ... 10 seconds later turn off ... turn on ... 10 seconds later turn off.

Installing the card into another systems shows it is still fully operational, as is the Z97 system with the card removed.

 

[azazel1024]

Can you try something else in that gigabyte board?

I had a recent issue that made me think of that. My video card died a hard and horrible death. Machine would boot up just fine, but no video out for about 2 minutes, then flashing geometric hash at about .5FPS.

Tried it in my other 16x board slot, same thing. Replaced the video card (thank goodness for iGPUs, even if it was too slow for gaming, windows worked fine for everything else). For whatever totally unknown reason my machine absolutely REFUSES to recognize the card in my first x16 slot. I spent a good hour trying to get it to work, playing around in the UEFI, etc. No dice. Half on a lark, half trouble shooting I stuck it in my second 16x slot. Detected right away and works great. I tried swapping it back, no dice.

I swap my dead video card back in, same geometric hash in both slots. New card back in, only works in the second slot.

So, this could just be a "terrible fluke", but I am half suspecting that however my first video card died (it was approaching 5 years old), that it might have damaged the motherboard as well, preventing the first slot from working properly.

Of course that doesn't necessarily explain how your NIC would work in another machine, but I guess my wayyyy too long post is getting at is, that maybe the slot on your motherboard is dead. Can you try it in another slot on the same board? Or try another PCI-e device in that slot to see what happens?

 

[cm2187]

I am experiencing the same problem with a Intel X540-T2 and an Asus Z87 Pro. Did you manage to find a solution? Or did you find a 10GBE card that was compatible with Asus?

 

[Dreamslacker]

If you are using the first PCIe slot - the one that is normally used for graphics cards, try going into BIOS and look for the option to change the PCIe link gen and drop it down to Gen2 or Gen1.

Some of these cards don't behave properly when placed in a PCIe Gen 3 slot (they don't seem to communicate properly for backwards compatibility).

 

[azazel1024]

If you are using the first PCIe slot - the one that is normally used for graphics cards, try going into BIOS and look for the option to change the PCIe link gen and drop it down to Gen2 or Gen1.

Some of these cards don't behave properly when placed in a PCIe Gen 3 slot (they don't seem to communicate properly for backwards compatibility).

Hmmm, that is a good thought. Could be something to give a try to. For some random reason, my GPU died in my MB after about 4 years (AMD 5570) and when I went to get a new one (GTX750), it would NOT work in my first PCI-e slot for whatever reason. It works fine in my second 16x slot though (UD3H Gigabyte board Z77, so it has PCI-e Gen3). Computer wouldn't even detect it in the first slot (though it powered it) and swapping one of my Intel Gigabit CT cards in to the first slot, just to try for giggles and sneezes, the NIC works fine in the first PCI-e slot, it is isn't that the slot is fried.

 

[Dreamslacker]

It's a known problem with some expansion cards. IIRC, lots of pfSense users had issues with the Intel PT Quad cards due to a similar issue. Forcing the Link gen. back down to v1 solved the issue for them.

Also, for Dell branded 10GbE cards, the issue might be bigger than just a PCIe Gen issue. Their firmware is crippled because they are meant for use in specific Dell blade like systems where the bulk of the firmware is actually loaded off the system EFI. Something to do with how the cards are integrated together with the rest of the system to provide multiple redundant paths.

 

[yosiyakovi]

Problem Solution

Hi Guys,

I had exactly the same issue with my HP 800G1 Workstation.
When i have inserted the X540-T2 card (from dell) the system wont boot up. even not the BIOS screen.
Firstly i thought that the problem was in the PC. I have updated the bios but nothing.
Then i noticed that the beeps of the PC is like i had memory problems.
So i have removed all my RAM DIMMs and left only one.
Surprise the system turned on.
Then i have inserted second memory module and also worked fine.
In the Third memory module the problem returned.
So the problem is with the memory mapping of the DELL's NIC that collisions with the intel chipset (desktop chipsets).

The strange thing is when i bought the same card X540-T2 from HP i didnt had the same problem.
The problem is in dell's board design.

So the solution for me was to replace the memory DIMM's from 4x4GB to 2x8GB.

Hope I helped.

 

[ka3fs]

am having this same problem with the x540-t2 (dell) on my openwrt (4790k, b85m-d3h motherboard).

 

[drinkingbird]

am having this same problem with the x540-t2 (dell) on my openwrt (4790k, b85m-d3h motherboard).

This is an 8 year old thread, so one would hope Dell has fixed the problem by now. Have you tried removing memory like the previous user said, updating the firmware of the NIC (assuming there is an update available) and then putting the memory back in to see if they've fixed it?

 

[ka3fs]

This is an 8 year old thread, so one would hope Dell has fixed the problem by now. Have you tried removing memory like the previous user said, updating the firmware of the NIC (assuming there is an update available) and then putting the memory back in to see if they've fixed it?

tried removing memory modules, but havent tried to update firmware. will report back

 

[ka3fs]

tried removing memory modules, but havent tried to update firmware. will report back

yup, firmware up to date now and still no cigar. im going to chuck it up to my motherboard chipset not being up to par. it was a budget motherboard, i say this because the x540 is working in my build (mid range 12 series board)

 

[drinkingbird]

yup, firmware up to date now and still no cigar. im going to chuck it up to my motherboard chipset not being up to par. it was a budget motherboard, i say this because the x540 is working in my build (mid range 12 series board)

Generally I've found server class NICs require server class boards or at least higher end workstation ones. Sounds like this particular dell board is especially picky.

 

[ka3fs]

Back to this thread to post potential solution for anyone still looking this issue up. Tape Mod for Dell-based pcie cards (this is in the same vein as the "removing memory modules" solution posted previously by yosiyakovi, but a more extreme approach that can possibly allow you to use as much ram as you want) I haven't tested it yet but wanted to share this on here.

 

[drinkingbird]

Back to this thread to post potential solution for anyone still looking this issue up. Tape Mod for Dell-based pcie cards (this is in the same vein as the "removing memory modules" solution posted previously by yosiyakovi, but a more extreme approach that can possibly allow you to use as much ram as you want) I haven't tested it yet but wanted to share this on here.

I did that once to test my dual port 1G intel server NICs in a desktop's video card slot (since it had no x4 slots). Works but not sure I'd want to run like that always, there is a reason the motherboard allocates channels and memory to each type of card. But if you're ok with that risk, it does typically work, just unknown what bugs you might run into especially if you add more cards down the road. I have a old laptop with tape mod on the wifi card but in that case it is just to get around the BIOS's "white list" for wifi cards, its pre PCIE-e.

 

[ka3fs]

I did that once to test my dual port 1G intel server NICs in a desktop's video card slot (since it had no x4 slots). Works but not sure I'd want to run like that always, there is a reason the motherboard allocates channels and memory to each type of card. But if you're ok with that risk, it does typically work, just unknown what bugs you might run into especially if you add more cards down the road. I have a old laptop with tape mod on the wifi card but in that case it is just to get around the BIOS's "white list" for wifi cards, its pre PCIE-e.

am potentially getting a refund on the dell card so i havent got to actually trying the tape method but thanks for the heads up / forewarning. my unresearched self went and bought it assuming it was able to auto negotiate 2.5G (my modems port and personal pc's port) so it wouldn't actually even fit in my network eco system. nonetheless i have opted into going with a 8125b dual port card. just really hope someone with great preparation may skim thru this thread before blindly buying a server-grade card for a desktop grade custom router like me. lol