Advisory: (Revision) CUSTOMER ACTION REQUIRED to Identify and Replace Certain HP NC364T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapters that May Experience an Extremely Rare Issue Resulting in Adapter Failure - c01501574

RESOLUTION

HP NC364T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapters manufactured on or after April 1, 2008 are not affected. To ensure stability of your computing environment, HP is providing an adapter identification utility to enable customers to identify potentially affected adapters. Adapters identified by the utility will be replaced by HP.

Refer to the relevant sections of this advisory for the appropriate customer action:

Customers utilizing Customer Self Repair (CSR) to replace affected adapters:
- installed in ProLiant servers
- visual inspection of adapters not yet installed in a system
Customers with Onsite service agreements

Customers with Onsite service agreements

Follow the instructions below, in the section titled, Customers with Onsite service agreements at the end of the Resolution section.

Customers utilizing Customer Self Repair (CSR) only:

If optional NC364T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapters are present in your computing environment, HP strongly recommends that you access the NC364T Customer Response website and download and run the adapter identification utility in order to determine if further action is needed. The Resolution section of this advisory provides the following information:

How to access the NC364T Customer Response website and what information is available there.
General guidelines for using the NC364T Customer Response website.
Downloading and running the adapter identification utility.
What to expect after the utility has been executed.

NC364T Customer Response website

A Customer Response website, dedicated to the identification and adapter replacement process, has been established. This website will provide the following information and services:

Documentation and general information regarding this issue.
Specific instructions for downloading and running the adapter identification utility for each supported operating system environment.
Links to download the appropriate adapter identification utility.
An automated ordering process to replace adapters identified by the utility.

To get started, navigate to the following URL: http://h30090.www3.hp.com/pcc-NIC

General guidelines for using the NC364T Customer Response website:

Once at the website, the following process will occur:

The customer will navigate to the adapter identification utility link on the left navigational bar and will choose their specific operating system environment.
The customer will download the adapter identification utility and read the instructions for running it.
The customer will run the adapter identification utility and the utility will report the status of the adapters. Adapters that do not need to be replaced will return a result of "OK." Adapters affected by this issue and that are eligible for replacement will return a result of "REPLACE."
The customer will copy and paste the MAC addresses that return a "REPLACE" status into the appropriate text field within the ordering/validation screen of the NC364T Customer Response website.
Adapters that are displayed as "OK" do not need to be reported.
The customer will complete the Customer Order Details form on the website, providing the required information to complete the proposed request. Customers are encouraged to order only the adapters that they plan to use within the next two weeks. There is a limit of 100 MAC addresses that can be entered into an individual order, although more than one order can be placed.
Once the Customer Order Details are received by HP, HP will verify the MAC address of the adapters that have indicated a "REPLACE" status and will automatically order and ship the appropriate number of replacement adapters to the customer.
A confirmation email will be sent to the customer indicating that the proposed order has been received. If there are any discrepancies or questions regarding the information submitted by the customer, HP will provide information for the customer to contact the HP Support Center.
The customer will receive the replacement adapters and return the affected adapters to HP, using the return packaging provided. Orders will be shipped FedEX 2-Day (USA customers) or USPS International Priority Mail (International customers) within two weeks of receipt and verification of the order. PLEASE DO NOT DISCARD the packaging as it is needed to return replaced adapters.

IMPORTANT: Customers should not submit their requests for replacement adapters until they are ready to use them. The information sheet includes a date for indicating when the replacement actions are to begin. HP requires that the replaced adapters be returned within two weeks of receipt of the replacement adapters.

Visual inspection for optional adapters not currently installed in ProLiant servers :

The adapter identification utility can be run remotely or as a standalone tool. To determine if optional adapters that have not yet been installed in ProLiant servers are eligible for replacement, download the adapter identification utility and perform the steps below:

Using an application such as Windows Notepad, create a sequential list of the MAC addresses. The MAC address coincides with the first port of the four ports on the adapter and can be successfully used to determine if the adapter is eligible for replacement.

Note : The MAC Address for each individual adapter has 12-digits and is printed on the NC364T label; for example: 001C291D0FEC. The label containing the MAC address is located directly on the board next to the RJ-45 connector.

Name the file containing the sequential list "MAC.TXT" (or another relevant name) and save it in the directory where the MACUTIL.EXE files were unzipped.
To examine the MAC.TXT file for affected network adapter, type the following command line:
MACUTIL MAC.TXT where "mac.txt" is the filename of the MAC address text file.

What to expect after running the adapter replacement utility:

The following section provides examples of the type of output that will be generated by the operating-system specific adapter replacement utilities:

Windows:MACUTIL
Linux/VMware: ifcheck or nic.sh
DOS: NICCHECK

For systems running Microsoft Windows operating systems:

MACUTIL is a Windows-based program that collects pertinent information via the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), from ProLiant servers running either Windows or Linux operating systems. A ProLiant server running a Windows or Linux operating system can be inspected for the presence of a potentially affected network adapter from a remote PC workstation. The system name and IP address will also be returned and can be used to locate the system with the affected adapter.

Results generated by MACUTIL:

SNMP output :

Checking server w/ IP address:12.34.56.70

Sysname: TESTSERVER1

Slot 2 HP NC364T MAC Address:0018fe2e3196 Replace

Slot 2 HP NC364T MAC Address:0018fe2e3197 *same slot*

Slot 2 HP NC364T MAC Address:0018fe2e3194 *same slot*

Slot 2 HP NC364T MAC Address:0018fe2e3195 *same slot*

LOCAL output:

HP NC364T MAC Address: 0018fe2e3196 Replace

HP NC364T MAC Address: 0018fe2e3197 *same slot*

HP NC364T MAC Address: 0018fe2e3194 *same slot*

HP NC364T MAC Address: 0018fe2e3195 *same slot*

Check against text file output:

MAC address:001CC44714E8 Replace

MAC address:001CC44724E7 Replace

MAC address:0018fe2e3196 Replace

For systems running Linux or VMware operating systems:

nic.sh (Remote Linux/VMware script) and ifcheck (Linux/VMware MAC address check utility) is designed to work on both x86 and x86_64 based Linux systems and on systems running Vmware. After specifying one or MAC addresses to evaluate, the ifcheck utility will respond with either "Replace" if the NIC needs to be replaced, or "OK" if the NIC is not affected. When using multiple MAC addresses, each address is evaluated and a status in printed.

Results generated by the ifcheck utility for Linux/VMware:

In the example below, the first two MAC addresses are from a NIC that should be replaced, and the last one is from a NIC that is not affected.

[root@dhcp57-167 /]# ifcheck 00:1F:29:55:B1:33 00:1F:29:55:B1:32 00:1F:29:55:B1:3A
Replace
Replace
OK

The nic.sh script can be used or modified as needed to detect NC364T adapters in remote systems. The script will print out the hostname, virtual interface, MAC address, and status of each NIC that is scanned. If no NC364T adapters are detected, the script will note that in the Results.log file.

Results generated by the nic.sh script:

Note: The formatting of the output from the nic.sh tool will be column aligned when viewed in Linux or in a Windows- based text editor, which recognizes Linux formatted files. An example of the output is below:

15.57.57.198 does not contain an NC364T
15.57.57.108 does not contain an NC364T
15.57.57.180
eth0 eth2 eth3 eth4 eth5
00:16:35:C3:49:C0 00:18:FE:2E:10:30 00:18:FE:2E:10:33 00:18:FE:2E:10:31 00:18:FE:2E:10:32
OK Replace Replace Replace Replace
16.83.129.153
eth0 eth1 eth2 eth3 eth4
00:1E:0B:FC:8D:CD 00:1F:29:56:2D:4C 00:1F:29:56:2D:4F 00:1F:29:56:2D:4E 00:1F:29:56:2D:4D
OK OK OK OK OK
15.57.57.180
eth0 eth2 eth3 eth4 eth5
00:16:35:C3:49:C0 00:18:FE:2E:10:30 00:18:FE:2E:10:33 00:18:FE:2E:10:31 00:18:FE:2E:10:32
OK Replace Replace Replace Replace

For systems running MS-DOS:

NICCHECK will detect if there are any NC364T NICs in this system that may need to be replaced. If no affected NC364T NICs are found, the following message will print and the program will exit:

There are no NC364T NICs found in this system.

For all NC364T NICs that are found, one of two messages will print:

The NC364T NIC with MAC Address XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX: O.K.

OR

The NC364T NIC with MAC Address XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX: REPLACE

Customers with Onsite service agreements only:

To get started, navigate to the following URL:

http://h30090.www3.hp.com/pcc-NIC

If HP NC364T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapters are present in your computing environment, HP strongly recommends that you access the NC364T Customer Response website and download and run the adapter identification utility in order to determine if further action is needed. The Resolution section of this advisory provides the following information:

How to access the NC364T Customer Response website and what information is available there
General guidelines for using the NC364T Customer Response website
System Requirements/Utility Limitations
Downloading and running the adapter identification utility
What to expect after the utility has been executed

After running the utility , perform the following:

In North America, contact Customer Support at 1-800-334-5144.

For Customer Support outside of North America, click on the following URL for a list of Customer Support Centers and appropriate phone numbers:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact.html

HP Support document

Business Support Center

HP Passport Sign-in

Tasks

Resources