PowerEdge: Intel X520 adapters experience unexpected SFP+ port behavior with firmware version 18.5.17

Issue

Intel X520 network adapter running firmware 18.5.17 may experience intermittent network link issues or other unexpected events when using the SFP port. Due to this potential impact, we highly recommend a proactive update of the firmware to version 18.5.18 or later to maintain optimal system performance, and avoid experiencing these issues:

1. Either or both SFP+ ports down during "Initializing Firmware Interface...." at POST, and the SFP+ ports LEDs are all OFF after the problem happened.
2. SFP+ Ports flapping and OS log shows that unsupported transceiver is in use.

Affected Firmware:

18.5.17

• VX6DW - SWB,FW,NTWK,INTEL,DUP,18.5.0
• 0GW47 - SWB,FW,NTWK,INTEL,ESXI,18.5.0

List of affected cards:

• C63DV - CRD,NTWK,12G,RNDC,INTEL,10GSFP
• WHJ7C - CRD,NTWK,LOM,DP,INTEL,C6320
• XYT17 - CRD,NTWK,10G,SFP+,DP,INTEL,V2
• 942V6 - CRD,NTWK,10G,SFP+,DP,INT,LP,V2

N/A

Solution

The hardware is working fine and does not need replacement.

Dell engineering team is aware of this issue, and the new firmware 18.5.18 has been posted to solve this problem:

• 7TF94 - SWB,FW,NTWK,INTEL,ESXI,18.5.1
• 3XJH0 - SWB,FW,NTWK,INTEL,DUP,18.5.1

For Dell EMC 14th generation servers, the following steps may be needed to complete the installation of this firmware update:

1. Apply the 18.5.18 firmware through your operating system.
2. Reboot the system
3. Press "F2" to enter the "System BIOS" when prompted.
4. Go to "Miscellaneous Settings."
5. In the "Power Cycle Request" section, select "Full Power Cycle."
6. Press Esc to exit the system BIOS. Choose to save settings when prompted.
7. The system reboots.
8. After the reboot completes, the firmware is fully installed.