Broadcom (R) Corporation
Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Software Kit for
the BCM570x NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Release 10.0 and 3.0, build 3.0.18
(Friday, February 26, 2007)
RELEASE NOTES
Software Compatibility
======================
This release of software supports:
- BCM5700 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5701 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5703 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5704 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5706 NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5706S NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5708 NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5708S NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5721 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5751 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- BCM5754 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Contents of the CD
==================
**** Release Version Information Table ****
Product Version
Windows 2000 10.26b
Windows XP/Server 2003 x64 10.26b
Windows XP/Server 2003 x86 10.26b
Windows 2000 Driver NX2 3.0.5*
Windows 2003 Driver NX2 3.0.5*
BASP for Netware 2.27
BASP Windows 2000 6.2.24*
BASP Windows XP/Server 2003 ia32 6.2.24*
BASP Windows XP/Server 2003 x64 6.2.24*
bxDiag 3.0.5*
Dos Ndis2 NX1 10.03
Dos Ndis2 NX2 2.01
Linux DKMS NX1 3.74b
Linux DKMS NX2 1.4.51b
Linux Driver NX2 1.4.51b
Linux Tg3 3.74b
Netware ODI 16 NX1 10.03
Netware ODI 16 NX2 2.01
Netware ODI 32 NX1 10.02
Netware ODI 32 NX2 2.86
RIS w2k Driver 3.0.0
RIS w2k3 Driver 3.0.0
VBD Driver 3.0.7*
BASP Silent Config 6.1.8
BASP Uninstall 6.1.3
BASPSUpg 7.0.5
BACS 10.0.8
BMAPI 7.6.1
CABW32 6.2.0
CIM for Windows 6.3.2
DOS uxDiag 1.3.1
DOS B57UDiag 10.11
Netware SNMP 6.0.0
SNMP-Basp 7.1.3
SNMP-Extensible-Agent 7.1.4
Umbrella Installer 10.18.04
Note: An asterisk (*) following a version number represents a certified driver.
* Third-party trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Broadcom, Broadcom Advanced Server Program, Broadcom Advanced Server Control Suite, and Smart Load Balance are registered trademarks of Broadcom Corporation.
New Features:
1. Introduction of TOE Teaming where TOE works when TOE members are in teams. To function, TOE must be available and enabled on all members of the team.
2. Added Dell Update Package support for version management.
3. Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0
4. Support for Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10
Fixes the following issues:
1. Potential data corruption issue when using TOE in an environment where there are many TCP/IP retries.
2. MS Virtual Server issue where an interface would be unavailable to the host OS when a hosted OS is installed.
3. Linux Xen kernel issue where an interface would be unavailable to the host OS when a hosted OS is installed.
*** Currently known issues and limitations with Broadcom NetXtreme 1 and 2 drivers and devices. ***
1. BASP (the Broadcom Advanced Server Program) will appear to be bound to all adapters
in the system once loaded. This binding is normal and is used only to determine compatibility
with BASP. The binding is not active, as indicated by the gray background of the selection
box. This pre-binding will not interfere with bindings to other software protocols.
2. Backup time using EMC's Networker Backup 7.3 may take longer when TOE is enabled on only one side of the
client/server connection. When TOE is enabled on both sides the backup time has been shown to be less than
with TOE disabled on both sides.
CPU utilization in the case where TOE is enabled on both sides has been shown to be much lower than TOE disabled.
3. Customer may not see improvements with TOE when running web traffic with short-lived connections. When Webbench
5.0 uses short-lived connections to generate web traffic, TOE throughput is ~3% lower than non-TOE. CPU utilization
is 100% in both cases. This is due to the fact that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack and
Broadcom NetXtreme II drivers aren't fully optimized to handle uploading and offloading of short-lived http
connections. TOE demonstrates performance advantages with long-lived connections.
4. Double network counters using Perfmon: The Windows application, Perfmon, may report twice the number of bytes
received/sec, bytes sent/sec, packets received/sec and packets sent/sec when monitoring a NetXtreme II device with
TOE disabled.
5. The NetXtreme II drivers have two parts, the VBD driver and the NDIS Client driver. This combination of drivers
can be used for WinPE installations as long as the WinPE image is built with the /PnP option. WinPE images that are
booted with the -miniNT option will only load the NDIS driver so NetXtreme II network devices will not be functional
in this environment. Use the -winpe option instead of the -minint option to boot WinPE when using NetXtreme II devices
or use the special RIS driver contained in the distribution package in the NX2_RIS_Driver directory of the unpacked
files.
6. Specifying network settings for NetXtreme II devices using the Microsoft unattended answer file does not work
using the PCI Bus/Device/Function designation to specify adapters. This is due to the NDIS personality of the
NetXtreme II device being a virtual device which means it does not have a physical Bus/Device/Function address. MAC
address designation does work and may be used in conjunction with Bus/Device/Function for a complete solution. A
program called netset.exe from Microsoft, available in the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, can also be used to
apply network settings after the unattended install. Netset.ext uses the answer file to apply the network settings
specified to the adapters in the system. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 268781 for more information on netset.exe.
7. NetXtreme II devices support Jumbo Frames, but the interface for configuring them is not listed in the Windows
Advanced Tab of the Network Interface properties. To configure Jumbo Frames, you must use the Broadcom Advanced
Control Suite, BACS2. Running the InstallShield installer will allow the installation of BACS.
8. Windows network device teaming (aggregation of 2 or more networks interfaces into one logical interface) may
encounter problems when the team is servicing multiple types of TCP/IP traffic and experiences high stress. If
teamed networks encounter persistent issues when running multiple types of traffic, splitting that traffic between
servers, such as moving email services or HTTP services, to different servers will alleviate this issue. Please also see the Microsoft TechNet articles on SynAttackProtect.
9. BACS2 is used to configure TOE when the Microsoft Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack (SNP hotfix) is installed.
If a user clicks on the Configure button on the Resource Allocation tab of BACS, and unchecks the box next to NDIS
with the intent of disabling TOE, then commits the change in BACS and then uninstalls the SNP hotfix, the network
capability of the NetXtreme II device is locked and can not be used. To reenable the network function, reinstall SNP and use BACS2 to recheck the NDIS box. To properly disable TOE without losing the network function, do not uncheck the NDIS box, instead, uncheck the TCP/IP Offload Engine box directly below the NDIS box.
10. Under Windows 2000 Server, the NetXtreme II devices may display an option in their Advanced Tab in the network interface properties entitled "Receive Side Scaling". This option is only supported on the Windows Server 2003 family. This option does not have any affect on any settings and may be ignored.
11. The first time diagnostics are run in a Windows environment on NetXtreme II devices (5708), the diagnostic driver must be installed. Windows will either automatically install the driver, in which case, no action is required by the user, or Windows will ask to be directed to the INF file for the diagnostic driver. If you are prompted to install the driver, please direct the Windows dialog to search for the driver in the directory where the Broadcom driver package was unzipped. You may also search your hard drive for the file “bxdiag.inf.”
If the file “bxdiag.inf” does not exist on your hard drive, you can run the Broadcom Installer “setup.exe” from the zip package included on the DSA Service Mode CD, or from the zip package downloaded from www.support.dell.com. Running the installer will place the diagnostic driver on your hard drive and prepare it for automatic install the next time it is needed by the Broadcom diagnostics.
Dell, Broadcom and Microsoft are currently working to fix issues that can be fixed and will release updated network drivers and other required software as they become available.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.