# Gigabit fiber card just stopped working



## kyrrin (Jan 3, 2010)

Fellow techies,

This query is along the lines of forensics, as in wanting to know what happened even though I've already replaced the server involved (it was due for upgrade in any case).

What I had, originally, was FreeBSD 7.2-RELEASE installed on an HP NetServer LP1000R, single CPU, single 9-gig SCSI drive. I was not, at the time, using the onboard copper Ethernet ports, having installed a Compaq NC6134 Gigabit fiber card. The entire setup was running as our mail server, using Postfix and Dovecot.

One evening, for no apparent reason and after running just fine for over four years, FreeBSD was no longer able to see the fiber network card (it was device em0) at all. It simply vanished from the system's device list during bootup.

Upgrading to 8.0 had no effect, so, in an effort to get up and running while I prepared the replacement server, I simply yanked the fiber card and went back to the onboard copper Ethernet port (which worked just fine as soon as I enabled it in the BIOS -- FreeBSD saw it right away).

So, in conclusion and purely out of curiosity: Does anyone have any idea why the fiber card would have simply vanished from sight, right out of the blue? The exact same card, when installed in the new server (the DL380 G2 I just put in), is working like a champ. This makes me pretty sure it was not the card.

No rush, since everything's working. I'm simply curious.

Happy travels.


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## kyrrin (Jan 3, 2010)

Additional info: Before I transitioned to the DL380, I tried a spare LP1000R chassis, just to see if the motherboard's expansion slot had failed. Nope! Same exact result. The fiber card was invisible to FreeBSD, while the copper ports showed up immediately.

Head-scratcher!!!


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