"PHY read timeout" with bce2 & 3 on FreeBSD 8.0

[David Christensen]

> > I'm working with a system (IBM System x3550 M2) that has 
> four onboard
> > bce(4) NICs.  Using FreeBSD 8.0, the first two seem to 
> function fine, 
> > but the second two do not, yielding messages like this when 
> a cable is
> > inserted:
> > 
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel: <2<>N2M>NINM IM INISMI AI S AIIS SAA 
> > 22cc2,,c ,  E2EIcIES,SIAS  AA E  I00 Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel:
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel: S0
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel:
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel: <<22>>A
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel:
> > Jan 12 10:37:19 dmz55 kernel: 0
> > Jan 12 10:37:28 dmz55 kernel: bce2: 
> /usr/src/sys/dev/bce/if_bce.c(1533):
> > Error: PHY read timeout!
> >  phy = 1, reg = 0x0001
> > 
> > 
> > What's are the best next steps to take in figuring this 
> out?  Thanks in
> > advance for any assistance.  Kernel boot log appending below.
> > 
> 
> Are you using ASF/IMPI/UMP on bce2 or bce3?
> If so would you try attached patch? Publicly available datasheet
> lacks details on management firmware handling so I'm not sure what
> is really happening here.
> davidch may shed light on this(CCed).

The first lines include a lot of N's, M's, and I's, which make me
think an NMI may be occurring.  Does the garbled text and the PHY
timeout error disappear if you disable bce2/bce3?  Can you try
adding "options PRINTF_BUFR_SIZE=256" to your kernel config file
to try and de-garble the output?

Dave