'netxen_nic device ethX does not seem to be present, delaying initialization' after kernel upgrade

Solution Unverified - Updated 2024-08-06T05:26:05+00:00 -

Issue

After upgrading some HP DL380 G7 systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 to, the system does not initiate NetXen NX3031 interfaces. The following type of message in relation to those interfaces can be seen on console during boot:
```
netxen_nic device ethX does not seem to be present, delaying initialization.
```

Old firmware reported in log:

netxen_nic 0000:06:00.0: Flash fw[4.0.406] is < min fw supported[4.0.505]. Please update firmware on flash

NetXen NIC version details with former working kernel are seen as follows:

# ethtool -i eth0
driver: netxen_nic
version: 4.0.65
firmware-version: 4.0.406
bus-info: 0000:06:00.0

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