Why can I not install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7 via tg3 NIC's?
Issue
When installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7 via a systems network interface such as a "Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM57711E XGb (A0) PCI-E x4 5GHz (Gen2)", using the tg3.ko module, the network interface will obtain IP address, DNS settings etc via DHCP, but after that will suffer so extensive packet loss that it to all intents and purposes can not be used for a network installation. The Technical Notes for Enterprise Linux 5.7 does detail the issue in the "Known Problems" section, under kernel, but mentions only that the problem is observed on IBM JS21 blade systems. This is not quite correct, as the problem manifests also for example on HP BL460c systems when using these NICs.
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7 x86_64
- HP BL460c blade systems
- Installation interface that use tg3.ko module and is affected by the problem
- network installation selected in Anaconda installer
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