HPE host with QFLE3 Driver Version 1.0.60.0 experienced a PSOD or stuck at "Shutting down device drivers..." shutdown or restart

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• On certain HPE ProLiant servers running VMware ESXi 6.5 U1 or VMware ESXi 6.7 with the QFLE3 driver version 1.0.60.0 and configured with any of the network adapters listed in the Scope section below, the server may experience an Uncorrectable Machine Check Exception (UMCE) logged in the Integrated Management Log (IML) of the server after performing a shutdown or restart.
• You see an exception similar to:
  
  "Uncorrectable Machine Check Exception (Processor 1, APIC ID 0x00000000, Bank 0x00000006, ..."
  
  Note: This version of the driver is contained in the HPE Feb 2018 Custom ISO image for ESXi 6.5 U1 as well as April 2018 Custom ISO image for ESXi 6.7. For more information, see ESXi Image for HPE ProLiant.

Environment

VMware ESXi 6.7.x
VMware ESXi 6.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs because of a timing condition where the statistics for the network adapter are attempting to be collected for the HPE Active Health System (AHS) after the QFLE3 driver has begun the shutdown de-initialization process.

At the time of the error condition, the system is unable to log the UMCE to the IML, but does log it on the subsequent boot. When the UMCE has been logged, the condition has already cleared and will not affect the operation of the system if allowed to boot to the Operating System.

Resolution

This Uncorrectable Machine Check Exception (UMCE) issue does not affect the normal operation of the QFLE3 driver, this is only experienced on the shutdown/restart of the server.

To fix this issue, download and install the HPE QLogic NX2 10/20 GbE Multifunction Driver for VMware vSphere 6.5 version 2018.06.04, available at the following url:

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=MTX_1cccf5b86adf45c7a2bef6d6af

This product contains the following drivers:

• qcnic: version 1.0.10.2
• qfle3i: version 1.0.13.0
• qfle3: version 1.0.60.3
• qfle3f: version 1.0.45.3

Additional Information

For more information, see HP Advisory: HPE Network Adapters - Uncorrectable Machine Check Exception May Be Experienced On The Shutdown/Restart Of Certain HPE ProLiant Servers Running VMware ESXi 6.5 U1 or VMware ESXi 6.7 With The QFLE3 Driver Version 1.0.60.0.

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