ESXi PSOD "PF Exception 14 in world XXXXXXX:vmnicX-pollW IP XXXXX addr XXXXX"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

ESXi PSOD similar to below: 

 

ESXi logs in /var/run/log/vmkernel.log may have similar errors to below: 

(Where X is vmnic number)

WARNING: elxnet: elxnet_wrbFromMbox:2274: [vmnicX] Error in Card Detected! Cannot allocate WRB from Mail box WARNING: elxnet: elxnet_txComplClean:4921: [vmnicX] 1 TX queues pending completion. timeo: 1, hw_error: 1 WARNING: elxnet: elxnet_txComplClean:4936: [vmnicX] 92 pending tx-completions on txo[0] This message has repeated 79 times: 0000:06:00.7: Error in Card Detected! Cannot allocate WRBs hw_error:1|fw_timeout:1 WARNING: elxnet: elxnet_rxQueuesDestroy:3092: [vmnicX] elxnet_cmdRxqDestroy failed WARNING: elxnet: elxnet_rxCQClean:3031: [vmnicX] rxcq-7: did not receive flush compl This message has repeated 80 times: 0000:06:00.7: Error in Card Detected! Cannot allocate WRBs hw_error:1|fw_timeout:1

 

Environment

ESXi 7.0 Update 3

Cause

This is caused by a hardware issue on the network card 

Resolution

Please reach out to hardware vendor for assistance in reviewing the network card health