ATTO Technologies Celerity HBA Driver (celerity16fc) receives event from the Celerity HBA hardware/firmware that it does not understand which results in the HBA going into a non-functional state

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESX 8.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 7.x
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

A VCF Administrator observes the HBA(s) lose all storage paths (would lead to an APD event if it is a dual-port HBA) requiring a reboot to recover. An investigation into /var/log/vmkernel.log reveals Mailbox command errors and unknown events reported by the celerity16fc driver:

Mailbox command errors occurring immediately before the "Unknown Event Code". Mailbox error can sometimes indicate that the driver cannot communicate with the physical HBA:

2025-12-04T00:22:25.502Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu28:2098326)ATTO(1377336438) celerity16fc: celerity16fc: Event: Adapter Number 2.
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel: Mailbox Command Error.
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel: Command 0x14 (UNREG_RPI)
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel: Status 0x0000 (SUCCESS)
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel: Exchange Event 0x ()
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel:
2025-12-04T00:22:25Z In(182) vmkernel:
2025-12-04T00:22:37.014Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu28:2098324)ATTO(1377347949) celerity16fc: celerity16fc: Event: Adapter Number 2.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Mailbox Command Error.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Command 0x14 (UNREG_RPI)
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Status 0x0000 (SUCCESS)
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Exchange Event 0x ()
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel:
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel:

The physical HBA is returning an event code to the HBA driver that the driver doesn't recognize:

2025-12-04T00:22:37.014Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu28:2098324)ATTO(1377347949) celerity16fc: celerity16fc: Event: Adapter Number 2.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Unknown Event Code.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Code is 0xF00B.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel: Least Significant Word is 0x0201.
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel:
2025-12-04T00:22:37Z In(182) vmkernel:

2025-12-04T00:22:41.459Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu54:2098182)ATTO(1377352395) celerity16fc: celerity16fc: Event: Adapter Number 1.
2025-12-04T00:22:41Z In(182) vmkernel: Unknown Event Code.
2025-12-04T00:22:41Z In(182) vmkernel: Code is 0xF00B.
2025-12-04T00:22:41Z In(182) vmkernel: Least Significant Word is 0x0201.
2025-12-04T00:22:41Z In(182) vmkernel:
2025-12-04T00:22:41Z In(182) vmkernel:

Environment

ESXi (All versions)
ATTO Celerity HBAs

Cause

The code that is unknown to the celerity16fc driver is "0xF00B". This driver should be aware of any and all conditions/events the HBA hardware/firmware sends to it. As a result of not actually knowing how to handle this event from the physical hardware, the driver sits in an error state and/or is unable to communicate with the physical HBA anymore.

Resolution

Contact ATTO Technologies or the server vendor that bundled these HBAs in order to troubleshoot further. This could be a faulty HBA that needs to be replaced however the HBA is sending codes to the driver that the driver does not understand and doesn't know how to handle. Either way, this needs to be investigated by the HBA vendor.