Intel 942v6 not posting

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tomsliwowski

New Member
Jul 23, 2019
16
2
3
Since we're getting rid of hardware as part of a LAN/Server refresh at work I was able to get an Intel 942v6. I plugged it into an HP t730 thin client that I am planning to use as a pfSense box and the thing refuses to POST. Power goes on but nothing happens.

I thought I read somewhere that the NIC will not boot on non-Intel server chipsets. Is that true? If so, is there a workaround? I tried a SolarFlare s6102 and that booted fine but I'd rather use the Intel card if I could.
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
956
359
63
Since we're getting rid of hardware as part of a LAN/Server refresh at work I was able to get an Intel 942v6. I plugged it into an HP t730 thin client that I am planning to use as a pfSense box and the thing refuses to POST. Power goes on but nothing happens.

I thought I read somewhere that the NIC will not boot on non-Intel server chipsets. Is that true? If so, is there a workaround? I tried a SolarFlare s6102 and that booted fine but I'd rather use the Intel card if I could.
From a quick google search, it seems that 942v6 is not an Intel part/model number, but a Dell for an X520-DA2 board.

I'd imagine it should work in most machines, but perhaps you need to mask the SMBUS pins (search the forums for a how to).

Another idea, could be to check BIOS settings on the HP machine, perhaps you need to disable Option ROM loading. Another thing you could try in BIOS is to check if "Above 4G decoding" is enabled.
 

tomsliwowski

New Member
Jul 23, 2019
16
2
3
From a quick google search, it seems that 942v6 is not an Intel part/model number, but a Dell for an X520-DA2 board.

I'd imagine it should work in most machines, but perhaps you need to mask the SMBUS pins (search the forums for a how to).

Another idea, could be to check BIOS settings on the HP machine, perhaps you need to disable Option ROM loading. Another thing you could try in BIOS is to check if "Above 4G decoding" is enabled.
Putting a small strip of kapton tape over pins 5 and 6 to mask the SMBUS did the trick!

Machine booted with no issues, pfSense recognized the card right away. Thank you so much for the help!
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
956
359
63
Putting a small strip of kapton tape over pins 5 and 6 to mask the SMBUS did the trick!

Machine booted with no issues, pfSense recognized the card right away. Thank you so much for the help!
Great, glad I could be of help :)