Resolve mei: Init hw failure or mei: initialization failed
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The Linux start process sporadically crashes for servers with the Supermicro Motherboards with the message mei: Init hw failure. or mei 0000:00:16.0: initialization failed.. This article shows how to solve this problem.
The article, Intel Management Engine Interface for the mei Linux Driver, has background information regarding mei drivers.
Error Messages
Error Message "mei: Init hw failure"
Sometimes, the server will crash during the start process with the message mei: Init hw failure. The problem occurs for roughly every fifth start attempt:
Error Message "mei 0000:00:16.0: initialization failed."
Affected Systems
The problem has been reported with the following systems (all newer Linux Distribution with mei driver in the Kernel are potentially affected):
System | Error Message | Solution |
---|---|---|
Servers with the Supermicro X9SCM-F Motherboard (1)
|
mei: Init hw failure. | Entry in blacklist.conf |
Servers with the Supermicro X9SCA-F Motherboard
|
mei: Init hw failure. | Entry in blacklist.conf |
Servers with the Supermicro X9SRL-F Motherboard
|
mei: Init hw failure. | Entry in blacklist.conf |
Server with the Supermicro X10SLH-F Motherboard
|
mei: Init hw failure. |
|
Server with the Supermicro X9DR7-LN4F Motherboard
|
mei 0000:00:16.0: initialization failed. | Entry in blacklist.conf |
(1) Note: We were unable to simulate the problem on other systems with the same main board (tested there with BIOS version 1.0c, 1.1 and 1.1a). Whether this problem an individual case for this one server was or will also occur on other systems with the main board, could not be determined with certainty.
Solutions
Entry in blacklist.conf
To solve this issue in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, add the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:
blacklist mei blacklist mei_me
Entry in modprobe.conf.local
To solve this issue in SLES11 SP3, add the following line to modprobe.conf.local:
install mei /bin/true
Further Information
- FAQ 14537 (supermicro.com)