The Solaris OS might run out of MSI interrupts on 8-socket systems.
The Solaris OS is designed to allocate 32 interrupt vectors at priority level six. Also, each network device is assigned two interrupts. If the system contains more than 16 network devices, it will exhaust the supply of interrupts on level six, leaving some devices non-functional.
When this occurs, error messages similar to the following appears:
On the console:
Feb 25 15:45:04 mpk12-3214-189-156 pcplusmp: WARNING: No interrupt vector: pciex8086,10f7 instance 1 Feb 25 15:45:04 mpk12-3214-189-156 pcplusmp: WARNING: Sharing vectors: pciex8086,10f7 instance 1 and SCI Feb 25 15:45:06 mpk12-3214-189-156 pcplusmp: WARNING: No interrupt vector: pciex8086,10f7 instance 5 Feb 25 15:45:06 mpk12-3214-189-156 pcplusmp: WARNING: Sharing vectors: pciex8086,10f7 instance 1 and pciex8086,10f7 instance 5
In /var/adm/messages:
Feb 25 15:44:53 mpk12-3214-189-156 ixgbe: [ID 611667 kern.info] NOTICE: ixgbe7: Insufficient interrupt handles available: 1 Feb 25 15:44:53 mpk12-3214-189-156 ixgbe: [ID 611667 kern.info] NOTICE: ixgbe7: Allocate MSI-X failed, trying MSI interrupts... Feb 25 15:44:53 mpk12-3214-189-156 ixgbe: [ID 611667 kern.info] NOTICE: ixgbe7: MSI-X not used, force rx and tx queue number to 1
Workaround 1
For Solaris 10 9/10, install patch 146025–03 or higher.
This fixes the problem in most cases.
Workaround 2
When you encounter a shortage of I/O interrupts on level 6, Oracle recommends that you assign one of the drivers to interrupt level 5 or 4.
Interrupt level 5 is the first priority
Interrupt level 4 is next
See Allocating MSI Interrupt Space (Oracle Solaris OS Only) in the Sun Fire X4800 Server Installation Guide for corrective actions.