Dropped RX packets in ifconfig output

Operating System:

SLES 10 SP2 64 Bit

Problem :

Ifconfig shows dropped packets in RX packets and it keeps on increasing while working

Ifconfig output may shows as follows,

# ifconfig eth0

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1C:C4:96:DE:EA
inet addr:192.168.39.170 Bcast:192.168.39.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::21c:c4ff:fe96:deea/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:5307978 errors:0 dropped:34356 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1522673 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1775345955 (1693.1 Mb) TX bytes:967976568 (923.1 Mb)
Interrupt:169 Memory:dc000000-dc012100

 In above, you can see dropped packets highlighted. NIC Driver used in bnx2 and controller is Broadcom 5708 NetXtreme II in HP DL 580 G5

NIC Driver bnx2 version : 1.6.7c . This can be confirmed using command "modinfo bnx2"

filename: /lib/modules/2.6.16.60-0.33-xenpae/kernel/drivers/net/bnx2.ko
version: 1.6.7c
license: GPL
description: Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5706/5708 Driver
author: Michael Chan
srcversion: D41ADC8BC49443A4DAE505E
alias: pci:v000014E4d0000163Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d00001639sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d000016ACsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d000016AAsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d000016AAsv0000103Csd00003102bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d0000164Csv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv0000103Csd00003106bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv0000103Csd00003101bc*sc*i*
depends:
supported: yes
vermagic: 2.6.16.60-0.33-xenpae SMP Xen 686 REGPARM gcc-4.1
parm: disable_msi:Disable Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) (int)

linux-hvb0:~ # lspci | grep -i broadcom

05:00.0 PCI bridge: Broadcom EPB PCI-Express to PCI-X Bridge (rev c3)

06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5708 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 12)

07:00.0 PCI bridge: Broadcom EPB PCI-Express to PCI-X Bridge (rev c3)

08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5708 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 12)

linux-hvb0:~ #

Downloaded and installed kernel 2.6.16.60-0.42.10-default for SLES 10 SP2, then NIC Driver found updated to 1.7.6b and there are no dropped packets in eth0. Same is confirmed from ifconfig output

Now there is no dropped packets. Problem solved. Enjoy the solution.