OK, turns out it was a firmware setting that Manoj was missing in the previous comment.
On a system with the correct setting, this is what freeipmi shows w/o my branch: root@ubuntu:/home/ubuntu# bmc-info --no-probing --driver-type=SSIF --driver-address=0x10 --driver-device=/dev/i2c-2 --get-device-id ipmi_cmd_get_device_id: internal system error And this is with my branch: root@ubuntu:/home/ubuntu# bmc-info --no-probing --driver-type=SSIF --driver-address=0x10 --driver-device=/dev/i2c-2 Device ID : 20 Device Revision : 0 Device SDRs : supported Firmware Revision : 1.30 Device Available : yes (normal operation) IPMI Version : 2.0 Sensor Device : supported SDR Repository Device : unsupported SEL Device : supported FRU Inventory Device : supported IPMB Event Receiver : unsupported IPMB Event Generator : supported Bridge : unsupported Chassis Device : supported Manufacturer ID : Hewlett-Packard (11) Product ID : 8449 System Firmware Version : System Name : ProLiant m800 Server Cartridge Primary Operating System Name : Operating System Name : Channel Information Channel Number : 0 Medium Type : IPMB (I2C) Protocol Type : IPMB-1.0 Active Session Count : 0 Session Support : session-less Vendor ID : Intelligent Platform Management Interface forum (7154) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to freeipmi in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1324992 Title: freeipmi patch for HP moonshot ARM cartridges with I2c To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/freeipmi/+bug/1324992/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs