Igb or igc in tunables?

jsmiddleton4

How do I know whether to use igb or igc in tunable variables?

My NIC’s are listed as igc0, igc1, etc. So I’m thinking the tunable variables should be igc.

Not sure however.

If I want to turn EEE off the examples I’ve seen use igb. Is that right when my NIC’s get labeled igc?

stephenw10

igb tunables will do nothing for the igc driver. You need to use igc values for igc NICs.
Not all tunables exist for all NICs/drivers. The eee setting does though:

[22.01-BETA][admin@6100.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl hw.igc
hw.igc.max_interrupt_rate: 8000
hw.igc.eee_setting: 1
hw.igc.rx_process_limit: 100
hw.igc.sbp: 1
hw.igc.smart_pwr_down: 0
hw.igc.rx_abs_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.tx_abs_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.rx_int_delay: 0
hw.igc.tx_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.disable_crc_stripping: 0

Steve

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

Thanks. Using igb didn’t seem to make sense but don’t know enough about PFSENSE or BSD to be certain.

? Your examples there’s no 0,1,2 etc., for more than one NIC. Are those global and not needed?

stephenw10

The 'hw.igc' values are global. Individual values are 'dev.igc.0.xxx'.

The global values are usually read-only in the sysctls and need to be set as loader variables.

See: https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=igc#LOADER_TUNABLES

Steve

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10
PFSense just told me I can’t do them in Tunables….

:)

jsmiddleton4

So far these appear to be working. No error messages at boot. All in System Tunables. I have 3 Intel 2.5gb NIC’s. 1-WAN, 2-LAN

All 0.
dev.igc.1.eee_control
dev.igc.2.eee_control
dev.igc.1.fc
dev.igc.2.fc
dev.igc.0.eee_control
dev.igc.0.fc

All 1.
dev.igc.0.enable_aim
dev.igc.1.enable_aim
dev.igc.2.enable_aim

If I understand this correctly:

Some variables may be and must be set in System Tunables directly.
Some variables may be and must be set in loader config directly.
Some variables to be set have to be placed in loader config first and then a corresponding entry in System Tunables.

stephenw10

@jsmiddleton4 said in Igb or igc in tunables?:

Some variables may be and must be set in System Tunables directly.
Some variables may be and must be set in loader config directly.
Some variables to be set have to be placed in loader config first and then a corresponding entry in System Tunables.

Yes.
Yes.
No.

You can often read the loader variables from the sysctl interface but not set them. I'm not aware of anything you have to set in both places. Some can be set in either place.
Values that need to be set before the driver loads are added as loader variables. Anything that can be set after the driver has loaded and attached to the hardware can be in sysctls.

Steve

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

hw.igc.eee_setting: 1

If its in the loader.config.local “1” is off but if a Tunable “0” is off?

stephenw10

The file must be /boot/loader.conf.local.

I expect these values to be the same:

[22.01-BETA][admin@6100.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl hw.igc.eee_setting
hw.igc.eee_setting: 1
[22.01-BETA][admin@6100.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.igc.0.eee_control
dev.igc.0.eee_control: 1

Are you not seeing that?

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

I’m reading the PFSENSE docs about the System Tunables and the information regarding loader.config.local for igc driver variables.

I’ll go back and check. Thought in tunables to turn a variable off its “0” and if turning a variable off in loader.config.local its “1”.

Yes, in tunables “0” is “no flow control”.

O,1,2,3 choices.

Gotta keep reading. I’m getting lost on which variables “1” turns them off, “0” turns them off, etc.

hw.igc.smart_pwr_down: 0

Does that turn smart power down on or off?

“ hw.em.smart_pwr_down: Set to true to leave smart power down enabled on newer adapters”

What is “true”, 1 or 0?

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

Sorry had to take a moment.

This is what I see;
dev.igc.0.eee_control: 0

stephenw10

On should be 1 (true) and off should be 0 (false) in both places.

To be honest I don't think you will gain anything by setting any of those values. But it doesn't hurt to try.

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

I agree. The primary goal is to learn about some of these options though.

“eee” variable should be “0” in loader.config? I have it “0” in System Tunables.

“ hw.igc.eee_setting: 1”

Is confusing me.

Or is the variable in loader.config….. just telling the OS that the variable can be set?

stephenw10

I expect it to be 0 in both places if you want to disable eee on the NIC.

For a variable like that I would expect the loader variable to set the driver default option and then the system tunable to be available per NIC if you want it enabled only on one for example.

Steve

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

Your eee is enabled?

If I do the igc eee setting in loader.config not needed for individual NIC’s?

So much easier in Windows and setting the network card’s options in Advance tab.

stephenw10

Yes, it's enabled in my output above.

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

Thanks for your help. I’ve seen you responding in other threads regarding Tunables and Loader questions.

My #3 that was not true, now it makes more sense. There are variables that can go in both places.

hw.igc.eee_setting: 0

Doesn’t seem to be setting anything from my loader.config.local.

The tunables work.

hw.igc.max_interrupt_rate: 8000
hw.igc.eee_setting: 1
hw.igc.rx_process_limit: 100
hw.igc.sbp: 1
hw.igc.smart_pwr_down: 0
hw.igc.rx_abs_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.tx_abs_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.rx_int_delay: 0
hw.igc.tx_int_delay: 66
hw.igc.disable_crc_stripping: 0

Edit. I keep typing config. My file is loader.conf.local. My bad.

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

This says “1” is disabled.

https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=igc#LOADER_TUNABLES

stephenw10

Hmm, curious. Well it guess it pays to always read the man page! Nice catch.

jsmiddleton4

@stephenw10

What does the command IF wanted to put them in loader.conf.local actually look like?

hw.igc.eee_setting=“1”

Also there’s no mention of loader.conf.local. That page says everything goes in loader.conf.

If the default already turns off eee why bother with any tunable for eee?

Edit: Also this is why I'm a bit confused regarding 0's and 1's. Some times 1 disables and some times 0?