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    Updated Realtek NIC drivers missing in PfSense 2.6.0

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    • R Offline
      RK0 @sbs
      last edited by

      @sbs You will NEVER want to go back to the stock drivers....as the ones you just loaded are recent ones from Realtek. In fact, SAVE these instructions, because if you ever have to reload 2.6.0 from scratch, you'll need to load them again. And...there is no guarantee "newer" drivers will even make it into subsequent builds....

      If you named your loader.conf file as loader.conf.local, the newer drivers should "stick around" (not correct technical language, it's your config file that is sticking around) if you upgrade 2.6.0 in place to a subsequent release, vs a total reload to a blank system.

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      • stephenw10S Offline
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        They are not simply newer, it's a different driver.

        If you somehow uploaded a bad module and it's preventing pfSense boot you can override the loader.conf files at the boot loader prompt. For example:

        set if_re_load=NO
        boot
        

        Steve

        A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • A Offline
          axsdenied @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @stephenw10 Is there any reason why you guys don't expose the latest drivers, for the build, in the package manager? Make these easier for folks?

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          • stephenw10S Offline
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            We include the current FreeBSD driver from 12.3-stable.

            We don't currently have the pkg containing the Realtek alternative driver in our repo because it stopped building in our systems during 2.6 beta.

            Steve

            sokeadaS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S Offline
              Steve 0
              last edited by

              I just like to add: I had problems with the stock Realtek drivers on pfSense 2.5.2 which I was able to fix by loading the kmod drivers from the repo.

              Then today I updated to pfSense 2.6.0 and the same issues started to appear. Even more frequent. Even though I had loaded the drivers in version 2.5.2 and created a loader.conf.local file the system used the stock drivers.

              Loading in the kmod drivers again - this time directly from pkg.freebsd.org fixed these issues again.

              So to anyone who used the kmod drivers in 2.5.2 and upgraded to 2.6.0: you have to re-load the drivers!

              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • A Offline
                axsdenied @Steve 0
                last edited by

                @steve-0 So when you upgrade Pfsense, it unloads the drivers and goes back to default?

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                • stephenw10S Offline
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  If you had loaded the pkg from our repo in 2.5.2 it would be removed at upgrade as it does not exist in the 2.6 repo.

                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A Offline
                    axsdenied @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 Oh got it. I manually installed it via this thread. So when I upgrade to the next version release it should remain?

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                    • stephenw10S Offline
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by stephenw10

                      Unclear! Since that pkg also doesn't exist in out repo but also has not been replaced specifically.

                      Let me see if I can test that....

                      Well I can say it is not removed at upgrade between snapshots.

                      Steve

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                      • S Offline
                        skogs
                        last edited by skogs

                        Forever ago I did the realtek install on the 2.5.x box I do most of my testing and home stuff on. Worked beautifully and finally no network failures.
                        I then upgraded to 2.6 and the plus versions; all seemed to hold the driver ok.

                        2 days ago I swapped out the hard drive and reloaded the config.
                        Today it crashed down again; re1 down up down up down...

                        Obviously now I'm very interested in getting the realtek driver back inito the fold properly.

                        Just added from freebsd directly and recreated the .local file; seems to have loaded the driver fine upon reboot. Fingers crossed it doesn't derp anymore.

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                        • S Offline
                          Steve 0
                          last edited by Steve 0

                          It's pretty simple to check if the correct driver is loaded: In the log check for the part where the driver is displayed (just search for realtek).

                          If you find this:
                          9e2817a8-bf33-49ef-9330-37ddf5f9d1a4-grafik.png
                          It's the wrong driver.

                          If you find this:
                          51bf96e0-7e7c-4f8b-a732-bc268d025172-grafik.png
                          It's the correct driver.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • sokeadaS Offline
                            sokeada @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10 Hello, I've Dell OptiPlex 3040 Micro with single NIC and its driver shown re0 8168/8111 so pfSense 2.6.0 will support this re NIC out of the box right?

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                            • stephenw10S Offline
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Yup, it should do. Using the native FreeBSD driver.

                              sokeadaS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • sokeadaS Offline
                                sokeada @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 thanks for the confirmation as my pfSense got hanged sometime after few days of operation and I have no clue so I thought its from the re NIC. What I've noticed only LAN package error out and I tried to do some research but not luck.

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                                • stephenw10S Offline
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Check the console when that happens. If you see watchdog timeout errors fro the NIC try the alternative Realtek driver.

                                  Steve

                                  sokeadaS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • sokeadaS Offline
                                    sokeada @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10 thanks, I'll check it out again soon. Would you mind to link me to the correct alternate driver your mention above? for pfSense 2.6.0. Appreciate yours.

                                    Sokeada

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • stephenw10S Offline
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      he pkg listed above should still work: https://forum.netgate.com/post/1025825

                                      Steve

                                      sokeadaS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • sokeadaS Offline
                                        sokeada @stephenw10
                                        last edited by

                                        @stephenw10 thanks you so much, I really appreciate that.

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                                        • sokeadaS Offline
                                          sokeada @stephenw10
                                          last edited by sokeada

                                          @stephenw10 bro, I can see only one watchdog time out. This could be happened while I'm switching the network cable and restoring config from the backup or NIC driver issue?

                                          4b08e47d-7f91-4f97-a62f-68e9b3f03e51-image.png

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                                          • stephenw10S Offline
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Were you still able to connect to it after that point? If so it was probably just the cable reconnect but in normal use you should never see that message.

                                            sokeadaS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
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