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    realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?

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    • w0wW
      w0w
      last edited by w0w

      I can confirm that netmap is not working correctly with these drivers in pfSense, so do not try to use the inline mode for suricata or snort. It will crash shortly after setting applied or after reboot.
      P.S.
      I've tried builds based on Freebsd 12 only and at least 3 different realtek cards, if you have any luck with other version or hardware, please let us know.

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      • M
        MxcZXAKM @w0w
        last edited by

        @w0w for the record I had the same issue with inline & legacy, made no difference.

        w0wW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • w0wW
          w0w @MxcZXAKM
          last edited by

          @mxczxakm for the record, I have crash and kernel dump on all three variants and your problem looks different for me. Create a new topic and post there as much information as you can.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • B
            bepa888
            last edited by

            realtek-re-kmod version 197.00 for pfSense 2.6 / FreeBSD 12 is out:

            fetch -v https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-197.00.pkg
            
            pkg install -f -y realtek-re-kmod-197.00.pkg
            

            My box's WAN and LAN interfaces periodically flapped with the older v196.04. I hope the latest Realtek driver version 197.00 is more stable.

            w0wW R 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • w0wW
              w0w @bepa888
              last edited by

              @bepa888
              I've been using it for a week and haven't noticed a difference.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • M
                MxcZXAKM
                last edited by

                I’ve been running with the new driver and suricata in legacy without an issue for today anyways.

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                • R
                  RK0 @bepa888
                  last edited by

                  I decided to upgrade earlier today...it went without a hitch. Running 2.6 with two Realtek ethernet controllers, a RTL8111K and a RTL8111H in a Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n IoT dual NIC system.

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                  • M
                    MxcZXAKM
                    last edited by

                    Eventually it started dropping my wireguard connection on/off and eventually it locked up the LAN so i couldn’t log in. I went back to no Suricata which still works just fine.

                    w0wW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • w0wW
                      w0w @MxcZXAKM
                      last edited by

                      @mxczxakm
                      It seems to me that there are several problems mixed in here, some sort of defective or incompatible hardware is mixed with incomplete/missed suricata settings.

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                      • M
                        MxcZXAKM @w0w
                        last edited by

                        @w0w said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

                        @mxczxakm
                        It seems to me that there are several problems mixed in here, some sort of defective or incompatible hardware is mixed with incomplete/missed suricata settings.

                        Ok, thanks, I’ll keep digging. I think I’m going to move away from this Zima board again, too underpowered.

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                        • M
                          MxcZXAKM
                          last edited by MxcZXAKM

                          The issue is still the Realtek NICs. I found an article exactly to my board & issue. He ended up switching to an Intel NIC via PCIe to fix this issue in the end.

                          https://www.martinrowan.co.uk/2022/05/installing-pfsense-2-6-on-zimaboard/

                          alt text

                          Also of note:
                          https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/demystifying-intel-pro-1000-quad-port-nics/2401

                          w0wW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • w0wW
                            w0w @MxcZXAKM
                            last edited by

                            @mxczxakm
                            https://be-virtual.net/pfsense-arpresolve-cant-allocate-llinfo-for-x-x-x-x-on-emx/
                            Example of similar issues on Intel em driver...and realtek also...
                            There are two, at least, different solutions provided, one is to disable ARP daemon, whatever it means, and the second is to use dumb switch on this port, which is getting those messages like cant-allocate-llinfo what ever...

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                            • M
                              MxcZXAKM @w0w
                              last edited by

                              @w0w thanks, his solution seemed to just be setting a static ARP/MAC for his connected rotating server. I have a direct pipe to the WAN on mine, simple home setup.

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Usually seeing that message indicates pfSense no longer has an interface with an IP address in the same subnet as the indicate IP so it cannot ARP for it. So usually it's the gateway address on a dynamic connection and the interface has lost it's lease or similar.
                                Adding a static ARP entry there prevents it trying so you don't see that error but doesn't actually allow it to function in that circumstance. Usually those errors are only while a WAN reconnects.

                                Steve

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                                • M
                                  MxcZXAKM @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10 maybe setting the default gateway to WAN instead of automatic would help but in my case I can’t because of the VPN connection.

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Hmm, usually that's exactly when you should have it set to WAN and not auto.

                                    This should be in a new topic though.

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                                    • B
                                      bepa888
                                      last edited by

                                      It has been seven days since I upgraded to realtek-re-kmod driver version 197.00, and my pfSense 2.6 box's LAN and WAN interfaces have not flapped even once. In the previous version, 196.04, the interfaces flapped randomly every one to four days and needed a reboot to fix the issue. Due to the frequent flapping issue with v196.04, I created a cron job that is scheduled to run every minute to check if an interface is flapping. The cron job will automatically reboot the OS if an interface has flapped more than five times (down/up/down/up/down). The OS reboot took ~40 seconds.

                                      My box is a Gigabyte EL-20-3710-32G, and my internet bandwidth is 300 Mbps for upload and download. PowerD, Crypto Hardware, Kernel PTI, MDS Mode, RAM disks, hardware checksum offload, TCP segmentation offload, and hardware large receive offload are all disabled. I haven't changed anything other than upgrading the Realtek driver to version 197.00. Hopefully, the Realtek NIC flapping issue has been permanently fixed.

                                      Below are the settings in my /boot/loader.conf.local and /boot/loader.conf:

                                      if_re_load="YES"
                                      if_re_name="/boot/modules/if_re.ko"
                                      hw.re.msi_disable=1
                                      hw.re.msix_disable=1
                                      hw.re.eee_enable=0
                                      hw.re.phy_power_saving=0
                                      hw.re.phy_mdix_mode=0
                                      hw.re.max_rx_mbuf_sz="2048"
                                      legal.intel_wpi.license_ack=1
                                      legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1
                                      legal.intel_iwi.license_ack=1
                                      
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                                      • G
                                        goovich @bepa888
                                        last edited by

                                        @bepa888 any updates?

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                                        • B
                                          bepa888 @goovich
                                          last edited by bepa888

                                          @goovich Ever since I installed the realtek-re-kmod driver version 197.00 25 days ago, there has been no flapping on either the LAN or WAN Realtek ports. Yay!

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                                          • G
                                            goovich @bepa888
                                            last edited by goovich

                                            @bepa888 thank you for the update! Hope my Zbox CI323 nano will stop locking/hanging.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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