Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers
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But to get into the situation where you have the reseat the module you reboot pfSense?
Like something during a warm boot puts the NIC/module into an invalid mode.
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@stephenw10 said in Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers:
But to get into the situation where you have the reseat the module you reboot pfSense?
Like something during a warm boot puts the NIC/module into an invalid mode.
No, I don't reboot pfSense at all, I just get out the SFP module for a few seconds, and then I insert it again.
If I reboot the entire system, it refuses to bring the SFP up ONLY IF it's in 2.5Gbps mode.
If it's in 1Gbps mode, it works just fine.
Now I made a custom FW (scripts to fix 2.5Gbps speed on ODI module), and when I reboot the entire system, I don't see bxe0 at all, ONLY when I remove the SFP module for a few seconds, is when pfSense is able to recognize it, and even shows the correct speed:
Something must be missing in driver, only when is in 2.5Gbps mode, it won't "internally reset", or something like that, to bring it up that interface on.
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Hmm, I'm confused then. What is it that prompts you to re-insert the module if not rebooting?
It looks like it does it at boot from the screenshots.
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@stephenw10 said in Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers:
Hmm, I'm confused then. What is it that prompts you to re-insert the module if not rebooting?
It looks like it does it at boot from the screenshots.
I got that "2500 Mbps" AFTER I did removed the SFP and inserted again.
If I let it there, it would never "go up".
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But to be clear that's the state it's in after boot? Not after changing the link speed or some other manual change?
There's a good chance something is omitted during the boot process that otherwise gets run when the NIC comes up.
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@stephenw10 said in Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers:
But to be clear that's the state it's in after boot? Not after changing the link speed or some other manual change?
There's a good chance something is omitted during the boot process that otherwise gets run when the NIC comes up.
Hi,
Well, I need to enter into ODI cli and configure it manually the speed (I do that on a media converter) via putty (telnet):
flash set LAN_SDS_MODE 6
To check:
cat /proc/lan_sds/lan_sds_cfg
lan_sds_mode = 6(2500BaseX)So, I perform a reboot, test it again, see that is working, only then I put it back on BCM57810.
On BCM57810's side, I need to have enabled via UEFI, options 56 and 59 to 6:
Under UEFI boot:
ediag -b10engdev 1 (port 1 where the ODI will be used)
nvm cfg (enter config)
7 (on menu option, then)
56=6
59=6
save (NVRAM save)
exitOptions are:
5 for 1Gbps
6 for 2.5Gbps
7 for 10GbpsThe only values you only need to setup once are 35 and 36 to 70, because 70 means: 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps and 10Gbps auto mode speeds.
I managed to get a more up-to-date firmware for ODI, I'll try with that after, because the version I use, if I let it in 2.5Gbps mode, and my BCM is in 1Gbps mode, the ODI isn't capable to switch back to 1Gbps automatically. So the interface will never "wakes up".
Also (as mentioned before), there's a bug on ODI part, in 2.5Gbps mode, the upload speed gets really slow, that I will check (if they fixed) with the last firmware release (june 2025). And then, I will check under pfSense boot if it will "wake up", or not, w/o touching ODI.
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Ok, my final test (at least on RC1)...
I'm running the last ODI firmware now, and I'm using:
flash set LAN_SDS_MODE 5 [ lan_sds_mode = 5(HiSGMII MAC) ]
This forces 2.5Gbps all the time.
Exiting from UEFI, and starting POST, once the system goes fully up, the interface (SFP) doesn't want to come up, so I have to remove it, and insert it again, then is able to "power on", and after a while, it gets PPPoE and everything works fine.
If I perform a reboot on Proxmox, the interface is able to come up w/o doing anything more, howerver, I got those errors before it got a public IP from PPPoE:
After is UP, no more errors, or anything.
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Ah, interesting so the NIC is passed through to pfSense in Proxmox? I'd forgotten that! So when pfSense is rebooted the NIC may not be reset in the same way it would be running bare metal.
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@stephenw10 said in Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers:
Ah, interesting so the NIC is passed through to pfSense in Proxmox? I'd forgotten that! So when pfSense is rebooted the NIC may not be reset in the same way it would be running bare metal.
Yep, probably is that. Once you are under VM, lots of things changes too.
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Btw, I'm under v2.8.1 now.
Good to know:
Added: Support 2.5G SGMII (SFP GPON ONT) in bxe driver (QLogic NetXtreme II BCM57810):
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/16321Can't wait for v25.11
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@Gradius said in Unable to use BCM57810 properly, need new drivers:
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/16321
Mmm, that's the same patch that's in 2.8.1 though.
