Silcom PEG6I (82571EB Based)

wallabybob

The card looks to have three 82571EB dual NIC chips and a further large IC perhaps a bridge of some sort, maybe unsupported.

This card almost certainly will have a PCI Express bridge with 3 active downstream buses and one chip connected to each bus.

It is strange the bridge is not visible. Perhaps the BIOS disables the bridge (Atom related restriction?) or the card wasn't correctly seated in the slot.

@dwabraxus:

The card was tested in ubuntu 10.04 on another system and works fine.

Can you boot a "live CD" Ubuntu system on the box with the Silicom card inserted to see if Ubuntu can find it?

Gluon99

I just recently picked up the same card hoping it would work with my 1U Atom setup. I can confirm the PEG6I card is not detected by the SuperMicro X7SLA-H http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/945/X7SLA.cfm?typ=H. I have tried the latest BIOS 1.0C and all settings, I not sure why, but the card is not detected at all.

I did try the card in two different AMD 600 series motherboards and got the same results. The only system I had that would see the card was my Dell PowerEdge T100 Xeon E3120 tower and it was recognized by pfSense 2.0.1 x64. The card does seem to have a special PCIe bridge chip on the card, "PLX Technologys PEX8517".

I was a bit hyped to get the card, but now I'm a not sure what to do with it…...

Tim

erack

Hrm, I just ordered one based on the article on servethehome.com, but looks like no one has had any luck with it and pfSense :(

stephenw10

It looks to me as though there may be some low level incompatibility with this card.
It's not showing up in POST on a some boards.
Dell had to issue a bios update specifically for compatibility with the card.

There maybe a BSD work around if you can see it in the bios, however I've not found any reference to it.

Steve

Edit: Having read the review at ServeTheHome it's obviously working for a lot of people. :-\

Edit: Tyan also issued a bios fix for this card:

Fixed PCI-E PEG6 LAN card IRQ and shadow RAM resource conflict issue

If it is a resource conflict then try turning off everything you don't need in the bios. You may have some luck by manually playing with the resource assignment in the bios but that's beyond my skills!

Nealio

Off topic, but can you run this from a slot that is only x4 electrically? I have a spare x16 port that runs at x4, and this would make a good addition to my particular setup if it would work.

Gluon99

@erack:

Hrm, I just ordered one based on the article on servethehome.com, but looks like no one has had any luck with it and pfSense :(

erack,

The PEG6i works just fine with pfSense 2.0.1. I believe the issue lies more with the card and motherboard compatibility issue.

I willing to mail one to a Sr Forum member for testing if needed, i have 2 cards :( , just pm me.

wallabybob

@Gluon99:

I willing to mail one to a Sr Forum member for testing if needed, i have 2 cards :( , just pm me.

A generous offer but probably not needed. I suspect the problem is in the BIOS. Would you (Gluon99) please post the output of the pfSense command

pciconf -l

from the system with one of the PEG6I cards and identify the make and model of that system or motherboard.

As previously discussed, the chip appears to have a PLX PCI-E bridge with three downstream Intel dual port NICs. However in @dwabraxus:


pciconf -l
hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:      class=0x060000 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27708086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
vgapci0@pci0:0:2:0:     class=0x030000 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27728086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
pcib1@pci0:0:28:0:      class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27d08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
pcib2@pci0:0:28:4:      class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27e08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
pcib3@pci0:0:28:5:      class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27e28086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
uhci0@pci0:0:29:0:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci1@pci0:0:29:1:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c98086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci2@pci0:0:29:2:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27ca8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci3@pci0:0:29:3:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27cb8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
ehci0@pci0:0:29:7:      class=0x0c0320 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27cc8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
pcib4@pci0:0:30:0:      class=0x060401 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x244e8086 rev=0xe1 hdr=0x01
isab0@pci0:0:31:0:      class=0x060100 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27b88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
atapci0@pci0:0:31:1:    class=0x01018a card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27df8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
atapci1@pci0:0:31:2:    class=0x01018f card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
none0@pci0:0:31:3:      class=0x0c0500 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27da8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
re0@pci0:2:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x816815d9 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
re1@pci0:3:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x816815d9 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00

there is no sign of the PLX PCI-E bridge (all the listed PCI devices are Intel except for the two Realtek NICs; notice most devices have a chip code ending in 8086, the code for Intel). Either something has been inadvertently omitted from the output OR the device is not connected into the PCI device tree OR the upstream bridge for the card hasn't been configured for downstream devices. I have seen some systems whose BIOS has ignored PCI bridges in the device tree EXCEPT those in the chipset, including some laptops whose BIOS hasn't configured PCI devices downstream of PCMCIA bridges. One workaround MIGHT be to configure the BIOS for a NON PLUG N PLAY operating system. (FreeBSD, at least up to 7.1 which was the last one in which I looked deeply into these details, is not a plug n play OS in that it expects all the PCI device resource allocation to be done by the BIOS.)

So, I suggest the original poster should see if there a BIOS setting for non plug n play operating systems and if so, try that. If that doesn't work or there is no such BIOS setting then if someone seeing the problem is prepared to provide the output from a few shell commands I'll gather information and write up a bug report for the system (or motherboard) manufacturer.

Gluon99

Output from SuperMicro X7SLA-H motherboard with BIOS 1.0c. I tried disabling all onboard adapters (serial,nics), PnP OS and random options. I havent been able to get the SM board to detect the PEG6i, but maybe I'm still missing something in the BIOS settings..


$ dmesg
Copyright (c) 1992-2010 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
	The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE-p6 #0: Mon Dec 12 18:15:35 EST 2011
    root@FreeBSD_8.0_pfSense_2.0-AMD64.snaps.pfsense.org:/usr/obj./usr/pfSensesrc/src/sys/pfSense_SMP.8 amd64
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU  330   @ 1.60GHz (1606.47-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0x106c2  Family = 6  Model = 1c  Stepping = 2
  Features=0xbfe9fbff <fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,clflush,dts,acpi,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,ss,htt,tm,pbe>Features2=0x40e31d <sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,movbe>AMD Features=0x20100800 <syscall,nx,lm>AMD Features2=0x1 <lahf>TSC: P-state invariant
real memory  = 2147483648 (2048 MB)
avail memory = 2042118144 (1947 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <121410 APIC1810>
FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 4 CPUs
FreeBSD/SMP: 1 package(s) x 2 core(s) x 2 HTT threads
 cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID:  0
 cpu1 (AP/HT): APIC ID:  1
 cpu2 (AP): APIC ID:  2
 cpu3 (AP/HT): APIC ID:  3
ioapic0: Changing APIC ID to 4
ioapic0 <version 2.0="">irqs 0-23 on motherboard
netisr_init: forcing maxthreads to 1 and bindthreads to 0 for device polling
wlan: mac acl policy registered
ipw_monitor: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_monitor: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_monitor_fw, 0xffffffff80470e10, 0) error 1
wpi: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_wpi/.
wpi: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_wpi.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (wpi_fw, 0xffffffff806548d0, 0) error 1
ipw_bss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_bss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_bss_fw, 0xffffffff80470cd0, 0) error 1
ipw_ibss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_ibss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_ibss_fw, 0xffffffff80470d70, 0) error 1
kbd1 at kbdmux0
cryptosoft0: <software crypto="">on motherboard
padlock0: No ACE support.
acpi0: <smci>on motherboard
acpi0: [ITHREAD]
acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
acpi0: reservation of fee00000, 1000 (3) failed
acpi0: reservation of 0, a0000 (3) failed
acpi0: reservation of 100000, 7f700000 (3) failed
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <24-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0x808-0x80b on acpi0
cpu0: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu1: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu2: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu3: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
pcib0: <acpi host-pci="" bridge="">port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pci0: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib0
vgapci0: <vga-compatible display="">port 0xcc00-0xcc07 mem 0xfe980000-0xfe9fffff,0xe0000000-0xefffffff,0xfe940000-0xfe97ffff irq 16 at device 2.0 on pci0
agp0: <intel 82945g="" (945g="" gmch)="" svga="" controller="">on vgapci0
agp0: detected 7932k stolen memory
agp0: aperture size is 256M
pcib1: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 28.0 on pci0
pci1: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib1
pcib2: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 28.4 on pci0
pci2: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib2
re0: <realtek 8111="" 8168="" b="" c="" cp="" d="" dp="" e="" pcie="" gigabit="" ethernet="">port 0xd800-0xd8ff mem 0xfeaff000-0xfeafffff,0xfdef0000-0xfdefffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci2
re0: Using 1 MSI messages
re0: Chip rev. 0x3c000000
re0: MAC rev. 0x00400000
miibus0: <mii bus="">on re0
rgephy0: <rtl8169s 8110s="" 8211b="" media="" interface="">PHY 1 on miibus0
rgephy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-FDX, auto
re0: [FILTER]
pcib3: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 17 at device 28.5 on pci0
pci3: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib3
re1: <realtek 8111="" 8168="" b="" c="" cp="" d="" dp="" e="" pcie="" gigabit="" ethernet="">port 0xe800-0xe8ff mem 0xfebff000-0xfebfffff,0xfdff0000-0xfdffffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci3
re1: Using 1 MSI messages
re1: Chip rev. 0x3c000000
re1: MAC rev. 0x00400000
miibus1: <mii bus="">on re1
rgephy1: <rtl8169s 8110s="" 8211b="" media="" interface="">PHY 1 on miibus1
rgephy1:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-FDX, auto
re1: [FILTER]
uhci0: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-a="">port 0xc880-0xc89f irq 23 at device 29.0 on pci0
uhci0: [ITHREAD]
uhci0: LegSup = 0x2f00
usbus0: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-a="">on uhci0
uhci1: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-b="">port 0xc800-0xc81f irq 19 at device 29.1 on pci0
uhci1: [ITHREAD]
uhci1: LegSup = 0x2f00
usbus1: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-b="">on uhci1
uhci2: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-c="">port 0xc480-0xc49f irq 18 at device 29.2 on pci0
uhci2: [ITHREAD]
uhci2: LegSup = 0x2f00
usbus2: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-c="">on uhci2
uhci3: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-d="">port 0xc400-0xc41f irq 16 at device 29.3 on pci0
uhci3: [ITHREAD]
uhci3: LegSup = 0x2f00
usbus3: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-d="">on uhci3
ehci0: <intel 82801gb="" r="" (ich7)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xfe93bc00-0xfe93bfff irq 23 at device 29.7 on pci0
ehci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus4: EHCI version 1.0
usbus4: <intel 82801gb="" r="" (ich7)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci0
pcib4: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 30.0 on pci0
pci4: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib4
isab0: <pci-isa bridge="">at device 31.0 on pci0
isa0: <isa bus="">on isab0
atapci0: <intel ich7="" udma100="" controller="">port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0xffa0-0xffaf at device 31.1 on pci0
ata0: <ata 0="" channel="">on atapci0
ata0: [ITHREAD]
atapci1: <intel ich7="" sata300="" controller="">port 0xc080-0xc087,0xc000-0xc003,0xbc00-0xbc07,0xb880-0xb883,0xb800-0xb80f mem 0xfe93b800-0xfe93bbff irq 19 at device 31.2 on pci0
atapci1: [ITHREAD]
atapci1: AHCI called from vendor specific driver
atapci1: AHCI v1.10 controller with 4 3Gbps ports, PM not supported
ata2: <ata 0="" channel="">on atapci1
ata2: [ITHREAD]
ata3: <ata 1="" channel="">on atapci1
ata3: [ITHREAD]
ata4: <ata 2="" channel="">on atapci1
ata4: [ITHREAD]
ata5: <ata 3="" channel="">on atapci1
ata5: [ITHREAD]
pci0: <serial bus,="" smbus="">at device 31.3 (no driver attached)
acpi_button0: <power button="">on acpi0
atrtc0: <at realtime="" clock="">port 0x70-0x71 irq 8 on acpi0
uart0: <16550 or compatible> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0
uart0: [FILTER]
uart0: console (9600,n,8,1)
uart1: <16550 or compatible> port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on acpi0
uart1: [FILTER]
sc0: <system console="">at flags 0x100 on isa0
sc0: VGA <16 virtual consoles, flags=0x300>
vga0: <generic isa="" vga="">at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0
atkbdc0: <keyboard controller="" (i8042)="">at port 0x60,0x64 on isa0
atkbd0: <at keyboard="">irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
atkbd0: [ITHREAD]
ppc0: cannot reserve I/O port range
p4tcc0: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu0
p4tcc1: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu1
p4tcc2: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu2
p4tcc3: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu3
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
IPsec: Initialized Security Association Processing.
usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus1: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus2: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus3: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus4: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
ad4: 57241MB <ocz agility3="" 2.15="">at ata2-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s
ugen0.1: <intel>at usbus0
uhub0: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
ugen1.1: <intel>at usbus1
uhub1: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1
ugen2.1: <intel>at usbus2
uhub2: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus2
ugen3.1: <intel>at usbus3
uhub3: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus3
ugen4.1: <intel>at usbus4
uhub4: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus4
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered
ugen0.2: <microsoft>at usbus0
uhub5: <microsoft 2="" 9="" microsoft="" usb="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
uhub5: 3 ports with 0 removable, self powered
ugen0.3: <microsoft>at usbus0
ukbd0: <microsoft 0="" 3="" microsoft="" wireless="" entertainment="" keyboard="" 7000,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
kbd2 at ukbd0
ugen0.4: <microsoft>at usbus0
ums0: <microsoft 0="" 4="" microsoft="" wireless="" laser="" mouse="" 8000,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
ums0: 5 buttons and [XYZT] coordinates ID=17
ums0: 0 buttons and [T] coordinates ID=0
SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!
SMP: AP CPU #2 Launched!
SMP: AP CPU #3 Launched!
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad4s1a
pflog0: promiscuous mode enabled
re1: link state changed to UP
re1_vlan29: link state changed to UP
ugen0.2: <microsoft>at usbus0 (disconnected)
uhub5: at uhub0, port 1, addr 2 (disconnected)
ugen0.3: <microsoft>at usbus0 (disconnected)
ukbd0: at uhub5, port 2, addr 3 (disconnected)
ugen0.4: <microsoft>at usbus0 (disconnected)
ums0: at uhub5, port 3, addr 4 (disconnected)</microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></ocz></cpu></cpu></cpu></cpu></at></keyboard></generic></system></at></power></serial></ata></ata></ata></ata></intel></ata></intel></isa></pci-isa></acpi></acpi></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></rtl8169s></mii></realtek></acpi></acpi></rtl8169s></mii></realtek></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></intel></vga-compatible></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></smci></software></version></lahf></syscall,nx,lm></sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,movbe></fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,clflush,dts,acpi,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,ss,htt,tm,pbe>


$ pciconf -l
hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:	class=0x060000 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27708086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
vgapci0@pci0:0:2:0:	class=0x030000 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27728086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
pcib1@pci0:0:28:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27d08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
pcib2@pci0:0:28:4:	class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27e08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
pcib3@pci0:0:28:5:	class=0x060400 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27e28086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
uhci0@pci0:0:29:0:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci1@pci0:0:29:1:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c98086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci2@pci0:0:29:2:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27ca8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
uhci3@pci0:0:29:3:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27cb8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
ehci0@pci0:0:29:7:	class=0x0c0320 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27cc8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
pcib4@pci0:0:30:0:	class=0x060401 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x244e8086 rev=0xe1 hdr=0x01
isab0@pci0:0:31:0:	class=0x060100 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27b88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
atapci0@pci0:0:31:1:	class=0x01018a card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27df8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
atapci1@pci0:0:31:2:	class=0x010601 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27c18086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
none0@pci0:0:31:3:	class=0x0c0500 card=0x060215d9 chip=0x27da8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
re0@pci0:2:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x816815d9 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
re1@pci0:3:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x816815d9 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00

Output from my Dell T100 BIOS 1.4.1, pfSense 2.0.1 Live USB


$ dmesg
Copyright (c) 1992-2010 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
	The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE-p6 #0: Mon Dec 12 18:15:35 EST 2011
    root@FreeBSD_8.0_pfSense_2.0-AMD64.snaps.pfsense.org:/usr/obj./usr/pfSensesrc/src/sys/pfSense_SMP.8 amd64
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E3120  @ 3.16GHz (3169.49-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0x1067a  Family = 6  Model = 17  Stepping = 10
  Features=0xbfebfbff <fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,pse36,clflush,dts,acpi,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,ss,htt,tm,pbe>Features2=0x408e3fd <sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,vmx,smx,est,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,sse4.1,xsave>AMD Features=0x20100800 <syscall,nx,lm>AMD Features2=0x1 <lahf>TSC: P-state invariant
real memory  = 8589934592 (8192 MB)
avail memory = 8240717824 (7858 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <dell  pe_sc3 ="">FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs
FreeBSD/SMP: 1 package(s) x 2 core(s)
 cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID:  0
 cpu1 (AP): APIC ID:  1
ioapic0: Changing APIC ID to 2
ioapic0 <version 2.0="">irqs 0-23 on motherboard
netisr_init: forcing maxthreads to 1 and bindthreads to 0 for device polling
wlan: mac acl policy registered
ipw_monitor: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_monitor: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_monitor_fw, 0xffffffff80470e10, 0) error 1
wpi: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_wpi/.
wpi: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_wpi.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (wpi_fw, 0xffffffff806548d0, 0) error 1
ipw_bss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_bss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_bss_fw, 0xffffffff80470cd0, 0) error 1
ipw_ibss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_ibss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_ibss_fw, 0xffffffff80470d70, 0) error 1
kbd1 at kbdmux0
cryptosoft0: <software crypto="">on motherboard
padlock0: No ACE support.
acpi0: <dell pe_sc3="">on motherboard
acpi0: [ITHREAD]
acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <24-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0x808-0x80b on acpi0
cpu0: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu1: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
acpi_hpet0: <high precision="" event="" timer="">iomem 0xfed00000-0xfed003ff on acpi0
Timecounter "HPET" frequency 14318180 Hz quality 900
pcib0: <acpi host-pci="" bridge="">port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pci0: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib0
pcib1: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 1.0 on pci0
pci1: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib1
uhci0: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">port 0xac20-0xac3f irq 17 at device 26.0 on pci0
uhci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus0: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">on uhci0
uhci1: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">port 0xac40-0xac5f irq 18 at device 26.1 on pci0
uhci1: [ITHREAD]
usbus1: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">on uhci1
ehci0: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xdf9ff800-0xdf9ffbff irq 19 at device 26.7 on pci0
ehci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus2: EHCI version 1.0
usbus2: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci0
pcib2: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 28.0 on pci0
pci2: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib2
pcib3: <pci-pci bridge="">mem 0xdfae0000-0xdfafffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci2
pci3: <pci bus="">on pcib3
pcib4: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 17 at device 1.0 on pci3
pci4: <pci bus="">on pcib4
em0: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xecc0-0xecdf mem 0xdfdc0000-0xdfddffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci4
em0: Using an MSI interrupt
em0: [FILTER]
em1: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xece0-0xecff mem 0xdfde0000-0xdfdfffff irq 18 at device 0.1 on pci4
em1: Using an MSI interrupt
em1: [FILTER]
pcib5: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 18 at device 2.0 on pci3
pci5: <pci bus="">on pcib5
em2: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xdcc0-0xdcdf mem 0xdfcc0000-0xdfcdffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci5
em2: Using an MSI interrupt
em2: [FILTER]
em3: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xdce0-0xdcff mem 0xdfce0000-0xdfcfffff irq 19 at device 0.1 on pci5
em3: Using an MSI interrupt
em3: [FILTER]
pcib6: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 19 at device 3.0 on pci3
pci6: <pci bus="">on pcib6
em4: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xccc0-0xccdf mem 0xdfbc0000-0xdfbdffff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci6
em4: Using an MSI interrupt
em4: [FILTER]
em5: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0xcce0-0xccff mem 0xdfbe0000-0xdfbfffff irq 16 at device 0.1 on pci6
em5: Using an MSI interrupt
em5: [FILTER]
pcib7: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 28.4 on pci0
pci7: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib7
pcib8: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 17 at device 28.5 on pci0
pci8: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib8
bge0: <broadcom netxtreme="" gigabit="" ethernet="" controller,="" asic="" rev.="" 0x00a200="">mem 0xdfef0000-0xdfefffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci8
miibus0: <mii bus="">on bge0
brgphy0: <bcm5722 10="" 100="" 1000basetx="" phy="">PHY 1 on miibus0
brgphy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-FDX, auto
bge0: [FILTER]
uhci2: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">port 0xac60-0xac7f irq 21 at device 29.0 on pci0
uhci2: [ITHREAD]
usbus3: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">on uhci2
uhci3: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">port 0xac80-0xac9f irq 20 at device 29.1 on pci0
uhci3: [ITHREAD]
usbus4: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">on uhci3
uhci4: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">port 0xaca0-0xacbf irq 21 at device 29.2 on pci0
uhci4: [ITHREAD]
usbus5: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" controller="">on uhci4
ehci1: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xdf9ffc00-0xdf9fffff irq 21 at device 29.7 on pci0
ehci1: [ITHREAD]
usbus6: EHCI version 1.0
usbus6: <intel 82801i="" (ich9)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci1
pcib9: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 30.0 on pci0
pci9: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib9
vgapci0: <vga-compatible display="">port 0xbc00-0xbcff mem 0xd0000000-0xd7ffffff,0xdfff0000-0xdfffffff irq 19 at device 5.0 on pci9
isab0: <pci-isa bridge="">at device 31.0 on pci0
isa0: <isa bus="">on isab0
atapci0: <intel ich9="" sata300="" controller="">port 0xa8f0-0xa8f7,0xa8e8-0xa8eb,0xa8f8-0xa8ff,0xa8ec-0xa8ef,0xac00-0xac0f,0xac10-0xac1f irq 23 at device 31.2 on pci0
atapci0: [ITHREAD]
ata2: <ata 0="" channel="">on atapci0
ata2: [ITHREAD]
ata3: <ata 1="" channel="">on atapci0
ata3: [ITHREAD]
atrtc0: <at realtime="" clock="">port 0x70-0x7f irq 8 on acpi0
fdc0: <floppy drive="" controller="">port 0x3f0-0x3f5,0x3f7 irq 6 drq 2 on acpi0
fdc0: does not respond
device_attach: fdc0 attach returned 6
uart0: <16550 or compatible> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0
uart0: [FILTER]
orm0: <isa option="" roms="">at iomem 0xc0000-0xc8fff,0xc9000-0xc9fff,0xca000-0xcafff,0xec000-0xeffff on isa0
sc0: <system console="">at flags 0x100 on isa0
sc0: VGA <16 virtual consoles, flags=0x300>
vga0: <generic isa="" vga="">at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0
atkbdc0: <keyboard controller="" (i8042)="">at port 0x60,0x64 on isa0
atkbd0: <at keyboard="">irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
atkbd0: [ITHREAD]
ppc0: cannot reserve I/O port range
est0: <enhanced speedstep="" frequency="" control="">on cpu0
p4tcc0: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu0
est1: <enhanced speedstep="" frequency="" control="">on cpu1
p4tcc1: <cpu frequency="" thermal="" control="">on cpu1
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
IPsec: Initialized Security Association Processing.
usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus1: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus2: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
usbus3: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus4: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus5: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus6: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
ad4: 152587MB <wdc wd1602abks-18n8a0="" 02.03b04="">at ata2-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s
ugen0.1: <intel>at usbus0
uhub0: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
ugen1.1: <intel>at usbus1
uhub1: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1
ugen2.1: <intel>at usbus2
uhub2: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus2
ugen3.1: <intel>at usbus3
uhub3: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus3
ugen4.1: <intel>at usbus4
uhub4: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus4
ugen5.1: <intel>at usbus5
uhub5: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus5
ugen6.1: <intel>at usbus6
uhub6: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus6
GEOM: ad4: partition 1 does not start on a track boundary.
GEOM: ad4: partition 1 does not end on a track boundary.
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub4: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub5: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub2: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
uhub6: 6 ports with 6 removable, self powered
ugen2.2: <generic>at usbus2
umass0: <generic 0="" 2="" mass="" storage,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.03,="" addr="">on usbus2
umass0:  SCSI over Bulk-Only; quirks = 0x0000
ugen6.2: <usb>at usbus6
umass1: <usb 0="" 2="" disk="" 2.0,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 0.00,="" addr="">on usbus6
umass1:  SCSI over Bulk-Only; quirks = 0x0000
umass0:0:0:-1: Attached to scbus0
(probe0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): TEST UNIT READY. CDB: 0 0 0 0 0 0 
(probe0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): CAM status: SCSI Status Error
(probe0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI status: Check Condition
(probe0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI sense: UNIT ATTENTION asc:28,0 (Not ready to ready change, medium may have changed)
umass1:1:1:-1: Attached to scbus1
ugen5.2: <microsoft>at usbus5
uhub7: <microsoft 2="" 9="" microsoft="" usb="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus5
uhub7: 3 ports with 0 removable, self powered
ugen5.3: <microsoft>at usbus5
ukbd0: <microsoft 0="" 3="" microsoft="" wireless="" entertainment="" keyboard="" 7000,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus5
kbd2 at ukbd0
ugen5.4: <microsoft>at usbus5
ums0: <microsoft 0="" 4="" microsoft="" wireless="" laser="" mouse="" 8000,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus5
ums0: 5 buttons and [XYZT] coordinates ID=17
ums0: 0 buttons and [T] coordinates ID=0
da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
da0: <generic flash="" disk="" 8.00="">Removable Direct Access SCSI-2 device 
da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
da0: 3910MB (8007680 512 byte sectors: 255H 63S/T 498C)
da1 at umass-sim1 bus 1 scbus1 target 0 lun 0
da1: <usb disk="" 2.0="" 1.00="">Removable Direct Access SCSI-2 device 
da1: 40.000MB/s transfers
da1: 3915MB (8017920 512 byte sectors: 255H 63S/T 499C)SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!

GEOM: da0: geometry does not match label (16h,63s != 255h,63s).
GEOM: da0: media size does not match label.
GEOM: da1: the primary GPT table is corrupt or invalid.
GEOM: da1: using the secondary instead -- recovery strongly advised.
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ufs/pfSense
md0.uzip: 3206 x 65536 blocks
GEOM: da1: the primary GPT table is corrupt or invalid.
GEOM: da1: using the secondary instead -- recovery strongly advised.
pflog0: promiscuous mode enabled</usb></generic></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></microsoft></usb></usb></generic></generic></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></wdc></cpu></enhanced></cpu></enhanced></at></keyboard></generic></system></isa></floppy></at></ata></ata></intel></isa></pci-isa></vga-compatible></acpi></acpi></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></bcm5722></mii></broadcom></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></intel(r)></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></acpi></acpi></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></high></acpi></acpi></dell></software></version></dell ></lahf></syscall,nx,lm></sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,vmx,smx,est,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,sse4.1,xsave></fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,pse36,clflush,dts,acpi,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,ss,htt,tm,pbe>


$ pciconf -l
hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:	class=0x060000 card=0x00000000 chip=0x29f08086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
pcib1@pci0:0:1:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x102800fe chip=0x29f18086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x01
uhci0@pci0:0:26:0:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29378086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
uhci1@pci0:0:26:1:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29388086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
ehci0@pci0:0:26:7:	class=0x0c0320 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x293c8086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
pcib2@pci0:0:28:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29408086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x01
pcib7@pci0:0:28:4:	class=0x060400 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29488086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x01
pcib8@pci0:0:28:5:	class=0x060400 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x294a8086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x01
uhci2@pci0:0:29:0:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29348086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
uhci3@pci0:0:29:1:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29358086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
uhci4@pci0:0:29:2:	class=0x0c0300 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29368086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
ehci1@pci0:0:29:7:	class=0x0c0320 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x293a8086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
pcib9@pci0:0:30:0:	class=0x060401 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x244e8086 rev=0x92 hdr=0x01
isab0@pci0:0:31:0:	class=0x060100 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29168086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
atapci0@pci0:0:31:2:	class=0x01018f card=0x028b1028 chip=0x29208086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
pcib3@pci0:2:0:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x851710b5 rev=0xac hdr=0x01
pcib4@pci0:3:1:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x851710b5 rev=0xac hdr=0x01
pcib5@pci0:3:2:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x851710b5 rev=0xac hdr=0x01
pcib6@pci0:3:3:0:	class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x851710b5 rev=0xac hdr=0x01
em0@pci0:4:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
em1@pci0:4:0:1:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
em2@pci0:5:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
em3@pci0:5:0:1:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
em4@pci0:6:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
em5@pci0:6:0:1:	class=0x020000 card=0x125e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
bge0@pci0:8:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x165a14e4 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
vgapci0@pci0:9:5:0:	class=0x030000 card=0x028b1028 chip=0x515e1002 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00

Im thinking i need to open an online support case with SuperMicro. Is there anyway to know if the Atom chipset is the limiting factor for the PEG6i not being detected?

wallabybob

@Gluon99:

Is there anyway to know if the Atom chipset is the limiting factor for the PEG6i not being detected?

Not that I know of but I haven't read the datasheet. It is possible there is some limitation (feature) in the chipset preventing support of downstream bridges. (I have seen reports that Atom chipsets are or were "crippled" to prevent them competing with "desktop" chipsets.) But I thought I saw a report in this thread that someone had run Linux and it had detected the six NICs where FreeBSD didn't. If my recollection is correct then the problem on that motherboard is not a hardware limitation.

@Gluon99:

Im thinking i need to open an online support case with SuperMicro.

I agree. The information you have provided so far has been useful, lets get a little more. Please post the output from execution of the following commands pfSense shell commands run on the SuperMicro system:

pciconf -r pci0:0:28:0 0:0x3f
pciconf -r pci0:0:28:4 0:0x3f
pciconf -r pci0:0:28:5 0:0x3f

These commands will provide information about how the three PCI bridges in the chipset have been configured. The startup output from the SuperMicro motherboard suggests the second and third bridges are used to interface to the two onboard Realtek NICs.

Gluon99

Here are the commands you asked for wallabybob, let me know if you want anything else. These messages are a bit cryptic to me, but i will look them up later. Im curious to know what the output means. My *nix is a bit weak.


$ pciconf -r pci0:0:28:0 0:0x3f
27d08086 00100104 06040001 00810010
00000000 00000000 00010100 200000f0 
0000fff0 0001fff1 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000040 00000000 00060110

$ pciconf -r pci0:0:28:4 0:0x3f
27e08086 00100107 06040001 00810010
00000000 00000000 00020200 2000d0d0 
fea0fea0 fde1fde1 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000040 00000000 00060110 

$ pciconf -r pci0:0:28:5 0:0x3f
27e28086 00100107 06040001 00810010
00000000 00000000 00030300 2000e0e0 
feb0feb0 fdf1fdf1 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000040 00000000 00060211

wallabybob

The Silcom PEG6I has a PLX 8715 PCI Express bridge which appears in the PCI device tree as one "upstream" (closest to the CPU) PCI bridge with three downstream PCI bridges. Each of the downstream PCI bridges is connected to a single Intel NIC chip with two PCI functions, each PCI function providing a single Ethernet interface. Each of the downstream PCI bridges requires a distinct PCI bus number so the devices downstream of them can be addressed. The upstream bridge therefore requires at least four downstream bus numbers (one for each of the downstream bridges and one for the bus interconnecting the bridges).

From the FreeBSD startup report of its walk of the PCI device tree we see there are three PCI bridges, two of which are used to connect to the board LANs leaving the bridge at device=28 function=0 for interfacing to the expansion slot device, in this case a Silcom PEG6I. A dump of the PCI configuration registers of this bridge shows:

$ pciconf -r pci0:0:28:0 0:0x3f
27d08086 00100104 06040001 00810010
00000000 00000000 00010100 200000f0
0000fff0 0001fff1 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000040 00000000 00060110

The byte at offset 0x14 is 0, the upstream bus number of the bridge, the byte at offset 0x15 is 0x01, the first secondary (downstream) bus number and the byte at offset 16 is 0x01, the maximum secondary bus number. Hence this bridge has been allocated insufficient secondary bus numbers to allow access to the NICs on the card. The bridge also has its memory window base and top registers and i/o window base and top registers programmed to prevent memory and i/o register access to downstream devices.

FreeBSD is not a plug and play operating system; that is FreeBSD relies on the BIOS to perform PCI device resource allocation.
The failure of the BIOS to allocate PCI resources to devices downstream of a bridge on an expansion card makes this otherwise attractive motherboard unsuitable for some users of the FreeBSD operating system and the pfSense package.

–-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope the above explanation has sufficient technical detail or the people supporting the BIOS on the motherboard without being too technical for the well informed reader.

stephenw10

@wallabybob:

I hope the above explanation has sufficient technical detail or the people supporting the BIOS on the motherboard without being too technical for the well informed reader.

Spot on I'd say, very informative. :)

Steve

Gluon99

Good explination Wallabybob. Do you think this could be fixed via a BIOS update from SM or its is a phy limitation of the board itself?

wallabybob

@Gluon99:

Do you think this could be fixed via a BIOS update from SM or its is a phy limitation of the board itself?

A BIOS update would appear to be necessary to fix this. I don't know enough about the hardware to say if it would be sufficient. I have seen reports hinting of restrictions placed on Atom based boards (e.g. no PCI-Express slots on early Atom boards, at most one expansion slot etc) so there may be a hardware limitation but I read in this thread that all the NICs had been recognised when running Linux but maybe it wasn't clear that it was Linux running on this type of board. If Linux running on this board finds all the NICs and can drive them then there is no limitation in the hardware that would stop FreeBSD finding all the NICs and driving them - it just needs the BIOS to initialise the PCI bridges (both in the chipset and on the card) so FreeBSD can find the NICs when it walks the PCI device tree.

Frankly, I think it is poor form to provide an expansion slot and be silent about the fact that certain combinations of cards and operating systems won't work in the slot. There is a precedent with 4GB memory - plenty of motherboard manufacturers say you can't use more than about 3GB of RAM with 32 bit Operating Systems and are quite upfront about max size of memory.

stephenw10

Has any of this code made it into 8.3 I wonder:
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-arch/2011-April/011268.html
It seems to be addressing this issue. Or at least a similar one. ;)

Steve

wallabybob

@stephenw10:

Has any of this code made it into 8.3 I wonder:
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-arch/2011-April/011268.html
It seems to be addressing this issue. Or at least a similar one. ;)

Thanks for the reference. After reading the whole thread it does look as if it addresses at least a similar issue. I suggest trying a pfSense 2.1 snapshot build. If that isn't very convenient you could send an email to John Baldwin referencing the thread and this discussion and ask if the code is in FreeBSD 8.3 and does it address this issue.

stephenw10

Look like it made it into the code base some time ago. A while before the 8.3 branch point.

Steve

Gluon99

Some time this week I will try a 2.1 x64 snapshot and see what happens.

Gluon99

Finally got around to trying the latest 2.1 x64 snapshot, but still no luck with the card. I also tried Ubuntu 11.10 x64 live and it would not detect the card. Seems to be more of a BIOS issue, maybe i will write up a support email to supermicro about the PEG6i and see what happens.

Thanks for your help wallabybob

erack

Since this probably won't be fixed in a timely manner, anyone have a recommendation for another 4-6 port Intel-chipset NIC that is compatible with the SuperMicro Atom boards?

And if anyone has one they want to sell, I'll trade the PEG6I for it.