X11SBA-LN4F vs A1SRi-2558F
-
I empathize with you for the troubles you're going through with that motherboard model, but in the end I guess I'll cough up the money to go for a Supermicro A1SRi-2558F. It's on long term support from Supermicro, FreeBSD 10 certified, AES-NI + QuickAssist. As you, I probably don't need headaches but reliability in the long shot.
-
I empathize with you for the troubles you're going through with that motherboard model, but in the end I guess I'll cough up the money to go for a Supermicro A1SRi-2558F. It's on long term support from Supermicro, FreeBSD 10 certified, AES-NI + QuickAssist. As you, I probably don't need headaches but reliability in the long shot.
Well, it's been up longer than it has been so far (over two days now) and I suspect that it will get better as time goes on (and the software bugs get squashed). If the bug I posted about in another thread (quoted below) is the true culprit, it would seem that anything Intel related (at least with same driver) could be effected by this. Since FreeBSD development has recent posts about this, I would guess it would be solved fairly soon. It wouldn't be so bad to troubleshoot if the family (wife and kids) didn't come flying to me within 20 seconds of the Internet going down (even at 2:00am in the morning).
Reading some more, I found this thread (https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=96325.0) which is Intel related but I'm not so sure it doesn't go beyond that. Seem FreeBSD 10.1 has an issue that needs to be corrected at the OS level that 'could' be causing this.
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=199174
States "In Progress" under status.
Not sure if this effects Realtek cards or not but reading though the freebsd.org link, the symptoms sound exactly like mine and yours too.
-
The previous customer build I did was on the SuperMicro A1SRi-2558F and it too would lock up in a similar manner on 2.2.4 - tried all the normal things except TRIM - it had an SSD like almost all of my pfsense builds. Also ECC memory - which could have been more of the culprit than a friend?
The iPMI would usually get locked up as well when it failed and the pfSense web GUI was a gonner until a hard power slap. The longest it ran was probably a week and it appeared the biggest culprits of crazy DNS_error_lookups / "lockups" were pfBlocker and Snort. If these were off it would go longer on its good runs.
This appliance is now in a box awaiting a customers Comcast second cable internet install - that may take months to years? It was a full SuperMicro solution hand built from component sku's to save money. SuperMicro nickel and dimes you on the component parts like a pci riser bracket to get this into their 1U case.
Eagerly awaiting stability notes on this X11SBA-LN4F - This unit would also make a great Camera IP recorder box since the Intel i210AT can be teamed and operating system support is the biggest range of any box I have ever seen - Windows XP to Windows 10 and FreeBSD 10.
-
Eagerly awaiting stability notes on this X11SBA-LN4F - This unit would also make a great Camera IP recorder box since the Intel i210AT can be teamed and operating system support is the biggest range of any box I have ever seen - Windows XP to Windows 10 and FreeBSD 10.
I looked at trying to update the FreeBSD driver for the Intel I210AT and noticed that the driver download page for this chipset is very large (included all of the OS that you mentioned). However, it looks like the FreeBSD version is something that has to be compiled in and not simply installed over (from what little I looked at it). I have limited (and I mean limited) knowledge of FreeBSD and building an image is not a remote possibility right now.
-
My Self included in drivers for Linux/BSD
- noted from the freebsg bug 199174 the board was a SuperMicro X7SPA-HF with 2x GigE Intel 82574L chipset - em(4) drivers?
The BMC chip is Winbond WPCM450
The boards corresponding sub components related to this post are:
1. GigE - Intel I210-AT on the Braswell and I354 on the C2558 - seems like em(4) was the driver for both and maybe the Intel 82574L as well?
2. BMC/iPMI - Aspeed AST2400Also read this bug reports a BMC and Ethernet lockup at the same time as I have experienced??
It looks like they have it down to a TSO setting??
Background Research since I was not sure what TSO meant -:
In computer networking, large segment offload (LSO) is a technique for increasing outbound throughput of high-bandwidth network connections by reducing CPU overhead. It works by queuing up large buffers and letting the network interface card (NIC) split them into separate packets. The technique is also called TCP segmentation offload (TSO) when applied to TCP, or generic segmentation offload (GSO).The inbound counterpart of large segment offload is large receive offload (LRO).
pfSense - System - Advanced - Networking (tab) - Network Interfaces (section):
1. Hardware TCP Segmentation offloading (TSOx) - TX mode - disabled checked
2. Hardware Large Receive Offloading (LRO) - RX mode - disabled checked - noted from the freebsg bug 199174 the board was a SuperMicro X7SPA-HF with 2x GigE Intel 82574L chipset - em(4) drivers?
-
It's interesting to note that I had both of those checked when it crashed the first two times (maybe 3rd too…don't remember). However, I have unchecked EVERYTHING in that section and it has run for nearly 3 days without a watchdog timeout on the LAN ports. I'll keep chugging along and see what happens.
On the IPMI note, it's separate and I don't think pfsense/FreeBSD has anything to do with it on my board, correct? I've had no issues getting to the console (even during the LAN crash / watchdog timeout) using the IPMI port.
-
"On the IPMI note, it's separate and I don't think pfsense/FreeBSD has anything to do with it on my board, correct? I've had no issues getting to the console (even during the LAN crash / watchdog timeout) using the IPMI port."
I am not sure since the bug report you mentioned as well as my experience with all SuperMicro boards (Q2 mentioned) all have done simultaneous lockups on LANS and BMC. You are correct in that I erroneously thought your BMC locked up simultaneously - my error - sorry about the rant on BMC.
How do you get Watch Dog to tell you the LAN has frozen?
I went to my "Service WatchDog" on pfSense and only have "ipferf" and that seems to be recommended only for internal trusted LAN ports?
-
I don't know how to change the watchdog, it simply popped up on my console stating watchdog timeout on igb1, which is my LAN port. Also, I couldn't get to the GUI, DHCP stopped working as well as ANYTHING Internet. However, the IPMI port, separate from the 4 regular ports, was working fine so I logged into the console and noted it was completely responsive. After the watchdog message popped up, everything reset and started working again except IPV6 sites. A watchdog error for igb1 was also logged in the system log.
I suppose IPV6 would have eventually start working but I turned it off. I've since turned it back on.
-
Any updates on the stability?
-
Any updates on the stability?
I tried to install 2.1.5 but gave up because I couldn't get past the Root Mount Error. In the process, I somehow managed to (through BIOS) disable all of my USB ports and, for some reason, not only could I not use a USB keyboard, my IPMI port using the virtual KVM would not work (could see but could not type). I had to clear BIOS to get past that.
Once cleared and setup again, I just let it run while I was searching for answers. It has now run for 3 days with no watchdog timeouts / resets and the log seems to have fewer entries (on everything). As far as I know, the pfsense config did not change (unless the aborted 2.1.5 did something but I never made to the install part).
So running solid for 3 days but that could change at any moment. Still don't know how to get past the Root Mount Error of trying 2.1.5 though! :(
My theory (based on lots and lots and lots of reading) is that there might be an issue with the 2.4.0 IGB Intel driver that's included in FreeBSD 10.1 (and 10.2 from what I can tell). There are updated drivers (2.4.3 being the latest) but I've not tried to figure out how to compile (can't compile in pfsense as that's been removed). I have seen cases exactly like mine be solved by simply putting the older FreeBSD 8.3 Intel IGB driver (not sure of version) into this pfsense and set it to load. Was hoping 2.2.5 would have an updated driver but from talking to the folks over on the opnsense board, they think that the network drivers won't be touched much until FreeBSD 11 of mid next year.
-
What I don't get is that the current "Supported Devices" list on freebsd website has i210 as a supported device.
Why don't you give it a shot to install the latest stable pfsense and disable watchdog right after install?
I'm more and more inclined to get the 2558F, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
-
What I don't get is that the current "Supported Devices" list on freebsd website has i210 as a supported device.
Why don't you give it a shot to install the latest stable pfsense and disable watchdog right after install?
I'm more and more inclined to get the 2558F, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
I'm on the latest pfsense (2.2.4) and not sure how to disable watchdog. The watchdog is resetting the dropped lan. Without it, it would hang indefinitely.
While it may be supported on freebsd, reading around (FreeBSD forums, FreeNAS forums, here), there seems to be a sparse pattern of the driver from FreeBSD 10.1 for the Intel IGB (2.4.0) dropping under load. I'm at 3+ days now, the longest that it's been up. Maybe there was something in BIOS that did need to be reset and resetting it fixed the issue. If it drops again, I'm going to either figure out how to install pfsense 2.1.5 or I'm going to figure out how to swap out the Intel igb driver for the one from FreeBSD 8.3 or I'll compile the latest (2.4.3) and try it.
-
I'm on the latest pfsense (2.2.4) and not sure how to disable watchdog. The watchdog is resetting the dropped lan. Without it, it would hang indefinitely.
dropping packets is mostly based on a small few number of issues that might be coming temporarily
again and again back, as I know it right.- A bridged port is in usage and the hardware is not f´n fast and strong enough
- The entire traffic is to much for the RJ45 interface, because the NIC or the other hardware is not capable
of handling such a amount of traffic right. - Too much more packets are installed and too much services are also running or working on the same
LAN Port. IDS/IPS, DPI, or other heavy tasks that narrows down the entire CPU power.
While it may be supported on freebsd, reading around (FreeBSD forums, FreeNAS forums, here), there seems to be a sparse pattern of the driver from FreeBSD 10.1 for the Intel IGB (2.4.0) dropping under load.
In normal this can´t be, because the i211AT is the consumer LAN Port and the i210AT is the Server grade
LAN Port series from Intel!I'm at 3+ days now, the longest that it's been up. Maybe there was something in BIOS that did need to be reset and resetting it fixed the issue.
Did you a fresh and full install? Or is this NanoBSD on the firewall?
If it drops again, I'm going to either figure out how to install pfsense 2.1.5 or I'm going to figure out how to swap out the Intel igb driver for the one from FreeBSD 8.3 or I'll compile the latest (2.4.3) and try it.
There are several methods available for you but likes often they can´t be mixed up!
pfSense 2.1.5 = FreeBSD 8.3 and only between this drivers, .ko modules should be swapped over
pfSense 2.2.4 = FreeBSD 10.1 the same game only between them…setting up a higher mbuf size because each core is creating a queue for each CPU core,
4 Core x 5 LAN Ports = 20 queuesAnd in the BIOS not ever but sometimes the IPMI port is created or set up to be a fall back WAN port
and this might be also often a problem, have you tried this out before? -
It usually hangs at 4 or 5 Megabits so I doubt that traffic load is hurting this hardware or CPU. I'm only using two of the four ports right now with the other two unassigned. One port is the WAN port and the other is the LAN ports. Nothing else in the system.
As for the FreeBSD 8.3 vs 10.1, there are others that have moved the Intel ibg driver from 8.3 into 10.1, set it to load and has corrected the same issue that I have. Not sure what to say here other than it worked for them. Regardless if the I210-AT is server grade or not, a bad driver can cause issues.
Not sure what you mean about IPMI port.
The install was a fresh full install. There were the watchdog timeout / resets until 3+ days ago when I had to reset the BIOS on the motherboard because I had lost all keyboard control by turning off something to do with the USB ports (because I was trying to install 2.1.5 FULL install).
-
Two more crashes this morning, one with no traffic load at 4:50 am. Will work on it later to see if I can solve this mess…sigh
Edit: Spent the better part of Saturday learning how to compile the latest Intel driver (2.4.3) for igb ports on FreeBSD (using FreeBSD 10.1 running in a VM). Finally got it installed and working but it broke Traffic Shaping (because I didn't have ALTQ support in the driver source). Regardless, it did a watchdog timeout within 6 hours of installation.
Edit #2: Put the original driver back and connected the LAN port to another switch. It ran for over a week with nothing in the long on a 'dumb switch' so it's worth a shot to see if it's the 'smart switch' or the LAN port hardware / driver. If that doesn't work, I'll switch to an un-used port on the motherboard (surely, couldn't be two ports malfunctioning if it were hardware, right? - don't answer.....:P )
Edit #3: Moved the connection on the LAN to another switch and it just went down for the count again. Will move it back to the original switch and then move the LAN from igb1 to igb2 to see if there is a hardware issue with port 1 (igb1) of the board.
-
The igb2 port did a watchdog and reset also. Unless I'm mistaken and the ports run off the same chip (don't think so), this has got to be a software or configuration error. :(
Edit: Removed VLANHWTSO (ifconfig igb2 -vlanhwtso) and turned off apinger (WAN Monitoring). Cut 95% of the log out and things are running OK so far…will see if this is the magic pill that fixes this thing.
-
Watching this thread with anticipation. This looks like a good board on paper and will be on my short list for a build if you can get it to run.
-
Watching this thread with anticipation. This looks like a good board on paper and will be on my short list for a build if you can get it to run.
I'm doing all that I can right now. Never expected in my life to learn how to compile an Intel NIC driver in FreeBSD 10.1 just to try to get pfsense to run, lol. The only thing I've not been able to get going was 2.1.5 and I'll go back to trying that if it's not stable this time.
-
Update: Two+ days of uptime since I made the last changes. About 20 entries TOTAL in the GENERAL logs and 95% of those are login / logout entries.
Keeping fingers crossed that either VLAN_HWTSO removal or apinger removal fixed this. Will probably turn one or other back on if this things runs for some time (weeks) just to figure out which one was taking down the LAN - time will tell….
Update 2: Three+ days. Only thing in logs other than login / logout entries is a Dynamic DNS check (no update required).
-
Update: At 4 plus days now with no watchdog. Again, only login/logout entries in the system log now.
Also, since turning off apinger, have not lost IPV6 connectivity.
Edit: Well shit….down again. Made it 4 days this time. I'm out of ideas at this point....other than 2.1.5, which I can't get to install (Root Mount Error). I will try later (2.1.5 or 2.2.5).
-
If your IPv6 Internet connection uses DHCP6, SLAAC and/or DHCP-PD over PPPoE, 2.2.5 correctly handles link up -> link down and link down -> link up scenarios. 2.2.4 and earlier versions simply trust that IPv6 will start working again exactly as it did before when the link returns, which is not necessarily true. My ISP doesn't install a necessary route until DHCP-PD has delegated a prefix.
If this fix is relevant to you, it won't do anything to stabilise your troublesome NICs, might help things recover properly after the interface's watchdog reset.
pfSense uses a custom kernel. If you want to experiment with kernel patches (including replacing the NIC driver entirely), you really need to be using a pfSense build environment to do so in order to avoid random breakage and loss of functionality. pfSense 2.2.5-RELEASE has 111 patches applied to the stock FreeBSD 10.1 operating system, many of them affecting the kernel in some way. The kernel is also configured differently to the FreeBSD GENERIC kernel, for example by including ALTQ support. Sadly, setting up a pfSense 2.2.x build environment is not that straightforward, especially if you have no previous experience with FreeBSD and git (the version control system used by pfSense).
Backporting fixes from one FreeBSD branch to another (for example from HEAD, which is currently FreeBSD 11, to releng/10.1, which is the base OS for pfSense 2.2) is often non-trivial and may well be difficult without some experience with Subversion (the version control system used by FreeBSD). You will struggle to manage more than the most straightforward backport without experience of programming in C, diff and patch.
I suspect your ROOT MOUNT ERROR in 2.1.5 is because FreeBSD 8.3 is too old to support the controller for the device you booted from (the USB controller if you booted from a memory stick). I would give up on 2.1.5 - pfSense 2.1 is End of Life, FreeBSD 8 is End of Life and FreeBSD ports for FreeBSD 8 are End of Life. There are almost certainly unfixed security issues in both pfSense and FreeBSD lurking within 2.1. Snort for pfSense 2.1 has been pulled, as VRT rule updates for the last version of Snort that was available for FreeBSD 8 have been discontinued.
-
Thanks David and from what little I've learned, I have about figured out what you posted above (not how to do it, just the general idea). I learned about some of it by compiling the newer Intel driver using standard stock FreeBSD 10.1 - missing ALTQ for Traffic Shaping (still had a watchdog though).
I don't think I have a hardware problem. I think something is broken at the kernel or driver level. I'm just out of ideas and not experienced enough (nor do I have time) to solve it past what I've already done. If 2.2.5 doesn't fix it, I'll have to try something else or go back to previous Asus router and simply wait to see if it ever gets solved. That's always a risk when you choose new hardware. Regardless, I thank everyone for helping and those that put this whole thing together and keep it moving forward.
Edit: Updated to 2.2.5 and will see how that goes.
-
Any luck with 2.2.5?
-
Any luck with 2.2.5?
Update was FAST and smooth (i.e. no issues). Been up for a day+ now with no issues (again, I don't run much yet as I'm waiting for stability first). It made it to 4+ days before going down last time (2.2.4), so time will tell. The driver for the NIC is, as expected, Intel 2.4.0 (FreeBSD version - won't probably change until FreeBSD 11 - but 2.4.3 compiled on FreeBSD 10.1 didn't fix it anway).
I'll keep you updated.
-
Well, went down on 2.2.5 but never received a watchdog timeout (waited nearly 5 minutes). Console worked fine and ifconfig shows both ports as active. Don't know where to go from here except back to the Asus router. I don't think it's a hardware issue (unless multiple ports have bad chipsets). Either a BIOS issue or FreeBSD/driver/issue (possibly pfsense but I suspect FreeBSD/driver).
sigh
-
Have you tried disabling MSIX and MSI? Instructions at https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tuning_and_Troubleshooting_Network_Cards#MSI.2FMSIX
-
Have you tried disabling MSIX and MSI? Instructions at https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tuning_and_Troubleshooting_Network_Cards#MSI.2FMSIX
I tried that once before but it locked the system (tried to disable both at same time). I'll try again to see if I it makes a difference. Will have to wait as I have a house full of people - all using the web continuously. I believe I would know about the Internet going down faster (with all of the crying about it) than I would know about someone breaking into my house and shooting up the place, lol. :P
From dmesg, it would appear that the ports are using MSIX. Will disable that first and see what happens.
Edit: msix disabled now (confirmed via dmesg). Will report back. If it goes down again, will try to disable both.
-
Disabling MSIX didn't fix it. Just went down again.
When I get a chance, I'll try to disable both again.
:-[
Edit: Just disabled both MSIX and MSI and the LAN went down. I logged in via IPMI and the console indicated all was fine (ifconfig - lists all as active). Tried pinging from the shell and couldn't reach anything on the LAN. Could ping the cable modem on the WAN port just fine.
Something is borking the LAN…what....I have no idea?!?
-
I have an X10SBA-L build:
-
SSD: 120 GB Crucial BX100
-
Case + PSU Combo: M350 and 90W PicoPSU
-
RAM: 2x4GB Crucial
I had a couple of problems that might be worth mentioning:
-
My first build had a faulty PSU/12V adaptor (wavy lines on VGA output, buzzing noise). Wouldn't stay up for more than 30 seconds, I replaced both, after which no more PSU issues. I've ordered a 12V straight cable (in theory no PicoPSU necessary) but haven't gotten around to installing it yet.
-
I had lots of trouble getting the exact RAM, at first I ordered some 1.35V/1.5V from Amazon, which passed Memtest for about 15 minutes until it failed. Bizarre. The replacements I got from Microcenter (didn't want to wait for shipping) work perfectly.
-
I added a fancy Swellder Delta TFB0412EHN PWM fan - sounds like a rocket ship on startup but afterwards the fan never turns on, system barely gets warm.
It was a bit of a dog to install 2.2.4, I had endless crashes and even after successful install it wouldn't stay up for more than a few hours before corrupting the file system. However after running the exhaustive Memtest I saw one failure, changing the RAM out with a slightly different model fixed all my issues.
Since then I had 51 days of uptime (I use pfsense on my home netrowk for firewall, VPN server, DNS server), reset this morning to upgrade to pfsense 2.2.5 which appears to be running just great.
2c
-
-
My X10SBA-L build use since initial startup, I have a 150MB Comcast connection, about 10-15 concurrently connected devices:
Basically total overkill for my network…
-
Thimee, did your entire system crash or did your interfaces go down (and console still work)?
My console still works fine…it's just the LAN (not WAN) port that goes down and resets via Watchdog timeout.
-
Engineer: Doing some double checking on SuperMicro web site:
1. Still no BIOS update
2. Certified 4GB ram is only one item listed: 4GB – Hynix - MEM-DR340L-HL02-SO16 - HMT451S6BFR8A-PB - H5TC4G83BFRSpecs above further detailed:
• 4GB Memory Module
• DDR3-1600MHz
• PC3L-12800
• Non-ECC
• 1.35v Low Voltage LV
• SODIMM
• 204-pin
• Cas Latency 11
• 1Rx8 (H5TC4G83BFR - 512MB chips each)3. Certified 8GB stick has the same exact component chip as the 4GB - H5TC4G83BFR - 512MB chips each
Your spec from page one listed as follows:
2 x 4GB Samsung PC1600 DDR3L: $36 shipped from eBayFound Samsung 4gb pc1600 sodimm items to get comparatives:
1. Samsung Part number M471B5273DH0-CK0 - 1.50v
2. Samsung Part number M471B5173DBO-YK0 - 1.35v - CL11 - ?Single sided 1Rx4?
3. Samsung Part number M471B5173BHO-YK0 - 1.35v - CL11 - ?Single sided 1Rx4?
4. Samsung MV-3T4G3D/US - 1.35v - CL11 - 2Rx4 Double sided - 8 eachMy questions:
1. Do these certified specs match exactly to yours especially 1Rx8 with 512 and CAS 11?
2. Have you run with just one chip of ram at 4GB - number one cycles solo and then number two cycled solo as well to isolate behavior?
3. Have you swapped memory places of the existing Samsung 2 *4GB sticks? -
I have re-seated the ram but not swapped it or run it in single channel (one stick). Once I completed the memtest+ test, I had assumed all was good. I suppose it could be ram but I tend to think that takes the whole ship down including the console (aka - one big crash). I suppose it might be ram. The ram is DDR3L 1.35V (I did make sure of that when I purchased it).
I'll see about removing a stick later. As for the certified memory stuff, I understand the testing and stuff but there's no real reason for most of the good stuff not to run. Just hasn't been certified….YET. When I bought the board and ram, there were NO certified sticks listed on the SuperMicro site. ;)
Oh, and for now, I've turned the Asus RT-AC68U back from AP to Router while trying to sort this out. Busy lately so I'll have to put it on hold a little. Hard to even do anything as people scream faster about the Internet being down than they do if we were being robbed, lol.
-
This is extremely interesting to me - the LAN1 LAN2 LAN3 and LAN4 ports on the back are not the same!!
Manual from SuperMicro - page 17 block diagram - shows:
A. 1x intel I210 is a single off the SoC on PCIe(1) and
B. the other three are 2 stepped off PCIe(2) then to a Pericom 608GP “PI7C9X2G608GP” (PCIe2 6-Port/ 8-Lane Packet Switch, GreenPacketTM Family) – add 150ns latency to stream per spec.My thoughts would be to move the LAN port if on the three port Pericom switch to PCIe(1) directly off the SoC. Guessing this is lower left corner LAN1 while looking from back side or page 26 of the manual.
-
Going through the BIOS option in the manual some points worth noting to the problemamtic I210:
1. ASPM "Active State Power Management" - Auto default to disable (Applicable to the PCI-Express buses - ala LAN1,2,3,4
2. PCIe Speed from Auto to Gen2 since this is the spec for the I210 on PCIe(1) and (2).
3. Onboard LAN Option ROM Type - make sure Legacy which is default.
4. Onboard LAN1 option ROM from PXE - to Disabled - ironically the rest are off by default - my guess because of the Pericom.
5. Network Stack from Enabled to Disabled - no PXE!
6. Kill the AST2400 serial port since it will not be used?
7. last resort play with turning off and on WatchDog in BIOS -
This is extremely interesting to me - the LAN1 LAN2 LAN3 and LAN4 ports on the back are not the same!!
Manual from SuperMicro - page 17 block diagram - shows:
A. 1x intel I210 is a single off the SoC on PCIe(1) and
B. the other three are 2 stepped off PCIe(2) then to a Pericom 608GP “PI7C9X2G608GP” (PCIe2 6-Port/ 8-Lane Packet Switch, GreenPacketTM Family) – add 150ns latency to stream per spec.My thoughts would be to move the LAN port if on the three port Pericom switch to PCIe(1) directly off the SoC. Guessing this is lower left corner LAN1 while looking from back side or page 26 of the manual.
1st - I've never been able to get a manual as it has not been available. Will check that out.
2nd - Very interesting indeed. Maybe that's why the WAN port stays up and the LAN ports go down.
Think I'm going to switch the LAN and WAN ports for giggles and see if the LAN port goes down on igb0.
Edit: Downloaded the manual (first time that it's been available online - thanks for the heads up) and switched the LAN and WAN ports. If it stays up, then I'm not sure where to go. It could be a hardware issue (with the PCIe lane switch on ports 2, 3 and 4) or it could be a software issue (not certified on FreeBSD 10 according to SuperMicro documents on page). Could also be a BIOS issue. If it has something to do with the three (3) ports and the internal PCIe switch, I would think the WAN port would start dropping and the LAN would stay up. I'll report back as time goes on.
-
Well, I swapped the ports and the WAN went down tonight. Watchdog Timeout.
I think rexki might have found something in the PCIe switch on ports 2-4 (igb1-3). Port 1, not on the PCIe internal motherboard switch, functions normally. The others drop with timeouts.
Maybe it's a driver or FreeBSD issue, but since this board isn't FreeBSD certified by SuperMicro, I'm not sure they will even take a look at it.
Edit: I've opened a technical support case with SuperMicro to see if they can come up with something on this. Would be nice to have someone else with this board and confirm (or deny) if they have the same issues. If not, could see what they have different (power supply, cooling (or lack of as I have now), etc). I might put a USB powered fan blowing on the board to see if it makes a difference. The PCIe switch chip is only rated at 1.2W max and has no heatsink or other cooling.
Edit #2: SuperMicro came back with the suggestion to install a certain version of Ubantu on it and try?!?! WTF kind of suggestion is that, lol? I told him that was a no go unless it's just to run some sort of test program. Starting to wonder if the chip is either defective or getting hot (since no cooling - passive). I have lots of small video card heatsinks and a roll of very good heatsink tape to use if necessary. And the quest goes on….
-
Guys and gals, I'm giving up for now. Went down again and I don't have the time or energy right now to try to fight this. Can't get much from SuperMicro and don't know if it's a hardware issue with the board or if it's a FreeBSD issue (since it does it on both pfsense and opnsense). If anyone else has this board and gets better results, let me know so I can then say it's hardware.
-
I'd love to pick this board up and give it a try but I'm holding back based on your experience with it. If something doesn't change in the near future or someone else comes along and has success I'll likely be getting the X10SBA-L for my build.
-
I'd love to pick this board up and give it a try but I'm holding back based on your experience with it. If something doesn't change in the near future or someone else comes along and has success I'll likely be getting the X10SBA-L for my build.
Really sorry Jailer. I've left the LAN port connected to my network (change IP and turned off DHCP) and am hammering it with ping requests right now. I don't recall it going down when I was doing a burn in test for 8 days with NO WAN connection (i.e. no data flowing through the system). Maybe just needs a system driver update in FreeBSD since this is a VERY new system. I hate to spend the time/money to RMA it only to find out it's the OS/driver and not the hardware. I do have a five year warranty though so … :)