HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile

ibysmalls

Ahh,

So what you mean is that I go ahead and install FreeBSD with this NIC installed, then copy over the modules over to pfsense?

Thanks
Ibrahim

dotdash

Yes. You should be able to find if_qlxgb.ko in /boot/kernel/ on the stock FreeBSD box.
Copy this over to the same location on pfsense and add the line to /boot/loader.conf.local (create /boot/loader.conf.local if needed)

Rico

Here you go.
0_1548447903141_if_qlxgb.zip

-Rico

ibysmalls

Yes yes lad!

Thanks - I appreciate that. It's recognised now on the pfsense gui!

Thank you once again!!

Rico

Glad you have it working now.

-Rico

ronaldnwb

Hello everyone. This is my first time in this forum and I found this thread explaining exactly what I was looking for. I don't know much about freeBSD, my previous experiences are only writing code for Arduinos... so a big step for me - literally, I just started yesterday with freebsd CL (please don't yell at me or make fun of me, everybody has to start somewhere)
I'm building a pfsense router (Asus P9D-c4L / e5 1268L V3 / 8GB PC3-10600E / NIC NC523SFP based on Qlogic 8200 // qlxgb driver) to connect to my freeNAS box and ESXI PC. The NIC is supported in both and is recognized automatically.
I currently have 2 VMs running, one pfsense 2.4.4 p1 and the second freeBSD 11.2... I'm staring at both screens and I don't know where to go from here...

How do I copy qlxgb.ko from FreeBSD? to what physical/virtual media? how do I copy it to pfsense? how do I open loader.conf.local and add the line? I'm guessing the line is if present, "yes" run the driver.

As basic as it might sound to you, I need to do this to get my home network fully working. If you might point me to a thread where it is more "step-by-step" explained, so I could see the commands used, syntax... I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! and thanks to @Rico for sharing the module. I guess I only need to add it to pfsense. But as I said before, I would really like to see all the commands used to achieve it. (learning opportunity for me)

ronaldnwb

a follow up note... correct me if I'm wrong, please.

could I use the file @Rico uploaded and save it to a USB drive and then in pfsense...

mount -t msdosfs /dev/da0s1 /mnt
cp -iprv /dev/da0s1/if_qlxgb.ko /boot/kernel/

to enter the new line

vi boot/loader.conf.local
i

if_qlxgb_load="YES"

:wq!

so I did it in the VM and it said it created a new file... 1 line 19 characters... So I guess I was successful at creating the conf in the VM... no luck coping qlxgb.ko yet.

Thanks everyone.

ibysmalls

Hi,

The way I copied the file to the machine was through FileZilla SFTP client. Easy that way.

Rico

Yeah, SCP or SFTP is the easy way. :-)

-Rico

ronaldnwb

Hey guys! you're the best!!! you deserve a beer... I thought it was going to be something really complicated as building the install from source, but it only took me like 5 minutes to get everything up and running after reading your advice. I used WINSCP so it was pretty much drag and drop.
Thanks @ibysmalls and thanks @Rico

homelabber

I followed the above steps, super helpful. Thank you all.

I'm getting the following errors when setting up the interface. I use the following command:

ifconfig ql0 up

ql0: qla_init_rcv_cntxt: Q8_CMD_CREATE_RX_CNTXT failed
ql0: qla_issue_cmd: cmd[0x001b2218] = 0x80000012
sig[0x001b2228] = 0xcafe0100
arg1[0x001b221c] = 0x00000000
arg2[0x001b2220] = 0x000005ee
arg3[0x001b2224] = 0x00000000
ql0: qla_issue_cmd: exit (ret = 0xffffffff)
rsp = 0x80000012
arg1 = 0x00000000
arg2 = 0x000005ee
arg3 = 0x00000000
ql0: qla_set_max_mtu: Q8_CMD_RD_MAX_MTU failed

ql0: qla_issue_cmd: cmd[0x001b2218] = 0x80000002
sig[0x001b2228] = 0xcafe0100
arg1[0x001b221c] = 0x00000000
arg2[0x001b2220] = 0x00000000
arg3[0x001b2224] = 0x00000000

ifconfig yields the followings results with a DAC plugged in and connected to my SFP+ switch

ql0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8013b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,TSO4,LINKSTATE>
ether 2c:59:e5:xx:xx:xx
hwaddr 2c:59:e5:xx:xx:xx
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect
status: no carrier
ql1: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8013b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,TSO4,LINKSTATE>
ether 2c:59:e5:xx:xx:xx
hwaddr 2c:59:e5:xx:xx:xx
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect
status: no carrier

Any thoughts about possible issues? What version of firmware is your card using?

pragalbh

@homelabber Try doing
Go To System >> Advance >> System Tunables >> add new
Tunables : if_qlxgb_load
Value: YES
Discription : SFP+ (or anything you can remember)
Save
After this go to the interface and set the mtu = 9000

Also read [FreeBSD Manual Pages QLXGB(4)] (https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=qlxgb&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+12.1-RELEASE+and+Ports)

stephenw10

@pragalbh said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

Go To System >> Advance >> System Tunables >> add new
Tunables : if_qlxgb_load
Value: YES

That won't work there, it's a loader varialble you need to put it in /boot/loader.conf.local as @dotdash described above.

The system tunables section there is for sysctls, it equates to sysctl.conf in FreeBSD.

Steve

viktor_g

In 2.4.5-p1:
Added support for QLogic 10Gbit/s Ethernet interfaces (qlxgb)

https://www.netgate.com/blog/pfsense-2-4-5-release-p1-now-available.html

maartenv

I have this card installed in pfSense 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 (amd64) but unfortunately I get for both Lan Interfaces lq0 and lq1 "No-Carrier" and status down. Though the bios and also pfSense recognize the card and the driver also seems to be loaded.

Can anybody help me to get this card working?

Output following commands
: sysctl kern.conftxt | grep qlx
device qlxgb
: strings /boot/kernel/kernel | grep qlxgb
device qlxgb
: kldstat -v | grep qla80xx
637 pci/qla80xx

: ifconfig
re0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8209b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC,LINKSTATE>
ether a8:a1:59:27:d2:04
hwaddr a8:a1:59:27:d2:04
inet6 fe80::aaa1:59ff:fe27:d204%re0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
inet 192.168.1.80 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
status: active
ql0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8003b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,LINKSTATE>
ether a0:1d:48:98:02:78
hwaddr a0:1d:48:98:02:78
inet6 fe80::a21d:48ff:fe98:278%ql0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
inet 192.168.10.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.10.255
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect
status: no carrier
ql1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8003b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,LINKSTATE>
ether a0:1d:48:98:02:7c
hwaddr a0:1d:48:98:02:7c
inet6 fe80::a21d:48ff:fe98:27c%ql1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
inet 192.168.20.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.20.255
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect
status: no carrier
enc0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1536
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
groups: enc
lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384
options=680003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
groups: lo
pfsync0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1500
groups: pfsync
pflog0: flags=100<PROMISC> metric 0 mtu 33160
groups: pflog
ue0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
ether 00:e0:4a:68:95:52
hwaddr 00:e0:4a:68:95:52
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

stephenw10

Try running ifconfig -vvvm ql0 when it's connected.

Does the card itself show link? Does whatever it's attached to?

Steve

maartenv

@stephenw10 said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

Try running ifconfig -vvvm ql0 when it's connected.

Does the card itself show link? Does whatever it's attached to? What do you mean by that? No link light (only briefly on during boot, but than switches off) For testing connected to media > rj45 converter, also nothing happens. By the way I gave 3 of those cards, each of them same result

Steve

Hello Steve
What do you mean with "Does the card itself show link?" No link light (only on during boot, but than switches off) For testing connected to media > rj45 converter, also nothing happens. By the way I gave 3 of those cards, each of them same result

pfSense Interfaces Status
Status
no carrier
MAC Address
a0:1d:48:98:02:78
IPv4 Address
192.168.10.1
Subnet mask IPv4
255.255.255.0
IPv6 Link Local
fe80::a21d:48ff:fe98:278%ql0
MTU
1500
Media
autoselect
In/out packets
0/1 (0 B/76 B)
In/out packets (pass)
0/1 (0 B/76 B)
In/out packets (block)
0/0 (0 B/0 B)
In/out errors
0/0
Collisions
0

ifconfig -vvvm ql0

ql0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8003b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,LINKSTATE>
capabilities=8013b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,TSO4,LINKSTATE>
ether a0:1d:48:98:02:78
hwaddr a0:1d:48:98:02:78
inet6 fe80::a21d:48ff:fe98:278%ql0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
inet 192.168.10.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.10.255
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: Ethernet autoselect
status: no carrier
supported media:
media autoselect
media 10Gbase-SR mediaopt full-duplex

Maarten

stephenw10

@maartenv said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

media 10Gbase-SR mediaopt full-duplex

Hmm, it only shows 10Gbase-SR as an available connection and you're trying to use 10Gbase-T.

If you try a different SFP+ module in the NIC does it show any other available link types? Or any further info from the module?

It may just not be compatible with 10Gbase-T modules.

Steve

maartenv

@stephenw10 said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

@maartenv said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

media 10Gbase-SR mediaopt full-duplex

Hmm, it only shows 10Gbase-SR as an available connection and you're trying to use 10Gbase-T.

If you try a different SFP+ module in the NIC does it show any other available link types? Or any further info from the module?

It may just not be compatible with 10Gbase-T modules.

Steve
Hello Steve,

Thanks for your help. I was under the impression that DAC cables with 10G sfp+ Modules (for short distances) were compatible with 10Gbase-SR and the this NIC can handle both 1Gb (because the media converter that I bought for testing can only do 1Gb) and 10Gb. (because I thought the only difference is that copper is used instead of fiber). So am I wrong and must the NIC itself also be 10Gbase-T compatible?
Quite complex (for a newbie) all these different cables and modules for 10G sfp+ NIC's Also it is interesting to see that the DAC cable works fine between two Media Converters (I have two of them) So probably you are right and is the NIC not 10Gbase-T compatible and now I am curious if the Media Converters will be 10Gbase-SR compatible?

Anyway I will buy 10Gbase-SR modules and see what happens than. I will keep you informed.

Maarten

maartenv

@maartenv said in HP Qlogic NC523SFP Driver install Freebsd 11 pfsense kernal recompile:

It may just not be compatible with 10Gbase-T modules.

Thinking about it, most likely is that the media converters are the problem, not the DAC cable because I also received a Cisco SFP H10GB CU cable together with one of the NICS, so I suppose that should work. Tomorrow I will receive a new computer on which I will install Freebsd or Linux and one of the other NIC's and connect the pfSense box directly to this new computer.