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    Malformed syn-ack

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Firewalling
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    • KOMK
      KOM
      last edited by

      What hardware is pfSense running on? What happen when you take the Cisco out of the loop and connect the Pi directly to pfSense LAN port?

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        cjlambiii @KOM
        last edited by

        @KOM Its a Lenovo desktop that I've added a second NIC to. It's the same behavior if I connect the RPI directly to the pfsense box. In fact I went down this rabbit hole because I wanted to put pfsense between my wireless access point and my cable modem and it killed my whole network. From this laptop I was able to ping and resolve names but no joy on tcp.

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        • KOMK
          KOM
          last edited by

          TCP retransmissions are a symptom of the problem and not the cause. It could be cable, port, duplex mismatch...

          Your capture shows the initial SYN from your server, and the top capture shows that it gets a SYN ACK back, but it doesn't reply with an ACK to finish the handshake (or at least not in the snippet you showed), so each end starts retransmitting. Do you have an IP address conflict, packet storm or switch loop going on? He's retransmitting his SYN ACKs, and you're replying with SYNs as if you're trying to start the handshake.

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          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
            last edited by

            I have 4 pi's on my network, and cisco sg300 switch.. Have zero issues..

            Do you have other devices that can go through pfsense?

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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              cjlambiii
              last edited by

              No switching issues or IP conflicts. I am able to get to the management UI of pfsense on that same nic. Which tells me TCP works on the RPI. UDP and ICMP work perfectly to destinations on the other side of the firewall.

              This is the only node on this network aside from pfsense.

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                cjlambiii @KOM
                last edited by

                @KOM said in Malformed syn-ack:

                TCP retransmissions are a symptom of the problem and not the cause. It could be cable, port, duplex mismatch...

                Your capture shows the initial SYN from your server, and the top capture shows that it gets a SYN ACK back, but it doesn't reply with an ACK to finish the handshake (or at least not in the snippet you showed), so each end starts retransmitting. Do you have an IP address conflict, packet storm or switch loop going on? He's retransmitting his SYN ACKs, and you're replying with SYNs as if you're trying to start the handshake.

                Those syn-acks are becoming rx_errors on the RPI which makes me think they are malformed packets.

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                • KOMK
                  KOM
                  last edited by

                  Do a capture on pfSense LAN to see how those packets are leaving the interface to your Pi. Try and find where the breakdown happens.

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                    cjlambiii @KOM
                    last edited by

                    @KOM I already did. :) The syn-ack makes it to the switchport that the RPI is connected to. The RPI doesn't like the packet for some reason. Something is wrong with it.

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                    • KOMK
                      KOM
                      last edited by KOM

                      So the packets are fine out LAN, but are seen as bad after being processed by the Pi NIC...? The traces you showed don't show any bad packets but your NIC stats show receive errors.

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                        cjlambiii
                        last edited by

                        I am beginning to wonder if it is the el'cheapo usb nic that I am using for the LAN interface. I've got a pcie nic arriving tonight.

                        The bottom line is this should work with all of the default settings out of the box right?

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                        • KOMK
                          KOM
                          last edited by

                          Yes.

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                            cjlambiii
                            last edited by

                            It was that miserable USB nic. I put the new pcie nic in and as soon as I powered it back on I was online.

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                              cjlambiii
                              last edited by

                              For what its worth it was a Sabernet 10/100 USB nic.

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                              • DerelictD
                                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                last edited by

                                "Don't use USB NICs."

                                "Why?"

                                "Reasons."

                                Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                                A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                                DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                                Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                                • KOMK
                                  KOM
                                  last edited by

                                  Yes, if you would have mentioned that the NIC was USB we would have zeroed in on it immediately. I just assumed you were using the NIC on your Pi.

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