NBASE-T Support for Intel X550

w0w

AFAIK NBASE-T for X550 is supported only for Windows and Linux OSes, moreover, on release NBASE-T was stated only for Linux by INTEL ARK.
I've been running into the same issue with speeds and same card on FreeBSD and the solution was to place the cheapest unmanaged switch with NBASE-T supported, but the other end must support NBASE-T speed switching and you should manually select the desired speed or you need the managed switch.

WanTime

[2.4.5-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.localdomain]/root: ifconfig -m ix1
ix1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=8400b8<VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,VLAN_HWTSO>
        capabilities=f507bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,NETMAP,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
        ether a0:36:9f:
        hwaddr a0:36:9f:
        inet6 fe80::a236:9fff:fe27:b1f6%ix1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
        inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (Unknown)
        status: active
        supported media:
                media autoselect
                media 100baseTX
                media 1000baseT
                media 10Gbase-T

this is how it looks when runing at 2.5gbps. it seems to work fine was passing traffic, but has that scary unknown on ui. also still not able to select 2.5g/5g as listed under linux drivers by intel ARK for x550 specs. maybe its not been updated yet under pfsense.

stephenw10

Interesting. The other end shows it linked at 2.5G though?

w0w

Just re-tested it also.
I can confirm that selecting on the other end speeds below 10G is now working and yes, it's "unknown" mode on pfSense side. But I do not think there is anything to do with that since Intel driver does not report any speed, not pfSense.

WanTime

@stephenw10 yes , i had to use a realtek 2.5g on a new board because i could not get x550 to change to 2.5g under PFsense or on the other side on windows system. it would be nice if PFsense suported 2.5 and 5g as selectable on its end if posible. idk where there is a hiccup in support, intel - bsd - pfsense. intel says under linux driver it should be setectable so idk,

thank you for keeping an eye on this issue.

WanTime

under windows driver nbase t is only for auto-negotiating depending on link partner. but under Linux it should be fully supported and select-able. unless i am missing something.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/release-notes/ethernet-controller-x550-feature-support-matrix.pdf

stephenw10

If Intel says it's Linux only then that's probably true since they write the FreeBSD drivers themselves. There is probably nothing much we can do about that but wait for an update.
If the driver shows it as selectable then pfSense should also show that, the values from the driver are just passed through.

Steve

WanTime

so even its not user select-able under BSD why is the driver seeing the current state as unknown. it work at 2.5/5 with auto negotiating when at link partner request under every other OS and displays it under ui and driver but its not displaying the current state under BSD. the HW support is there but the driver just does not know what is going on ?

i don't have a spare box up atm so i can just test on windows and pfsense(bsd)

here is X550 under windows driver connecting to the same realtek 2.5 board working and displaying fine. only the user selectablity to NBase-t is limited to linux. auto negotiating to nbase-t should be working on all drivers and os, should be displayed on ui.

stephenw10

Pretty much, yeah. The driver in FreeBSD 11.3 / pfSense 2.4.5 cannot return a link speed of 2.5G or 5G but it seemingly can show unknown.
The most recent drivers will be in FreeBSD 12 or those Intel offers for download.

Try a pfSense 2.5 snapshot, currenntly based on 12-rel. Or a newer FreeBSD image.

Steve

WanTime

[2.5.0-DEVELOPMENT][admin@pfSense.localdomain]/root: ifconfig -m ix1
ix1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=e538bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
        capabilities=e53fbb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
        ether a0:36:9f:
        inet6 fe80::a236:9fff:fe27:b1f6%ix1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
        inet6 fe80::1:1%ix1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
        inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        media: Ethernet autoselect (Unknown)
        status: active
        supported media:
                media autoselect
                media 100baseTX
                media 1000baseT
                media 10Gbase-T

same in 2.5.0 :( definitely an FreeBSD/PFsense driver only issue . tested with Ubuntu bootable usb as well. as with windows it displays and auto negotiates at 2.5g just fine, i may test under newest FreeBSD tomorrow on the pfsense box it self.

w0w

Mine was always 2.5. Definitely FreeBSD/Intel issue, nothing to do on pfSense side. But at least it works now and this should not be a problem anyway.

stephenw10

Even the latest driver from Intel does not list 2.5G or 5G link speeds.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/14688/Intel-Network-Adapters-Driver-for-PCIe-10-Gigabit-Network-Connections-Under-FreeBSD-?product=192957

Steve

w0w

@stephenw10
This is the same driver we have in pfSense 2.5.0. Don't know are there any plans to implement full support for NBASE-T or not, can't find anything about it on FreeBSD side.

indigo88

Installed a Netgear CM2000 modem today. It's a DOCSIS 3.1 modem with a single 2.5GBASE-T port. The modem reports a 2.5G connection and pfSense reports "Unknown" as @WanTime showed earlier. I also see "<rxpause,txpause>" but it does not affect the connection as far as I can tell.

I'm getting an aggregate bandwidth of about 1.2 Gbps between devices so Comcast is overprovisioning my gigabit service. Upload is still terrible however.

Screenshot 2020-09-09 131753.png

bquinn123

Can anyone recommend a 1-port and/or 2-port low profile card?

daplumber

Just another data point:

pfsense 2.5.1-RELEASE (amd64)

Intel X550-T2 connected to the 2.5Gb port on an Arris Surfboard S33 Cable Modem support page:

Standard Specification Compliant	DOCSIS 3.1
Hardware Version	                V1.0
Software Version	                TB01.01.001.14_102120_192.S3

Energy Efficient Ethernet               Enabled

Connected with a 10m Cat8 Cable.

ifconfig -m ix1 reports:

media: Ethernet autoselect (Unknown <rxpause,txpause>)
	status: active
	supported media:
		media autoselect
		media 100baseTX
		media 1000baseT
		media 10Gbase-T

From the transfer speeds it definitely seems to be connected at greater than 1Gb and seems to be 2.5Gb from what I can tell. Obviously it's not paused.

The latest Intel Driver is 3.3.24

The README still says:

This driver supports the following media type options:

Media Type          Description
----------          -----------
autoselect          Enables auto-negotiation for speed and duplex.
10baseT/UTP         Sets speed to 10 Mbps. Use the ifconfig mediaopt
                    option to select full-duplex mode.
100baseTX           Sets speed to 100 Mbps. Use the ifconfig mediaopt
                    option to select full-duplex mode.
1000baseTX          Sets speed to 1000 Mbps. In this case, the driver
                    supports only full-duplex mode.
1000baseSX          Sets speed to 1000 Mbps. In this case, the driver
                    supports only full-duplex mode.

Here's the dmesg output from boot:

...
ix0: <Intel(R) PRO/10GbE PCI-Express Network Driver> mem 0xfcc00000-0xfcffffff,0xfcbfc000-0xfcbfffff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci2
ix0: Using 2048 TX descriptors and 2048 RX descriptors
ix0: Using 8 RX queues 8 TX queues
ix0: Using MSI-X interrupts with 9 vectors
ix0: allocated for 8 queues
ix0: allocated for 8 rx queues
ix0: Ethernet address: a0:36:9f:28:1f:a6
ix0: PCI Express Bus: Speed 5.0GT/s Width x4
ix0: netmap queues/slots: TX 8/2048, RX 8/2048
ix1: <Intel(R) PRO/10GbE PCI-Express Network Driver> mem 0xfc400000-0xfc7fffff,0xfcbf8000-0xfcbfbfff irq 18 at device 0.1 on pci2
ix1: Using 2048 TX descriptors and 2048 RX descriptors
ix1: Using 8 RX queues 8 TX queues
ix1: Using MSI-X interrupts with 9 vectors
ix1: allocated for 8 queues
ix1: allocated for 8 rx queues
ix1: Ethernet address: a0:36:9f:28:1f:a4
ix1: PCI Express Bus: Speed 5.0GT/s Width x4
ix1: netmap queues/slots: TX 8/2048, RX 8/2048
...
lo0: link state changed to UP
ix1: link state changed to UP
ix1: link state changed to DOWN
igb1: link state changed to UP
ix1: link state changed to UP
pflog0: promiscuous mode enabled
re0: link state changed to DOWN
igb1: promiscuous mode enabled
...

WAN is on ix1, LAN is on igb1, ix0, igb0, and re0 (motherboard) are not currently connected. Eventually ix0 will connected to a 10GBASE-T SFP+ transceiver on a 10G switch as soon as I get around to installing the switch with another 10G Cat8.

So the hardware still seems happy to auto-negotiate to 2500Mbps, even though the FreeBSD ix driver can't report it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Annoying, but usable. Where do I sign the "Dear Intel" "metoo" petition? ;-)

stephenw10

The presence of <rxpause,txpause> there indicates that flow control is active on that link. Not that it's actually paused at that moment.

daplumber

@stephenw10

I knew that! :-)

Sorry, I should have rephrased that as “Flow Control appears to be working.” Rather than saying the NIC does not appear to be paused. Doh! ;-)

Any guess on when/if this could be addressed by Intel or someone else?

stephenw10

No new information there I'm afraid.

Brian Cunnie

2.5/5G added to the kernel's ixgbe driver with this commit: https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/sys/dev/ixgbe/ixgbe.h?id=d381c807510de2ebb453a563540bd17e344a2aab