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    Packetloss on pfsense firewall

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • 1
      1-21Giggawatts @Gertjan
      last edited by

      @Gertjan Im not 100% on which driver is is using do these lines from my genral system log at bootup indicate i am using em1 driver? what does the em1 signify?
      May 20 16:57:06 kernel em1: link state changed to UP

      I also noticed that it was using the same IRQ number for one of my interfaces as the <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> - would that cause an issue like this if that happened also to be the same IRQ for the LAN interface?

      May 20 15:48:41 kernel em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k> port 0xd000-0xd01f mem 0xd0500000-0xd051ffff,0xd0520000-0xd0523fff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci2
      May 20 15:48:41 kernel pci2: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib2
      May 20 15:48:41 kernel pcib2: [GIANT-LOCKED]
      May 20 15:48:41 kernel pcib2: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 18 at device 28.2 on pci0

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      • 1
        1-21Giggawatts
        last edited by

        Its a little custom box for pfsense - when connecting to a monitor and rebooting i dont see any options for getting into the BIOS which is a real pain, i only see options for ctrl-s to open the intel boot agent, which doesnt give me access to any of the IRQ settings..

        All getting a bit too hard, does anyone know if I export my configuration from 2.4.5 it can be imported again to 2.4.4?

        GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GertjanG
          Gertjan @1-21Giggawatts
          last edited by

          @1-21Giggawatts said in Packetloss on pfsense firewall:

          what does the em1 signify?

          Intel NIC's use the driver that identifies itself as "em" - old Intel ones are known as 'fxp' - as Realtek is known as 'rl' etc.
          The first NIC found is registred as em1 - the second as em2 and so on.

          Btw : you really should have em1, em2, em3 and em4 on your system. The fact some are hooked up or not, doesn't make a difference.
          I have also a Quand Intel NIC card, and all 4 exists. Although I have only 2 of them assigned to interfaces.
          The fact that you only have 3 out of 4 means : NIC => bad. One of them, em3 isn't found. The means troubles. Which is great, because your system has troubles .... so you know what to do next ;)

          This is my 'kernel hardware detection log (dmesg)' :

          First two lines : the system discovers it has a PCI bus ...

          pcib3: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 30.0 on pci0
          pci2: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib3
          

          and then the first card is found - an old quand Intel NIC :

          em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.1.0> port 0xd8c0-0xd8ff mem                                                                                                                       0xef980000-0xef99ffff,0xefa00000-0xefa3ffff irq 18 at device 2.0 on pci2
          em0: Ethernet address: 6c:b3:11:50:c6:c6
          em0: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256
          em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.1.0> port 0xdc00-0xdc3f mem                                                                                                                       0xef9a0000-0xef9bffff,0xefa40000-0xefa7ffff irq 19 at device 2.1 on pci2
          em1: Ethernet address: 6c:b3:11:50:c6:c7
          em1: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256
          em2: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.1.0> port 0xdc40-0xdc7f mem                                                                                                                       0xef9c0000-0xef9dffff,0xefa80000-0xefabffff irq 19 at device 3.0 on pci2
          em2: Ethernet address: 00:1b:21:32:da:42
          em2: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256
          em3: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.1.0> port 0xdc80-0xdcbf mem                                                                                                                       0xef9e0000-0xef9fffff,0xefac0000-0xefafffff irq 16 at device 3.1 on pci2
          em3: Ethernet address: 00:1b:21:32:da:43
          em3: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256
          

          The onboard NIC is found :

          fxp0: <Intel 82801GB (ICH7) 10/100 Ethernet> port 0xdcc0-0xdcff mem 0xef97f000-0                                                                                                                      xef97ffff irq 20 at device 8.0 on pci2
          miibus0: <MII bus> on fxp0
          inphy0: <i82562ET 10/100 media interface> PHY 1 on miibus0
          inphy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto, auto-flow
          fxp0: Ethernet address: 00:12:3f:b3:58:75
          

          You can see that there are 4 "em" NIC's found, and the "fxp" (the onboard Intel NIC).
          Again, only fxp0, em0 and em1 are actually hooked up.

          @1-21Giggawatts said in Packetloss on pfsense firewall:

          I also noticed that it was using the same IRQ number for one of my interfaces as the <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> - would that cause an issue like this if that happened also to be the same IRQ for the LAN interface?

          IRQ are auto distributes these days That's what they been called ACPI is all about : alocating resources among devices found during boot.
          A quad NIC should/could share the same IRQ - why not.

          @1-21Giggawatts said in Packetloss on pfsense firewall:

          All getting a bit too hard, does anyone know if I export my configuration from 2.4.5 it can be imported again to 2.4.4?

          Of course.
          It's been done all the time.

          No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
          Edit : and where are the logs ??

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          • 1
            1-21Giggawatts
            last edited by 1-21Giggawatts

            Thanks for the clarification on em drivers. yeah it looked like something is borked as it only found 3. I bit the bullet and re-installed 2.4.5 fresh and restored config tonight - problem has dissappeared - happy days! I will check my kernel logs and see if it finds all 4 NIC's now.

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            • 1
              1-21Giggawatts
              last edited by

              Yup - thats better

              em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k> port 0xe000-0xe01f mem 0xd0700000-0xd071ffff,0xd0720000-0xd0723fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
              em0: Using an MSI interrupt
              em0: Ethernet address: 00:e0:67:05:24:40
              em0: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/1024, RX 1/1024
              pcib2: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 17 at device 28.1 on pci0
              pcib2: [GIANT-LOCKED]
              pci2: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib2
              em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k> port 0xd000-0xd01f mem 0xd0600000-0xd061ffff,0xd0620000-0xd0623fff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci2
              em1: Using an MSI interrupt
              em1: Ethernet address: 00:e0:67:05:24:41
              em1: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/1024, RX 1/1024
              pcib3: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 18 at device 28.2 on pci0
              pcib3: [GIANT-LOCKED]
              pci3: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib3
              em2: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k> port 0xc000-0xc01f mem 0xd0500000-0xd051ffff,0xd0520000-0xd0523fff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3
              em2: Using an MSI interrupt
              em2: Ethernet address: 00:e0:67:05:24:42
              em2: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/1024, RX 1/1024
              pcib4: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 19 at device 28.3 on pci0
              pcib4: [GIANT-LOCKED]
              pci4: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib4
              em3: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k> port 0xb000-0xb01f mem 0xd0400000-0xd041ffff,0xd0420000-0xd0423fff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci4
              em3: Using an MSI interrupt
              em3: Ethernet address: 00:e0:67:05:24:43
              em3: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/1024, RX 1/1024

              Thank you for your informative help Gertjan - its appreciated!

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              • 1
                1-21Giggawatts
                last edited by

                And after a day - the issue is back... OK 2.4.4 it is then.

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                • P
                  perlenbacher
                  last edited by perlenbacher

                  Before flattening your install, update your system after selecting the latest Dev branch in the GUI.
                  It would only take 2 minutes.
                  2.5.0a may suit you better...
                  It is built on FreeBSD 12.1-STABLE

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                  • 1
                    1-21Giggawatts
                    last edited by 1-21Giggawatts

                    Good idea - i tried 2.5 last night but still having the same lockup / packetloss issues.

                    I have found a website that has an archive of older version, will roll back and find out if its actually my hardware thats stuffed.

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                    • 1
                      1-21Giggawatts
                      last edited by

                      got 2.4.3 running again now - lets see how it goes

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                      • 1
                        1-21Giggawatts
                        last edited by

                        In order to install snort had to update to 2.4.4(3) hoping that isnt where the issues started ;-/

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                        • 1
                          1-21Giggawatts
                          last edited by

                          Ok i have tried just about everything with this. I have come to the conclusion is most likely a hardware error. Still getting packetloss to the device on internal interface every few hours for around 5 seconds.

                          I have connected the switch directly to my Cisco switch rather than use the conduit cables in the wall to eliminate those - changed all cables. Changed the switchport in the Cisco switch - no errors on ports. Tested with all of the available interfaces in my device em0,1,2,3. When the error occurs I dont drop packets to any other devices connected on same vlan on the Cisco switch - its only the firewall. I am running a yanling n10 plus device, 4 nics and

                          I thought perhaps it could be a BSD issue - so i installed HP's ClearOS 7.6.0 to compare which runs on a linux kernel - but the problem is still there. I have installed Pfsense 2.4.3 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 - I also tried OPNsense 20.1 which runs on a more recent version of BSD too, nothing has fixed this problem yet.

                          I guess the only other issue is to change the internal IP just in case something on my network is trying trying to use that IP occasionally - although i would expect to see a macflap alert on my switch log if that were the case..

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                          • 1
                            1-21Giggawatts
                            last edited by 1-21Giggawatts

                            Last throw of the dice - I decided to try IPFire - I still really wanted something that incorporated inline IPS and that I could use my snort VRT subscription with.

                            Downloaded v2.25 last night - installed and its still going strong. Got through my morning MS Teams meeting with 0 packetloss. Running a ping test to internal interface for around 8 hours so far and it hasnt dropped a beat. Fantastic!

                            The firewall is not as intuitive or as fully featured as pfsense - the GUI is fairly archaic looking - however it seems quick and most importantly for me - stable with my hardware!

                            A pity that Pfsense stopped working for me - perhaps I will try the next major release - but until then I will just stick with IPFire

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                            • 1
                              1-21Giggawatts @jimp
                              last edited by

                              @jimp Looks like the issue may have been some BSD driver for my hardware - im assuming the <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection 7.6.1-k>?

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                              • F
                                fezster
                                last edited by

                                Identical issue here! (And quite a few of us it seems).

                                See my thread here: https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,24600.60.html

                                Ive been running OPNSense 20.1 (FreeBSD 11.2) for almost a week without issue. No packet loss, no high ping etc.

                                I found this thread when searching for whether PfSense 2.4.4-p3 (also based on FreeBSD 11.2) would resolve the issue - did you ever try this?

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                                • 1
                                  1-21Giggawatts
                                  last edited by

                                  Yep I ran version 2.4.4(3) and 2.3.4 same problems - also tried version 20.1 OPNsense same issue. Ive been running IPFire 2.25 for over a week now with zero issues (other than suricata does not parse the snort VRT ruleset very well)

                                  Perhaps when thewy release a new version of pfsense i will take a look but I just want a stable firewall with inline IPS capabilities - so IPFire is doing that for me now.

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                                  • F
                                    fezster
                                    last edited by

                                    Resolved by putting unbound into DNS forward mode, instead of resolver.

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