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    Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release

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    • T
      tpf @tpf
      last edited by tpf

      @tpf said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

      Using this driver for months on 2.4.4 without problems. Now, after upgrade to 2.4.5 I'm getting lots of errors with driver loaded. Without driver loaded, the troughput TO firewall is only around 580mbit but no errors. Traffic FROM firewall is round about 970 mbit. Generating traffic with iperf Server on pfSense. Using the compiled driver version for FreeBSD 11.3 as postet above.

      I'm using VLAN on LAN. WAN interface is free of errors.

      c407d936-2245-4552-9e83-496b106aa4b3-grafik.png

      Any ideas? Disabled hardware checksum offloading without effect.

      my problems still persists. only around 700mbit/sec with iperf (client<->firewall on the same interface) and massiv errors on all vlan interfaces. Even with 2.4.5-p1 :-(

      Board: Gigabyte J3455N-D3H

      Edit: testing around with same board but with and without vlan.

      VLAN
      iperf: pfS sending: 700 mbit
      iperf: pfS receivig: 980 mbit
      errors: massiv

      without VLAN:
      iperf: pfS sending: 680 mbit
      iperf: pfS receiving: 970 mbit
      errors: NONE

      seems like an issue with vlans.

      10 years pfSense! 2006 - 2016

      S N 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • S
        steeletanner @tpf
        last edited by

        @tpf check your cpu / ram usage just
        In case

        T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • N
          netblues @tpf
          last edited by

          @tpf said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

          VLAN
          iperf: pfS sending: 700 mbit
          iperf: pfS receivig: 980 mbit
          errors: massiv
          without VLAN:
          iperf: pfS sending: 680 mbit
          iperf: pfS receiving: 970 mbit
          errors: NONE

          This is very strange and it seems that the errors are cosmetic.
          There is no degradation in speed/througput
          If errors are massive, performance would suffer dearly.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • T
            tpf @steeletanner
            last edited by

            Thank you!

            @steeletanner said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

            @tpf check your cpu / ram usage just
            In case

            cpu und ram are inconspicuous.

            @netblues said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

            @tpf said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

            VLAN
            iperf: pfS sending: 700 mbit
            iperf: pfS receivig: 980 mbit
            errors: massiv
            without VLAN:
            iperf: pfS sending: 680 mbit
            iperf: pfS receiving: 970 mbit
            errors: NONE

            This is very strange and it seems that the errors are cosmetic.
            There is no degradation in speed/througput
            If errors are massive, performance would suffer dearly.

            Hmmm. There are some retries in iperf. I have to benchmark with some parameters changed. Errors are only OUT errors. IN direction is OK.

            10 years pfSense! 2006 - 2016

            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • N
              netblues @tpf
              last edited by

              @tpf Indeed. I also see that.
              It seems to be vlan and realtek related. I see that my realtek ( RTL8111/8168/8411) has support for hardware vlan tagging.
              Running iperf3 outbound on a realtec usb interface without vlans doesn't have retries...

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • N
                Nazar
                last edited by Nazar

                Hi.
                I am new in pfsense. Got trouble with realtek down interface on PC. I install custom driver for 2.4.5 p1. kldstat show it. Will test system now. I also have a question about security of this custom driver and some possible backdoors in it. Can it be used to go arround firewall rules?

                And second question is about folder /boot/kernel - in 2.4.5 p1 it looks like that folder not exist. By test i found that system has folder bootpool/kernel - i did use it and it works fine - kldstat show my driver. Did i use correct folder for driver?
                And again i am new in freebsd and pfsense maybe i don't know some stuff. Thanks you.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • kiokomanK
                  kiokoman LAYER 8
                  last edited by kiokoman

                  if you download the source and build it yourself, than it's safe, if you download the one provided by wkn, that depend if you trust him or not 😂

                  it could be if you are using zfs filesystem ? idk never saw that folder

                  ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                  Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                  we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                  Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                  N N 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • N
                    netblues @kiokoman
                    last edited by

                    I believe I've seen bootpool on zfs too.

                    As for security of the driver... well, if someone has the guts to pull that hack, then he could also fix the long trailing bugs in the first place :)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by stephenw10

                      The NIC driver sees everything and, yeah, you have no idea what it's doing. So whilst it seems highly unlikely anyone would bother creating a driver with rogue code in it they certainly could and you should be aware of that.

                      A botnet of Realtek drivers couldn't generate much traffic anyway... 😈

                      Steve

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • N
                        Nazar @kiokoman
                        last edited by Nazar

                        Thank you for answers.

                        Where could i load the source for driver? and should that be some special source code (not original from pfsense - that one not working properly)? Is there any tutorial how to compile that driver? And who actualy wrote that source code?

                        I am using custom Realtek driver for Lan not for WAN. Is it still danger?

                        Yes i am using zfs system. I wonder is that correct spot /bootpool/ to put that driver.

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                        • N
                          netblues @Nazar
                          last edited by

                          @Nazar If it loads, it ok.. From where isn't important.
                          If its rogue and it runs, anything goes.

                          N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • N
                            Nazar @netblues
                            last edited by

                            @netblues said in Official Realtek Driver Binary 1.95 For 2.4.4 Release:

                            @Nazar If it loads, it ok.. From where isn't important.
                            If its rogue and it runs, anything goes.

                            Well the question is about security. If custom driver has some backdoor and it is set as LAN interface .. is it still danger? (is it more dangere to set it as WAN)? Can LAN custom driver breck Firewall rules and give backdoor to Network? I am very new in pfsense .. my questions may be silly
                            Thank you for answers

                            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • N
                              netblues @Nazar
                              last edited by

                              @Nazar Well, this isn't really a pfsense question. pfsense is based on freebsd and pf. So any drivers are talking to the os kernel, and this is definetely os specific.
                              I doubt if it makes any difference if its on lan or wan.
                              Its very difficult for such a backdoor to go undetected in any case.
                              In doubt, you should compile it yourself (and then you also need to trust the compilation environment too.)
                              Since realtek ethernet chipsets seem to have issues with freebsd, any important installation is using intel cards anyways.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • kiokomanK
                                kiokoman LAYER 8
                                last edited by

                                @Nazar , it's not easy / not worth, use the one you have downloaded, i'm pretty sure it's safe..
                                you need a freebsd installation with source (virtual machine or something)
                                instructions are here anyway
                                https://gist.github.com/jovimon/524e116471f249626fd2ccd141f3fe05

                                just changing the commands from 1.94 to those of 1.95.

                                ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                                Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                                we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                                Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • N
                                  Nazar
                                  last edited by

                                  Ok Thanks.

                                  And here extra question about custom driver for Realtek.

                                  If i use custom driver does it mean that everytime when pfsense update i have to search/compile new custom driver for new version?

                                  Thanks

                                  N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • N
                                    netblues @Nazar
                                    last edited by

                                    @Nazar That really depends if the update also changes underlying os version.
                                    Sometimes it does sometimes it does not.
                                    it is something to be aware of, however pf versions don't come that often.
                                    And opting for an Intel based lan chipset solves all this.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • stephenw10S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      If it fails to load because of a kernel mismatch it will just use the in-kernel driver instead. It's not as bad as an otherwise unsupported device.

                                      Steve

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • G
                                        Griffo
                                        last edited by Griffo

                                        Interestingly I was using the 2.4.5 compiled driver and it fixed all my issues. I then upgraded pfsense to 2.4.5_P1. Kldstat showed that driver was still loading fine after the upgrade.
                                        But the interface stopped responding after approx 48 hours.

                                        I've now updated to the 2.4.5_p1 compiled driver from above, I will test this out for stability and report back.

                                        Edit: Anyone else using this version and using vlans with hairpinning on a single interface? I'm getting atrocious performance now however it used to work perfectly.

                                        Connecting to host 192.168.1.20, port 5201
                                        [ 4] local 192.168.20.116 port 35122 connected to 192.168.1.20 port 5201
                                        [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr Cwnd
                                        [ 4] 0.00-1.01 sec 253 KBytes 2.05 Mbits/sec 2 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 1.01-2.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 1 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 3.00-4.16 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 1 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 4.16-5.01 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 5.01-6.02 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 6.02-7.10 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 1 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 7.10-8.01 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 8.01-9.01 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes
                                        [ 4] 9.01-10.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0 1.41 KBytes

                                        [ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Retr
                                        [ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 253 KBytes 207 Kbits/sec 5 sender
                                        [ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 65.0 KBytes 53.3 Kbits/sec receiver

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • G
                                          Gektor
                                          last edited by Gektor

                                          Today i have to setup old server for pfSense (X7SLM-L MB with 2xRealtek RTL8111C-GR). After some time of intensive load by LAN networks - connection is hangs for few minutes and then themselves restore work. I build Realtek drivers 1.95, and install, seems that they works stable, but that drivers didn't use MSI-X interrupts and CPU usage is 10-20% more (40-60%), than on stock FreeBSD drivers (25-30%).
                                          Then i try to disable "CPU Spread Spectrum" in BIOS and use stock FreeBSD drivers, and with a big surprise Realtek starts works stable!
                                          So, you can try do this, maybe there is a point of problem with Relatek LAN.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • W
                                            wkn
                                            last edited by

                                            A little update (for those who wants to try it out):

                                            New Realtek driver 1.96.04 for BSD systems

                                            I compiled it against FreeBSD 11.3-release (latest) and worked for me.

                                            Unfortunatey i am not able to upload it here, so you are about to compile for yourself at the moment.

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