NBASE-T Support for Intel X550

WanTime · Mar 28, 2020, 6:32 PM

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

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stephenw10 · Mar 28, 2020, 3:13 PM

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 · Mar 28, 2020, 7:25 PM

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.

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stephenw10 · Mar 28, 2020, 10:56 PM

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 · Mar 29, 2020, 4:37 AM

[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 · Mar 29, 2020, 7:18 AM

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 · Mar 29, 2020, 6:41 PM

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 · Mar 29, 2020, 6:41 PM

@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 · Sep 9, 2020, 8:32 PM

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.

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bquinn123 · Oct 17, 2020, 5:06 AM

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

daplumber · May 5, 2021, 3:51 AM

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 · May 5, 2021, 4:42 PM

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 · May 5, 2021, 4:42 PM

@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 · May 5, 2021, 9:29 PM

No new information there I'm afraid.

Brian Cunnie · Mar 13, 2022, 10:14 PM

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

daplumber · Mar 15, 2022, 4:39 PM

@brian-cunnie said in NBASE-T Support for Intel X550:

https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/sys/dev/ixgbe/ixgbe.h?id=d381c807510de2ebb453a563540bd17e344a2aab

Any idea on approximately when this should show up in a pfsense RELEASE? Would I have to change anything?

stephenw10 · Mar 14, 2022, 10:30 PM

It's only in 13-stable right now so at the very least it would need either to brought into 12 stable or pfSense moved to 13 stable (or newer).

Brian Cunnie · Mar 15, 2022, 4:39 PM

@daplumber I don't have any idea when it would show up in a pfsense release.

Also, I've been struggling to get this to work on my non-pfsense straight-FreeBSD 13 firewall, and in spite of several attempts the Intel X550 negotiates a 1Gbe not 2.5Gbe connection. When I get it working I'll update the thread.

daplumber · Mar 15, 2022, 8:18 PM

@brian-cunnie I have found that the connection needs to be pretty clean. I use a Cat8 factory made cable. The chipset also runs pretty warm, I had to ensure good thermal grease and adequate air flow.

stephenw10 · Mar 16, 2022, 2:33 AM

Interesting. One of the big advantages of 2.5G is that it runs over cat5e. I've never had an issue using igc. Not tried an x550 though.

Steve