Does pfSense support Intel X550-T2?

LilJohn

Subject basically states it.

I'm fighting an install that gets stuck using 2.3.3 installer. The same ISO works fine on another machine in a Hyper-V VM for installing.

So the question is: Does pfSense support Intel X550-T2?

The rest of the hardware is as follows:
CPU : Intel i5-4570S 4/4 65W
Motherboard : SuperMicro MBD-X10SLV-Q-O has two Intel Gigabit Lan Ports
16Gb RAM

stephenw10

I would expect it to be though I've never tried that personally.

That card appears to be supported by ix driver v3.1.14 from 12/3/2015
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/14688/Intel-Network-Adapters-Driver-for-PCIe-10-Gigabit-Network-Connections-Under-FreeBSD-?product=88209

The driver version in FreeBSD 10.3 on which 2.3.3 is build is 3.1.13 though:
https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/release/10.3.0/sys/dev/ixgbe/if_ix.c?revision=297553&view=markup

Same in FreeBSD 11 which 2.4 is built on:
https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/release/11.0.0/sys/dev/ixgbe/if_ix.c?revision=306280&view=markup

BUT we ship 3.1.14:
https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-src/blob/RELENG_2_3_3/sys/dev/ixgbe/if_ix.c

Where exactly is it getting stuck?

Have you tried a 2.4 snapshot?:
https://snapshots.pfsense.org/

Steve

LilJohn

Steve,
Thank you for the reply.

I'll pull a little bit of information over from my "installer isn't working" post:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=127646.msg707022#msg707022

The following was using 2.3.3 installer on a SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive.

" <snip>it starts with:
1) Boot Multi User
2) Boot Single User
3) Escape to loader prompt
4) Reboot

After selecting "Boot Multi User", it stalls out at uart1… <snip>, it will slowly go through them and accomplish exactly nothing in 30 hours."

Once it hits the stall for uart1, the mouse 'laser' goes out.

I also did same process using an ISO on a DVD with the same results. But using the same ISO in a VM(Hyper V), I got to the point of asking me install type questions.

I haven't tried the 2.4 snapshot yet... too many projects on my plate while weather was good here. I've got bad weather this weekend so I want to beat on the pfSense box so I can use my internet a bit better(commercial fiber optic from ATT)</snip></snip>

stephenw10

Definitely try a 2.4 snap if it's hitting some UEFI issue.

Sounds like you're hitting some low level issue, probably nothing to do with the network cards.

Steve

LilJohn

Steve,
Thank you again.

The main reason I was asking about the Intel card is I didn't want to have to pop open the case again… yes, being lazy :P

stephenw10

Removing all the additional hardware you can is always an option when you get odd incompatibilities. As I say though I would certainly expect that card to work without issue.

Steve

LilJohn

Steve,
I tried 2.4 snapshot and ran into the same issue :(

But, after turning off a bit of hardware(mostly Serial ports), I was able to get to the install steps

Time for me to bone up on networking again.

Thank you again for the help.

Guest

I tried 2.4 snapshot and ran into the same issue :(

If you are able to get a PS2 mouse and PS2 keyboard running on that board it might be the best option
for all BSD based systems. If you can, try 2.4 and the cheap to get PS2 hardware, no interrupt problems then.

But, after turning off a bit of hardware(mostly Serial ports), I was able to get to the install steps

One serial port should be even there, because of running onetime in a problem, together with the serial console
you might be able to fix many of them!