re1: watchdog timeout error

comet424 · Dec 20, 2020, 9:22 PM

so my pfsense was running for a month 0 problems
then lost internet

since my bo is headless i couldnt ssh in or anything so i tried unplugging and plugging in the network cable as i seen the lights kept flickering and the hd light was working nothing helped

so i went to get my monitor and plugged the screen in and it displayed the entire screw with
rev1 : watching timeout

i didnt have a keyboard so i just hit reset button and watched it boot back up... is this network card failing the motoherboard failing computer too cold too hot... is there a way to find out what caused it?

i guessing i shouldnt have hit the reset button as i guess there is no error log file now havent loggd into pfsense yet just hit the reset button to get online to leave this post

stephenw10 · Dec 20, 2020, 6:28 PM

Do you mean re1?

That's a common error with Realtek interfaces that use the re(4) driver. It can often be prevented by using the alternative driver.

Steve

comet424 · Dec 20, 2020, 6:56 PM

@stephenw10
sorry ya thats what i mean.. damn dislexia is it because i have a 4 card nic? is that the re(4) means? and i didnt know there was drivers i just shoved card in and pfsense knew it..
how do i switch the drivers for this this card?

and if its a common error does that mean the drivers that comes with pfsense for this card is defective or is the the type of motherboard i use etc?

stephenw10 · Dec 20, 2020, 7:56 PM

The '4' there refers to the fact it's a driver. See:
https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=re&apropos=0&sektion=4

Realtek cards have a pretty bad rep in FreeBSD/pfSense. The hardware is not great. The drivers could be better.

Realtek have their own FreeBSD driver that can be installed. See:
https://forum.netgate.com/topic/135850/official-realtek-driver-binary-1-95-for-2-4-4-release

Steve

comet424 · Dec 20, 2020, 8:19 PM

@stephenw10 ah ok
so does that mean realtek are a bad card all the way around is it better to get intel or dlink or tplink then and is this realtek card then ok for windows? or unraid or would it be bad for unraid too since its linux

and ill check out the links i appreciate the help.. maybe ill have to look for a new 4 port nic then only using 1 port so far

oh and are there realtek cards that are any good or is the whole line of realtek nics bad for linux etc

stephenw10 · Dec 20, 2020, 9:27 PM

Realtek NICs are made to a budget. Some of their older 10/100 cards were absolute junk. The gigabit devices are a lot better than that but any Intel based card will be better.
D-Link or TP-Link don't make NIC chips. Their cards could be based on a Realtek chipset or anyone elses.

The Windows and Linux drivers for Realtek seem to be better. If you can use that NIC elsewhere and put an Intel NIC in pfSense you should do that.

Steve

comet424 · Dec 20, 2020, 10:38 PM

@stephenw10 ah ok ill look in getting a new nic then does smc still make cards i remember in college smc nics but that was 20 yrs ago

is there a certain nic in intel to look for as i know there is usually mulitple models is one i should look for? i was thinking 4 port only because i could add different networks like one for cameras or an extneral wifi or something

stephenw10 · Dec 20, 2020, 10:47 PM

Hmm, I haven't seen an SMC NIC for a while. They used to make their own NIC chips, including some that were...um... poorly thought of!
https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-src/blob/devel-12/sys/dev/rl/if_rl.c#L48

Any Intel based NIC should be good. This is a great resource if you're looking for something used:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/list-of-nics-and-their-equivalent-oem-parts.20974/

Steve

comet424 · Dec 21, 2020, 12:03 AM

@stephenw10
ah ok
1 last question.. i ssh'd into the pfsense box i hit 8 for shell
but there is no MC there is no nano to edit the config.txt so i can add a smb share like in unraid or raspberry pi
how do i copy these files from windows into the pfsense location.

or whats the best way to get the files over there

stephenw10 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:03 AM

You can use the Easy Editor ee at the command line or Diag > Edit from the gui.

You can use SCP to move file to/from pfSense (login as root). Or upload from Diag > Command Prompt to /tmp and move them from the command line.

pfSense does not support smb directly though. It's a security product.

Steve

comet424 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:03 AM

@stephenw10
ok i did the first steps i downloaded the file and did a scp etc
i skimmed the article they talked about newer drivers but didnt do that i just did from the first comment that zip file

another question i was reading from that article someone talked about trying a different port

so my question is.. since i have a 4 port.. and not using the 3 others can i do a fall over thing so if re1 fails again it will work on re2 re3 or re4? the WAN is just the built in nic or if re1 goes down they all go down?

and i read person wanted to have a script if it died the script would disable and re enable the card.. but i didnt see his solution in there if he got a script to do it..

but was wondering if i i can get the other nics to act like as a fail over or is there a script to add so if the nic goes bad again the watchdog timeout that it turns off the nic and re enables it..

stephenw10 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:09 AM

You probably could setup a LAGG there to failover but installing the alternative driver is the best way to go there. Other than getting an Intel NIC.
You need a module compiled for 2.4.5p1 so compile it yourself or trust one of the files in that thread, this one for example.

Steve

comet424 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:10 AM

i checked my assignments i guess my motherboard also uses a (re4) so that means i would have problems too

i have noticed my wan gone down and i had to reboot my modem.. enable disable the nic in interfaces didnt work would that be same issue?

so i have (re0 -re4) so i guess re0-re3 is 4 ports on the nic and re4 is the built in nic on the board

stephenw10 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:12 AM

Not all Realtek NICs suffer that issue so it may not be.

comet424 · Dec 21, 2020, 1:31 AM

@stephenw10 ah ok so i dont know anytthing on compling or anything like that i downloaded the guys drivers i figured realktek made the drivers but sounded like the guy made the drivers

so hopefully it works and we see if it crashes.. i had the pfsense running 29 days without a reboot

stephenw10 · Dec 21, 2020, 4:24 AM

He compiled the driver from Realtek's source against a FreeBSD version that matches the current pfSense kernel. You can do it yourself, there's a link to instructions another user put in github on that page of the thread. As discussed most recently there in 2.5 you will be able to simply install it as a pkg.

Steve

comet424 · Dec 21, 2020, 2:34 PM

@stephenw10 ah ok always learning something new everyday.. figure realtek made the driver for pfsense or the freebsd and u just use it the way they made it.. didnt know about compiling etc... and then read there is no likly the drivers be released in next version of pfsense... probably because its not a high priority kinda thing..

but always learning.. i just glad its not motherboard... as with this damn pandemic its making harder to get certain parts

i appreciate the info learn something new every day