Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?

Mael

Just wanted to check in here and let you all know I was able to get a 2.5Gb card with a I225V chipset working in my Netgate XG-7100 running 21.05.2. I think the issue you guys are hitting is the cards you're using are I225-LM chipsets and not I225V chipsets. Obviously the fact that I'm using a Netgate appliance means my solution might not work for you, but I'm guessing the I225V chipset support is the same in 2.5.2 as it is in 21.05.2. @stephenw10 correct me if I'm wrong about this.

For more information on my setup and the card I used, see this thread.

Netgear CM2050v -->Netgate XG-7100 2.5Gbs card (input) --SFP+ DAC (output) --->Unfi SFP+ port on my switch

n1ck31

@mael I'm thinking that might be the problem here.

I'm going to be buying this: https://www.fs.com/products/101476.html and using my tested stable X520 NIC

Theoretically this should work:

2.5G WAN Modem -> FS Converter (2.5G IN) -> FS Converter (10G SFP+ Out) -> Intel X520-DA2

It's not a cheap solution compared to the QNAP card, but it should work stabley.

Option 2 is buying a Netgear unmanaged 2.5G switch with a 10G SFP and putting that between my modem and firewall, but that's 500 CAD instead of 250 CAD.

xiazuojie

@skzs012
It looks like we have the exact same issue, i.e. link goes down with high inbounding traffic while outgoing traffic works fine.

On thing I've noticed is we are both running revision 3 hardware.

Could the issue be the combination of hardware revision v3 (my firmware is 1.74) and the driver?

skzs012

@xiazuojie then i will be back to dual wan 2x1Gb / s for now and i will keep this card for now.
I'll check the firmware when I get home!

skzs012

i decided to send this NIC back and buy an I225-V version to see if that fixes the problem

xiazuojie

@skzs012 don’t bother. I am running i225-v b3

stephenw10

@xiazuojie said in Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?:

I am running i225-v b3

That is the NIC we have in the 6100 and I also have a separate NIC using that chipset and it works fine. In Plus it should work without issue. In CE it will work in 2.6. In 2.5.2 you will need to disable checksum offload.

Steve

xiazuojie

@stephenw10
What is the hardware revision and firmware version that you have tested?

Mine is i225-v b3 revision and 1.74 firmware.

stephenw10

Yes, it's the b3 revision.

igc0@pci0:2:0:0:	class=0x020000 card=0x00008086 chip=0x15f38086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Ethernet Controller I225-V'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet

I'm not seeing the firmware version reported, where are you seeing that?

xiazuojie

@stephenw10 said in Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?:

I'm not seeing the firmware version reported, where are you seeing that?

There is an Intel I225 Firmware Update Tool
(Windows only) here.

Mine shows the following.

PS C:\Users\abc\Desktop\Nvmupdate145\i225> .\nvmupdatew64e.exe -i -l

Intel(R) Ethernet NVM Update Tool
NVMUpdate version 1.35.30.0
Copyright (C) 2013 - 2020 Intel Corporation.

Inventory
[00:033:00:00]: Intel(R) Ethernet Controller (3) I225-V
        Flash inventory started.
        Shadow RAM inventory started.
        Shadow RAM inventory finished.
        Flash inventory finished.
        OROM inventory started.
        OROM inventory finished.
[00:033:00:00]: Intel(R) Ethernet Controller (3) I225-V
        Vendor                 : 8086
        Device                 : 15F3
        Subvendor              : 8086
        Subdevice              : 0000
        Revision               : 3
        LAN MAC                : 2C534A0AF4C2
        Alt MAC                : FFFFFFFFFFFF
        SAN MAC                : 000000000000
        ETrackId               : 80000185
        SerialNumber           : 2C534AFFFF0AF4C2
        NVM Version            : 1.87(1.57)
        PBA                    : G23456-000
        VPD status             : Not set
        VPD size               : 0
        NVM update             : No config file entry
          checksum             : Valid
        OROM update            : No config file entry
          CIVD                 : 0.0.0
          PXE                  : 0.4.7, checksum Valid
          EFI                  : 0.8.6, checksum None

stephenw10

Ah, OK. No easy way for me to run that. I'll see if I can pull anything.
Not seeing 1.74 there though.

xiazuojie

@stephenw10 said in Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?:

Not seeing 1.74 there though.

Sorry for remembering it wrong. As you can see it's actually NVM Version : 1.87(1.57)

stephenw10

One of our devs has two of the QNAP cards and reports no issues running full line rate between them for hours using the latest code in FreeBSD. So I suspect we just need to pull that code in somewhere. Not sure where though as it appears to have been in 2.6 for a while now...

bk150

I have 2 separate 1-port LM rev03 QNAP cards. I have been running them for months now on 2.5.2 CE with hardware offloading disabled with no issues.

igc0@pci0:1:0:0:        class=0x020000 card=0xc0011baa chip=0x15f28086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I225-LM'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet

igc1@pci0:3:0:0:        class=0x020000 card=0xc0011baa chip=0x15f28086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I225-LM'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet

Here is a speedtest:

alt text

Here is my monitoring for a remote endpoint over a WG tunnel in Chicago:

alt text

lra

@xiazuojie said in Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?:

@skzs012
It looks like we have the exact same issue, i.e. link goes down with high inbounding traffic while outgoing traffic works fine.

Possibly this could be related to the ethernet flow control setting of the connected device? If the i225 port is connected to a switch, try disabling flow control on that switch port.

skzs012

@lra I tried! But he made the same mistake. I sent the card back today and ordered an I225-V from Amazon 8-10 days to get here. If you arrive then I will report what the situation is!

n1ck31

@stephenw10 said in Intel Ethernet Controller I225-LM Support?:

X710-T2

Are you able to confirm if the X710-T2L will run 2.5G in the latest stable build?

stephenw10

No I don't have any 10Gbase-T NICs to test personally. I only going on what has been reported by others here.

Steve

ndemmon

Heh, so I got back into my project this morning and discovered that when I put it in production with my Verizon home 5G box and I'm actually testing the QNAP card at 2.5Gb, link drops under heavy bursting for me as well.

My professional take:

Same behavior with the latest freeBSD driver
If I force the speed to 1Gb, it works fine
Link drops usually aren't a driver issue, the driver is usually just reporting what the hardware says
Link drops can be initiated on either end of the link. With Steve saying that one of the devs has two of these cards running line rate between them for hours, the problem might be with the Verizon box
It could also be a firmware or cable issue. 2.5GbT is much touchier on cables than 1GbT is, but less touchy than 10GbT.

I'll dig in a little on the link down path in the driver to see if there's anything obvious, and I could probably do some cable swaps and investigate the firmware angle before giving up completely...but I may just run at 1Gb for a while.

ndemmon

~~After 2 more minutes of thinking...the fact that the problem happens when I'm transmitting a burst but not when receiving a burst makes it more likely that the Verizon box is losing lock in its receiver and bouncing link to restore it. When I get to it, my next test would be using my spare 2.5Gb card in server with a mature driver and connect it to the second port of my pfsense card, and leave the first port at 1Gb connected to Verizon.

If I get a good speedtest out of that, the problem should either be the cable or the Verizon box.~~ Edit: Never mind, got my traffic directions turned around in my head.