realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?

[sokeada]

@rk0 said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada I just posted in https://forum.netgate.com/topic/169896/updated-realtek-nic-drivers-missing-in-pfsense-2-6-0/52 parallelling this thread...

I think it is a mistake to have just one NIC handling both WAN and LAN traffic and all VLANs. You would be much better served adding a PFSense supported NIC, and having all WAN traffic flow through that...and then all LAN/VLAN traffic flow through the second physical NIC, properly set up.

thanks bro, sad that my system has no slot to add ;(

[virusbcn]

@sokeada said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@virusbcn bro, may I know whether your Interface Statistic got any Error Out? I've followed yours and it seems working fine but I got WAN and other VLANs Interface Error Out except LAN interface no any error.

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Two Realtek NICs, one vlan only in LAN

[RK0]

@sokeada Depending on the internet speed you are paying for, I'd "risk" using the unthinkable....a USB ethernet adapter that PFSense has drivers for (gasp!) as the WAN link.

If your ISP paid for throughput is pretty slow, you could get away with this. A google search will help you find a USB adapter with driver support for PFSense

But if not...like if you are paying for 1GB or something close...well...I'd use a different computer where you could add at least two physical NICs off the PCIe bus. If you intend to bump up your speed in the future, I'd just go for a new machine anyway.

[sokeada]

@virusbcn said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@virusbcn bro, may I know whether your Interface Statistic got any Error Out? I've followed yours and it seems working fine but I got WAN and other VLANs Interface Error Out except LAN interface no any error.

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Two Realtek NICs, one vlan only in LAN

thanks for the info, bro.

[sokeada]

@rk0 said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada Depending on the internet speed you are paying for, I'd "risk" using the unthinkable....a USB ethernet adapter that PFSense has drivers for (gasp!) as the WAN link.

If your ISP paid for throughput is pretty slow, you could get away with this. A google search will help you find a USB adapter with driver support for PFSense

But if not...like if you are paying for 1GB or something close...well...I'd use a different computer where you could add at least two physical NICs off the PCIe bus. If you intend to bump up your speed in the future, I'd just go for a new machine anyway.

thanks for the tips, bro. I will consider that. :)

[w0w]

@sokeada
So it's some oem box or custom build? What hardware do you have, again? You said you have no slot, but you did not tell, does current card is in slot, or it is embedded? There are many realtek cards with two ports exists...

[sokeada]

@w0w said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada
So it's some oem box or custom build? What hardware do you have, again? You said you have no slot, but you did not tell, does current card is in slot, or it is embedded? There are many realtek cards with two ports exists...

I'm using Dell OptiPlex 3040 Micro which is come with build in and only one network port by RealTek.

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[virusbcn]

@sokeada

I have a mini HP 800, with ESX and pfsense virtual, the second nic is a realtek 2.5Gb USB and works perfect with esx and special driver, i have 1/1Gb fiber and works perfect

[sokeada]

@virusbcn said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada

I have a mini HP 800, with ESX and pfsense virtual, the second nic is a realtek 2.5Gb USB and works perfect with esx and special driver, i have 1/1Gb fiber and works perfect

nice, I might looking for an extra USB Ethernet one too. Thanks for the tip, bro.

[RK0]

@sokeada I wonder if an M2 to ethernet adapter would work in your Dell OptiPlex 3040 Micro. It would take a bit of work...and you may have to do something clever with the SATA connector for storage and a rotating drive to make some space...but check out stuff like this, and the alternatives listed below. One review for this item says it worked with PfSense. Note, I have not personally attempted to make this work. Let the community know if you get it to function. Watch out for the different types of M2 slots...there are several variants. https://www.amazon.com/Ableconn-M2-NW-107-Gigabit-Ethernet-Module/dp/B07599LZ5S

The other risky endevor (that I also have NOT personally tried) would be to use something like this https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Converter-Compatible-Microsoft-More-Black/dp/B09LYQQ6PD. You would have to check to see if PFSense supports the RTL8156B chipset. One thing notable about this particular adapter (IF it has driver support, unknown) is the vent holes...I've read overheating USB ethernet adapters can cause some unreliable operation. Again, if you try this, let the community know in a detailed post if it worked.

[sokeada]

@rk0 said in realtek-re-kmod missing in pfSense 2.6 repository?:

@sokeada I wonder if an M2 to ethernet adapter would work in your Dell OptiPlex 3040 Micro. It would take a bit of work...and you may have to do something clever with the SATA connector for storage and a rotating drive to make some space...but check out stuff like this, and the alternatives listed below. One review for this item says it worked with PfSense. Note, I have not personally attempted to make this work. Let the community know if you get it to function. Watch out for the different types of M2 slots...there are several variants. https://www.amazon.com/Ableconn-M2-NW-107-Gigabit-Ethernet-Module/dp/B07599LZ5S

The other risky endevor (that I also have NOT personally tried) would be to use something like this https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Converter-Compatible-Microsoft-More-Black/dp/B09LYQQ6PD. You would have to check to see if PFSense supports the RTL8156B chipset. One thing notable about this particular adapter (IF it has driver support, unknown) is the vent holes...I've read overheating USB ethernet adapters can cause some unreliable operation. Again, if you try this, let the community know in a detailed post if it worked.

thanks for the tips, bro. 3040 Micro series doesn't have M2 slots, 70+ series does. USB Ethernet is not recommends by Netgate. Anyways, I really appreciate your time and support. Because of I don't have any complaint about connection dropped from users so let it be then. :)

[xenium1024]

@rk0 said:

fetch -v https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-196.04.txz

I found this thread while trying to figure out how to install the Realtek drivers on pfSense 2.6. Unfortunately in the few months since the thread was last active, the above link has become broken:

[2.6.0-RELEASE][admin@gw-home.nullmodem.org]/root: fetch -v https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-196.04.txz
resolving server address: pkg.freebsd.org:443
SSL options: 82004854
Peer verification enabled
Using CA cert file: /usr/local/etc/ssl/cert.pem
Verify hostname
TLSv1.3 connection established using TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
Certificate subject: /CN=pkg.freebsd.org
Certificate issuer: /C=US/O=Let's Encrypt/CN=R3
requesting https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-196.04.txz

404 Not Found

404 Not Found
nginx


fetch: https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-196.04.txz: Not Found

Additionally, https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/ isn't browsable. I spent some time Googling around and so forth trying to find where to get this file from, so far unsuccesfully.

Two questions:

(1) What is the new link for the driver package?
(2) How could I figure this out myself next time, rather than asking here? Is there a web page of command-line tool I could use to find it? Something more official than just Googling for it? (Sorry, I'm new to BSD and much more familiar with the various forms of Linux package management.)

[stephenw10]

Use:

pkg add https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest/All/realtek-re-kmod-196.04.pkg

You can browse https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/latest dowload the packagesite file and open it. Look in the .yaml file (it's massive!) to see all the pkgs in the repo branch.

Steve

[RK0]

I took this off my own PFSense install on a ThinkCentre M90n IoT model from when the fetch command worked. It was in the root folder of my system. Posting it here for your use. Be sure to unzip it before you transfer it to your install of PfSense. This would be specific to the 2.6.0 release of PfSense, I've no idea how it would function with earlier/later versions...especially with the eventual move to FreeBSD 14 in the near future...

realtek-re-kmod-196.04.zip

[RK0]

@stephenw10 would you have any insight if the upcoming release of PFSense based on FreeBSD 14 would include the latest Reaktek driver package "baked in"? Is there a way to ask that be part of the updated code going forward?

[RK0]

@xenium1024 also, thank you for posting that the fetch command no longer works...once I saw your post, I copied the driver package off my system and stored it separately, in case I ever have to rebuild my router. Anyone else who had to use this package for their install may want to do the same.

[stephenw10]

The fetch command there only doesn't work because FreeBSD stopped building both .tgz and .pkg files for everything and now only build .pkg.
But also there is no need to use fetch you can just use pkg add dircetly.

We removed the re-kmod package from our repo because it was failing to build in our build system at the time. The build system is completely different now and the code in 14 is obviously as fresh as it gets so we could re-try. Let me see what I can do.

Steve

[A Former User]

Realtek Driver 1.97.00

USB to RJ45 adapter (only for the installation) could be a nice workaround. Some were reporting that the
adapters with an ASIX AX88179 chipset will be recognised out of the box.

Dobby

[stephenw10]

The realtek-re-kmod pkg is back in our repo for todays snaps.

Steve

[stephenw10]

It appears to work fine for me in an APU but it does throw a large number of warnings with the debugging options we currently have enabled.