Package realtek-re-kmod198 for pfSense 2.8.0 (amd64)

zeroepoch

That's right. There is no /boot/modules/if_re.ko without either of these packages being installed. It wouldn't print this message if you didn't have the driver I provided loaded, so indeed you're using the same driver as me.

zeroepoch

@stephenw10 any chance we can get realtek-re-kmod198 to be part of the official pfSense repo? FreeBSD made the decision to package these two versions separately because both 1.98 and 1.100 both have different bugs but each work best for different NICs.

stephenw10

I'll see what I can do.

Seeking Sense

@zeroepoch Thanks for the information and more importantly the warning.

Was contemplating upgrading my local instance of pfSense this weekend. I am using a dual port 2.5gb Realtek Nic and remembered that I had installed the realtek-re-kmod198-198.00.1400094 driver.

Thankfully I came across your post when searching the forum looking for information regarding an updated driver for pfSense 2.8

If you don't mind can you clarify the build process.

You list steps 1-11 but was wondering if step 1 is to create a FreeBSD 15 VM and then do all the within that VM.

Also in step 1 you say you installed some packages mentioned at https://github.com/nkbali/pfSense-Build. What packages?

Thank you for your efforts and your support of the community.

zeroepoch

@Seeking-Sense

Yes, this was all done in a FreeBSD 15 VM using VirtualBox. I had to change the default network card to VirtIO I believe since the performance with the other NICs was like dial-up modem speeds. I also had to install pkg manually using pkg-static since the auto installer when running pkg didn't work and just hung. I don't remember if I tried installing pkg before or after I fixed the slow network issue.

I just installed all the packages mentioned throughout the page since I wasn't trying to optimize size since I intended to throw away the VM when I was done.

Finding a working commit for the kernel was one of the main challenges. I looked for a commit right before a merge from main that was still 1500029.

rob_denver

thank you so much for this! I have been struggling with getting IPV6 working on my virtualized pfsense within Proxmox so I can have more reliable connections for tailscale. I could only get it to work by using PCI passthrough (vs using a bridge) but that of course required me to directly expose my Realtek ethernet controller which led to many lockups and crashes when IPV6 was enabled. I just installed this and -hopefully- this will give me a stable connection.

Seeking Sense

@zeroepoch Finding bits of time here and there to work on this.

I have FreeBSD 15 Current up and running, cloned and built pfSense src & ports.

My NOOB question relates to the following:

@zeroepoch said in Package realtek-re-kmod198 for pfSense 2.8.0 (amd64):

In FreeBSD-src checkout a new local branch using the commit c665fe00146 (for 2.8.0)

What does that mean? How? ( Looks away and hides in embarrassment.)

What I am asking as a NOOB is how do I get to the correct version so that I can make the correct driver.

Running make as is without selecting the correct branch produces:

realtek-re-kmod198-198.00.1500046

Furthermore when running MAKE in realtek-re-kmod198 I get the following warning:

pkg-static: Warning: Major OS version upgrade detected.  Running "pkg bootstrap -f" recommended

zeroepoch

@Seeking-Sense

I meant use a command like git checkout -b tmp c665fe00146 to create a local git branch named tmp for the commit c665fe00146, which I found best represents the 2.8.0 kernel source that I could infer. This was so my local checkout was at the right source. You don't technically need to name the branch but it made it easier for me to compare things with other commits. Sorry for the confusing directions.

Seeking Sense

@zeroepoch said in Package realtek-re-kmod198 for pfSense 2.8.0 (amd64):

Sorry for the confusing directions.

I'm sure they are not confusing for the non-NOOB. It great that you have provided the information and I am grateful for your effort and time.

Please check out my last comment as I made some edits.

Seeking Sense

@zeroepoch Thanks I think I have it worked out.

I have the following in work/pkg:

102K Jun 13 11:43 realtek-re-kmod198-198.00.1500029.pkg

I had skipped your step 10:

"To get the correct __FreeBSD_version I had to temporarily replace /usr/include/sys/param.h with FreeBSD-src/sys/sys/param.h"

zeroepoch

@Seeking-Sense Awesome! Glad to hear someone was able to reproduce my quickly written steps I did late at night

scoobay

@zeroepoch Thank you. That worked like a charm on a 2.5 GBE Realtek adapter. I had to modify the install command as the affected interface was the WAN-side, so I had no internet connection:

pkg install --no-repo-update ./realtek-re-kmod198-198.00.150029.pkg

Hope that Netgate will include this driver in future releases as it is a pain to get this running on a dedicated server at Hetzner.com when the have a 2.5 GBE as a default LAN adapter.

zeroepoch

I just updated to pfSense 2.8.1 and my existing build/package of the Realtek 198.00 kernel module still works fine. I installed pfSense in VirtualBox first and checked that the kernel module loads there before updating my router.

smolka_J

@stephenw10 Even better off, could we maybe also have this added in to the new Netgate Installer images as well? I have a Netgate 5100 I currently run into similar issues with because of lacking this driver in base images. I added two 2.5Gb Realtek NICs to my 5100 a while back and had my NDI updated on Netgate's side for that change a couple years ago. I am not able to use the Netgate Installer to install pfSense Plus in one clean install as its intended to as a result, the Netgate Installer does not detect my Realtek NICs and therefor detects my 5100's original NDI which is no longer active on Netgate's authentication servers forcing me to either install CE first and/or utilize an outdated pfSense Plus image I have from past years first to upgrade from when needed or submit a TAC ticket requesting a new Plus image from you guys each round. I'm sure there are/can/would-be more Plus subscribers out there that would also benefit from our NICs being properly detected when using the Netgate Installer so that authentication servers always see the same hardware to what Plus subscribers originally registered before random situations arise that mandate a clean re-install.

zeroepoch

@smolka_J One issue we'll run into with putting this driver into the base image, as opposed to just adding it to the repo, is realtek-re-kmod198 conflicts with the default realtek-re-kmod package currently in the repo, which also isn't in the base image for CE. Meaning you can only install one or the other. Ideally RealTek would just fix the checksum offloading bug and release a new version. The procedure I had to use was a USB Ethernet adapter for the initial install and setup a single NIC and then after getting the driver loaded do a reset to start the setup again with the 2 NICs now working.

smolka_J

@zeroepoch I understand that much for choosing to use one version of a driver vs another, updates do roll on so that much aught to be updated on new versions of the driver upstream from the FreeBSD channels, drivers can be changed after a pfSense install is completed easily enough when needed for different versions for performance related reasons, NICs are detected by pfSense with any version of the Realtek kmod driver installed but each version may perform differently for different Realtek NICs or when IPv6 is chosen to be enabled. I guess I'm more-so referring to adding the realtek-kmod-driver to the Netgate Installer, regardless of what version it is, so that Realtek NICs are at the very least detected at the initial install screens of the Netgate Installer in the first place so that the correct NDI is validated at Netgate's server to proceed to install the correct version of pfSense your NDI is authorized for. That way the Netgate Installer can proceed to detecting such Realtek interfaces to have them available to the installer to assign and configure, IPv6 is easy enough to disable temporarily at the console to mitigate that offloading bug from affecting matters during that point of initial install with the Netgate Installer or during interface setup after an upgrade or a successful install using a Plus or CE image to install from. But, in the Netgate Installer's current stance with it being our new primary installation tool going forward, if I were to have only 2.5Gbe Realtek NICs installed like some boards do, the Netgate Installer will not detect any network interfaces to be able to proceed to install anything from it at all, unless I first add a different NIC that is able to be detected without a version of the realtek-re-kmod driver already installed first, for many first-time or would-be pfSense users that can be a stone wall reason to continue on to other alternatives when it happens on brand new hardware.

zeroepoch

@smolka_J that plan makes sense. Having some version of the realtek driver is much better than having nothing detected. I would appreciate the buggy driver even for the reason you mentioned. At least I could swap drivers later without needing that extra NIC.

smolka_J

@zeroepoch Exactly. We've seen a lot of good updates hitting the update servers and the base images that are still provided, but the new Netgate Installer is its own base image+OS of its own and hasn't seen any of these recent updates like for pppoe and such at all almost leaving the Netgate Installer back on its very first release on ISO or IMG files. The more robust/universal it can become, the more that people will become adapt to accept using it. The default kmod driver has worked well for me for years but disabling IPv6 has also been one of my defaults for decades also, haven't found any of my customers using it and/or configured correctly to work at any sites except for their Windows servers/DCs and for the home-lab I just don't see any effective point for it at all until once I have VLANs implemented for limiting to specific devices/networks. Depending on how many IPv6 only ISP's are out there though vs how many people have Realtek NICs that absolutely need the v1.100.00 driver or newer to be detected, the 198 driver as you've noticed is probably a much more vile base image driver though at least until there is a more stable new version that comes down the chain or patched in that can disable all newly added offloading options correctly.

stephenw10

Hmm, interesting problem. I'll suggest it and see....

smolka_J

@stephenw10 Thank you sir! I know I might be one of the only ones in my boat deciding to add a Realtek NIC to a Netgate box just for the hell of it but it has been rock stable as my WAN port for over a year in the past and has been my LAN port the last couple to match up with my 2.5Gb switches, haven't ran into any issues with using it for either otherwise other than at that moment of upgrade, at the time didn't really seem like it was worth submitting a TAC ticket for since once you are inside of pfSense using one of the former images its easy enough to get working, migrating to using the Netgate Installer pretty well puts a halt at that very step without additional financial and hardware resources. Always happen to spot the random posts on Reddit occasionally from our next generation of techs and others whom are getting themselves motivated into entering or changing paths in the IT worlds wanting to experiment around with what they have available to them which is often some form of laptop or retired gaming rig of sorts and with Realtek cards more common than any of us wish they were since many of these boards have one soldered on board an un-replaceable without using an often highly not recommended USB-network adapter to accommodate, on a common high-schooler or college students kind of financial budget that can be an entirely unbearable task.