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    New 1u build - NIC not working?

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    • K
      KM
      last edited by

      Hey folks,
      My previous PFsense install was in a virtual machine running on ESXi. It has performed flawlessly but I have been looking for a new project so I ordered the parts for a 1u build to put in my rack at home. If anyone is interested I can provide a complete parts list and pictures. For now though, I have an issue with the Intel dual port server NIC I bought off of Ebay. Because this is a 1u build I had to run a solid PCIe riser card to get the intel NIC in the case. This is the piece I used: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816129055CVF.
      I can get PFsense loaded and everything seems to be working but I can't get a connection on the intel NIC (either port). The system has 3 NICS (dual port intel and one integrated into the motherboard) but the only one that works is the one that is integrated into the motherboard. I can connect the integrated NIC into either the WAN or LAN side and get a working connection but I can't even ping the Intel NICS.

      I am thinking this is because:
      The NIC is shot
      I am using a 16x PCIe riser card with a PCIe 4x NIC.
      The riser card is bad

      Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?
      FWIW: The system is using a 2.5" 250GB SATA HDD, 4GB DDR3 1066 RAM, Celeron 550 SB, & Foxconn mini itx motherboard.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • W
        wallabybob
        last edited by

        What version of pfSense? (Perhaps your NICs are too new for the software.)

        What NICs?

        Perhaps the NICs are broken, cable broken, not correctly plugged in etc etc.

        please post output of pfSense shell shell commands```

        pciconf -l -v

        ifconfig -a

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        • K
          KM
          last edited by

          I was able to connect my PC to the integrated NIC and access the web console and enable SSH. The same cable won't work on the Dell X3959 PRO/1000 Dual Port Server NIC. Here are the results of the commands. I manually set the IP addresses so I could test the cables.

          em0@pci0:1:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x135e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
              class      = network
              subclass   = ethernet
          em1@pci0:1:0:1: class=0x020000 card=0x135e8086 chip=0x105e8086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
              class      = network
              subclass   = ethernet
          re0@pci0:3:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x0d7a105b chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
              class      = network
              subclass   = ethernet
          [2.0.1-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.localdomain]/root(2): ifconfig -a
          em0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
                  options=9b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum>ether 00:15:17:76:38:c4
                  inet6 fe80::215:17ff:fe76:38c4%em0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
                  inet 10.0.0.60 netmask 0xffffffff broadcast 10.0.0.60
                  nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: Ethernet autoselect
                  status: no carrier
          em1: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
                  options=19b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,tso4>ether 00:15:17:76:38:c5
                  inet6 fe80::215:17ff:fe76:38c5%em1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
                  nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: Ethernet autoselect
                  status: no carrier
          re0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
                  options=389b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_ucast,wol_mcast,wol_magic>ether d0:27:88:d2:93:0e
                  inet6 fe80::d227:88ff:fed2:930e%re0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
                  inet 10.0.0.50 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.0.255
                  nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
                  status: active
          pflog0: flags=100 <promisc>metric 0 mtu 33664
          pfsync0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1460
                  syncpeer: 224.0.0.240 maxupd: 128 syncok: 1
          enc0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1536
          lo0: flags=8049 <up,loopback,running,multicast>metric 0 mtu 16384
                  options=3 <rxcsum,txcsum>inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
                  inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
                  inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7
                  nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>re0_vlan35: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
                  options=3 <rxcsum,txcsum>ether d0:27:88:d2:93:0e
                  inet6 fe80::215:17ff:fe76:38c4%re0_vlan35 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x8
                  nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
                  status: active
                  vlan: 35 parent interface: re0</full-duplex></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum></up,loopback,running,multicast></promisc></full-duplex></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_ucast,wol_mcast,wol_magic></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,tso4></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast> 
          
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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Your subnet mask on em0 is /32 so it cannot reply to pings. It's also in the same subnet as re0 so that's gonna screw with routing.
            Change it to, for example, 10.0.10.60/24.

            When you ran those commands what did you have connected to each NIC?

            Steve

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            • K
              KM
              last edited by

              I had a cable going from my PC to the re0 port on the new box and nothing connected to the ports on the Intel NIC. I'll change the subnet mask and try again. Both NICs being on the same subnet was just a test. I have tried under other configurations.

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              • K
                KM
                last edited by

                I changed the subnet mask to /24 and still no luck. The next steps are to test the NIC in another machine and test another NIC in this machine. Hopefully I'll come up with something.

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Are getting any link/speed leds on the Intel NICs?
                  A good test would be to connect them both up to a switch or something and run ifconfig again. Look to see if the status is active and that the media type has negotiated correctly.

                  Steve

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                  • K
                    KM
                    last edited by

                    Both indicator lights on the ports are active with a cable plugged in. The NIC is set to auto negotiate but it looks like they aren't negotiating properly and they don't activate. I will continue testing.

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                    • C
                      cmb
                      last edited by

                      If you only changed the mask, you didn't fix the big underlying problem there - you can't have two NICs on the same subnet. That's at least part of your problem if not all of it.

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                      • W
                        wallabybob
                        last edited by

                        @KM:

                        it looks like they aren't negotiating properly and they don't activate.

                        I don't know what you mean by "don't activate". status shown by ifconfig doesn't go to Active?

                        You won't get any communication through the NIC until the NIC status changes to active.

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                        • K
                          KM
                          last edited by

                          I changed the IP addresses so they are all on different subnets. What I mean by they don't activate is that the status in ifconfig doesn't change to active. I'm going to try a known working NIC in the box to verify but I think the NIC is just bad. I'll let you know what I find out.

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                          • K
                            KM
                            last edited by

                            I tested another NIC and it worked so I ordered another dual port server nic. Thanks for all the help folks!

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • K
                              KM
                              last edited by

                              So, I ordered another dual port server NIC (Intel Pro/1000 PCIe x4) and tried to get it working to no avail. Now I have two dual port NICs (not a problem because I can always find a use for these things) that aren't working in this box but a single port Intel desktop NIC that will. I would really like this box to have two LAN interfaces so I can do some DMZ stuff but at this point I may have to run a single port.

                              Any suggestions?

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                              • W
                                wallabybob
                                last edited by

                                @KM:

                                I . . .  tried to get it working to no avail.

                                What did you try and what was the outcome?

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                                • K
                                  KM
                                  last edited by

                                  I purchased a new one and plugged it the same way as the first one. The cards are both detected but there is no connection.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • K
                                    KM
                                    last edited by

                                    Also, I should mention that I have since been able to get the card working with Ubuntu server which can detect and use all three interfaces (built in motherboard NIC).

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • W
                                      wallabybob
                                      last edited by

                                      @KM:

                                      Also, I should mention that I have since been able to get the card working with Ubuntu server which can detect and use all three interfaces (built in motherboard NIC).

                                      Please post the output of pfSense shell commands```

                                      ifconfig ; /etc/rc.banner

                                      
                                      I presume you have fixed the configuration problem previously discussed.
                                      
                                      Please give more information than "there is no connection". What did you attempt? What was reported? What did you expect to be reported?
                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • K
                                        KM
                                        last edited by

                                        Sorry I haven't replied sooner.. work has been pushing for crazy overtime. I did fix the previous config issue but in the end a reinstall of pfSense fixed the issue. I have no idea why but I have a working box now. I'll post pics of the build when a get a minute to breath.

                                        Thanks for all your help everyone!

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