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    Noob-alert! Trying to use ExpressCard gives 2 NICs with same MAC

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    • G Offline
      glitchcowboy
      last edited by

      Hi,
      I'm new to pfsense.  I'm trying to set it up on an asus of some variety and I bought a SYBA SD-EXP24010.  Now I have an re0 and re1.  But they both were reporting the same MAC address (until I changed it) and the expresscard NIC doesn't seem to work at all.

      I saw someone else post pciconf info, so here's that:
      re0@pci0:2:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x01401025 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
          class      = network
          subclass  = ethernet
      ath0@pci0:4:0:0: class=0x028000 card=0xe006105b chip=0x002a168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
          class      = network
      re1@pci0:5:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x01401025 chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
          class      = network
          subclass  = ethernet

      [2.1-RELEASE][admin@pfsense]/root(2): ifconfig -a
      re0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
      options=209b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_magic>ether 40:25:c2:37:e8:8e
      inet6 fe80::21e:ecff:fecf:8b33%re0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
      nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: Ethernet autoselect (none)
      ath0: flags=8802 <broadcast,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 2290
      ether 00:23:4d:36:15:83
      media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
      status: no carrier
      re1: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
      options=209b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_magic>ether 00:1e:ec:cf:8b:33
      inet6 fe80::1:1%re1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
      inet 192.168.0.254 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
      nd6 options=1 <performnud>media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
      status: active
      enc0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1536
      pflog0: flags=100 <promisc>metric 0 mtu 33192
      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 0x6
      nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>pfsync0: flags=0<> metric 0 mtu 1460
      syncpeer: 224.0.0.240 maxupd: 128 syncok: 1

      I'm a Unix/Linux admin by trade, but I'm not very familiar with freebsd/pfsense, so where should I look?
      (and you can avoid the 'look at the HCL' handslapping.  I've already slapped my own hand:))</performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum></up,loopback,running,multicast></promisc></full-duplex></performnud></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_magic></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></broadcast,simplex,multicast></performnud,accept_rtadv></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,wol_magic></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>

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      • stephenw10S Online
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        So one of those re interfaces is on board the laptop? Which MAC did you change? How did you decide what to change it to?
        Some driver/hardware combinations can have trouble reading the MAC from the PHY. Usually there would be some indication in the logs.

        Steve

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        • G Offline
          glitchcowboy
          last edited by

          Yes, what's interesting is that the second interface is the onboard interface (re1)
          Both are Realtek 8168 class controllers.
          The MAC I changed was on the express card.  I just took my laptop's MAC and incremented it by one.

          I've since taken a debian cd, installed it and poked around at the devices.  If I pull the express card, and reboot, the onboard controller comes up with the :33 address.
          If I insert the express card then, I get a legitimate MAC on the expresscard - ending in :2e
          on the debian boot, I saw an error saying that it failed to rename the onboard interface to eth0 (primary)

          So it looks like something with the hardware configuration loads the expresscard first, then the onboard controller and but then uses the onboard controller's MAC for both cards.

          What I saw in pfsense/freebsd would support that - having the same mac for both and the onboard interface being re1 instead of re0.

          Any thoughts?

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          • stephenw10S Online
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Hmm, seems like a hardware incompatibility. BIOS update?

            Steve

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • R Offline
              rjcrowder
              last edited by

              I know it's an old thread, but just wondering if you got the Syba ExpressCard working?

              On a related note… I'm trying to find a gigabit ExpressCard to use under pfSense 2.1. The only one that I've found posts confirming it works is the Startech EC1000s... but I was hoping for a cheaper alternative.

              Does anyone have a less expensive ($10-$20 range) gigabit ExpressCard working on 2.1?

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