Troubleshooting 1Gb PCIe NIC issue
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I am trying to set up a small lab the firewall using pfSense. I have an older Dell desktop machine that I thought would be perfect for this test. It has 2x PCIe, 2x PCI, and a built-in Broadcom NIC. It is running 3GB of RAM and uses an AMD 64 3800+ CPU. I have added 2x Intel Gigabit CT NICs (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CY0P7G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to the PCIe slots. I am using the built-in Broadcom NIC for WAN access and the Gigabit NICs for LAN. I have a small eight port gigabit switch that is plugged into the Gigabit NIC for the LAN and a WiFI AP plugged into the other Gigabit NIC.
All of the NICs are showing up correctly as bfe0, em1, and em0. The problem is that the Intel NICs do not seem to have the ability to connect to anything. The link lights blink, but when I patch from the LAN NIC to my local switch I am not getting an IP address from the DHCP server. The Broadcom NIC connected to the WAN works perfectly. It immediately pulls down an IP address.
I also have an old 10/100 PCI NIC that I have tested in the same box. If I configure the 10/100 NIC as the LAN port then all the devices on the switch pull down IPs. I am not sure what is going on. I have tried swapping the gigabit NICs around and removing one of the gigabit NICs. Can so
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any errors on the interfaces? duplex mismatch ? (diagnostics–>interfaces)
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Do you have your LAN set to DHCP? I would think that you would want it set to static. Have you tried setting the LAN to static and see if you get connectivity? I would think that intel chips would work with pfsense I've never tried them. I use these syba cards with realtek chips (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833328028). I would try setting up one of the intel ports as the WAN interface and at least verify that you can get the cards to work.
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My first thought is, are you sure you have the correct Intel NIC connected?
When you connect to the switch what does Status: Interfaces: show?
What do you see in the system logs?Steve
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I cannot get to the web interface to check the diagnostics. Is there another location from the shell or the console that can give me more information? Thank you!
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You can allow access to the webgui from the WAN if you need to:
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!#Add_firewall_rule_at_the_command_line_with_easyruleYou can simply run ifconfig at the command line to see what the interfaces are doing.
Steve
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Sounds like something got botched on install. Maybe you accidentally put in a bad setting. I'd reinstall again and start from fresh.
Much easier than trouble shooting a broken install.BTW - I'm also running similar CPU as you, also broadcom on the WAN with 4 gigabit intel PCIe NICs for LAN. It should work no problem.
This ugly pfsense for some reason is the most reliable one for me. Seems to never glitch at all. Its my personal use box in Maryland.
