Gigabyte H170N WiFi LGA1151 DDR4 mITX (Dual Intel GbE LAN)

Diggity

I'm not sure how it is going to perform, but I just ordered it.

-GIGABYTE GA-H170N-WIFI (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel H170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

-Intel Core i3-6100 3M 3.7 GHz LGA 1151 BX80662I36100 Desktop Processor

-Cooler Master Elite 130 - Mini-ITX Computer Case with Mesh Front Panel and Water Cooling Support

-G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Intel Z170 Platform

I had just setup PFsense on a virtual box. Running it headless and didn't want to leave my computer on 24/7. Plus I wondered if I could get better performance.

Here's a link about the board. Only thing about it that worries me is the intel NICs. One is more processor intensive than the other.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/gigabyte-h170n-wifi-motherboard/4/

"The portrayed motherboard has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one controlled by an Intel I219V chip and the other one controlled by an Intel I211AT chip."

NIC Benchmarks…

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/08/13/asus_z170_deluxe_lga_1151_motherboard_review/4

Guest

-GIGABYTE GA-H170N-WIFI (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel H170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

-Intel Core i3-6100 3M 3.7 GHz LGA 1151 BX80662I36100 Desktop Processor

-Cooler Master Elite 130 - Mini-ITX Computer Case with Mesh Front Panel and Water Cooling Support

-G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Intel Z170 Platform

From the tech. spec. side it might be a really interesting hardware.

Here's a link about the board. Only thing about it that worries me is the intel NICs. One is more processor intensive than the other.

Than take it as the WAN port, so you will be benefit from this behavior.

Plus I wondered if I could get better performance.

Brand new CPU and really fast memory might be giving you a little rocket!

The only thing might be the WiFi ac standard is jet not really supported in pfSense
but this WiFi card could also be changed against another one or you will only be able
to use the other standards.

Guest

Yea I have never seen a upright M.2 wifi adapter mounted like that…Did you see the extra long M.2 SATA on the bottom.
Gigabyte makes good boards...

Guest

I must admit I have no idea what SATA express connector is…Plus what is the USB 3.0 "C" connector for? Is that microUSB or something new.

risp

I basically bought the same configuration, but when I install pfsense only one of the intel nics shows up.
I have to admit this is my first time trying pfsense. So the fault might be on my part.

And sata express from what i understand a pci-e connection over 2 sata connecters, so it's faster but there aren't really any drives for it
usb type c is the "new" micro-usb

Guest

Yea I have never seen a upright M.2 wifi adapter mounted like that..

Me too, but it can be easily changed to another one thats not the real problem if it is not
recognized by pfSense. its a nice to have thing.

Did you see the extra long M.2 SATA on the bottom.

Yep, it is giving everybody the chance to save the money and space for a real SSD
would be awesome to get more infos or real life report over that M.2 SSD.

I must admit I have no idea what SATA express connector is…

Don´t read the text, please only watch the picture and you will fast imagine what it is.
Link

Plus what is the USB 3.0 "C" connector for? Is that microUSB or something new.

It gives you the ability to stitch the jack in the connector on both sides and not only one different
jack for each side so both ends of an USB cable matching this standard are looking one as the other.
Link

IIMacGyverII

I just wanted to chime in here and let you guys know a few things about this Motherboard and pfsense.

I now have two pfsense boxes up and running with this motherboard. One with an I3 and another with an I5. Both work VERY well except:

1. Your missing ethernet adapter. Currently, there are no freebsd drivers for the second NIC card on the motherboard(or wifi). The 2 NICs are an Intel I211V and an Intel I219V. FreeBSD supports the 211 but not the 219. You'll need to add another supported NIC card to get it working properly or add the drivers.

2. Booting. I was not able to get it to boot from CD, either USB-CDROM or Sata CDROM. I was able to get it to boot off of the USB stick but it was very slow to boot. Once pfsense is installed, it runs just fine.

I have received the FreeBSD beta drivers from Intel for the I219V but I have no idea how to put them in to pfsense or FreeBSD. If anyone knows, please let me know. I can provide them.

Hope this info helps.

Guest

FreeBSD supports the 211 but not the 219. You'll need to add another supported NIC card to get it working properly or add the drivers.

The Intel i219V is pretty new or perhaps to new! In the following versions we will perhaps see a
driver pending on how much this NIC will be spread out or on how many boards this NIC is
soldered on.

2. Booting. I was not able to get it to boot from CD, either USB-CDROM or Sata CDROM. I was able to get it to boot off of the USB stick but it was very slow to boot. Once pfsense is installed, it runs just fine.

Might be pending on a BIOS problem with this BIOS that is used there inside.

I have received the FreeBSD beta drivers from Intel for the I219V but I have no idea how to put them in to pfsense or FreeBSD. If anyone knows, please let me know. I can provide them.

Please not that this driver must also exactly match to the version that is used in pfSense!
For sure the 32Bit and 64Bit version must also match.
pfSense 2.1.5 = FreeBSD 8.3
pfSense 2.2.5 = FreeBSD 10.1

A .ko module form the 11.0 is not running on the 10.1 version where pfSense is actual based on.
The easiest way is to install on the same machine FreeBSD 10.1 and than have a look for the driver
that was loaded. If there is one, you could copy it over from the FreeBSD 10.1 (64Bit) to a pfSense
version 2.2.5 (64Bit).

In normal you copy your_driver.ko to /boot/kernel of your pfsense installation and load it.
than you could see if got recognized or a failure message will be displayed to you.

JuniperSprouts

That is a sweet (and NEW!) motherboard. What CPU are you (planning on) running?

Of course anyone would chose Intel over Realtek, but, I would recommend avoiding onboard NICS if (IF!!!!!) you can afford to. The HP NC380T is proven, and it is only $7.00 (US): http://www.ebay.com/itm/231770839274

Hope that's not too off-topic.

bargholz

I also bought this board. Unfortunately I assumed there would be drivers for Intel NIC's! I noticed Intel has published FreeBSD driver source code for the I219V here.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/17509/Network-Adapter-Gigabit-Base-Driver-for-FreeBSD-

What's New in This Release

Support for the Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I219-LM
Support for the Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I219-V
Support for the Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I219-LM
Support for the Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
The prefix for Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager ANS teams has
changed from "TEAM : " to "TEAM: ". Please update your scripts accordingly.

Is there an amateur way to install these drivers?

Guest

Is there an amateur way to install these drivers?

please read the above given way by me, another way I really don´t know.

shoggot

I compiled a version that works with the latest 2.3 beta.
Here is the file attached. Easiest way to get it on the pfsense is to enable ssh and then use filezilla sftp or scp. put it on /boot/kernel/
chmod 555
then edit loader.conf under /boot and insert
if_em_load="YES"

reboot and it shoould work.

if_em.ko.zip

IIMacGyverII

Awesome! I can confirm this works. Thanks! I used the latest dailysnapshot beta 2.3 amd64 build from 1-26-16. I am going to try it on my other box with release 2.2.6 later. Edit: Update, 2.2.6 does not work with this method. I had to use the 2.3 beta.

I had to do some research to figure out how to do this so I will give some instructions.

Connecting to pfsense to send files
1. Enable Secure Shell in System-Advanced(towards the bottom)
2. Save
3. Download an app like Filezilla(i use filezilla in my instructions)
4. In the Host: box using sftp, enter in your pfsense local IP(ex sftp://192.168.1.1) and then use root as the username then your admin password as the password. Remember to use root and not admin
5. set port to 22
6. Press quickconnect. It should now be connected to your pfsense

Sending driver to pfsense
1. Download if_em.ko.zip from the previous post(shoggot)
2. extract if_em.ko from the zip file to a folder you know.
3. Use Filezilla and on the remote site side(right half of filezilla) and go to the /boot/kernel folder.
4. Use filezilla and on the local site side(left half) find the folder you extracted if_em.ko and drag it to the kernel folder on the right
5. verify its now on the remote side in the correct folder
6. Use filezilla and on the remote side go down one level to the /boot folder.
7. Drag the loader.conf file from the remote side to the local side
8. On the local site(left side) Right click on the loader.conf file and click edit
9. Add if_em_load="YES" to the end of the line with the quotes.
10. Save the file
11. Drag the newly edited file to the remote side in to the /boot folder and overwrite the existing file
12. reboot your pfsense box
13. re assign the adapters in console or webgui

This worked perfectly for me and all credit goes to shoggot for compiling a version that works for us. Hopefully this gets added in to pfsense build in the future.

Edit: Update, 2.2.6 does not work with this method. I had to use the 2.3 beta.

JeronimoColon

Hello,

I also have this motherboard and as others have already discovered, compiling the latest Intel driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/17509/Network-Adapter-Gigabit-Base-Driver-for-FreeBSD-) and attempting to use the resulting driver (if_em.ko) doesn't work.

It would be really nice to get this working without resorting to using the 2.3 beta of pfSense. I'd also like to avoid having to install another NIC if at all possible. My current computer case is [perfectly] tiny and doesn't allow for an expansion card. I'd love to not have to replace it with a bigger case just to accommodate another NIC.

In any event, I think I know why the compiled driver (if_em.ko) isn't working but I don't know enough about FreeBSD/Linux/pfSense to fix it. I'm hoping others, more experienced with the platform, can point me in the right direction.

I believe the reason why the custom compiled driver doesn't work is because pfSense believe the driver is already loaded. When I try to manually load the driver with kldload it I get:

module_register: module pci/em already exists!
Module pci/em failed to register: 17
module_register: module pci/lem already exists!
Module pci/lem failed to register: 17
kldload: can't load /boot/modules/if_em.ko: module already loaded or in kernel

I have no idea where it's loading the older driver from. As far as I can tell the older driver is not in /boot/kernel or /boot/modules - but I could be wrong (i.e., it has a different file name). I'm hopeful that I can get the new driver to work if I can figure out what's loading the outdated "em" driver and override/remove/disable it in favor of the newly compiled version.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Guest

I also have this motherboard and as others have already discovered, compiling the latest Intel driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/17509/Network-Adapter-Gigabit-Base-Driver-for-FreeBSD-) and attempting to use the resulting driver (if_em.ko) doesn't work.

If you are using a FreeBSD version and you compile a driver under this system and then you want to copy it
over to your existing pfSense installation, the pfSense version should be based on exactly the same FreeBSD
version the driver was compiled on!!! You should not compile under FreeBSD 10.3 stable the driver and swap
it then over to pfSense version 2.2.4 what is based on let us say FreeBSD version 10.1 RC1. Ok?

It would be really nice to get this working without resorting to using the 2.3 beta of pfSense. I'd also like to avoid having to install another NIC if at all possible. My current computer case is [perfectly] tiny and doesn't allow for an expansion card. I'd love to not have to replace it with a bigger case just to accommodate another NIC.

For sure it can be made happen, but this would be at first need to find out what pfSense version you are using
and then what the FreeBSD version is, where this pfSense version is based on. And then that FreeBSD version
should be used to compile the driver on to swap it over to your pfSense version.

In any event, I think I know why the compiled driver (if_em.ko) isn't working but I don't know enough about FreeBSD/Linux/pfSense to fix it. I'm hoping others, more experienced with the platform, can point me in the right direction.

FreeBSD a BSD OS and Linux is Linux, both are for sure Unix like, but that point them both not in the same
class of OS. BSD is BSD and Linux is Linux.

I believe the reason why the custom compiled driver doesn't work is because pfSense believe the driver is already loaded. When I try to manually load the driver with kldload it I get:

This can be owed to more then one circumstance.

If the driver has the same name likes the driver that is loaded, they can´t be put in the same directory.
Loading this driver, the old driver must be at first unloaded, but if this driver is in usage, this could be tricky
I would rename the older if_em.ko in if_em.ko_old and then you could sopy over the newer one driver called
if_em.ko and this should be then loaded!

JeronimoColon

@BlueKobold:

I also have this motherboard and as others have already discovered, compiling the latest Intel driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/17509/Network-Adapter-Gigabit-Base-Driver-for-FreeBSD-) and attempting to use the resulting driver (if_em.ko) doesn't work.

If you are using a FreeBSD version and you compile a driver under this system and then you want to copy it
over to your existing pfSense installation, the pfSense version should be based on exactly the same FreeBSD
version the driver was compiled on!!! You should not compile under FreeBSD 10.3 stable the driver and swap
it then over to pfSense version 2.2.4 what is based on let us say FreeBSD version 10.1 RC1. Ok?

It would be really nice to get this working without resorting to using the 2.3 beta of pfSense. I'd also like to avoid having to install another NIC if at all possible. My current computer case is [perfectly] tiny and doesn't allow for an expansion card. I'd love to not have to replace it with a bigger case just to accommodate another NIC.

For sure it can be made happen, but this would be at first need to find out what pfSense version you are using
and then what the FreeBSD version is, where this pfSense version is based on. And then that FreeBSD version
should be used to compile the driver on to swap it over to your pfSense version.

In any event, I think I know why the compiled driver (if_em.ko) isn't working but I don't know enough about FreeBSD/Linux/pfSense to fix it. I'm hoping others, more experienced with the platform, can point me in the right direction.

FreeBSD a BSD OS and Linux is Linux, both are for sure Unix like, but that point them both not in the same
class of OS. BSD is BSD and Linux is Linux.

I believe the reason why the custom compiled driver doesn't work is because pfSense believe the driver is already loaded. When I try to manually load the driver with kldload it I get:

This can be owed to more then one circumstance.

If the driver has the same name likes the driver that is loaded, they can´t be put in the same directory.

Loading this driver, the old driver must be at first unloaded, but if this driver is in usage, this could be tricky

I would rename the older if_em.ko in if_em.ko_old and then you could sopy over the newer one driver called
if_em.ko and this should be then loaded!

Thanks for your input.

I apologize, I should have been more specific so here goes:

Since I'm using the latest release of pfSense (v2.2.6) I used a FreeBSD 10.1 VM to compile the new driver.
The point about "FreeBSD/Linux/pfSense" was more about the fact that I'm not a pro at any *NIX derivative OSes. I do know the difference between UNIX, Linux, etc. ;)
There wasn't a preexisting if_em.ko driver in /boot/kernel or /boot/modules so there's nothing to rename. That's where I need the help. It's not obvious to me why the system is reporting the driver as already loaded. I suspect it's either named something different or it's being loaded from a different place altogether. Maybe it's compiled into the kernel itself - I don't know.

Further info I neglected to share, again, sorry about that:
If I add if_em_load="YES" to loader.config.local then system does recognize the NIC. I'm able to assign the NIC to LAN but then the system goes into an infinite boot-initialize-reboot cycle when it tries to initialize the LAN.

I suspect this is because it's conflicting with the older driver in someway but I'm not sure. What I do know is even without adding it to the loader.config.local and manually trying to load the new driver using kldload I get the error I detailed earlier ("kldload: can't load /boot/modules/if_em.ko: module already loaded or in kernel").

Hypothesis
My working hypothesis is by adding it to the loader.config.local the OS is loading the old em driver and that old driver is not compatible with the new NIC (I219V) and that's causing it to reboot. If there was a way to use absolute paths in loader.config.local then I can ensure that the newer driver is being loaded.

Next steps
I think the first step to troubleshooting this is to (successfully) get the new driver to load manually using kldload. Then I can test it further by binding an IP address to it and send traffic through it. Once that's sorted out I can worry about automatically loading it through loader.config.local.

Any thoughts on finding out where the old driver is loading from (e.g., alternative location or compiled into kernel)?

Thanks.

Tantamount

I'm able to assign the NIC to LAN but then the system goes into an infinite boot-initialize-reboot cycle when it tries to initialize the LAN.

I just ran into this myself. Downloaded the 10.1 freebsd vm, fired it up, compiled the intel driver, copied the driver over to pfsense 2.2.6, rebooted, saw the drive load right after the kernel, was able to get up to the point where the interfaces are assigned to wan/lan, and bam kernel crash. From then on, the system reboots, gets to the point where it turns up the interface and then crash/reboot.

I went back into single user mode and stopped the driver from loading.

I must say, one frustrating thing about pfsense is that it wants to set up the wan interface first… when only one nic is apparently available, it makes remote administration a real PITA!

There must be a better way to get a single nic set up for LAN then what I ended up doing:
ctrl-c when it prompts to set up interfaces
ifconfig single device to get it on the network
route add default
edit /etc/resolv.conf

ssh-keygen all the missing keys for sshd
and finally fire up sshd

I thought I could compile the kernel driver on pfsense after all of this, but it's clear this is meant more as an "appliance" then a full blown os. The FAQ made that assumption concrete (https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Can_I_compile_software_on_pfSense)

Any ideas why this driver crashes in 10.1? Do I need to apply the P25 stuff to the kernel source before attempting to compile the driver? Is there a "pfsense src kernel tree" available to download instead?

Guest

@all
You you should all get the latest pfSense version 2.3 (Snapshot) inside you could find now the support of the
Intel i219x NICs now. It was inserted from Renato in the last Snapshot as I am knowing it. Link

bolhaskutya

Here's a link about the board. Only thing about it that worries me is the intel NICs. One is more processor intensive than the other.

Than take it as the WAN port, so you will be benefit from this behavior..

So which one should I plug in the WAN and the LAN into?
What would be more advantageous and why?

Tantamount

@BlueKobold:

@all
You you should all get the latest pfSense version 2.3 (Snapshot) inside you could find now the support of the
Intel i219x NICs now. It was inserted from Renato in the last Snapshot as I am knowing it. Link

BlueKobold,

Isn't 2.3 running a newer version of FreeBSD? I don't think the driver will be compatible with FreeBSD 10.1.