FreeBSD* Driver for Intel® Ethernet =================================== December 8, 2014 Contents ======== - Overview - Identifying Your Adapter - Building and Installation - Speed and Duplex Configuration - Additional Configurations - Known Limitations - Support - License Overview ======== This file describes the FreeBSD* driver for Intel® Ethernet. This driver has been developed for use with all community-suppported versions of FreeBSD. For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the documentation supplied with your Gigabit adapter. All hardware requirements listed apply to use with FreeBSD. NOTE: This release includes two gigabit FreeBSD base Drivers for Intel(R) Ethernet. These drivers are em and igb. - The igb driver supports all 82575 and 82576-based gigabit network connections. - The em driver supports all other gigabit network connections. Identifying Your Adapter ======================== For information on how to identify your adapter, go to the Adapter & Driver ID Guide at: http://support.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/proidguide.htm For the latest Intel network drivers for FreeBSD, see: http://downloadcenter.intel.com NOTE: Mobile adapters are not fully supported. Building and Installation ========================= NOTE: This driver package is to be used only as a standalone archive and the user should not attempt to incorporate it into the kernel source tree. In the instructions below, x.x.x is the driver version as indicated in the name of the driver tar file. 1. Move the base driver tar file to the directory of your choice. For example, use /home/username/igb or /usr/local/src/igb. 2. Untar/unzip the archive: tar xzvf igb-x.x.x.tar.gz This will create an igb-x.x.x directory. 3. To create a loadable module, perform the following steps. a. To compile the module cd igb-x.x.x make b. To install the compiled module to the system directory: make install c. If you want the driver to load automatically when the system is booted: 1. Edit /boot/loader.conf, and add the following line: if_igb_load="YES" 4. To assign an IP address to the interface, enter the following: ifconfig igbX 5. Verify that the interface works. Enter the following, where is the IP address for another machine on the same subnet as the interface that is being tested: ping 6. To configure the IP address to remain after reboot, edit /etc/rc.conf, and create the appropriate ifconfig_igb entry: ifconfig_igb="" Example usage: ifconfig_igb0="inet 192.168.10.1 netmask 255.255.255.0" NOTE: For assistance, see the ifconfig man page. Speed and Duplex Configuration ============================== In addressing speed and duplex configuration issues, you need to distinguish between copper-based adapters and fiber-based adapters. In the default mode, an Intel(R) Network Adapter using copper connections will attempt to auto-negotiate with its link partner to determine the best setting. If the adapter cannot establish link with the link partner using auto-negotiation, you may need to manually configure the adapter and link partner to identical settings to establish link and pass packets. This should only be needed when attempting to link with an older switch that does not support auto-negotiation or one that has been forced to a specific speed or duplex mode. Your link partner must match the setting you choose. Speed and Duplex are configured through the ethtool* utility. ethtool is included with all versions of Red Hat after Red Hat 7.2. For other Linux distributions, download and install ethtool from the following website: http://ftp.kernel.org/pub/software/network/ethtool/ Caution: Only experienced network administrators should force speed and duplex manually. The settings at the switch must always match the adapter settings. Adapter performance may suffer or your adapter may not operate if you configure the adapter differently from your switch. An Intel® Network Adapter using fiber-based connections, however, will not attempt to auto-negotiate with its link partner since those adapters operate only in full duplex and only at their native speed. By default, the adapter auto-negotiates the speed and duplex of the connection. If there is a specific need, the ifconfig utility can be used to configure the speed and duplex settings on the adapter. Example usage: ifconfig emX media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex NOTE: Only use mediaopt to set the driver to full-duplex. If mediaopt is not specified and you are not running at gigabit speed, the driver defaults to half-duplex. If the interface is currently forced to 100 full duplex, you must use this command to change to half duplex: ifconfig emX media 100baseTX -mediaopt full-duplex This driver supports the following media type options: Media Type Description ---------- ----------- autoselect Enables auto-negotiation for speed and duplex. 10baseT/UTP Sets speed to 10 Mbps. Use the ifconfig mediaopt option to select full-duplex mode. 100baseTX Sets speed to 100 Mbps. Use the ifconfig mediaopt option to select full-duplex mode. 1000baseTX Sets speed to 1000 Mbps. In this case, the driver supports only full-duplex mode. 1000baseSX Sets speed to 1000 Mbps. In this case, the driver supports only full-duplex mode. For more information on the ifconfig utility, see the ifconfig man page. Additional Configurations ========================= The driver supports Transmit/Receive Checksum Offload and Jumbo Frames. Jumbo Frames ------------ To enable Jumbo Frames, use the ifconfig utility to set the Maximum Transport Unit (MTU) frame size above its default of 1500 bytes. The Jumbo Frames MTU range for Intel Adapters is 1500 to 9216. To modify the setting, enter the following: ifconfig igbX mtu 9000 To confirm the MTU used between two specific devices, use: route get NOTES: - Only enable Jumbo Frames if your network infrastructure supports them. - To enable Jumbo Frames, increase the MTU size on the interface beyond 1500. - The Jumbo Frames setting on the switch must be set to at least 22 bytes larger than that of the MTU. - The maximum MTU setting for Jumbo Frames is 9216. This value coincides with the maximum Jumbo Frames size of 9234 bytes. - Using Jumbo frames at 10 or 100 Mbps is not supported and may result in poor performance or loss of link. - The following adapters do not support Jumbo Frames: Intel®PRO/1000 Gigabit Server Adapter Intel® PRO/1000 PM Network Connection Intel® 82562V 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82566DM Gigabit Network Connection Intel® 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection Intel® 82566MM Gigabit Network Connection Intel® 82566MC Gigabit Network Connection Intel® 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82562G 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82566DC-2 Gigabit Network Connection Intel® 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82562G-2 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82562GT-2 10/100 Network Connection Intel® 82567V-3 Gigabit Network Connection VLANs ----- To create a new VLAN interface: ifconfig create To associate the VLAN interface with a physical interface and assign a VLAN ID, IP address, and netmask: ifconfig netmask vlan vlandev Example: ifconfig vlan10 10.0.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 vlan 10 vlandev igb0 In this example, all packets will be marked on egress with 802.1Q VLAN tags, specifying a VLAN ID of 10. To remove a VLAN interface: ifconfig destroy Polling ------- NOTES: - Device Polling is only valid for non-SMP kernels. - The driver has to be built into the kernel for Device Polling to be enabled in the driver. To enable polling in the driver, add the following options to the kernel configuration, and then recompile the kernel: options DEVICE_POLLING options HZ=1000 At runtime use: ifconfig igbX polling (to turn polling on) ifconfig igbX -polling (to turn it off) Checksum Offload ---------------- Checksum offloading supports both TCP and UDP packets and is supported for both transmit and receive. Checksum offloading can be enabled or disabled using ifconfig. Both transmit and receive offloading will be either enabled or disabled together. You cannot enable/disable one without the other. NOTE: Checksum offloading is not supported on 82542-based gigabit adapters. To enable checksum offloading: ifconfig igbX rxcsum To disable checksum offloading: ifconfig igbX -rxcsum To confirm the current setting: ifconfig igbX Look for the presence or absence of the following line: options=3 See the ifconfig man page for further information. TSO --- The FreeBSD driver offers support for TSO (TCP Segmentation Offload). You can enable/disable it in two ways/places: - sysctl net.inet.tcp.tso=0 (or 1 to enable it) Doing this disables TSO in the stack and will affect all adapters. - ifconfig igbX -tso Doing this will disable TSO only for this adapter. To enable: - ifconfig igbX tso NOTES: By default only PCI-Express adapters are ENABLED to do TSO. Others can be enabled by the user at their own risk. TSO is not supported on 82547 and 82544-based adapters, as well as older adapters. MSI-X ----- The FreeBSD driver offers MSIX support with 82574L-based network connections. 82574L-based network connections will use MSI-X by default. MSI or MSI-X can be turned off by an entry in /etc/sysctl.conf - hw.em.enable_msi=0 Unload and reload the driver. LRO --- Large Receive Offload is available in the driver; it is on by default. It can be disabled by using: ifconfig -lro To enable: ifconfig lro EEE --- Valid Range: 0-1 Default Value: 1 (enabled) A link between two EEE-compliant devices will result in periodic bursts of data followed by long periods where in the link is in an idle state. This Low Power Idle (LPI) state is supported in both 1Gbps and 100Mbps link speeds. NOTE: EEE support requires autonegotiation. DMAC ---- Valid Range: 0, 1, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, and 10000 Default Value: 1 (enabled) Enables or disables DMA Coalescing feature. DMA (Direct Memory Access) allows the network device to move packet data directly to the system's memory, reducing CPU utilitzation. However, the frequency and random intervals at which packets arrive do not allow the system to enter a lower power state. DMA Coalescing allows the adapter to collect packets before it initiates a DMA event. This may increase network latency but also increases the chances that the system will enter a lower power state. InterruptThrottleRate (ITR) should be set to dynamic. This will impart the greatest chance for your system to consume less power. DMA Coalescing is effective in helping potentially saving the platform power only when it is enabled across all active ports. A whitepaper containing information on how to best configure your platform is available on the Intel website. Known Limitations ================= For known hardware and troubleshooting issues, refer to the following website. http://support.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/home.htm Either select the link for your adapter or perform a search for the adapter number. The adapter's page lists many issues. For a complete list of hardware issues download your adapter's user guide and read the Release Notes. Detected Tx Unit Hang in Quad Port Adapters ------------------------------------------- In some cases ports 3 and 4 won’t pass traffic. Ports 1 and 2 don't show any errors and will pass traffic. This issue MAY be resolved by updating to the latest BIOS. You can check your system's BIOS by downloading the Linux Firmware Developer Kit that can be obtained at http://www.linuxfirmwarekit.org/ There are known performance issues with this driver when running UDP traffic with Jumbo Frames. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82541/82547 can't link or is slow to link with some link partners ----------------------------------------------------------------- There is a known compatibility issue where time to link is slow or link is not established between 82541/82547 controllers and some switches. Known switches include: - Planex FXG-08TE - I-O Data ETG-SH8 The driver can be compiled with the following changes: Edit ./em.x.x.x/src/if_em.h to change the #define EM_MASTER_SLAVE For example, change from: #define EM_MASTER_SLAVE e1000_ms_hw_default to: #define EM_MASTER_SLAVE 2 Use one of the following options: 1 = Master mode 2 = Slave mode 3 = Auto master/slave Setting 2 is recommended. Recompile the module: cd em-x.x.x make clean make To install the compiled module in system directory: make install Support ======= For general information and support, go to the Intel support website at: www.intel.com/support/ If an issue is identified, support is through email only at: freebsd@intel.com License ======= This software program is released under the terms of a license agreement between you ('Licensee') and Intel. Do not use or load this software or any associated materials (collectively, the 'Software') until you have carefully read the full terms and conditions of the LICENSE located in this software package. By loading or using the Software, you agree to the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Agreement, do not install or use the Software. * Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.