(truenas mini) added nic, kernel module 'ixgbe' looks unavailable, recompile kernel?

TrueNAS General
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1

I installed a nic into the available pci port:
Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X540-AT2

On linux this uses the kernel module:
ixgben

I see FreeBSD has a similar module, perhaps the same? named:
ixgbe

There is a man page for this module saying to add to my /boot/loader.conf this:
if_ixgbe_load=“YES”

I added that and rebooted but I don’t see the nic recognized. If I ‘kldstat’ I don’t see an ixgbe module. How can I get this nic to work? I haven’t recompiled a kernel for about 20 years, but if that’s what I’ll need to do I can give it a shot, if that’s the answer links to a guide or a youtube video to ensure success would be appreciated.

If I plug a network cable into it the network lights come on so I believe we can say its seated in the slot correctly.

X540-10G-2T-X8

2

It should just work out of the box. You shouldn’t have to do anything.

What does the output of this say?

pciconf -lvcb | grep -B 6 -A 6 Ethernet
1 Like
3

It will probably be recognised as ix0.

ifconfig may be required.

4 
# pciconf -lvcb | grep -B 6 -A 6 Ethernet
                     First VF RID Offset 0x0008, VF RID Stride 0x0001
                     VF Device ID 0x19e3
                     Page Sizes: 4096 (enabled), 8192, 65536, 262144, 1048576, 4194304
    ecap 000d[1b0] = ACS 1
ix0@pci0:3:0:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x11 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x15e4 subvendor=0x1849 subdevice=0x15e4
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Ethernet Connection X553 1GbE'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdf000000, size 2097152, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdf204000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 01[40] = powerspec 3  supports D0 D3  current D0
    cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
--
                     First VF RID Offset 0x0180, VF RID Stride 0x0002
                     VF Device ID 0x15c5
                     Page Sizes: 4096 (enabled), 8192, 65536, 262144, 1048576, 4194304
    ecap 000d[1b0] = ACS 1
ix1@pci0:3:0:1: class=0x020000 rev=0x11 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x15e4 subvendor=0x1849 subdevice=0x15e4
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Ethernet Connection X553 1GbE'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdee00000, size 2097152, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdf200000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 01[40] = powerspec 3  supports D0 D3  current D0
    cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
--
                     First VF RID Offset 0x0180, VF RID Stride 0x0002
                     VF Device ID 0x15c5
                     Page Sizes: 4096 (enabled), 8192, 65536, 262144, 1048576, 4194304
    ecap 000d[1b0] = ACS 1
ix2@pci0:5:0:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x11 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x15e5 subvendor=0x1849 subdevice=0x15e5
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Ethernet Connection X553 1GbE'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdea00000, size 2097152, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xdec04000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 01[40] = powerspec 3  supports D0 D3  current D0
    cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
--
                     First VF RID Offset 0x0180, VF RID Stride 0x0002
                     VF Device ID 0x15c5
                     Page Sizes: 4096 (enabled), 8192, 65536, 262144, 1048576, 4194304
    ecap 000d[1b0] = ACS 1
ix3@pci0:5:0:1: class=0x020000 rev=0x11 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x15e5 subvendor=0x1849 subdevice=0x15e5
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Ethernet Connection X553 1GbE'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
5

The system does not see the PCI-E device. I’m not sure why. Perhaps the slot is disabled, or the card or the board are malfunctioning. Can you test the card in another computer? I only see the 4 on-board

6

I wondered if the slot might be disabled. I’ve never heard of that option, but I had the same thought. Is there a way to know that? That a bios setting? I can try it in another computer … I’ll check the bios to see if it has an option to disable that slot.

7

https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/tree/sys/modules/ix/Makefile?h=releng%2F13.3

The module name is ix, not ixgbe.
It is included in the GENERIC kernel.

ixgbe became ix in 2015.
https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/sys/amd64/conf/GENERIC?h=stable/10&id=6a9b99465cf85e67ca90e18a0085db71a4f7c066

8

How confident are you in that particular card? I’m in a position where i could order a couple more to try out. Given the pcie port might be the issue, or that pcie is disabled, or could be a mainboard issue … is that card known to work? Something else i should buy? … looking for dual 10gb.

9

Ok folks, I think I figured out the issue. I bought this card twice in the past and this time clicked “reorder item” at amazon.

Looks like a knockoff rather than actual Intel, I’m going to return this and order again. I’ll let you know how the new one goes.

1 Like
10

Ok, new nics are here. Same 540 T2 model, brand new genuine Intel. I shutdown the truenas, plug in the nic, power back up and nothing … I’m going to have to buy a vga adapter to check the bios if the pcie is disabled … I removed the ‘if_ixgbe_load=“YES”’ from the /boot/loader.config since the driver I need is expected to be built in.

… anything else I can try before we assume the mainboard is bad? I’ve never had any issues with the truenas so far.

pciconf -lvcb | grep -B 6 -A 6 Ethernet
is showing 4 nics @ 1GbE

11

Any other cards you can try in the same slot? VGA or something?
You could also just buy an Chelsio T520 or something, those are far less to be fakes.

12

I located the menu for my mainboard and it shows a screenshot with how to enable PCIE Devices (page 38) … waiting for my vga adapter, maybe it’ll be just that simple.

13

I give up, sending the nics back and ordering an intel 550