thr3ads.net - freebsd stable - 8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo [Oct 2011]

If this information is useful, please help other people find it:
Share via:

perryh@pluto.rain.com

2011-Oct-21 08:11 UTC

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

I have an 8.1-RELEASE system with an xl on the mainboard:

  xl0: <3Com 3c905C-TX Fast Etherlink XL> port 0xdc80-0xdcff mem
0xf8fffc00-0xf8fffc7f irq 16 at device 4.0 on pci2
  miibus0: <MII bus> on xl0
  xlphy0: <3c905C 10/100 internal PHY> PHY 24 on miibus0
  xlphy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto
  xl0: Ethernet address: 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
  xl0: [ITHREAD]

It has been working properly while connected to an old 10-BaseT hub,
but when I moved it to a (not as old) Netgear 10/100 dual-speed hub
the link started to yo-yo:

  Oct 21 07:16:00 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
  Oct 21 07:16:02 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to UP
  Oct 21 07:16:12 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
  Oct 21 07:16:14 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to UP
  Oct 21 07:16:18 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
  Oct 21 07:16:20 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to UP
  Oct 21 07:16:26 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
  Oct 21 07:16:28 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to UP

While it was misbehaving, ifconfig reported:

# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80009<RXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX)
        status: active

Turning off unneeded features did not help:

# ifconfig xl0 -vlanmtu -rxcsum
# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX)
        status: active

and neither did forcing it to 100baseTX, with either duplex setting:

# ifconfig xl0 media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex
# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet 100baseTX <full-duplex>
        status: active

# ifconfig xl0 mediaopt half-duplex
# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet 100baseTX
        status: active

but moving it back to the 10-BaseT hub (after restoring xl0 to
autoselect) fixed the problem:

# ifconfig xl0 media autoselect
# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX)
        status: active

[still yo-yo-ing, until moved to the old hub, then OK]

# ifconfig xl0
xl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
        inet6 fe80::2b0:d0ff:fe22:5a14%xl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 
        inet 192.168.200.81 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.200.255
        nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (10baseT/UTP)
        status: active

Both connections were using the same (short) Cat5 cable, I tried two
different ports on the 10/100 hub, and other systems work OK on that
10/100 hub.

How do I get this interface to operate properly at 100MB?

Damien Fleuriot

2011-Oct-21 08:28 UTC

head link

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

On 10/21/11 5:00 PM, perryh@pluto.rain.com wrote:> I have an 8.1-RELEASE system with an xl on the mainboard:
> 
>   xl0: <3Com 3c905C-TX Fast Etherlink XL> port 0xdc80-0xdcff mem
0xf8fffc00-0xf8fffc7f irq 16 at device 4.0 on pci2
>   miibus0: <MII bus> on xl0
>   xlphy0: <3c905C 10/100 internal PHY> PHY 24 on miibus0
>   xlphy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto
>   xl0: Ethernet address: 00:b0:d0:22:5a:14
>   xl0: [ITHREAD]
> 
> It has been working properly while connected to an old 10-BaseT hub,
> but when I moved it to a (not as old) Netgear 10/100 dual-speed hub
> the link started to yo-yo:
> 
Pray tell, what's a "dual-speed hub" , marketing mumbo-jumbo ?
If that's a hub that supports negotiation of different speeds (10 vs
100), then yes, I call that marketing mumbo-jumbo ;)


>   Oct 21 07:16:00 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
>   Oct 21 07:16:02 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to UP
>   Oct 21 07:16:12 fbsd81 kernel: xl0: link state changed to DOWN
[snip]
> 
> Both connections were using the same (short) Cat5 cable, I tried two
> different ports on the 10/100 hub, and other systems work OK on that
> 10/100 hub.
> 
> How do I get this interface to operate properly at 100MB?

You change your faulty cable and enjoy ;)
It is totally possible that your cable be the cause, and that it can
operate just fine at 10MB but not at 100.

Peter Maxwell

2011-Oct-23 12:44 UTC

head link

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

On 21 October 2011 16:00, <perryh@pluto.rain.com> wrote:
>
> ...snip...
>
> Both connections were using the same (short) Cat5 cable, I tried two
> different ports on the 10/100 hub, and other systems work OK on that
> 10/100 hub.
>
> How do I get this interface to operate properly at 100MB?
>
>...snip...

"Auto-negotiation" is a nightmare, and *will* cause you problems.  The
best
you can do is try to try to set every device using the switch to 100Mbps
full, if that doesn't work buy a proper switch.

freebsd stable - Oct 2011 - 8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo