E810 statistics not being propagated to Linux kernel /proc/net/dev

0x4A6F686E · ‎11-10-2025

New attempt as I wasn't fast enough responding to the previous question.

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Hi,

we're running a Debian Trixie server with kernel version 6.12.48+deb13-amd64.

This server has an Intel E810-CQDA2 card and we compiled the latest ice driver from Intel.
The HPE server has the latest firmware from HPE installed.
$ ethtool -i ethX
driver: ice
version: 2.3.10
firmware-version: 4.80 0x80020543 1.3805.0

Normally we request NIC statistics using the ip-command, by looking at /proc/net/dev and by using ethtool,.

However, for this E810 card/driver, it turns out that the counters in /proc/net/dev are only updated after we run statistics gathering using ethtool -S. Otherwise they stay the same until another run of ethtool -S.

We also have multiple systems with X710 cards, with the i40e driver. On those systems the counters in /proc/net/dev are updated automatically. This problem does not occur on those systems (same OS, same kernel, same server hardware, only another NIC).

I've read the documentation in the driver sources but didn't find any clue as to why this happens.

Is there any way to tell the driver to keep the counters in /proc/net/dev up to date because other tooling like atop uses /proc/net/dev as its source for statistics gathering?

As for the previous questions:

Linux distribution:

$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="13"
VERSION="13 (trixie)"
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie
DEBIAN_VERSION_FULL=13.1

We are not using SR-IOV. As for DDP:
The DDP package was successfully loaded: ICE COMMS Package version 1.3.46.0

This behaviour is present on multiple systems and within 1 system on multiple NICs

We have tested with a previous version of the driver, v2.2.9.

Attached is the output of the following commands:

1) while sleep10; do ethtool -S <interface> ; done # running in the background; output was not captured

2) while sleep 1; do date; cat /proc/net/dev; done

You can see in that output that the /proc/net/dev counters are updated once every 10 seconds. If we adjust the interval of the ethtool -S loop, the update frequency changes accordingly.

Any ideas how to fix this? Is it a driver issue or a Linux kernel issue?

Kind regards,

John

Sazirah · ‎11-10-2025

Hi 0x4A6F686E,

Greetings.

Thank you for the details shared.

Regarding this issue, we recommend you to update to the latest driver. You may refer to GitHub link below for the latest version:

https://github.com/intel/ethernet-linux-ice

Also, kindly update the NVM firmware to the latest 4.90 version:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19626/non-volatile-memory-nvm-update-utility-for-intel-ethernet-network-adapters-e810-series-linux.html

For your reference and guidance regarding this issue, we provided several article for you:

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Sazzy_Intel

Intel Customer Support Technician

0x4A6F686E · ‎11-11-2025

Hello Sazirah,

we just upgraded to the recommended versions but unfortunately the problem still exists.

Current situation:

$ uname -r
6.12.48+deb13-amd64

$ ethtool -i ens1f0np0
driver: ice
version: 2.3.14
firmware-version: 4.90 0x80020ef2 1.3863.0

We used the DDP package provided; see this message in dmesg:

ice 0000:11:00.0: The DDP package was successfully loaded: ICE OS Default Package version 1.3.50.0

and also this one:

ice 0000:11:00.0: fw 7.9.1 api 1.7.11 nvm 4.90 0x80020ef2 1.3863.0 [8086:1592] [8086:0002]

Any other suggestions?

Kind regards,

John

TejasMohan · ‎11-11-2025

Hello 0x4A6F686E,

Greetings from Intel!

Thank you for writing back.

We have reviewed your environment and noticed that you are using Debian Trixie on this server.

Based on our documentation for supported operating systems for the Intel® E810-CQDA2 adapter below

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/content-details/630155/intel-ethernet-controller-e810-feature-support-matrix.html?wapkw=E810-CQDA2%20product%20support%20matrix&DocID=630155

the card has been validated for Linux: Debian 11.

Could you kindly confirm the OS version to check further.

Best Regards,

Tejas

Intel Customer Support Technician

0x4A6F686E · ‎11-11-2025

Hello Tejas,

yes indeed, we are using Debian version 13 and no, we cannot downgrade to the old Debian version 11.

So, we are on our own? Are can we expect Debian 13 with Linux kernel 6.12 being supported in the near future?

Kind regards,

John

MACM · ‎11-11-2025

Hi 0x4A6F686E,

Greetings of the day.

Hope you are doing great.

Thank you for your response.

If any developments occur concerning Debian 13 in future, you will be notified.

Best Regards,

Mohammed Ali CM

Intel Customer Support Technician