Intel X710-T2L - 2.5/5 Gbps modes not functional on FreeBSD 11.3/12.1 on NVM versions 7.3 and newer.

[Abhi]

I have an odd issue on FreeBSD 11.3, where on any Intel NVM version greater than 7.2 (tried up to 8.0), the 2.5/5 Gbps modes do not work on my Intel X710-T2L adapter. Even if the modes are forced the adapter still defaults to either 1/10 Gbps link rates and if I set my switch ports to 2.5/5 Gbps no connection is there. I even compiled the latest Intel Ethernet 1.12.2 driver on FreeBSD 11.3 but the 2.5/5 Gbps modes still don't work with newer NVM versions.

On FreeBSD 12.1 the Intel X710-T2L isn't even detected unless I compile and upload the ixl driver (used 1.12.2). Oddly in FreeBSD 12.1 even with the default 7.2 firmware NBASE-T (2.5 & 5 Gbps modes) does not work, whereas it did in FreeBSD 11.3.

NBASE-T works fine with the same hardware in Windows 10 regardless of  NVM version in use.

Help would be appreciated in regards to this, thanks!

Before I am asked for the images/info of my X710-T2L, that info is in the below link from another thread I started for a different issue:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Ethernet-Products/Intel-X710-T2L-One-port-shows-as-X710-T2L-and-the-other-is/m-p/638244#M15421

[Abhi]

On FreeBSD 12.1 the Intel X710-T2L isn't even detected unless I compile and upload the ixl driver (used 1.12.2). Oddly in FreeBSD 12.1 even with the default 7.2 firmware NBASE-T (2.5 & 5 Gbps modes) does not work, whereas it did in FreeBSD 11.3.

NBASE-T works fine with the same hardware in Windows 10 regardless of  NVM version in use.

Help would be appreciated in regards to this, thanks!

Before I am asked for the images/info of my X710-T2L, that info is in the below link from another thread I started for a different issue:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Ethernet-Products/Intel-X710-T2L-One-port-shows-as-X710-T2L-and-the-other-is/m-p/638244#M15421

[Abhi]

I want to correct one thing above after further testing, on FreeBSD 12.1, the 2.5/5 Gbps modes work on NVM 7.2 but not on anything newer just like on FreeBSD 11.3. This is not a driver issue because I'm using the latest Intel 1.12.2 driver on FreeBSD 12.1 and it works fine with NVM 7.2. Changes in the newer Intel NVM firmwares seem to be causing this issue.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for posting in our Intel® Ethernet Communities Page.

We are deeply sorry for the time it took for us to post our reply on this thread.

Please allow us some time to check your previous thread and collate all the information that you have shared on that thread so we do not need to ask information that you have already provided on the other thread even though it has a different issue.

We will further check on your case and get back to you no later than 3 business days from now.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support

[Abhi]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it and no worries.

So just to clean up my mess of posts above:

1. FreeBSD 11.3:

-Default driver (1.11.9) in OS works and 2.5/5 Gbps modes work on NVM 7.2 but nothing newer.. 

-Testing the latest driver version (1.12.2), 2.5/5 Gbps modes work on NVM 7.2 but nothing newer.

2. FreeBSD 12.1:

-Default driver in OS does not work, and device is not even detected.

-Testing the latest driver version (1.12.2), 2.5/5 Gbps modes work on NVM 7.2 but nothing newer.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you providing those information.

Please allow us some time to check on this.  

We will get back to you no later than 3 business days from now.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for waiting for our update.

While we were checking, in came to mind that we need to get the results of this command from your system:

Type ethtool -i ethx where ethx is the Ethernet port.

We look forward to your reply. Should we not get your reply, we will follow up after three business days.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support 

[Abhi]

Hello Alfredo, FreeBSd 11.3 and 12.1 don't have ethtool by default so I downloaded it from your website it is listed as "Ethernet Port Configuration Utility".

The command you specified does not work. Instead I used "./epct64e -devices" to first list available adapters and it didn't find any.

I used ifconfig -m ixl0 and ifconfig -m ixl1 for the ports on the X710-T2L and they both show 2.5/5 Gbps modes as available but they don't actually function on NVMs 7.3-8.0, even though they are displayed as available modes. In the image I posted you can see ixl0 is connected at 1 gbps even though it is connected to a 2.5 Gbps port. On NVM 7.2 it would have connected at 2.5 Gbps.

Currently I'm on NVM 8.0.

I also want to add that, in Windows 10, the 2.5/5 Gbps modes work fine regardless of driver or NVM in use. So I'm starting to wonder if there's something missing in Intel's FreeBSD drivers or some changes in the newer NVMs that are causing issues with your drivers. Because on NVM 7.2 I tested multiple drivers ranging from 1.11.9 to 1.12.2 and they work well with 2.5/5 Gbps modes. The issue always starts with the newer NVM versions.

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Appreciate your prompt reply.

Before we further investigate your query with our higher level, kindly confirm that the driver and Firmware were downloaded from Intel download link below.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/189463/Intel-Ethernet-Network-Adapter-X710-T2L

Please also share if the issue happened on non virtualized environment

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Should we not get your reply, we will follow up after three business days.

Best Regards,

Crisselle C

Intel® Customer Support 

[Abhi]

Hello Crisselle, I downloaded both the drivers and NVM versions from that link.

I installed FreeBSD 11.3 and 12.1 directly on my server, so no it was not virtualized.

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Please allow us to further investigate on this query. Rest assured that we will provide an update as soon as possible but no later than 2-3 business days.

Hoping for your kind patience.

Best Regards,

Crisselle C

Intel® Customer Support

[Abhi]

Hello Criselle, any updates regarding this issue?

[AlfredoS_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for waiting for our update.

After thorough checks by our engineers, they said that the issue that you are experiencing is a known issue and it will be fixed on a future driver release which is planned for the third quarter.

Please let us know if you have any feedback or further questions regarding this.

We look forward to your reply. Should we not get your reply, we will follow up after three business days.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Abhi]

Thank you for the update Alfredo, and just out of curiosity is there a beta driver.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for your understanding regarding our statement.

Please allow us some time to check if we will have beta drivers.

We will get back to you no later than 3 business days from now.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support 

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi,

Thank you for waiting for our update regarding the beta release driver.

We do not provide a beta release driver.

With that said, the patches may have already pushed to the upstream kernel. Please check the site where you usually get your kernel updates most probably, http://freebsd.org/.

We look forward to your reply. Should we not get your reply, we will follow up after three business days.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Abhi]

I filed a report with FreeBSD in regards to the detection of the card itself in 12.1 and apparently that issue will be fixed in a few days. I think you can close this thread, thanks for the help.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Abhi, 

Thank you for your update.

It is a great joy to know that you are already in a path to resolution for your issue.

If you would like to give us an update or if you have further questions, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer being monitored.

Thank you for contacting Intel® and have a great week!

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support