The i219 based controller behaves unstably in Linux OS.

[AShev4]

Dear team Intel.

My name is Alexander, and I am Product manager company IPC2U.

Our customer uses Advantech processor boards - ASMB-785G4-00A1E. http://www.advantech.com/products/serverboard/asmb-785/mod_a34cb522-1679-4039-ad46-dbe1b2df1c7d

These boards use Intel i219LM network controllers.

The system is running the operating system Ubuntu 18.10

The i219 based controller behaves unstably in Linux OS.

When they turn on the network interface, it can sometimes set the connection speed to 10Mbps instead of 1 Gigabit / s. Switches tried different, cables, the result is stable.

With i210 controllers, everything works as expected, 1 Gbit / s.

They tried Linux kernels 4.19.2, Ubuntu 4.18.

They tried the latest version of the Linux kernel 4.19.2 and a separate driver module from Intel, e1000e-3.4.2.1 from 08.26.18.

Does not help.

Them need a stable operation of network controllers, including i219, under Linux.

Could you give advice on how to solve this problem?

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities. -What are you using to monitor network performance, and would you be able to attach screenshots of the results? -Please also provide an "Ethtool -i <interface>" and "Ethtool <interface>" output. -Have you tried a point to point connection to another 1Gbps adapter? -Are the cables you are using cat 5e or 6? -What switches have you used, and were they set to auto-negotiation? -Have you tried other versions of Linux or Ubuntu like 16.04? Please check with Advantech if there are any known issues on their end, or compatibility issues with certain Linux versions or drivers. Let us know if you have any other questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Please let us know if you still need assistance with this issue or if you are still checking with Advantech. If you have any other questions please let us know. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[AShev4]

1. We look at the speed that the system determines when connecting the cable.

2. Connected 2 computers, one with i219, the second no, directly, without a switch. Watched what speed determines each computer. 10 Mbit / s and showed a second computer.

3. Transferred the same file from one computer to another. At a speed of 10 Mbit, the copy speed was significantly lower than at 1 Gbit / s. I attach a photo.

Attached file is my setting on i219 port and change speed to 1000Mb/s then it can work normally.

Command:

sudo ethtool -s eth0 speed 1000 duplex full

The client tried this command, it works, but only until the connection is lost. 1Gb / s state is not saved. Is there any way to stabilize it?

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for the reply. Please provide an "Ethtool -i <interface>" output, so we can determine the drivers. If you can test this in iperf3 the results will be more reliable. What category of cable are you using, and have you tried others? Install iperf3 from a software manager or (apt install iperf3), and run from the terminal using one PC as a server (iperf3 -s) and the other PC as client (iperf3 -c <server ip>). You may have to disable your firewall for this test. Please send us the output in text or image. Let us know if you have any questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[AShev4]

Dear Daniel,

Cable category 5e, length up to 2 meters.

Gigabit support without questions.

And before I wrote to you, already made a direct connection of 2 machines, without a switch.

And there were photos.

We are talking about the driver choosing a random connection speed when connecting the cable.

Low connection speed is confirmed by low file transfer rate over the network.

There were no firewalls at all.

I think that we can answer questions no sooner than after the holidays.

[WhyeBee_T_Intel]

Hi Ashev4, Thank you for the information. We will further check on this and update you. Best Regards, Whybe T Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[AShev4]

I give you test results

System Ubuntu 4.18.

[AShev4]

posted a file.

[AShev4]

posted a file.

[AShev4]

posted a file.

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for the requested outputs. From the iperf3 output your average bandwidth is 935 Mbps. When you were using the iperf3 utility was Ubuntu still recognizing the Wired Ethernet connection as 10 Mbps or did you manually set the speed in ethtool? Let us know if you have any questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Please let us know if you are still encountering an issue with your i219-LM. From the iperf3 it seems to be as expected, but we want to verify if the speed was not set manually. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Please let us know if you have any other questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[AShev4]

Ubuntu itself determines the speed as 10Mbps

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for the reply. Since the iperf test revealed the i219-LM is getting close to the advertised speed at 935Mbps when Ubuntu determines the speed as 10Mbps; we would recommend checking with Ubuntu if this can be addressed with a change to Ubuntu or the network manager. Let us know if Ubuntu is able to help you resolve this issue, or you have any other questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[AShev4]

The problem is that after installing the drivers on Intel i219, ubuntu automatically sets the speed of 10Mbps. Although on the same motherboard there is an intel i210 controller, which works stably at 1000Mbps.

And you have to force a speed of 1000Mbps using the sudo ethtool -s eth0 speed 1000 duplex full command, but after rebooting the command stops working

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for the reply. Before proceeding, we would like to determine if the speed was manually set prior to running iperf, or set by Ubuntu. In the ethtool output it was set to 10Mbps, but we are not sure if this was changed before the iperf test. This will help us further investigate if the adapter is achieving the expected bandwidth or the bandwidth set by Ubuntu. The speed should automatically be set based on the connection since auto-negotiation is on, but Ubuntu support may be able to provide steps to permanently set the speed to 1000Mbps. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[AShev4]

In all tests, the speed was automatically set by Ubuntu, the speed was not manually set.

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Thank you for the reply. The I219-LM was able to achieve the expected transfer speed in iperf. We would recommend checking with Ubuntu support. The speed is being detected incorrectly by Ubuntu, but the Ethernet connection is running at the expected speed. Let us know if you have any questions after contacting Ubuntu support. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ashev4, Please let us know if Ubuntu is unable to assist you with this issue. Please include what Ubuntu support recommended to resolve the issue. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support