I225-IT 10/100Mbps Speed Operation

[DavidDig]

Having raised a support ticket for this issue, we've been instructed to post it in this forum.

We have a custom PCB with three Intel i225-IT network interfaces. As our design only requires 10/100Mbps operation, we are only using two of the MDI pairs and have the other two pulled up to 3.3V as per the suggestion in a support case. We are now testing a prototype of this product, and have been unable to get it to work when connected to a 100Mbps switch. It works when connected to a gigabit switch (auto negotiated down to 100Mbps), and it works when we force the speed to 10Mbps, but when connected to a 100Mbps switch with auto negotiating enabled, or connected to a 100Mbps switch and forced to run at 100Mbps, no link is detected at all, none of the LEDs flash, and Windows 10 reports that no network cable is connected.

We have ruled out any issues with the switch or cables, and the COM Express module based Intel i225-LM on our product also does not have any issues at 100Mbps, so this problem seems isolated to the Intel I225-IT network interfaces, as implemented on our custom PCB. We have an EEPROM for each I225-IT on our board, which have all been programmed with "FXVL_0D9F_IT_1MB_1.94d.bin" and assigned a unique MAC address.

Can anyone advise us as to what the cause of this issue may be, and what steps we can take to resolve it?

Thanks!

[Sazirah]

Hi DavidDig,

Good day.

Thank you for posting Intel Ethernet Communities.

My apologies on this matter as it takes some time to reach to the correct team. I will try my best to look into this matter from my end. For the time being we are currently looking into this and will get back to you from time to time.

Regards,

Sazzy_Intel

[Dineshbabu]

Hi DavidDig,

As per our understanding, the speed is unable to work when connected to a 100Mbps switch. It works with a gigabit switch (auto-negotiated down to 100Mbps), and it works when forced to run at 10Mbps. However, when connected to a 100Mbps switch with auto-negotiation enabled or forced to run at 100Mbps, no link is detected at all; none of the LEDs flash, and Windows 10 reports that no network cable is connected.

Could you please confirm if you are using the same switch for testing? If so, could you share the model of the switch?

Also, what is the power state of the link partner of the I225 during this test? (S0, S3, S4, S5)

Furthermore, could you please share the SSU of the I225 system?

Lastly, could you please try using the latest driver from - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.html? 

Please refer below link to install the driver manually from device manager with below directory

PRO2500\Winx64\<choose driver according to the operating system installed>

Regards,

Dinesh

[peter-digitrol]

Hi Dinesh, David is on leave this week so I am taking over the query from our end.

Yes your understanding of the problem is correct.

Could you please confirm if you are using the same switch for testing? If so, could you share the model of the switch?

We have tested this using the following switches:

Manufacturer	Model	100M working?
GetNet	GS‐115P	No
W-Linx	SW-005CM-X	No
Netgear	JFS524	Yes
Planet	FNSW-2401	Yes

We have compared the datasheets of these switches, and found that the ones which work support some additional features, such as 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet, 802.1p QoS and 802.1q VLAN tagging. All of the switches support 100M operation, auto negotiation, full/half duplex auto-negotiation and auto MDI/MIX.

Also, what is the power state of the link partner of the I225 during this test? (S0, S3, S4, S5)

S0

Furthermore, could you please share the SSU of the I225 system?

See attached.

Lastly, could you please try using the latest driver from - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.html? 

We are using what I believe is the latest driver version - 1.1.4.42

Kind Regards,

Peter Barnes

Digitrol Ltd.

[bilihor]

I am having the same issue. Switch - Cisco Catalyst 2940, set to 100/full autoneg off

[peter-digitrol]

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@bilihor wrote:

I am having the same issue. Switch - Cisco Catalyst 2940, set to 100/full autoneg off

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Looking at the datasheet for your switch, the only feature it doesn't have that the ones we have tried do have, is 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet. Of course your issue may not be related to ours, but if it is then it seems possible that the issue may be related to use with switches that do not support 802.3az. Have you got any other 10/100 switches you could try?

Peter

[bilihor]

No, we got this one off ebay and was lucky to replicate the issue our client across the world is having. 
switch 100/full, device autoneg on ---> 100/half
switch 100/full, device autoneg off, 100/full ---> link down

[bilihor]

Interesting development.

ethtool -s interface autoneg on
result - 100/half

ethtool -s interface speed 100 duplex full
result - no link

ethtool -s interface autoneg off speed 100 duplex full
result - 100/full

So, it is not enough to set speed and duplex, you have to specifically set autoneg to off in order for it to work

[Irwan_Intel]

Hello peter-digitrol,

Thanks for the update, please allow us some time to check and revert back to you soon.

Regards,

Irwan_Intel