AR8121 Gigabit NIC defaults to 10BaseT!

[Nikotine]

Hi,

I'm using an Asus P5Q motherboard with onboard NIC. It's a Gigabit NIC, I'm absolutely sure about that. Problem is that when I reboot the NAS (nas4free 9.1.0.1 (636)), it defaults to 10baseT instead of 1000baseT! Needless to say, the read speed over SMB is terrible (about 1 MB/s).

When I unplug the UTP cable and replug it, I get 1000baseT with read speeds of about 75 MB/s over SMB! The same happens when I reboot my router (TP-LINK 1043ND with OpenWRT). But as soon as I reboot the NAS, it's 10baseT again.

Is this a problem with NAS4Free or the router?

Code: Select all

$ dmesg | grep ale0
ale0: <Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCIe Ethernet> port 0xdc00-0xdc7f mem 0xfe9c0000-0xfe9fffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci3
ale0: 960 Tx FIFO, 1024 Rx FIFO
ale0: Using 1 MSI messages.
miibus0: <MII bus> on ale0
ale0: Ethernet address: [censored]

Code: Select all

$ ifconfig ale0
ale0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=c319a<TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWTSO,LINKSTATE>
        ether 00:23:54:2c:81:75
        inet 192.168.1.3 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
        media: Ethernet autoselect (10baseT/UTP <full-duplex>)
        status: active

Btw, I've tried using a different port on the router, but the same thing happens. I have yet to try a different cable, but the current one is cat5e.

[rostreich]

set speed to static 1000baseT. also try another cable.

Is this a problem with NAS4Free or the router?

I would say Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCIe Ethernet is the problem.
Intel NICs work best on BSD, most realteks work too, but not fast as Intel.

[Nikotine]

Switched to a different cable... still the same problem.
The card is working fine! I get gigabit speeds when I disconnect and reconnect the UTP cable, or when I reboot the router. But when the NAS reboots, I get 10BaseT.

This is driving me nuts!

[rostreich]

The card is working fine!

Yeah, but not with the speed auto sensing.
Do you have a spare realtek 8169 which you could check?

[Nikotine]

No, unfortunately I don't have a spare NIC to test.
If I'd buy one, best to pick an Intel pro 1000 GT/XT/MT? Any advantage if I get a dual port one?

[rostreich]

If I'd buy one, best to pick an Intel pro 1000 GT/XT/MT?

Sure! Look around for others in this section and what they use. Those cards are around 25€ and this is ok.

Any advantage if I get a dual port one?

Yeah, two ports.
No seriously, you can use link aggregation. But only if your switch does support those protocols and your target PC supports it. (for example has the same NIC)

[Nikotine]

Is the CT supported? It's not in the supported NIC list, but it should be compatible, no?

[rostreich]

I don't know for sure. To be sure, choose a GT.

And btw. wait for raulfg3 when he will see this thread, he has the same mainboard as you. Maybe he has some tips for you.

[Nikotine]

I can't seem to find a comparison between the CT vs GT, but the CT seems to be the newest of the two, so I'll probably go with that. I can always resell if it doesn't work.

I'll wait for raulfg3 to give his blessing

[raulfg3]

my ASUS P5Q_WS motherBoard use Realtek 8111C and have absolute nothing problems to use realtek NIC ( I have a Intel NIC and use it , because is a slighty faster, but only a few more), but I test re0 and have no problems , sure.


I suggest that find the problem in the cable or in the router.

Please use cat6 or cat5e certified cable ( do not use shelf done cable) and if still persist the problem try to use a 1GB switch between your NAS and your Router

[rostreich]

I suggest that find the problem in the cable or in the router.

Yeah and I think this will solve his 99% filecopy problem. Or really the Intel NIC.

Because he said Atheros Chip.

[Nikotine]

Oh, I have the P5Q Pro motherboard. Apparently they used a different NIC chip.

I've used a home made cat5e cable and one from work, used in the server room. I'm pretty sure it ain't the cable.
Leaves the NIC or the router.
The router is a TP-LINK 1043ND with latest OpenWRT firmware. That router/firmware combination is heavily used by the OpenWRT community so I doubt it could be a problem.
So all there's left is the NIC. I'll purchase an Intel pro 1000 CT and see if that solves anything.

Thanks for the advice guys!

[Nikotine]

Just to close this topic, I bought an Intel Gigabit Pro 1000 CT. Works perfectly with N4F, detects a gigabit connection and last but not least, gives a nice performance boost!