From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Oct 24 23:04:56 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EDC9C16A41B for ; Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:04:56 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jkim@FreeBSD.org) Received: from anuket.mj.niksun.com (gwnew.niksun.com [65.115.46.162]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8D91313C491 for ; Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:04:56 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jkim@FreeBSD.org) Received: from niksun.com (anuket [10.70.0.5]) by anuket.mj.niksun.com (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id l9ON4mIS047431; Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:04:48 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from jkim@FreeBSD.org) From: Jung-uk Kim To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:04:46 -0400 User-Agent: KMail/1.6.2 References: <4712A4A8.7080503@FreeBSD.org> <200710241320.25092.jkim@FreeBSD.org> <200710241910.28201.joao@matik.com.br> In-Reply-To: <200710241910.28201.joao@matik.com.br> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-Id: <200710241904.47701.jkim@FreeBSD.org> Cc: JoaoBR Subject: Re: panic in 8-CURRENT / BGE hang X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:04:57 -0000 On Wednesday 24 October 2007 05:10 pm, JoaoBR wrote: > On Wednesday 24 October 2007 15:19:49 Jung-uk Kim wrote: > > > > > because hw.bge.allow_asf defaults to 0 in releng_6 and to 1 > > > > > in 7 > > > > > > > > > > somebody knows why this changed? Would be kind of handy if > > > > > this where in the man page since almost all tyans and other > > > > > server boards have this bge nics > > > > > > > > When I MFC'd bge(4) on RELENG_6, I decided to turn it off by > > > > default. See the diff between RELENG_6 and MFC point: > > > > > > > > http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/bge/if_bge. > > > >c.di ff?r2=1.91.2.21;r1=1.186 > > > > > > > > Since RELENG_7 is branched, I think we should do the same on > > > > the branch as well. > > > > > > So, what exactly does hw.bge.allow_asf do? �I've been running > > > -current on several different tyan boards with on-board bge > > > devices for the last few years without a hanging problem. > > > I just checked and found hw.bge.allow_asf=1. > > > > Basically it makes it work better with some IPMI modules (e.g., > > server management daughter cards). �While it works on some > > platforms, it breaks some, i.e., it is very sensitive to firmware > > and BIOS. > > not the very best clarification ... > > so this ASF does mean what at the end? is it ASF as know as for a > part of the Eprom region? and if enabled it allows the card to load > it or beeing controlled by it ? For remote server management, there are two major APIs: ASF by DMTF: http://www.dmtf.org/standards/asf/ IPMI by Intel: http://www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi/ The main goal of the two technologies is the same, i.e., out-of-band server management. Both use Remote Management and Control Protocol (RMCP) for the network protocol but ASF is implemented on NIC firmware level while IPMI is implemented on baseboard management controller (BMC). Now BCM57xx firmware has built-in ASF stack and the interface can be shared with BMC. If there is a BMC on-board and network controller is shared, obviously you cannot just reset the controller, etc. You have to 'tell' the firmware that you are about to do critical things, such as reset, start, stop, link negotiation, etc, so that it can communicate with BMC beforehand. If you turn on hw.bge.allow_asf, it does just that. Unfortunately, it does not work for all systems in the real world because they are not created equal, e.g., different spec. revisions, hardware implementations, firmware, BIOS, etc. Basically some system fails *without* it while some system fails *with* it. Hence, the tunable was necessary. At least, that is how I understand it. Jung-uk Kim