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Date:      Tue, 3 Jul 2007 11:40:48 +1000
From:      Norberto Meijome <freebsd@meijome.net>
To:        tundra@tundraware.com
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, PU <uthoffp@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: Problem with a NIC in FBSD 6.2
Message-ID:  <20070703114048.637b0018@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <46897B2F.1040700@tundraware.com>
References:  <7a49f37b0707021436p4e52e2e8mc165307ba610b5c7@mail.gmail.com> <46897B2F.1040700@tundraware.com>

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On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:24:47 -0500
Tim Daneliuk <tundra@tundraware.com> wrote:

> PU wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have a bit of a problem I'm hoping someone here can help with. I built a
> > 6.2 FBSD box and wound up with a bad NIC out of 3 and what I thought might
> > have been a bad pci slot. I replaced the NIC with a new one, and moved the
> > card to another slot just to make sure I took care of the problem.
> > However, now when I boot up, my rl0 interface is recognized, but isn't
> > 'initialized'. What I mean by that is that I see entries in dmesg, but an
> > ifconfig does not show that interface. I can't even plumb the thing as the
> > OS says it doesn't exist. What really throws me is that the other two NICs
> > and a video card that were also moved are recognized with no problems at
> > all. Problems just seem to follow the rl0 interface.
> 

[....]
> b) All NICs work in some slots but fail on others.  This would hint
>     to one of two possibilities:  A bad PCI slot or a motherboard
>     that does strange and perverse things by hardwiring certain
>     interrupts to certain slot positions (yes, I've seen this and
>     it's maddening).  Remedy:  Run over the motherboard with a large
>     tank.

Before heading to your local military surplus shop for a second hand tank, you
may want to have a play with the PCI IRQ settings in your motherboard : 
- Change them from auto to one different IRQ to each slot.

- DISABLE devices you dont need. Do you need 2 COM ports + LPT + who knows what
else? This is usually the problem - you're NIC, in a certain pci slot,
conflicts with other devices. 

In most motherboards, the IRQ assignment is shown just after POST and just
before the OS boots (best way to see it is to remove all bootable devices so
it's stuck after POST). You *really* want to have individual IRQs for each NIC.\

I've had this problem with some ASUS motherboards, Award bios + 3+  fxp cards.

[....]
_________________________
{Beto|Norberto|Numard} Meijome

Law of Conservation of Perversity: 
  we can't make something simpler without making something else more complex

I speak for myself, not my employer. Contents may be hot. Slippery when wet.
Reading disclaimers makes you go blind. Writing them is worse. You have been
Warned.



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