Problems with em interfaces on FreeBSD 6.1

[Jack Vogel]

On 8/11/06, Gleb Smirnoff <glebius at freebsd.org> wrote:
>   Daniel,
>
> On Fri, Aug 11, 2006 at 01:42:32PM +0200, Daniel Ryslink wrote:
> D> We have started to use the em driver only recently, after the upgrade to
> D> gigabit connectivity (100 MBit NICs from Intel used the fxp driver).
> D>
> D> As for the frequency of the incidents, here is a grep of the messages:
> D>
> D> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ <slash> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> D> Aug  4 22:35:23 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  5 00:09:20 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  5 06:08:59 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  6 12:38:16 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  6 20:39:47 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  7 18:37:29 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  8 07:27:48 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  8 09:38:17 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  8 12:54:54 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  8 22:41:17 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  9 05:17:24 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  9 10:56:10 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug  9 20:10:06 b2 kernel: em1: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug 11 08:41:44 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> Aug 11 10:35:43 b2 kernel: em0: watchdog timeout -- resetting
> D> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ <slash> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> D>
> D> The driver used is version 3.2.18 (I wanted to use the Intel 6.1.4 as a
> D> module, but I have found out that I made a mistake and accidentally loaded
> D> the old 3.2.18 driver).
> D>
> D> I have dilemma now - which new driver to try? The 6.0.5 submitted to the
> D> current FreeBSD 6.1 branch (modified by you, I believe, on 8th August), or
> D> the newest driver from Intel 6.1.4? Do you think one of these drivers
> D> could solve my problems?
>
> I'm not sure whether new driver will solve your problems. You should give
> a try to 6.1-STABLE which has 6.0.5 in it. The difference between 6.1.4 and
> 6.0.5 is quite small, I doubt that 6.1.4 worth a try in your case.

Gleb is right, the difference between my 6.0.5 and 6.1.4 driver are minor
and don't seem to have anything to do with your problem.

I am happy Gleb got my code merged with tip of STABLE and would take
that driver code if I were you, it will become 6.2 before long :)

Watchdogs happen because of transmit cleanup failing, your instances
are pretty widely seperated, it looks like some external network problem
perhaps?

Jack
Intel LAD