Issues with Intel I218V

[sprich]

Hello,

I just purchased and built a brand new box for FreeNAS. My motherboard of choice was the ASRock Z87 Extreme6 which includes dual Gig NICs. One being the Intel I218V and the other a Realtek RTL8111GR.

When I first booted FreeNAS off a USB drive the Intel NIC was nowhere to be found in ifconfig -a, however my Realtek interface had no problems functioning correctly.

I was worried the board might require an RMA so I used an Ubuntu live CD to test and sure enough Ubuntu was able to detect both network interfaces without any problems; both could pass traffic.

I've done various searching and it seems the I218V should be supported by the most current version of FreeNAS, which you can see I'm running from the output below:

uname -a
FreeBSD freenas.srich.lcl 9.2-RELEASE-p4 FreeBSD 9.2-RELEASE-p4 #0 r262572+17a4d3d: Wed Apr 23 10:09:38 PDT 2014 root@build3.ixsystems.com:/tank/home/jkh/build/9.2.1/freenas/os-base/amd64/fusion/jkh/9.2.1/freenas/FreeBSD/src/sys/FREENAS.amd64 amd64


Searching the Internet (including these forums) I was able to uncover a little more information and have tried various troubleshooting steps to try to get this working but have been unable to so far. I've included some relevant outputs below.

dmesg | more
pci0: <network, ethernet> at device 25.0 (no driver attached)

pciconf -lv
none3@pci0:0:25:0: class=0x020000 card=0x15a11849 chip=0x15a18086 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
class = network
subclass = ethernet


I changed the following lines in /boot/defaults/loader.conf to try to load the drivers but have been unsuccessful in these attempts.

more /boot/defaults/loader.conf
if_em_load="YES" # Intel(R) PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
if_igb_load="YES" # Intel(R) PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet


I also tried a fresh install of FreeNAS 9.2.1.4, then upgrading to 9.2.1.5 via the web GUI and still could not detect the interface.

Finally, I tried downloading the Intel driver for FreeBSD from Intel's website (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17509&keyword=freebsd&lang=eng)
That page specifically includes my model number (I218-V). Using the instructions at http://downloadmirror.intel.com/17509/eng/README.txt I was unable to 'make' the driver due to the following error:

cd /root/em-7.3.8/src
make
"/usr/share/mk/bsd.kmod.mk", line 12: "can't find kernel source tree"


I don't believe the last step was necessary because this version of FreeNAS/FreeBSD should have the driver built in.

Tons of searches on the forums reveal issues with I217-V issue, with bug reports as well; however, those all seem to be posted last year and all the bug reports are marked as confirmed working.

Any help is much appreciated. If I've left any information out just let me know, I'll post it ASAP. Thanks in advanced!

 

[Yatti420]

Not a big deal.. Just use the intel controller.. You don't want to use the realtek.. You also aren't running ECC etc..

 

[sprich]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I am unable to use the Intel NIC because of the issues outlined above. The realtek is the only functioning NIC.

 

[cyberjock]

You can't make the driver and add it to FreeNAS. If you want the driver to work in FreeNAS you have to compile it into FreeNAS. ;)

Aside from the fact that you've gone with desktop components(which aren't recommended) the i218 drivers were supposedly added March 2013. So unless something has changed that broke the drivers or otherwise made them no longer compatible you've probably got some kind of hardware problem that makes FreeBSD/FreeNAS a bad choice. Asus makes good desktop boards. But they don't make great boards for servers. This is why we recommend server boards. Server board manufacturers have different considerations than desktop boards and all that extra crap they add onto desktops that can cause problems on FreeBSD don't exist on server boards.

I don't really have any recommendations at this point. You could put a ticket in at bugs.freenas.org. But to be honest, unless a driver issue is found(which I think is unlikely since others almost certainly use the i218 without problem) you probably have some kind of incompatibility with your board. :(

 

[dlavigne]

Is the em0 not showing at all in ifconfig?

If not, please create a feature request at bugs.freenas.org that includes a link to that driver page, and post the issue number here.

 

[Kakou]

Any update on that subject ? I've got the same problem

 

[CharlesSaint007]

I am having the same issues as well with the newest version of FreeNas (ver. 9.2.1.5). I have an Asus H97I-PLUS Motherboard, which uses the Intel i218 NIC hardware. Really bummed that I can't get it to recognize the LAN adapter. I am thinking of trying the beta release in the hopes that it will work, but it's a long shot most likely. The worst part is that I WAS going to go with the H87I-PLUS on Amazon, when it informed me that there was a newer model available (the H97i). So, not really thinking about compatibility issues, as well as seeing negative reviews about possible WOL issues with the H87i board, I went with the H97i instead. Looks like I'm screwed now as far as using FreeNas.

Well, looks like I'll be going with Ubuntu Server with ZFS instead...

PS. If anyone manages to get the i218 hardware to work, I'd still love an answer on this post! :)

 

[Kakou]

I have exactly the same motherboard. I gonna try something today. I will let you know.

 

[ixdwhite]

Currently only i210 and i211 based NICs are supported in FreeNAS and the parent OS FreeBSD 9.x. We hope that the other i210 series chips will have the necessary drivers backported in the future, otherwise support will come when FreeNAS rebases to FreeBSD 10.

The list of supported Intel NICs can be found in this driver file, by device ID:

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/stable/9/sys/dev/e1000/e1000_hw.h?revision=248292&view=markup

 

[CharlesSaint007]

Currently only i210 and i211 based NICs are supported in FreeNAS and the parent OS FreeBSD 9.x. We hope that the other i210 series chips will have the necessary drivers backported in the future, otherwise support will come when FreeNAS rebases to FreeBSD 10.

The list of supported Intel NICs can be found in this driver file, by device ID:

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/stable/9/sys/dev/e1000/e1000_hw.h?revision=248292&view=markup

The link you just posted has the Intel i218v listed as compatible...

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&amp;revision=247064

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/stable/9/sys/dev/e1000/e1000_hw.h?revision=248292&view=markup#l135