Migration to scale 22.12.0 from core 13.0-u3.1, bnx2x firmware issues?

[JDCynical]

System has a BCM57810 based 10g card, core works with it fine. Booted the scale ISO, and received:
'[bnx2x_func_hw_init]Error loading firmware
[bnx2x_nic_load] HW init failed, aborting'

I know the card needs external FW to work under Linux, however, find / -name *.fw doesn't find any firmware on the ISO.

Normally, I'd put a copy of the non-free FW deb on the pool to install it after the installer is done, but I found this post on the forum with someone saying the non-free FW package is getting wiped with each nightly update.

Is this something that is still happening, the FW install getting removed with updates? I know the BNX cards are known to be twitchy, but with the card working nicely in the year+ I've had it in service, I'd like give it a chance under scale before looking for a ConnectX-3 or similar (sunk cost fallacy? perhaps).

 

[artlessknave]

you cannot install drivers and software into an appliance. the only option is to replace it with every wipe or get supported hardware.

known to be twitchy

TrueNAS has zero support for "twitchy"; IXsystems sells the appliance, they don't bother supporting anything that isn't 100% reliable.

 

[JDCynical]

you cannot install drivers and software into an appliance. the only option is to replace it with every wipe or get supported hardware.

I am quite aware that TrueNAS is designed as an appliance. But, I wouldn't expect an upgrade of a system to auto-remove something installed from a repository. Stock debian doesn't do this. Heck, VMWare doesn't do this. And the post I referenced was two years ago, so I was wondering if this was still the case as it's now in a release state.

TrueNAS has zero support for "twitchy"; IXsystems sells the appliance, they don't bother supporting anything that isn't 100% reliable.

So if my BCM57810 based interface works under core just fine, then where are the firmware files for scale? The driver for the card is on the iso, but either the firmware is not, or it's not unpacked when running the upgrader from said iso. As the scale update is a one-way thing, I don't want to perform the migration without knowing for sure.

 

[artlessknave]

But, I wouldn't expect an upgrade of a system to auto-remove something installed from a repository. Stock debian doesn't do this.

yes, this is normal for an appliance. it functions on a read-only image, and replaces everything not part of that image. stock debian doesn't do this because its stock debian. VMware does do this, but has a VIB system in place to work around it. the TrueNAS way is in plugins/docker.

So if my BCM57810 based interface works under core just fine, then where are the firmware files for scale?

dunno. clearly not present. ix systems typically use chelsio and intel cards; anything else working is basically coincidental, not by intention. only if the base OS supports will TrueNAS likely do so.
i would recomend simply waiting to upgrade until getting a known good, supported card. intel/chelsio are top, mellanox is known to be good and well supported.

sunk cost fallacy? perhaps

not really. you do have the hardware, and it does suck to have to replace working hardware because it's not supported. unfortunately, such is life.

 

[JDCynical]

yes, this is normal for an appliance. it functions on a read-only image, and replaces everything not part of that image. stock debian doesn't do this because its stock debian. VMware does do this, but has a VIB system in place to work around it. the TrueNAS way is in plugins/docker.

Point. I spaced this aspect of how TreuNAS is setup.

dunno. clearly not present. ix systems typically use chelsio and intel cards; anything else working is basically coincidental, not by intention. only if the base OS supports will TrueNAS likely do so.

That's what hung me up about the appliance approach. Scale is based on Debian, so I would have figured that, being an appliance, ix would have pared down the kernel and removed things that were not supported/wouldn't work at all with their roadmap. The way it appears now, it kind of feels like they just ported the UI and scripts over to a minimal debian install.

But as you mentioned, they are trying to sell hardware with TrueNAS installed, not so much the core software.

not really. you do have the hardware, and it does suck to have to replace working hardware because it's not supported. unfortunately, such is life.

And looking around on ebay, the used market is 'ta suck right now. Those 30 USD T420's I have seen referenced in the past appear to be long gone.

Thank you for the replies. I'll have to think on how badly I want to get scale running to determine if the manual firmware install is worth the bit of extra work or not. Appliances are supposed to be a time saver after all.