Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:42:05 +0200 From: "B. Kellogg" <aphelion@webmail.co.za> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: nVidia nForce2 chipset and on-board ethernet Message-ID: <200308221642.h7MGg31A013205@mailgate.mailbox.co.za>
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> Over the past few months, there have been a handful of posts on > freebsd-net regarding the lack of support in FreeBSD for on-board > ethernet interfaces using the nVidia nForce2 chipset. I have currently > a network-impared machine with an Asus A7N8X motherboard, which uses > this chipset, with FBSD 5.1-RELEASE installed. > > In one exchange on freebsd-net, Mr. Bill Paul requested information > from other users (which I was glad to provide) that he could pool > together in order to justify a demand for related drivers. He > indicated that the response was great, but I've not since noticed any > further report of results and was wondering if it had gotten anywhere > (http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-net/2003-July/001016.html) > . I've posted my question on freebsd-net without gaining a response. > > Asus support is basically useless when it comes to BSD, and nVidia > offers FreeBSD drivers only for graphic chipsets, although they _do_ > offer a "unified" driver for Linux. I wonder if anyone has acheived > any success with this unified driver, either in porting it or with > Linux emulation. > > I'd love to get this box on the network and on the 'Net with FreeBSD, > without adding another NIC interface, which would affect the other OSes > I have multi-booting on this particular box (and which support this > interface without trouble). Any updates on drivers, patches, or > work-arounds would be most welcome. > > Thanks, > ~John > > > Haha, goodluck. I know Theo de Raadt at OpenBSD has been trying to get documentation from nvidia for some time, so that drivers could be written. He ultimately formed the opinion Nvidia has no interest in end user opinons, but will only listen to the OEMs. He has given up and advised OpenBSD users to shun Nvidia hardware. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=openbsd-misc&m=105890466132299&w=2 I made the mistake of purchasing two motherboards with nforce chipsets, one Asus, the other Abit. I'll never touch anything Nvidia again. The Linux nforce driver they currently have posted on nvidia.com locks Slackware up solid, and brings a RedHat machine to it's knees, with almost 100% CPU usage. Even with nforce user's complaining on the nvidia discussion forums about this problem, they still leave this driver up unfixed. The lack of BSD support was irritating, but their latest Linux driver was the last straw and finally soured me completely on Nvidia. They really need to release some documentation so somebody can make decent drivers for Linux and BSD, since they won't do it. So yeah, all of us BSD/Linux nforce people are screwed for now. My solution, buy a good NIC with Linux and FreeBSD support, tell Nvidia to go to hell, and never buy anything form them again. _______________________________________________________________________ Cool Connection, Cool Price, Internet Access for R59 monthly @ WebMail http://www.webmail.co.za/dialup/
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