Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 14:27:06 -0400 From: Alan Gerber <agerber@ncsu.edu> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: bizar problem with a Dell latitude D600's onboard nic Message-ID: <435149FA.3040105@ncsu.edu> In-Reply-To: <20051015124914.81FD.GERARD@seibercom.net> References: <20051015112229.315B.GERARD@seibercom.net> <4351257E.1020800@pandora.be> <20051015124914.81FD.GERARD@seibercom.net>
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Gerard Seibert wrote: >On Saturday, October 15, 2005 11:51:26 AM, Philip Keuleers <ph.keuleers@pandora.be> >Subject: Re: bizar problem with a Dell latitude D600's onboard nic >Wrote these words of wisdom: > > > >>Gerard Seibert wrote: >> >> >> >>>On Saturday, October 15, 2005 11:15:26 AM, Philip Keuleers <ph.keuleers@pandora.be> >>>Subject: bizar problem with a Dell latitude D600's onboard nic >>>Wrote these words of wisdom: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>Hi, >>>> >>>>I'm looking for some help with a problem I've been having with a Dell >>>>D600 with a FreeBSD 5.2.1 install. A while ago I started getting network >>>>timeouts. In my message logs I found entries like this: >>>> >>>>Oct 10 14:35:04 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:35:04 loki last message repeated 2 times >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: watchdog timeout -- resetting >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: RX CPU self-diagnostics failed! >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: flow-through queue init failed >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: initialization failure >>>>Oct 10 14:35:09 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:35:14 loki last message repeated 5 times >>>>Oct 10 14:35:15 loki su: cz2nhc to root on /dev/ttyv0 >>>>Oct 10 14:35:19 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:35:29 loki last message repeated 7 times >>>>Oct 10 14:35:29 loki kernel: bge0: RX CPU self-diagnostics failed! >>>>Oct 10 14:35:30 loki kernel: bge0: flow-through queue init failed >>>>Oct 10 14:35:30 loki kernel: bge0: initialization failure >>>>Oct 10 14:35:30 loki kernel: bge0: PHY read timed out >>>>Oct 10 14:36:00 loki last message repeated 20 times >>>> >>>>Only a reboot managed to get the onboard nic back in working order >>>>again. I suspected hardware problems, called Dell support who couldn't >>>>help me unless I had win XP installed. So I switched disks with a >>>>colleage and lo and behold my bsd-disk in his laptop: no problem, his >>>>disk in my laptop: no problem... Not telling Dell the whole story I >>>>managed to convince them my disk in someone elses laptop worked fine >>>>thus it must be hardware related. They replaced the systemboard and the >>>>laptop worked fine for about a week or two and the same problem came >>>>back... slowly increasing in frequency. At first it would be every few >>>>days (I could live with that) but after a while it was every few hours >>>>(no way I could live with that). Even worse, at one point the nic >>>>wouldn't even show up in dmesg as if it wasn't there. >>>>Called Dell again... same blabla.. no XP no help. They insisted I >>>>upgrade my bios ... so I did and everything worked again... for a day >>>>and a half... the nic disappeared again. Tried both a linux and a XP >>>>live cd .. none see the nic. In my messages file I get >>>> >>>>Oct 14 18:11:02 loki kernel: pccard1: Card has no functions! >>>>Oct 14 18:11:02 loki kernel: cbb1: PC Card card activation failed >>>> >>>>Does anyone have a bright idea of what is happening here? It looks like >>>>a hardware issue to me but since the systemboard has already been >>>>replaced I'll need some good arguments to convince the Dell boys it's >>>>not a FreeBSD issue. Or could it be ? >>>>I'll gladly post any logs or output that could help ... just ask :-) >>>> >>>>In working order the nic is listed in a scanpci as >>>> >>>>pci bus 0x0002 cardnum 0x00 function 0x00: vendor 0x14e4 device 0x165d >>>>Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet >>>> >>>>pci bus 0x0002 cardnum 0x01 function 0x00: vendor 0x1217 device 0x7113 >>>>O2 Micro, Inc. Device unknown >>>> >>>>pci bus 0x0002 cardnum 0x01 function 0x01: vendor 0x1217 device 0x7113 >>>>O2 Micro, Inc. Device unknown >>>> >>>>Thanx in advance for your help >>>> >>>>Greetz, >>>>Philip >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>***** REPLY SEPARATOR ***** >>>On 10/11/2005 5:29:42 PM, Gerard Replied: >>> >>>Maybe I am missing something here, but if you switched disks and the >>>problem did not resurface, why are you wasting Dell's time swapping out >>>hardware? If you are going to buy a computer system and install an OS >>>that is not supported by the computer's manufacturer, you have to assume >>>all risks and responsibilities involved with that system. All you are >>>doing is wasting the time of the tech support people at Dell. They are >>>obviously not trained to work systems with non Microsoft OS's. >>> >>>By the way, 5.2.1 is an old build. Why not try 5.4 instead. It might >>>very well rectify your problem. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>I'm aware 5.2.1 is rather old and probably not the best release but it >>worked fine for me on this laptop since it was released. I also tried >>booting from a Freesbie live cd (based on FreeBSD 5.3) with the same >>results. >>As for wasting Dell's time... just swapping disks with my collegue was a >>test and at best a workaround, not a solution. On top of that I'm only >>wasting Dell's time if it is proven that FreeBSD is causing the problem >>(wich is actually what I'm trying to determin). If it is hardware it IS >>there problem... besides right now wether I boot it with FreeBSD, Linux >>or XP the problem is there.... >> >>anyway, I just wanted to ask a question ... not start a flame war >> >>Greetz, >>Philip >> >> >> > >***** REPLY SEPARATOR ***** >On 10/11/2005 5:29:42 PM, Gerard Replied: > >I am sorry, perhaps I am not fully comprehending your post. I thought >you meant that after you swapped disks, the problems subsided. > >//quote// > >So I switched disks with a colleage and lo and behold my bsd-disk in his >laptop: no problem, his disk in my laptop: no problem... > >//end quote// > >I assumed that the problem stopped. Technically, if it is a hardware >problem, and that does not seem to be true at this point, it is not >Dell's problem if you are using an OS other than what they certified the >machine to be compatible with. > >Example: > >I had an old Compaq 5140 machine that had no problems with ACPI under >Windows, but failed to utilize that function under FreeBSD. There was >no way I could get Compaq to correct the situation since they never >certified the machine to work with anything other than Windows. > >Anyway, I hope you can bring this situation to a satisfactory conclusion. > > > I've got a D600 that used to have 5.2.1 on it -- I never had any troubles with the onboard NIC. Two points of thought: what happens if you rebuild the kernel and world and "reinstall" them? Does the problem persist? Additionally, if you drop in Knoppix or some other Linux-on-CD solution, do you experience any problems? -- Alan Gerber
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