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Date:      Tue, 09 Jul 2002 22:04:19 +0100
From:      Steve Burton <steve@sliderule.demon.co.uk>
To:        Stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: intel etherexpress pro and fxp status??
Message-ID:  <3D2B4FD3.6BF2F5A3@sliderule.demon.co.uk>
References:  <20020709102153.A14126@kasilof.boi.hp.com> <5.1.0.14.0.20020709125431.03fade00@marble.sentex.ca> <20020709144436.B12572@kasilof.boi.hp.com>

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Ken Gunderson wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Jul 09, 2002 at 01:43:45PM -0400, Mike Tancsa wrote:
> >
> > Stick with the fxp. I suspect its a popular card in FreeBSD land so by that
> > very nature you are going to see more "problem" reports even if those
> > reports have nothing to do with the fxp and more to do with other issues
> > (e.g. hardware interaction between the card and the MB, PE, etc).
> >
> > Think of it this way: Lets say for arguments sake 1% of all FreeBSD problem
> > reports are a result of pilot error and erroneously blame the NIC and or
> > the NIC driver.  And again for arguments sake lets say 100,000 FreeBSD
> > users out there.  If 30% use the Intel, and the next most popular card is
> > lets say the realtek at 5% FreeBSD market share, the realtek will "seem"
> > like a more reliable card since there are less problem reports. Using the
> > sample numbers above, we would see 300 erroneous reports for the Intel vs.
> > 50 reports on the realtek.  Long story short, be careful about looking at
> > the raw numbers of problem reports as an indicator of how reliable the NIC is.
> >
> >          ---Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > At 10:21 AM 09/07/2002 -0600, Ken Gunderson wrote:
> > >Greets All:
> > >
> > >during the 4.6rc era i recall there were issues with intel ether
> > >pro and fxp drivers, particularly with smp boxes.  Searching
> > >pr's i note there are numerous open issues as well.  in the past
> > >the fbsd nic mantra has always been "intel ether express".  Is
> > >such still the case with the 82559 based nics (e.g. pila 8460),
> > >or should I be looking elsewhere? Note that one of my boxes is a
> > >dual pii 450 on a bx board.
> > >
> > >
> > >Please cc, as I am no longer subscribed to the list (thanks to
> > >the phb's)
> > >
> > >
> > >--
> > >
> > >Regards,
> > >
> > >Ken Gunderson (non-HP)
> > >HP-UX Systems Administrator
> > >HP NAOD Front-line System Management
> > >Boise Server Support Team
> > >
> > >
> > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> > >with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
> 
> thanks for the reply.  i need about 5 additional cards for a
> personal project and i didin't want to order the intels and end
> up having to replace them.  interestingly enough, a co-worker
> informs me these cards are causing a lot fo grief under load in
> quite a number of linux boxes deployed in hp datacenters.
> apparently the cards just become overwhelmed about once or twice
> per month and just hang until reset.  chip in these cards is the
> 82557.  there were numerous issues with fxp around 4.6rc time,
> and some rather long and involved threads discussing the
> issueses.  i am just unsure as to the final outcome, however,
> and i am curiosu whether this ended up being a driver or chipset
> issue.  if fxp driver then i know fbsd developers are on teh
> job, but if chipset, did the 82559 resolve the problem??
> any clues??
> 
> --
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ken Gunderson (non-HP)
> HP-UX Systems Administrator
> HP NAOD Front-line System Management
> Boise Server Support Team
> 208-396-7926
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message

I recently bought an intel express S (desktop model) and had real
problems with 4.6 rc1. Connected to a Cisco 2916 I had to force
10Mbit/half duplex to get any throughput. I traced the problem to a bad
cable (split pair) and thought that was the end of it until I put it
under heavy load. Using htdig to spider a local (LAN) intranet server
took 9 hours. I replaced the card with an older model (b or +) and the
spidering went down to about ten minutes.

Still sticking with Intel at the moment though.

Steve.
-- 
Steve Burton

Webmaster & Sub-optimal Coder

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