# FreeBSD 9.1 - Intel DG33TLM Onboard PCI Ethernet not working



## nitin (Sep 5, 2013)

Hi,

I have a FreeBSD 9.1 setup on the desktop with Intel DG33TLM motherboard. I have been using it for a few years now without any problems. However, lately I was getting some issues with the onboard Intel Ethernet card which uses em(4) driver. 

I am not sure if it is a problem in 9.1 or the patches that have been released for 9.1 that has caused this or that the NIC is dying/dead. I noticed that FreeBSD 9.1 supports the em(4) driver version 7.3.2 whereas Intel's site has 7.3.8 as the latest driver. Could it be that the driver in 9.1 is corrupted? I don't have the source set up for me to compile the new driver.

Has anyone come across this issue before? Any help in resolving this ASAP is greatly appreciated. 

I am considering installing a new external PCI Ethernet adapter. Is there any that you would recommend that would work fine with FreeBSD 9.1? I am not a network expert, but there is a PCI Express 16x slot as well. Can I use this instead for better data (bandwidth) speed? If so, which PCI Express 16x card does FreeBSD 9.1 support?

Kind regards,

Nitin


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## RobW (Sep 5, 2013)

You will get more help if you explain exactly what your problems are. 'Issues' is pretty ambiguous.

For FreeBSD 9.1 Hardware compatibility see http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.1R/hardware.html


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## nitin (Sep 5, 2013)

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your message. Well, I am able to ping the IP address associated with the card, but I do not get any HTTP requests going through it after few minutes of booting the PC. Also the speed is extremely slow as in bytes/sec. My Internet connection/modem all seem to work fine when I connect it to my Windows based laptop. I have narrowed down the issue with the NIC on the desktop as when I netstat one for em(4), I get packet input errors. I have removed the firewall as well and checked, but it won't send HTTP requests any longer. I have the latest patches installed for release 9.1, I think it is p6 now. The onboard LAN is an IntelÂ® 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller.

Do you need more info?

Best,

Nitin


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## SirDice (Sep 5, 2013)

nitin said:
			
		

> I have narrowed down the issue with the NIC on the desktop as when I netstat 1 for em(4), I get packet input errors.


Have you tried replacing the cable? If that doesn't work and the switch you're connected to is fine than it's probably the interface card that's broken.



> I have the latest patches installed for release 9.1 I think it is p6 now.


Keep in mind that patches for releases are security patches only. If you want to get performance or bug fixes you're going to have to install -STABLE or the latest candidate for 9.2.


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## nitin (Sep 6, 2013)

SirDice said:
			
		

> Keep in mind that patches for releases are security patches only. If you want to get performance or bug fixes you're going to have to install -STABLE or the latest candidate for 9.2.



Thanks for that information. That is something new I have learned through this post.

Ok, I would be more inclined towards the issue being more of a corrupted em(4) driver than a hardware issue as ping works perfectly. Guess the latest driver version 7.3.8 available at Intel's site will solve the problem. I have managed to solve my issue though by installing an external PCI card with Realtek (re(4)) driver. So all is back to normal now and speed is fast too.

Thanks for all your help.

Cheers,

Nitin


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