2002-06-03 07:59:09

by Helge Hafting

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

"Ronny T. Lampert (EED)" wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm having (reproducable) problems with the 3c59x driver; after a while
> (depends on card/traffic), the card doesn't send nor receive anymore.
>
I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
Could it be a SMP problem?

> If you do a /etc/init.d/network restart (or ifconfig eth0 down ;
> ifconfig eth0 ... up), the card works again.

That never helped me - "shutdown -r now" is my way to recovery.
The card driver is compiled in, perhaps I should try
making it modular and unload/reload.

Helge Hafting


2002-06-03 09:19:48

by Zwane Mwaikambo

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Helge Hafting wrote:

> I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
> loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
> though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
> UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
> Could it be a SMP problem?

I wouldn't think so, i use it on SMP extensively without a hitch.

Cheers,
Zwane

--
http://function.linuxpower.ca


2002-06-03 12:55:53

by john slee

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

On Mon, Jun 03, 2002 at 10:51:34AM +0200, Zwane Mwaikambo wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Helge Hafting wrote:
>
> > I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
> > loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
> > though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
> > UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
> > Could it be a SMP problem?
>
> I wouldn't think so, i use it on SMP extensively without a hitch.

"me too" - have been using 3c905B cards in various SMP (and UP) boxes
for a couple of years now and they've never failed me, even on bp6. in
fact i seem to have missed out on the plague of bp6 problems, even when
running dual 300a overclocked to 450. strange.

j.

--
toyota power: http://indigoid.net/

2002-06-03 13:09:33

by Joe Korty

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

At 09:59 AM 6/3/02 +0200, Helge Hafting wrote:
>"Ronny T. Lampert (EED)" wrote:
>
> > I'm having (reproducable) problems with the 3c59x driver; after a while
> > (depends on card/traffic), the card doesn't send nor receive anymore.
> >
>I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
>loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
>though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
>UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
>Could it be a SMP problem?



Try increasing max_interrupt_work from 32 to 128 (located in
drivers/net/3c59x.c).
Joe

2002-06-03 20:14:22

by Andrew Morton

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

john slee wrote:
>
> On Mon, Jun 03, 2002 at 10:51:34AM +0200, Zwane Mwaikambo wrote:
> > On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Helge Hafting wrote:
> >
> > > I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
> > > loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
> > > though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
> > > UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
> > > Could it be a SMP problem?
> >
> > I wouldn't think so, i use it on SMP extensively without a hitch.
>
> "me too" - have been using 3c905B cards in various SMP (and UP) boxes
> for a couple of years now and they've never failed me, even on bp6. in
> fact i seem to have missed out on the plague of bp6 problems, even when
> running dual 300a overclocked to 450. strange.
>

That driver is solid for SMP. It's possible that the BP6
is losing its IRQ routing assignments, or the APIC is
getting stuck. We had extensive problems with that last
year. A workaround was implemented and as far as I can tell,
the problem went away.

It seems to affect network cards most because they typically
generate the most interrupts.

Try booting the machine with the `noapic' option.

-

2002-06-03 23:29:03

by FD Cami

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

Andrew Morton wrote:
> john slee wrote:
>
>>On Mon, Jun 03, 2002 at 10:51:34AM +0200, Zwane Mwaikambo wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Helge Hafting wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I see this too. I always thought it was the less-than-perfect ABIT BP6
>>>>loosing an irq or something. (odd that it _always_ is the NIC that goes
>>>>though...) I also have a k6 with the same NIC, and another
>>>>UP machine at work. They never fail this way.
>>>>Could it be a SMP problem?
>>>
>>>I wouldn't think so, i use it on SMP extensively without a hitch.
>>
>>"me too" - have been using 3c905B cards in various SMP (and UP) boxes
>>for a couple of years now and they've never failed me, even on bp6. in
>>fact i seem to have missed out on the plague of bp6 problems, even when
>>running dual 300a overclocked to 450. strange.
>>
>
>
> That driver is solid for SMP. It's possible that the BP6
> is losing its IRQ routing assignments, or the APIC is
> getting stuck. We had extensive problems with that last
> year. A workaround was implemented and as far as I can tell,
> the problem went away.
>
> It seems to affect network cards most because they typically
> generate the most interrupts.
>
> Try booting the machine with the `noapic' option.

If I remember correctly, back in January we (we being Andrew Morton
and myself) talked about my 3C905C-TX not willing to share an
interrupt with my SBLive!...

I've spotted the same problem, this time sharing an interrupt
between my 3C905C-TX and an Intel i82559 10/100 ethernet
controller (kernel is 2.4.19pre7).

The situation is a bit different : using the 3C905C with the
SBLive! resulted in a total lock-up of the machine, whereas using both
network cards usually generate network timeouts and weird errors.

Putting the cards in separate (meaning different IRQ lines) PCI
slots solved the problem (same solution than between 3C905 and
SBLive!). All 3 cards are now working perfectly, at the same time.

Motherboard is MSI BXMaster (i440BX).

--

F. CAMI
----------------------------------------------------------
"To disable the Internet to save EMI and Disney is the
moral equivalent of burning down the library of Alexandria
to ensure the livelihood of monastic scribes."
- John Ippolito (Guggenheim)

2002-06-05 08:12:24

by Ronny Lampert (EED)

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: 3c59x driver: card not responding after a while

Hi,

> > That driver is solid for SMP. It's possible that the BP6
> > is losing its IRQ routing assignments, or the APIC is
> > getting stuck. We had extensive problems with that last
...
> > It seems to affect network cards most because they typically
> > generate the most interrupts.
> > Try booting the machine with the `noapic' option.
Even on an UP and no-MP-capable K6? IMHO this won't help (at least
myself).

> and myself) talked about my 3C905C-TX not willing to share an
> interrupt with my SBLive!...
> I've spotted the same problem, this time sharing an interrupt
> between my 3C905C-TX and an Intel i82559 10/100 ethernet
> controller (kernel is 2.4.19pre7).
I forgot to mention that there is only the 3c905 and a gfxcard (AGP) in
the box, no interrupts shared - I THOUGHT!
Then a quick lspci -v revealed both sharing IRQ 11. Will try to reassign
IRQs.

Thank you! :-)
Hope this is solved.
--
Ronny T. Lampert email: [email protected]
System Administrator voice: +49 911 255 1214
Ericsson Eurolab Deutschland fax: +49 911 255 1960
Nuernberg, Germany