This chapter describes various issues that may occur when using the SGI 10-Gbit Ethernet network adapter in a 10-Gbit Ethernet network. It includes the following sections:
This section explains the following:
The SGI 10-Gbit Ethernet network adapter has light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that indicate whether the adapter is configured correctly and connected to an active Ethernet. Table 3-1 describes the functions of the LEDs.
Table 3-1. LEDs on the SGI 10-Gbit Ethernet Network Adapter
LED | State | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
ACT | Blinking Off | Data detected No data detected |
LINK | On Off | Good link No link: faulty cable, faulty connector, or communication mismatch |
During normal operation, the link LED is on; the data LED blinks whenever the adapter is receiving traffic.
 | Note: At the time of release, a bug in the driver prevents the link light from behaving correctly. The link light may be on or off due to this bug. This problem will be corrected in a future release. |
This section discusses verifying the adapter recognition for IRIX and Linux.
Under IRIX, the network interface name for the SGI 10-Gbit Ethernet network adapter is xgN, where N is the number of the adapter: 1 for the first adapter, 2 for the second adapter (if installed), and so on. Use the commands in the examples below to display the network interface names.
To verify that the operating system has located the adapter, enter the following:
irix% /bin/hinv |
A line similar to the following should appear, where N is the number of the adapter:
10 Gigabit Ethernet: xgN, module 001c02, 66 MHz PCI bus 2 slot 1 |
For example, the first adapter would appear as xg1:
10 Gigabit Ethernet: xg1, module 001c02, 66 MHz PCI bus 2 slot 1 |
Unlike IRIX, under Linux all Ethernet adapters all share the prefix ethN.
To verify that the adapter has been recognized, do the following:
Use the lspci command to ensure that the device has been recognized:
[[email protected] root]# /sbin/lspci .... 0011:01:01.0 Ethernet controller: S2io Inc. Xframe 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCI-X (rev 03)
Note: At this point (before the module is loaded), the /proc/net/dev file will not display the device. Load the s2io module:
[[email protected] root]# insmod s2io
The device will now appear in the /proc/net/dev file:
[[email protected] root]# cat /proc/net/dev | grep eth1 eth1: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .... [[email protected] root]#
The device also appears in ifconfig output as well.
To make this module load at system boot time, enter the following line into the modules.conf file:
alias eth1 s2io
Use the ifconfig command to show the new ethN interface. For example:
[[email protected] root]# ifconfig eth1 eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 08:00:69:14:72:AD BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b) Interrupt:62
To enable the adapter, enter the following:
# ifconfig IPaddress broadcast broadcastaddress netmask netmaskvalue |
For other systems to see the new address, you must enter the new hosts addresses in DNS or in host files or NIS as required for your system.
For details, see the operating-system specific documentation about networking.
To verify that the network interface is configured properly and is enabled on, enter the following on an IRIX system:
irix% /usr/etc/netstat -ia |
Columns with the following headings should appear:
Name Mtu Network Address |
In the Name column, the xg number should appear. If it is followed by an asterisk (*), the interface is disabled.
In the Mtu column, the size of the current maximum transmission unit (MTU) should appear. The MTU size is set via the -mtu switch of the ifconfig command. If no size is specified by the -mtu switch, the adapter defaults to an MTU size of 1500.
In the Network column, the IP network address should appear.
In the Address column, the canonical MAC address of the adapter should appear, which looks similar to the following:
08:00:69:0b:e0:41 |
In this address, the organizationally unique identifier (OUI) of the adapter vendor is represented by the first three sets of numbers (for example, 08:00:69). The last three sets vary, depending on the system.
See the netstat man page for more details.
To verify that the network interface is configured properly and is enabled on, enter the following on a Linux system:
ifconfig -a |
For example, the following shows that the MAC address is 00:0C:FC:00:01:24, the IP address is 10.2.2.2, the card is up, and the MTU is 9600:
[[email protected] root]# ifconfig -a eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:FC:00:01:24 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ MAC address inet addr:10.2.2.2 Bcast:10.2.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 ^^^^^^^^ IP address UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:9600 Metric:1 ^^ ^^^^ the card is up MTU RX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 RX bytes:414 (414.0 b) TX bytes:322 (322.0 b) Interrupt:59 |
In the unlikely event that you need to reset the adapter, enter the following, where N is the adapter number:
IRIX:
# ifconfig xgN down # ifconfig xgN up
Linux:
# ifconfig ethN down # ifconfig ethN up
IRIX and Linux use different configuration tools.
The configuration of the adapter is controlled by a number of parameters, which are discussed in the IRIX /etc/config/xgcmd.options file.
To change the configuration of your adapter, use the xgcmd command. For more information, see the xgcmd man page.
The maximum transmission unit (MTU) size is controlled by the mtu mtu_size switch of the ifconfig command. The most common MTU sizes are 1500 bytes (standard-size Ethernet frames) and 9000 (jumbo Ethernet frames). The adapter supports an MTU size of up to 9600 bytes. Configuring the adapter to use jumbo frames can increase network throughput and reduce CPU load, but only if the network supports jumbo frames.
To configure the MTU size, follow these steps:
At the command prompt, enter the following command:
netstat -i
The output will display information about the network adapters currently installed in the system, as follows:
Name Mtu Network Address Ipkts Ierrs Opkts Oerrs Coll xg1 1500 10.50.1 system.name 0 0 1 0 0
To bring down the adapter, enter the following command, where N is the number of the adapter:
ifconfig xgN down
To change the MTU size of the 10-Gbit Ethernet adapter, enter the following command, where Nis the number of the adapter:
ifconfig xgN mtu 9600
To restart the adapter, enter the following:
ifconfig xgN up
Enter the following command to verify that the MTU size has been changed:
netstat -i
The output should look similar to the following:
Name Mtu Network Address Ipkts Ierrs Opkts Oerrs Coll xg1 9600 10.50.1 system.name 0 0 3 0 0