IXGB(4)

🌈 okay so you got an ixgb card, bestie 🌈

This is the man page for ixgb, living in section 4 of the Kernel Interfaces Manual (the device driver section, iykyk). Buckle up, we're learning about 10Gb Ethernet together and honestly? kind of iconic. 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

ixgb — the Intel PRO/10GbE 10Gb Ethernet device. that's it, that's the name, she's a network card and she's serving. 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

ixgb* at pci?

literally just: she shows up on the PCI bus. no cap. that's the whole vibe. ✨

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the tea: the ixgb driver gives you support for PCI-X 10Gb Ethernet adapters built on the Intel 82597EX Ethernet controller chips. 10 gigs. per second. in the year of our lord. 🔥

and what does she do for you? glad you asked:

• IPv4 receive IP/TCP/UDP checksum offload ✨
• VLAN tag insertion and stripping 🎀
• jumbo frames (big packets, big energy) 🦋

this covers the following models, bestie:

Intel PRO/10GbE CX4 Server Adapter (PXLA8591CX4)
Intel PRO/10GbE LR Server Adapter (PXLA8591LR)
Intel PRO/10GbE SR Server Adapter (PXLA8591SR)
Sun 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCI-X Adapter (X5544A-4)

the ixgb driver also supports these media types for the vibe check:

• autoselect — turns on auto-negotiation for speed and duplex. she'll figure it out fr fr.
• 10GbaseLR — sets 10Gbps operation. only full-duplex mode is supported at this speed, so don't come at her with half-duplex nonsense. 🙈
• 10GbaseSR — sets 10Gbps operation. again, only full-duplex mode is supported at this speed. same rules, different optics. 💅

for more info on configuring this device, go see ifconfig(8). she's the main character of config, the ixgb page is just her hype woman. 👑

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

arp(4), ifmedia(4), intro(4), netintro(4), pci(4), hostname.if(5), ifconfig(8) — the whole friend group. go say hi. 🫶

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🎀 HISTORY 🎀

the ixgb device driver first appeared in OpenBSD 3.9. she's been on the scene for a minute, and honestly? she's aged like fine wine. 🍓

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⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

the ixgb driver was written by Intel Corporation. yes, that Intel. slay, I guess. 💀

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💀 BUGS 💀

okay bestie, here's the not-so-cute part. buckle in. 😭

• under small packet UDP stress tests with the 10GbE driver, the OpenBSD system will drop UDP packets due to the fullness of the socket buffers. yeah. the buffers get full and the packets just… don't make it. you may want to change the driver's Flow Control variables to the minimum value for controlling packet reception. 🙈
• excessive CRC errors may be observed if the Intel PRO/10GbE CX4 Server adapter is connected to a Fujitsu XENPAK CX4 module in a SmartBits chassis using 15m/24AWG cable assemblies manufactured by Fujitsu or Leoni. the CRC errors may be received either by the Intel PRO/10GbE CX4 Server adapter or the SmartBits. if this situation occurs, using a different cable assembly may resolve the issue. (it's giving "it's not you, it's the cable" 💅)
• excessive CRC errors may also be observed if the Intel PRO/10GbE CX4 Server adapter is connected to an HP Procurve 3400cl switch port using short cables (1m or shorter). if this situation occurs, using a longer cable may resolve the issue. so… length does matter, apparently. 😭
• excessive CRC errors may be observed using Fujitsu 24AWG cable assemblies that are 10m or longer, or where using a Leoni 15 m/24AWG cable assembly. the CRC errors may be received either by the CX4 Server adapter or at the switch. if this situation occurs, using a different cable assembly may resolve the issue. fr fr, just try another cable. 🫶

tl;dr on the cables: CX4 is picky about her accessories and honestly she's allowed to be. 🌸

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and that's the whole page, bestie! 🧚 this one was living on Debian, dated September 14, 2014 — vintage, but she still slays. go forth and 10-gig responsibly. 💜✨🔥