Hello,
I opted for the new RB44G four port Ethernet cards on our last order just because faster is always better, right? Well, not if time to boot is important to you according to my results.
The router I'm building is utilizing the same Intel hardware we have been using for the past few years. Same RAM, same CPU, same Motherboard, same power supply and of course the same 4U case if that could possibly make any difference.
The DoM is new and running the latest version of MikroTik Router OS as of this writing v2.9.40. The boot delay occurs between the "No errors found" and "Starting services" prompts as viewed from the attached monitor.
Interestingly one RB44g causes about a 30+ second delay in booting. Adding a second RB44g more than doubles the delay to a minute or more. After removing the RB44g cards the router boots normally with little to no delay. Inserting RB24 cards (all I had on hand to test with) and the router boots normally with little or no delay.
Common denominator is the RB44g cards.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Brad
I have had the exact same results, in fact, if left to run that way for a few days, it eventually began causing the system to hang or lose all communication on the other ports. Remove the 44G and all is well.
I added it to a system that has been running for nearly 1.5 years fine. it also had two other RB44's in with it. immidiately i saw problems with the communications and in booting it would hang for a good 30+ seconds after getting to the login prompt.
Then spent most of a weekend rebooting the system because it was hanging all the time.
finally removed the new RB44G from the system and haven't had any problems since. in fact the system seems more responsive than with the card in it.
I added it to a system that has been running for nearly 1.5 years fine. it also had two other RB44's in with it. immidiately i saw problems with the communications and in booting it would hang for a good 30+ seconds after getting to the login prompt.
Then spent most of a weekend rebooting the system because it was hanging all the time.
finally removed the new RB44G from the system and haven't had any problems since. in fact the system seems more responsive than with the card in it.
I guess it is good and bad to hear I'm not the only one to see this problem. Good to know I'm not crazy, but bad to know MT/Routerboard has a problem with their new RB44G card.I have had the exact same results, in fact, if left to run that way for a few days, it eventually began causing the system to hang or lose all communication on the other ports. Remove the 44G and all is well.
I added it to a system that has been running for nearly 1.5 years fine. it also had two other RB44's in with it. immidiately i saw problems with the communications and in booting it would hang for a good 30+ seconds after getting to the login prompt.
Then spent most of a weekend rebooting the system because it was hanging all the time.
finally removed the new RB44G from the system and haven't had any problems since. in fact the system seems more responsive than with the card in it.
I imagine there are few RB44Gs out in production and as such this issue hasn't developed much attention. Hopefully they will get the problems worked out, but until then we've already requested our RMA for all RB44G cards. Guess we'll have to stick with Intel Pro NICs for GigE and the trusty RB44 for 10/100 requirements.
Best,
Brad
Thank you for that information - I will try those cards out after I get my box up and running and report. Unfortunately, I own two of these adaptors. I've owned one of the cards more than 30 days - hopefully the company I purchased the card from will take it back if I do indeed find a problem. I have not tried either card as of yet.
I have removed the cards for now, however i throw some hardware together and recreate the senario.
but to let you know.. I tried it with 5 different motherboards ranging from an older AMD sempron based motherboard to a brand new intel motherboard with an intel dual core processor. I tried ram configurations from 256 up to 1G
and tried an 80G and a 200G hdd. motherboard chipsets were tried fro via, nvidia, intel and amd. ALL had the exact same results, so .. if you were to just build a basic router setup. and put one of these cards in and (tried versions of RouterOS between 2.9.35 and.40) I am 100% sure you will see the sae results. I never found a hardware combination that did not cause the system to hang on boot up.
once you boot the RouterOS based system with the 44G in it, just try to login in immediately after it boots. you will see a several second Freeze it will eventually let you login and work normally, however if left to run with a load for several days, you will begin to see instabilities. (i had it go for upto 10 days once without locking up. in that particular combination, i had two RB44's and one RB44G, there was about 1-3 Mb of throughput on average going through the 44G board.)
If you cannot recreate it, i woul be happy to build up another system and do so ...
but to let you know.. I tried it with 5 different motherboards ranging from an older AMD sempron based motherboard to a brand new intel motherboard with an intel dual core processor. I tried ram configurations from 256 up to 1G
and tried an 80G and a 200G hdd. motherboard chipsets were tried fro via, nvidia, intel and amd. ALL had the exact same results, so .. if you were to just build a basic router setup. and put one of these cards in and (tried versions of RouterOS between 2.9.35 and.40) I am 100% sure you will see the sae results. I never found a hardware combination that did not cause the system to hang on boot up.
once you boot the RouterOS based system with the 44G in it, just try to login in immediately after it boots. you will see a several second Freeze it will eventually let you login and work normally, however if left to run with a load for several days, you will begin to see instabilities. (i had it go for upto 10 days once without locking up. in that particular combination, i had two RB44's and one RB44G, there was about 1-3 Mb of throughput on average going through the 44G board.)
If you cannot recreate it, i woul be happy to build up another system and do so ...
.Isn't it kind of ironic that mikrotik specifically recommends not using any Realtek 8169 ethernet chipsets in the online manual, specifically stating, may cause lockups, yet sells a card that has 4 of them on one board?
RealTek RTL8169
Chipset type: RealTek RTL8169 PCI 10/100/1000Base
Compatibility:
* RealTek RTL8169 Gigabit Ethernet (not recommended: may lock up the router)
http://www.mikrotik.com/testdocs/ros/2. ... erlist.php
RouterBOARD 44G Chipset Realtek 8169SC
RealTek RTL8169
Chipset type: RealTek RTL8169 PCI 10/100/1000Base
Compatibility:
* RealTek RTL8169 Gigabit Ethernet (not recommended: may lock up the router)
http://www.mikrotik.com/testdocs/ros/2. ... erlist.php
RouterBOARD 44G Chipset Realtek 8169SC
hopefully for you too, as it is just an software upgrade needed to make sure it is or it is not.I tried the latest release, and yes the card began to work HOWEVER, VLAN packets about 1468 bytes lock up the interface, and it's game over. I found an inexpensive card that works flawlessly, the D-LINK DGE-530T. It's inexpensive but only a single port. This has temporarily solved by trouble until the RB44G is properly fixed in the software.
with same configuration this vlan is working with that size packets?
if so, put in 44G make that it does not work end send supout.rif to support@mikrotik.com
if so, put in 44G make that it does not work end send supout.rif to support@mikrotik.com
2.9.42 and RB44G
Vlans may or may not work.
But, running pppoe servers on vlans on an RB44G did not. We tried it. And, we will try it again. But, not now.
We shuffled the vlans across two RB44 cards and got everything working.
Now we are looking for a newer motherboard which works well for MT.
But, running pppoe servers on vlans on an RB44G did not. We tried it. And, we will try it again. But, not now.
We shuffled the vlans across two RB44 cards and got everything working.
Now we are looking for a newer motherboard which works well for MT.
I am guessing that due to the fact that Mikrotik made it so you can't buy the RB44G from them until June that they are aware of the problems with the card and are in the process of fixing them. I am looking forward to that day and in the mean time have just kept using RB44's. Look forward to seeing you guys at the MUM!
Fixed in software or not . . .
We are using current code and we are still seeing problems.
But, I am not at all interested in chasing the problem at the moment.
We can replicate it and that is enough for me.
And, BTW, we are not your normal MT installation. We have two or three dozen pppoe servers running across several dozen vlans with 600-700 sessions active at any time. So, we are not some sort of light-weight, poorly trained MT users.
The only thing we are waiting for is some new hardware and the next release to do some more testing with the RB44Gs.
But, I am not at all interested in chasing the problem at the moment.
We can replicate it and that is enough for me.
And, BTW, we are not your normal MT installation. We have two or three dozen pppoe servers running across several dozen vlans with 600-700 sessions active at any time. So, we are not some sort of light-weight, poorly trained MT users.
The only thing we are waiting for is some new hardware and the next release to do some more testing with the RB44Gs.
Nope!
Not gonna do it. As discussed earlier today about hardware support for pre-V3 versus V3 and all (different post) . . . It would be better to focus on getting V3 out the door instead of trying to make pre-V3 work on newer hardware.
And, as I said before, we will patiently wait. Well, not so patiently . . . We upgraded a VMWare installation of 2.9.42 to V3Beta7 this morning. We intend to install V3 on some newer "physical" hardware as soon as we get a few free moments. At that point we will be looking at how the RB44 and RB44G perform . . . But, not until then. And, we will report our performance numbers at that time.
As well, our new Ethernet switches arrived today (Cisco 4948s). We will not be attempting to test the new hardware without first moving the traffic over to the new switches. The old switches do not have adequate Gig-E port capacity to really test the RB44G cards anyway.
We do not believe that complaining about pre-V3 is a productive use of our time. We have been on 2.6 kernels for years for servers. It is time for MT to do the same.
Thanks for the reply . . .
And, as I said before, we will patiently wait. Well, not so patiently . . . We upgraded a VMWare installation of 2.9.42 to V3Beta7 this morning. We intend to install V3 on some newer "physical" hardware as soon as we get a few free moments. At that point we will be looking at how the RB44 and RB44G perform . . . But, not until then. And, we will report our performance numbers at that time.
As well, our new Ethernet switches arrived today (Cisco 4948s). We will not be attempting to test the new hardware without first moving the traffic over to the new switches. The old switches do not have adequate Gig-E port capacity to really test the RB44G cards anyway.
We do not believe that complaining about pre-V3 is a productive use of our time. We have been on 2.6 kernels for years for servers. It is time for MT to do the same.
Thanks for the reply . . .
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