E800 Series Driver Guide#

NIC setup steps for Intel® E810 and E830 Series Ethernet Adapters

1. Update Driver Version with Media Transport Library Patches#

The Media Transport Library needs rate limit patches that the E810/E830 driver does not include. Apply these patches to the driver, then rebuild it.

Note: After a reboot, Ubuntu can upgrade to a new kernel version. If the kernel changes, rebuild the driver for the new kernel.

1.1. Download the Driver Source Code#

versions.env in the Media Transport Library source tree holds the driver version to use. Read the file to set ICE_VER and ICE_DMID, then download the source code.

Note: point $mtl_source_code to the top source code tree of Media Transport Library.

. $mtl_source_code/versions.env
wget https://downloadmirror.intel.com/${ICE_DMID}/ice-${ICE_VER}.tar.gz

As an alternative, visit https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19630/intel-network-adapter-driver-for-e810-series-devices-under-linux.html and select the archive for that version.

The download page can show newer driver versions. Select the version from versions.env, because that is the version we verified. We review driver version upgrades every quarter.

The next steps use the file ice-${ICE_VER}.tar.gz.

1.2. Unzip the Driver and Enter the Source Code Directory#

tar xvzf ice-${ICE_VER}.tar.gz
cd ice-${ICE_VER}

1.3. Patch the Driver with Rate Limit Patches#

The ice_drv patch folder holds one folder per driver version. ICE_VER selects the correct one.

git init
git add .
git commit -m "init version ${ICE_VER}"
git am $mtl_source_code/patches/ice_drv/${ICE_VER}/*.patch

Use git log to check that the latest commit updates the driver version. Every patch folder ends with this commit. For driver version 2.6.6 its subject is version: update to Kahawai_2.6.6, but some older driver versions use a different format.

1.4. Build and Install the Driver#

Run the build and install commands that follow.

cd src
make
sudo make install
# sudo rmmod irdma 2>/dev/null
sudo rmmod ice
sudo modprobe ice
cd -

1.4.1. Linux Kernel Header#

If make shows the following error, the Linux kernel header files are missing.

*** Kernel header files not in any of the expected locations.

Install them with the following command:

# for Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
# for CentOS or RHEL
sudo yum install kernel-devel

1.4.2. rmmod irdma#

If rmmod ice shows the following error, run sudo rmmod irdma, then repeat the command.

rmmod: ERROR: Module ice is in use by: irdma

1.5. Verify Both the Driver and DDP Version#

Verify the driver version with the dmesg command. Every check below reads only the newest matching line. dmesg keeps every earlier line, and the boot-time line still reports the version from before the install.

sudo dmesg | grep "Intel(R) Ethernet Connection E800 Series Linux Driver" | tail -1

ice: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection E800 Series Linux Driver - version Kahawai_<ICE_VER>

Use similar steps to verify the DDP version.

sudo dmesg | grep "The DDP package was successfully loaded" | tail -1

The DDP package was successfully loaded: ICE OS Default Package (mc) version <installed_version>

The dmesg line carries no BDF, so it cannot say which of several E800-series PFs loaded the package. devlink reports the DDP version as fw.app for the PF BDF you name. It still reports that version after you bind the PF’s VFs to vfio-pci. devlink dev info needs no root, so it works when kernel.dmesg_restrict blocks dmesg. Give devlink dev info the BDF that ethtool -i reports as bus-info. Replace the BDF below with the one in your setup.

devlink dev info pci/0000:af:00.0 | grep fw.app

        fw.app.name ICE OS Default Package
        fw.app 1.3.59.0
        fw.app.bundle_id 0xc0000001

ethtool -i itself does not report the DDP version. The third field of its firmware-version is the UNDI version, which devlink reports as fw.undi.

The Media Transport Library needs DDP version 1.3.35.0 or higher. The sudo make install command in Section 1.4 installs the DDP package from the driver source tree together with the module. The manual steps below apply when the driver came from another place, such as a distribution package or the in-tree module. They also read the package from the driver source tree. If you do not have that tree, use Sections 1.1 and 1.2 first to get it.

If the version is lower than 1.3.35.0, install the DDP package from the driver source tree’s ddp folder. Each driver version can hold a different DDP version, so read the filename from the folder. Run the following command from the top of the driver source tree.

ls ddp/ice-*.pkg

ddp/ice-1.3.59.0.pkg

Still from that tree, the commands below read the DDP filename from the ddp folder themselves, so you do not type a version.

Prepare the host first, because rmmod ice fails while any device still uses the module:

Disable the VFs on every E800-series PF in the host that the ice module serves, one command per PF. For a two-port card, run sudo $mtl_source_code/script/nicctl.sh disable_vf 0000:af:00.0 and then the same command for 0000:af:00.1. Replace the BDFs with the ones in your setup.
Run sudo rmmod irdma, because ice cannot unload while irdma uses it. Ignore the message when irdma is not loaded.

DDP_PKG=$(ls ddp/ice-*.pkg) && \
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/updates/intel/ice/ddp && \
sudo cp "${DDP_PKG}" /lib/firmware/updates/intel/ice/ddp/ && \
sudo ln -sf "$(basename "${DDP_PKG}")" /lib/firmware/updates/intel/ice/ddp/ice.pkg && \
sudo rmmod ice
sudo modprobe ice

Repeat the DDP check: sudo dmesg | grep "The DDP package was successfully loaded" | tail -1. The load worked when the newest line reports the version of the .pkg file you copied.

The load failed if that line still reports the old version, or if no such line appeared. Read sudo dmesg | tail for an ice message. Also look in /lib/firmware/updates/intel/ice/ddp for a device-specific ice-<serial>.pkg, which overrides the ice.pkg symlink. The copy and the symlink are already in place, and the boot image is still untouched. Remove whatever holds the module, then run the block above again.

Section 1.4’s sudo make install also refreshes the boot image, and the manual steps do not. At early boot, ice can load the DDP package from the boot image. Without the refresh, the driver can load the old package again after the next reboot.

Refresh it now that the new package is loaded. Use update-initramfs on Ubuntu or dracut on CentOS or RHEL, never both. Name the kernel, because update-initramfs -u with no -k refreshes the image of the highest installed kernel. After a kernel upgrade, that kernel is not the running one.

# for Ubuntu
sudo update-initramfs -u -k "$(uname -r)"
# for CentOS or RHEL
sudo dracut --force --kver "$(uname -r)"

To refresh the image of a kernel other than the running one, run the command again. Give that kernel’s version in place of $(uname -r).

The reload does not restore the VFs, so create them again on every PF you disabled, one command per PF. For a two-port card, run sudo $mtl_source_code/script/nicctl.sh create_vf 0000:af:00.0 and then the same command for 0000:af:00.1. The MTL Run Guide shows this step. create_vf makes 6 VFs, so give the count as a last argument if you had a different number. The Media Transport Library does not use irdma, so leave it unloaded. If something else on this host needs RDMA, run sudo modprobe irdma.

2. Update Firmware Version to Latest#

This is a one-time setup. If you already did it for one Ethernet card, skip this step.

2.1. Get the Latest Intel-Ethernet-Adapter-CompleteDriver-Pack#

Download from https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/22283/Intel-Ethernet-Adapter-CompleteDriver-Pack

2.2. Unzip NVMUpdatePackage#

Note: If a new Intel-Ethernet-Adapter-CompleteDriver-Pack release exists, change the version number in the following commands. The steps use the 31.0 version.

unzip Release_31.0.zip
# For E810:
cd NVMUpdatePackage/E810
tar xvf E810_NVMUpdatePackage_v4_40_Linux.tar.gz
cd E810/Linux_x64/
# For E830:
cd NVMUpdatePackage/E830
tar xvf E830_NVMUpdatePackage_v<version>_Linux.tar.gz
cd E830/Linux_x64/

2.3. Run nvmupdate64e#

Follow the instructions in the nvmupdate64e tools guide. If an update is available, run the upgrade.

sudo ./nvmupdate64e

2.4. Verify Firmware Version#

To verify the firmware version, run the ethtool command with the interface name of your E810 or E830 card. Replace enp175s0f0 with the interface name in your setup.

ethtool -i enp175s0f0

If your system does not have ethtool, install it with sudo apt-get install ethtool or sudo yum install ethtool.

A correct setup shows output similar to the following:

driver: ice
version: Kahawai_<ICE_VER>
# For E810:
firmware-version: 4.91 0x800214af 1.3909.0
# For E830:
firmware-version: 1.20 0x80017ef4 1.3909.0 
expansion-rom-version:
bus-info: 0000:af:00.0
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: yes
supports-eeprom-access: yes
supports-register-dump: yes
supports-priv-flags: yes

Next Steps#

Go to the MTL Run Guide for the next instructions.

E800 Series Driver Guide

Contents