Re: Intel X540-AT2 and Debian: intermittent connection

[hw <hw@adminart.net>]

On Mon, 2022-11-14 at 13:21 +0100, hw wrote:
> On Mon, 2022-11-14 at 12:28 +0100, stefano gozzi wrote:
> > Please loot at this:
> > https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-networking-3/intel-x540-t2-network-card-installed-but-only-at-100mbit-cant-change-or-improve-4175686736/
> > 
> > It seems that you need a 8x pcie slot to work fine
> 
> Thanks, the card is in an 8x slot and has been working fine with Fedora.  I
> didn't change anything but using Debian instead of Fedora.

Ok I pulled the server from the rack and put another fan to blow directly on the
card in case it might overheat.

And I have to correct myself.  The card is in an 8x slot and according to the
manual of the mainboard it's supposed to be 8x and not 4x.  I pulled it and put
it back in.

However, lspci says "LnkSta: Speed 5GT/s (ok), Width x4 (downgraded)".

Usually cards in PCI slots with 4 instead of 8 lanes still work fine, and the
card did work in that slot with Fedora.

I found that I had to unplug the network cable and to plug it back in before I
could send/receive pings.  I already tried a different network cable and it
didn't make a difference.

I suspect that Debian might be doing something differently or not doing that
Fedora does which causes the intermittent connections.

Any ideas?  Backups over an 1GB link are excruciatingly slow ...