Solution for DHCP and/or networking not working with Broadcom BCM5761 on HP 6305 desktop

[calypso]

Just wanted to share details how to make Broadcom BCM5671 work with FreeNAS and TrueNAS on HP Compaq 6305 desktop.

Based on my research, Broadcom BCM5761 (Broadcom in general) doesn't play well with FreeBSD. Behavior is very strange - TrueNAS is not able to establish network connection and will report web interface at http://0.0.0.0, although physical connection is established and link is 'up'. In case a user tries to manually configure static IP address, it's a no go - it can ping itself, but can't ping anything else on the network. Found some reference about it here - https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=206168.

What I did to solve this problem on HP Compaq 6305:

• Upgrade BIOS to latest version - https://support.hp.com/hr-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-compaq-pro-6305-small-form-factor-pc/5296265
• Upgrade Broadcom BCM5671 firmware to the latest version - https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp87001-87500/sp87071.exe
• In BIOS, disable DACH - explanation how to do it is shown when you unpack Broadcom firmware package

After I completed all this, Truenas 12.x and 13.x are able to receive IP address from DHCP and I was also able to set up static IP address.

Note that this solution probably applies to various HP desktops and servers that use Broadcom network adapters. I am convinced that what actually solves the problem is disabling DACH, but updating BIOS and firmware surely helps.

I lost 4-5 hours and checked at least 100 pages, so the least I could do is offer a solution here for someone losing nerves in the future.

 

[jgreco]

This is why we don't recommend the use of random cheap desktops with TrueNAS. There's just too much random crap needed to make specific cases work.

 

[calypso]

This is why we don't recommend the use of random cheap desktops with TrueNAS. There's just too much random crap needed to make specific cases work.

Absolutely I agree to go with intel NIC whenever possible. :)

However, I got this HP desktop for free and it was a great upgrade to my old DELL Optiplex 745 with intel C2D E6600. :) I mean, this HP Compaq 6305 has, pay attention - 7GB RAM!!! :D Poor man's NAS, what to say, but a lot of 'joy' configuring it. Learned something new (which is very difficult lately given the fact that I have 25 years of storage background and am working for storage vendor). Just wanted to share my solution with the wider population as it looks like it applies to all Broadcom based computers and also lots of HP desktops and servers.

 

[jgreco]

7GB RAM!!!

Be aware that 7GB RAM meets neither the minimum required memory for TrueNAS Core (16GB) nor TrueNAS Scale (8GB).

as it looks like it applies to all Broadcom based computers and also lots of HP desktops and servers.

That's very unlikely. The bge driver is now more than twenty years old, meaning that it was originally designed for chipsets twenty years ago. It covers dozens of different controllers. As a derivative of the Alteon Tigon II, the early bge chipsets were considered to be high performance controllers at the time, accelerated by code running on the controller's MIPS based CPU. In the long run, this turned into a bit of a logjam as computers became able to push actual gigabit data rates but the chipset wasn't able to; it's similar to the problems that LSI SAS2008 has with not being able to hit peak performance on all ports.

Ultimately a lot of these cards became problematic abandonware as vendors failed to provide firmware updates or BIOS compatibility updates, and many of the AMD mainboards that used them in lieu of Intel controllers became albatrosses. Here in the forums, when people show up with bge based problems, by far the easiest thing to is to tell them to stick in an Intel Desktop card. Few if any manufacturers bother to provide firmware updates for the ancient used systems that show up here in the forums repurposed as TrueNAS systems. The main upside is just that they didn't often need firmware updates; compare that to more modern cards like the Intel X710's, etc.

 

[calypso]

This post is for users who will run or have ran into a problem like me.

I don't have nor will nor time to explain myself or justify my actions. Fact is that TrueNAS 12.x works with 4GB RAM without any problems and that will suit anyone with basic NAS requirements. Plex also works just fine, even on intel C2D E6600 machine I used in the past.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Fact is that TrueNAS 12.x works with 4GB RAM without any problems and that will suit anyone with basic NAS requirements.

Please understand that the recommended system requirements have been set (and raised) based on a number of negative experiences with systems having less than 8GB of RAM.

Many configurations will seem to "work just fine" right up until they "no longer work at all" - whether this be using a RAID card instead of an HBA, overly optimistic deduplication settings, or a failure to understand a core ZFS concept such as vdev redundancy - and the TrueNAS and OpenZFS userbase tends to lean towards a risk-averse position.

 

[jgreco]

This post is for users who will run or have ran into a problem like me.

I don't have nor will nor time to explain myself or justify my actions. Fact is that TrueNAS 12.x works with 4GB RAM without any problems and that will suit anyone with basic NAS requirements. Plex also works just fine, even on intel C2D E6600 machine I used in the past.

This is known to be generally untrue. The middleware tends to consume a bunch of memory and eventually forces swapping to happen on most undersized systems, which then causes a downward spiral and can lead to deadlock. Additionally, I am the person who originally raised the minimum memory requirement to 8GB, based on observation of system panics and pool corruptions; I do not need to justify this as it has been substantiated in the past; former iXsystems CTO Jordan Hubbard tried to argue the point but failed.

At some point within the last year, iXsystems raised the minimum required memory to 16GB for reasons that were not shared with me. I have no particular reason to doubt that it is a good idea to go with 16GB minimum memory; it is no longer 2005 (when 16GB RAM cost $2500) or 2013 (when 16GB RAM cost $400). It's now $34.

In any case, I'm closing this thread to discourage debate. I lean libertarian and you are welcome to do whatever the hell you'd like to do. However, I do feel some responsibility to make you aware of the folly of bad choices. Anyone who wants to run a TrueNAS system on 4GB of RAM is welcome to try. Don't expect it to be stable, especially not in the long term. Expect swapping. If you find yourself unable to import your pools at boot due to a lack of memory, please do us all a favor and don't complain about it on the forums. You've been warned.