Re: NetBSD-current amd64 with dhcpcd connects only partially

["Thomas Mueller" <mueller6725%twc.com@localhost>]

from Roy Marples:

> On 14/06/2017 03:03, Thomas Mueller wrote:
> > FreeBSD uses dhclient, which works when the driver is OK (re or rsu).
        
> Does this imply that on FreeBSD the driver sometimes fails?
> dhcpcd (an older version) is in the FreeBSD ports tree as well as
> another reference point - you could try that also.
        
> But at this point it doesn't sound like a dhcpcd issue, it's elsewhere.

With FreeBSD on MSI Z77 MPOWER motherboard, FreeBSD could never connect to Realtek 8111E/8168 Ethernet, then it was fixed some time around FreeBSD 10.2; subsequently FreeBSD relapsed to previous nonworking state in both current and stable/11 branches.

FreeBSD recognizes this Realtek chip, dhclient tries but can't make it.  Linux, NetBSD and Haiku (R1Alpha4 from November 2012) connected.

MSI Z77 MPOWER motherboard also has a wireless Atheros 9271 quasi-USB chip (athn driver).  Now NetBSD is allergic to this chip, won't boot unless I disable athn (userconf) or comment out athn in kernel config.

Previous to this turn of events, NetBSD could connect with this chip some of the time, but most of the time failed to load firmware.

For FreeBSD on this computer, I use Hiro H50191 USB wireless adapter (Realtek RTL8191SU chip) using rsu driver.  This Hiro H50191 plugs in like a USB stick in contrast to Atheros 9271 which is an inseparable part of the motherboard.  NetBSD has no hint of this driver (rsu).

But on recent update NetBSD-current i386 and amd64 installations, dhcpcd behavior has varied, even though it is the same 7.0-rc1 prerelease, so it must be something else besides dhcpcd itself.

So now I try direct Ethernet configuration without dhcpcd or dhclient and am glad to know how to do it and make the NetBSD installation usable again.

from Robert Nestor:

> Not sure if this helps but noticed the user is using a cable modem connected to Time Warner.  I have the same type of connection on my amd64 system and Iâ??ve noticed similar issues of not always being able to get connected via
> dhcp.  And like the original poster I sometimes switch between systems using this connection.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnâ??t.
  
> What Iâ??ve found is that I canâ??t get a new connection to Time Warner as long as it thinks my previous lease hasnâ??t expired or been released.  I either have to release the connection before switching between systems (NetBSD,
> FreeBSD, Linux, etc) or I have to reboot the Time Warner cable modem which seems to force the return of the lease on my assigned IP address.  When I do this Iâ??ve always been successful getting a dhcp setup using either dhclient or
> dhcpcd.

On my systems, trying to connect Ethernet seems consistent within a given OS installation on a particular system.  Results have varied on NetBSD because of recent source-based updates.

I believe an Ethernet connection is usually released upon rebooting.

Tom