Driver Usage and Configuration

To assign an IP address to the interface, run: 

#> ifconfig mce<N> <ip>

Note: <N> is the OS assigned interface number

To check driver and device information: 

#> pciconf -lv | grep mlx 
#> flint -d pci0:<x>:0:0 q

Example: 

#> pciconf -lv  | grep mlx -C 3
mlx5_core0@pci0:33:0:0:      class="0x020000" card=0x001415b3 chip=0x101315b3 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Mellanox Technologies'
    device     = 'MT27620 Family'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
mlx5_core1@pci0:33:0:1:      class="0x020000" card=0x001415b3 chip=0x101315b3 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Mellanox Technologies'
    device     = 'MT27620 Family'
    class      = network
#> flint -d pci0:33:0:0: q
Image type:      FS3
FW Version:      12.12.0610
FW Release Date: 3.9.2015
Description:     UID                GuidsNumber
Base GUID:       e41d2d03006094ec        20
Base MAC:        0000e41d2d6094ec        20
Image VSD:
Device VSD:
PSID:	MT_2190110032
#> flint -d pci0:6:0:0 dc | grep Description
;;Description = ConnectX-4 VPI adapter card; EDR IB (100Gb/s) and 100GbE; dual-port QSFP28;
PCIe3.0 x16; ROHS R6

To check driver version:

#>sysctl -a

Example: 

sysctl -a | grep Mellanox
dev.mlx5_core.1.%desc: Mellanox Ethernet driver (3.0.0-RC2)
dev.mlx5_core.0.%desc: Mellanox Ethernet driver (3.0.0-RC2)

To check firmware version: 

• dmesg: 

  #> dmesg
  

  Example: 

  Mlx5_core0: INFO: firmware version: 12.12.2008
  

  
  

• sysctl: 

  #> sysctl -a
  

  Example: 

  dev.mlx5_core.0.hw.fw_version: 12.12.2008
  

  
  

To query stateless offload status: 

#> ifconfig mce<x>

Note: <x> is the PS assigned interface number.

To set stateless offload status: 

#> ifconfig mce<x> [rxcsum|-rxcsum] [txcsum|-txcsum] [tso|-tso] [lro|-lro]

Note: <x> is the OS assigned interface number.

To query and set interrupt coalescing modes: 

#> sysctl -a | grep coalesce_mode

Example: 

#> sysctl -a | grep coalesce_mode
dev.mce.0.conf.rx_coalesce_mode: 1
dev.mce.1.conf.rx_coalesce_mode: 1

• coalesce mode '0' indicates interrupt timer is resetting with each interrupt event.

• coalesce mode '1' indicates interrupt timer is resetting with each received packet.

To query and modify values for timer initialization between interrupts: 

#> sysctl -a |  grep tx_coalesce_usecs
#> sysctl -a |  grep rx_coalesce_usecs

To query and modify values for number of received packets between interrupts: 

#> sysctl -a | grep tx_coalesce_pkts
#> sysctl -a | grep rx_coalesce_pkts

Example: 

#> sysctl -a | grep rx_coalesce_usecs
dev.mce.1.conf.rx_coalesce_usecs: 3
dev.mce.0.conf.rx_coalesce_usecs: 3
#> sysctl -a | grep rx_coalesce_pkts
dev.mce.1.conf.rx_coalesce_pkts: 32
dev.mce.0.conf.rx_coalesce_pkts: 32

To query ring size values: 

#> sysctl -a | grep mce| grep _size

Example: 

#> sysctl -a | grep mlx | grep _size 
dev.mce.1.conf.rx_queue_size: 1024
dev.mce.1.conf.tx_queue_size: 1024
dev.mce.1.conf.rx_queue_size_max: 8192
dev.mce.1.conf.tx_queue_size_max: 8192

To modify rings size: 

#> sysctl dev.mce.<N>.conf.rx_queue_size=[N]
#> sysctl dev.mce.<N>.conf.tx_queue_size=[N]

Note: <x> is the OS assigned interface number.

To obtain device statistics: 

#> sysctl -a | grep mce | grep stat

#> sysctl dev.mce.<N>.conf.debug_stats=1
#> sysctl -a | grep mce | grep stats

To show out of receive buffers counter: 

sysctl dev.mce.<N>.vstats.rx_out_of_buffer
dev.mce.<N>.vstats.rx_out_of_buffer: 0

To verify support for Rx/Tx pause frames: 

• ifconfig 

  #> ifconfig
  media: Ethernet autoselect (100GBase-CR4 <full-duplex,rxpause,txpause>)
  

  
  

• sysctl 

  #> sysctl dev.mce.<N>.rx_pauseframe_control
  dev.mce.<N>.rx_pauseframe_control: 1
  #> sysctl dev.mce.<N>.tx_pauseframe_control
  dev.mce.<N>.tx_pauseframe_control: 1
  

  
  

To enable/disable Rx/Tx pause frames: 

• ifconfig

  • To enable Rx/Tx pause frames, run: 

    ifconfig mce<N> mediaopt txpause,rxpause
    

    
    

  • To disable Rx/Tx pause frames, run: 

    ifconfig mce<N> -mediaopt txpause,rxpause
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

• sysctl

  sysctl dev.mce.<N>.rx_pauseframe_control=1
  sysctl dev.mce.<N>.tx_pauseframe_control=1
  

  
  

  0 = disable, 1 = enable

To show all supported media: 

#> ifconfig -m mce<x>
supported media:
media autoselect
media 50GBase-CR2 mediaopt full-duplex
media 25GBase-SR mediaopt full-duplex
media 25GBase-CR mediaopt full-duplex
media 100GBase-LR4 mediaopt full-duplex
media 100GBase-SR4 mediaopt full-duplex
media 100GBase-CR4 mediaopt full-duplex
media 40Gbase-LR4 mediaopt full-duplex

Note: <x> is the OS assigned interface number.

To set new media: 

#> ifconfig -m mce<x> media <y> mediaopt full-duplex

Note: <x> is the OS assigned interface number. <y> is the relevant media.

Once the driver is loaded, both ports will be activated, meaning that an ifnet will be created for each port.

Last updated: November 25, 2020