TP-Link TG-3468 causing system to not boot

[Rumboogy]

I setup NGFW on an old PC using the built-in 100 Mbps Realtek NIC and a USB-Ethernet dongle. NGFW has been up and running for a week with this config. Bought a TP-Link TG-3468 to replace the USB-Ethernet dongle (which I was told was not kosher). I just powered down the box, installed the TG-3468, and powered the box back on. Did not change cabling - kept the old connections to LAN and WAN. But now I can't connect to the box at all. Seems like NGFW is not booting. Others have reported the TP-Link TG-3468 to be compatible with NGFW so that is not the issue. Any ideas?

[donhwyo]

Do you see a grub promt on the display? Could be this.
https://forums.untangle.com/ng-firew...e-windows.html

[Rumboogy]

I plugged NGFW into a monitor so I could see what is going on. It is booting and running NGFW but the network interface that I was using for "internal" is now disabled (which is why I could not connect normally). Somehow adding the new PCI-E NIC broke the internal NIC's config. Both the internal NIC and the newly added NIC use Realtek chips if that matters. My goal is to use the internal NIC and the PCI-E NIC and unplug the USB-Ethernet dongle. So I don't want to disable the internal NIC via BIOS.

[Rumboogy]

I stumbled through the Config -> Interface page for some time and eventually got it to work. It seemed like it was behaving strangely and reordering the interfaces on its own. Not sure what was happening but am now running on the two Realtek interfaces and am dongle free.

[Jim.Alles]

Yup.
here is my close encounter:
https://forums.untangle.com/tester-haven/43129-revisting-interface-mapping-explodes-v15-1-a.html

There is one solution in this thread:
https://forums.untangle.com/networking/43439-lan-interfaces-change-after-reboot.html

one simple approach, (that is not cost-free) is to use a dual or quad port network interface card, and disable the onboard Interface. It has to do with the timing of sub-systems while powering-up.

oh, and if you want a recommendation, that would be an Intel chipset.

[oj88]

I stumbled through the Config -> Interface page for some time and eventually got it to work. It seemed like it was behaving strangely and reordering the interfaces on its own. Not sure what was happening but am now running on the two Realtek interfaces and am dongle free.

^ This!

This has been the bane of my home network. Sometimes, even a proper shutdown/power-up or even a simple reboot could jumble up those NICs just out of the blue.

I have a total of three gigabit ports: 1x WAN, 2x LAN.

WAN is connected to the on-board NIC (Broadcom).
The LAN ports are on a dual-NIC PCIe card (Intel).

Because of this issue, I had to buy a KVM so I can switch to my Untangle box just in case I need to see what's going on from the console and fix the interface mapping if I have to.

[Rumboogy]

Yup.
here is my close encounter:
https://forums.untangle.com/tester-haven/43129-revisting-interface-mapping-explodes-v15-1-a.html

There is one solution in this thread:
https://forums.untangle.com/networking/43439-lan-interfaces-change-after-reboot.html

one simple approach, (that is not cost-free) is to use a dual or quad port network interface card, and disable the onboard Interface. It has to do with the timing of sub-systems while powering-up.

oh, and if you want a recommendation, that would be an Intel chipset.

OK, now I see others are having this same NIC re-ordering issue. So it seems that there are two solutions currently: 1) only have one NIC card in the system as you suggest, 2) SSH into Debian and write a file defining the NICs. Do you know if and when Untangle will fix this in a more general way?

This re-ordering issue is not the only one I am hitting. When I install a new NIC the system then lists all NICs as having speed "nullMbit". The only way to fix this (that I know of) has been to reinstall Untangle NG from scratch each time I install a NIC. Is there a more graceful way to handle plugging in new NIC hardware?

Finally, I see you are recommending only Intel based NICs. What is the reason for this? It seems many NICs rely on Realtek chips. Do these cause trouble?

[Jim.Alles]

Finally, I see you are recommending only Intel based NICs. What is the reason for this? It seems many NICs rely on Realtek chips. Do these cause trouble?

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxhardware/comments/hik15m/how_good_are_realtek_ethernet_chipsets_on_linux/

https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/intel-or-realtek-nic-linux-compatibility/8033

Also, NICs or Network cards also matter. Its hard to quantify which are good network cards. 
Generally speaking intel NICs are the best supported as they are common and the drivers 
are current and very good.

https://wiki.untangle.com/index.php/NG_Firewall_Performance_Guide#Hardware

You be the judge.

[Jim.Alles]

OK, now I see others are having this same NIC re-ordering issue. So it seems that there are two solutions currently: 1) only have one NIC card in the system as you suggest, 2) SSH into Debian and write a file defining the NICs. Do you know if and when Untangle will fix this in a more general way?

Per the other thread, a third option is to invest in an appliance.
- well, a bit more than that.

[Jim.Alles]

When I install a new NIC the system then lists all NICs as having speed "nullMbit". The only way to fix this (that I know of) has been to reinstall Untangle NG from scratch each time I install a NIC. Is there a more graceful way to handle plugging in new NIC hardware?

I have not encountered this before, myself or on the forums.
This issue might be worth opening a support ticket on.