FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE install hangs with, "isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff."

[robroy]

FreeBSD Friends,

I have this computer running 14.0-RELEASE. Its FC HBA has been working well for many moons.

Make	Supermicro
Model	X10SLL-F
Motherboard BIOS	3.4
QLogic model	QLE2694
QLogic BIOS	3.39

I'd like to install FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE on it. But here's what I see when the installer's kernel tries to boot:

isp0: <Qlogic ISP 2714 PCI FC Adapter> mem 0xf7e0b000-0xf7e0bfff,0xf7e06000-0xf7e07fff,0xf7d00000-0xf7dfffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci2
isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff

isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff

isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff

isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff

isp0: unknown interrupt 0xffffffff

M

The 14.1-RELEASE installer behaves similarly, though its "unknown interrupt" messages appear continuously, seemingly forever.

The 14.0-RELEASE installer works perfectly.

How can I make isp(4) happy and get 14.2-RELEASE installed?

Thank you all for taking a gander.

 

[Erichans]

You may be in need of a Qlogic firmware update.

However, when using the "old" firmware as is, there has been a change in behaviour for isp(4), please read and compare the updated man page; especially relevant for 14.2R seems:

BOOT OPTIONS
       The  following  options	 are   switchable   by	 setting   values   in
       /boot/device.hints.
   [...]
       hint.isp.N.fwload_force
	       A  hint	value to prefer	firmware provided by ispfw(4), even if
	       it is older than	the  firmware  in  flash  on  the  board.   If
	       fwload_disable is also specified, fwload_force will be ignored.

	       By  default, with 27XX and newer	controllers, the isp(4)	driver
	       will use	the newer firmware.  For older controllers, the	isp(4)
	       driver will use the firmware provided  by  ispfw(4)  if	it  is
	       available,  and	otherwise  use	the  firmware  in flash	on the
	       board.

Relevant commit: src: 44ca5d40f36704ffa2fa55f8f1403c824400b3ba

---

General question to all:
This change in kernel driver behaviour seems a candidate for UPDATING (not mentioned in its 14.2-RELEASE variety) to me.
What are the considerations for including things in UPDATING?

 

[robroy]

Thank you Erichans.

Updates:

1. Not a FreeBSD thing: two QLE2694 firmware update attempts (once using UEFI and once Windows) failed. I'm guessing that this is because I'm using a Dell re-branded QLE2694 and it may insist on Dell secret sauce.
2. I swapped the QLE2694 for a non-rebranded QLE2594 with the newest published firmware. With the QLE2594, the 14.2-RELEASE installer hit a kernel panic during boot (attached). The 14.0-RELEASE installer worked normally.

I have the feeling that loading ispfw(4) while booting the installer's kernel may get things working.

But I haven't figured out how to do that quite yet. I'm able to load the kernel and ispfw(4) from the installer's loader prompt, but booting thereafter leaves me at a mountroot> prompt; I don't know how to continue the install from there.

I will keep trying.

Thank you again.

 

[Erichans]

Right, unfortunate no solution as yet then; I imagine you have quite an amount of data behind that. As isp(4) is part of the base install and a panic really shouldn't happen, I would suggest you submit a PR: FreeBSD bug reports info; a quick scan does not show any recent problems; this may well be a particular 14.2 (even 14.1) issue.

 

[robroy]

Great news!

I found a non-rebranded QLE2694-SR on eBay for $70, it accepted a flash to the newest QLogic firmware, and--I'm up and running on 14.2-RELEASE.

When the new QLE2694-SR arrived it reported ROM BIOS version 3.62 during POST, and that still showed the original symptom.

But after using a Windows host with QConvergeConsole CLI to flash it, it prints version 3.68 during POST, and works fine with FreeBSD.

These new sysctls are interesting. I guess I can remove ispfw_load="YES" from /boot/loader.conf, since it's rolling with the card's newer image.

dev.isp.0.fw_version_run: 9.15.0
dev.isp.0.fw_version_ispfw: 9.12.0
dev.isp.0.fw_version_flash: 9.15.0

The original Dell-branded card that couldn't be flashed, and wouldn't work beyond 14.0-RELEASE (the sticker says QLE2694-T-DEL):

The new card that accepted the flash and works great allows 14.2-RELEASE to boot (its sticker says QLE2694-SR).

Erichans, thanks very much for your helpful guidance.

 

[robroy]

Update: sadly I had to back out the upgrade when I couldn't get the FC initiators working. But I'll bet that's caused by something unrelated.

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you Boot Environments.