Kernel 6.8.8-2 broke my Thunderbolt-connected Intel PCIe NIC

[Thomas Stone]

Hello!

I did the offered updates today, 10th July 2024, which included Kernel 6.8.8-2 (Firmware 3.12-1 and a few other things), and upon reboot the host and VMs using one of the three NICs had no networking -- this was the NIC with the default gateway for the host box.

I run a 13th Gen Intel NUC Pro with a thunderbolt-connected Intel NIC. It shows as 82599ES. The Thunderbolt box is a Sonnet Twin that is a bridge to what I assume is a standard low-profile Intel 10G NIC.

02:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
03:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
03:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82599ES 10-Gigabit SFI/SFP+ Network Connection (rev 01)
04:00.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82599ES 10-Gigabit SFI/SFP+ Network Connection (rev 01)
2d:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 2C 2016] (rev 02)
2e:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 2C 2016] (rev 02)
2e:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 2C 2016] (rev 02)

I did considerable poking and prodding both in hardware and software, but the only thing that made it work again was reverting to kernel 6.8.4-3.

I even went the extra mile and after getting it working with 6.8.4-3, rebooted again back to 6.8.8-2, and again it did not work. Then back to 6.8.4-3 and it works again.

Let me know if pulling any other configs would help diagnose, but I do need the box working so going back to the state where the NIC isn't working may not be possible. Thanks.

__ update: I am leaning toward a Thunderbolt issue since there were also some problem messages during boot related to a Thunderbolt-connected NVME SSD on the new kernel.

 

[Kevo]

I believe there was at least one or two other threads related to thunderbolt issues on the 6.8 kernel. It's not something that affects me so I'm not up on it, but you might want to search for the other threads to see if there is anything useful there. I think downgrading the kernel and waiting for a fix is probably the solution.

 

[Thomas Stone]

Thanks.... doesn't seem to be solved though! I do have 'bolt' installed (though boltd is not running) ... it says (under 6.8.4-3):

# boltctl
 ○ Sabrent Enclosure
   ├─ type:          peripheral
   ├─ name:          Enclosure
   ├─ vendor:        Sabrent
   ├─ uuid:          c4010000-0082-8088-206b-x
   ├─ generation:    Thunderbolt 3
   ├─ status:        disconnected
   ├─ authorized:    Sun 19 May 2024 08:15:29 PM UTC
   ├─ connected:     Sun 19 May 2024 08:15:29 PM UTC
   └─ stored:        Mon 27 May 2024 08:05:50 PM UTC
      ├─ policy:     iommu
      └─ key:        no

 ● Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Echo Express SEL TB3
   ├─ type:          peripheral
   ├─ name:          Echo Express SEL TB3
   ├─ vendor:        Sonnet Technologies, Inc.
   ├─ uuid:          d5010000-0072-7508-22ea-x
   ├─ generation:    Thunderbolt 3
   ├─ status:        authorized
   │  ├─ domain:     f0058780-60e0-fd4d-ffff-ffffffffffff
   │  ├─ rx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
   │  ├─ tx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
   │  └─ authflags:  boot
   ├─ authorized:    Wed 10 Jul 2024 11:32:41 AM UTC
   ├─ connected:     Wed 10 Jul 2024 11:32:41 AM UTC
   └─ stored:        Mon 27 May 2024 08:05:50 PM UTC
      ├─ policy:     iommu
      └─ key:        no

 ● Sabrent Dual enclosure
   ├─ type:          peripheral
   ├─ name:          Dual enclosure
   ├─ vendor:        Sabrent
   ├─ uuid:          d3010000-0080-7708-234b-x
   ├─ generation:    Thunderbolt 3
   ├─ status:        authorized
   │  ├─ domain:     37a48780-a1cd-b401-ffff-ffffffffffff
   │  ├─ rx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
   │  ├─ tx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
   │  └─ authflags:  boot
   ├─ authorized:    Wed 10 Jul 2024 11:32:41 AM UTC
   ├─ connected:     Wed 10 Jul 2024 11:32:41 AM UTC
   └─ stored:        Thu 06 Jun 2024 03:55:08 PM UTC
      ├─ policy:     iommu
      └─ key:        no

 

[Kevo]

You might try the latest 6.5 kernel. I think problems started in 6.8, but search and check. I am not using thunderbolt so my problems with 6.8 were different. The latest 6.8 is working for my issues, but I had to stick with 6.5 for a while due to issues in 6.8.

 

[Thomas Stone]

Thanks @Kevo ... I haven't had a problem with kernel 6.8.4-3.

 

[flove]

Same here, link down with QNA-T310G1S 10GbE SFP+ and kernel 6.8.8-2-pve, no issues with 6.8.4-3 (reverting until there is a fix).

32:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. AQtion AQC100S NBase-T/IEEE 802.3an Ethernet Controller [Atlantic 10G] (rev 02)

Device is listed with "ip -a", boltctl and lspci.

• https://www.networktechguy.com/qna-...onger-working-after-proxmox-upgrade-to-8-2-4/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/thunderbolt-stopped-working-after-recent-update.150042/

 

[flove]

╭─flo at nuc01 in ~ 24-07-19 - 10:30:59
╰─○ sudo proxmox-boot-tool kernel list
Manually selected kernels:
None.


Automatically selected kernels:
6.5.13-5-pve
6.8.4-2-pve
6.8.8-2-pve

╭─flo at nuc01 in ~ 24-07-19 - 10:31:00
╰─○ sudo proxmox-boot-tool kernel pin 6.8.4-2-pve

Set kernel '6.8.4-2-pve' in /etc/kernel/proxmox-boot-pin.
Refresh the actual boot ESPs now? [yN] y
Running hook script 'proxmox-auto-removal'..
Running hook script 'zz-proxmox-boot'..
Re-executing '/etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-proxmox-boot' in new private mount namespace..
WARN: /dev/disk/by-uuid/50BC-7243 does not exist - clean '/etc/kernel/proxmox-boot-uuids'! - skipping
Copying and configuring kernels on /dev/disk/by-uuid/9A7C-7602
    Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.5.13-5-pve
    Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.4-2-pve
    Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.8-2-pve

 

[Allister]

Yeah, I have Thunderbolt mesh networking between two nodes and when you use the latest 6.8 kernels, it causes a bunch of retries and throughput issues with Thunderbolt when you use iperf3 to test bandwidth. I had to revert back to 6.5.13-5-pve to make everything work right. There might be some 6.8 versions that work too, but I haven't had the time to try all of them. Is there a list of all of the available kernel versions somewhere?

 

[Thomas Stone]

Has anyone tried proxmox-kernel-6.8.8-4?

(looking at change logs on github it doesn't seem to be anything worked on recently) ... I suppose I should look further to see why it broke between 6.8.4-3 which works for me and 6.8.8-2 which doesn't.

 

[icecoldcube]

Thanks for the notes here, I downgraded to 6.5.13-6-pve, my adapter is an Startech TB one and this bought it back.


Jul 28 07:10:04 nucpm kernel: thunderbolt 1-1: new device found, vendor=0x6f device=0x21
Jul 28 07:10:04 nucpm kernel: thunderbolt 1-1: StarTech.com TB310G2
Jul 28 07:10:04 nucpm kernel: 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8

Running on a NUC also.

I'm assuming I need to wait until:

6.8.8-2-pve
6.8.8-4-pve

Are upgraded to test again.

 

[UnitZero]

Yeah, I have Thunderbolt mesh networking between two nodes and when you use the latest 6.8 kernels, it causes a bunch of retries and throughput issues with Thunderbolt when you use iperf3 to test bandwidth. I had to revert back to 6.5.13-5-pve to make everything work right. There might be some 6.8 versions that work too, but I haven't had the time to try all of them. Is there a list of all of the available kernel versions somewhere?

I am experiencing the same issue with 6.8 kernels on my 3 node setup with Thunderbolt networking. Reverting solves this for me as well.

 

[Allister]

I’m now on 6.8.12-1 and am getting the full 26Gb/s speeds. You do have to pin thunderbolt to the P cores on the cpu though.

 

[UnitZero]

Thanks for info. I just tested the new kernel, but unfortunately the entire networking goes down for me on 6.8.12-1. Same issue as here.

 

[Thomas Stone]

Anyone try 6.8.12.2 yet?

 

[Thomas Stone]

Hello... I finally moved on to the newer kernels and still had the problem. I did lose my 'working version' 6.8.4-3 during another apt operation. I tried to reinstall that kernel (via apt) but only 6.8.4-4 was available and that actually did NOT work for me. So I do question myself whether 6.8.4-3 worked without further poking around after a reboot.

However, the 'fix' is available, as posted on other threads which is to add an argument to the kernel boot line. I'm on a UEFI boot system (not grub) to the way to fix it is to edit

/etc/kernel/cmdline

and add to the end

thunderbolt.host_reset=false

(arguments seem to be separated by a space character).

I hope this works for others!