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Ethernet is not reliable on custom board

mans
Expert 1005 points

We are building our custom board based on EVM board. In our board we are using PEF 7071 for Ethernet PHY.

To test the Ethernet, I am using ping test from a windows machine.

The board booted with Linux and nothing other than Linux is on board (no user application).

On some systems I can ping the board for 10-20 minutes and then it stops and the ping from windows report device timeout.

I can see in windows that the network cable is connected.

On board I can see that link is up and Linux is not complaining anything.

when the problem starts, I can not ping any device from Linux (for example I can not ping Windows system)

One some boards this is happening after 1 or 2 minutes and on some other boards it happens after 10-20 minutes and on boards a very long time ( we recorded several hours too).

On one board the time that it fails is not constant, sometime very quick and some time a bit longer.

When the Ethernet connection went down, There is no way to restore connection other than turnoff/on the system or unplug and re-plug the Ethernet cable.

I can see that it s not a software problem, since if after failure, I reboot (without power recycle) the Linux on board, the problem still persist.

My questions:

Is there any way that I can test PHY via UBoot or Linux? I want to put the PHY into different ways of loopback and test the board after it fails and see what is the source of problem.

when I am trying to test the Ethernet using ethtools, I am getting error that test is not supported.

I noted that EVM board changed its PHY in revision B, but there is no information on why they did this changes and what was the changes.

  • 0
    TI__Guru**** 170625 points

    Mans,

    I assume you are already aligned with the below wiki pages:

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI81xx_PSP_Porting_Guide#Ethernet_Driver_-_Adding_Custom_Ethernet_Phy

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/DM814x_Hardware_Design_Guide

    mans said:
    Is there any way that I can test PHY via UBoot or Linux? I want to put the PHY into different ways of loopback and test the board after it fails and see what is the source of problem.

    You can try boot from Ethernet, for the u-boot verification:

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI81XX_PSP_EMAC_Boot

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI81XX_PSP_UBOOT_User_Guide

    The below wiki have some "test" info:

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI81XX_PSP_ETHERNET_Switch_User_Guide#Setup_and_Testing

    You can also find EMAC tests in the EVM page at Mistral:

    http://www.mistralsolutions.com/pes-support/support-downloads/tmdxevm8148.html

    See diagnostic software -> rgmii_emac_0 and rgmii_emac_1, emac_gmii_test, emac_rgmii_test

    Regards,
    Pavel

  • 0 in reply to Pavel Botev
    Expert 1005 points

    Thanks for reply

    Where can I find the PHY driver for the chip that I am using PEF 7071 (http://www.lantiq.com/digital-home/gigabit-ethernet/gigabit-ethernet-phy/xwaytm-phy11g-gigabit-ethernet-phy/)?

    Can I get it from any Linux distribution or it the PHY driver in EZSDK is different?

    The fact that Ethernet is working for some times and then stops, doesn't show that the problem s not software related?

  • 0 in reply to mans
    TI__Guru**** 170625 points

    The PHY drivers available are listed in "Device Drivers"->"Network device support"->"PHY Device support and infrastructure"

    As I do not see Lantiq PHY driver, I assume you are in the "Generic PHY" controller driver category. See the below e2e threads for info:

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dsp/davinci_digital_media_processors/f/717/t/231135.aspx

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/embedded/android/f/509/t/155146.aspx

    mans said:
    The fact that Ethernet is working for some times and then stops, doesn't show that the problem s not software related?

    Yes, I also think so. Besides the test described above, you can also try to use the NFS for root filesystem.

    For the HW check, please refer to the AM387x datasheet and silicon errata.

    Best regards,
    Pavel