kern/90279: [nge] Appletalk and 0x090007 OUI enet frames can't pass nge(4) interface [WAS AppleTalk and 0x090007 OUI enet frames invisible to 6.0R?]

[Guy F. Boyd]

Self-follow-up: The previous tangential assertion about VPN
packets and the nge(4) interface was a red herring. This was
firewall-rule related, and was resolved by passing proto GRE
and port pptp on the applicable interfaces. The issues
regarding nge(4), bridging, and AppleTalk frames stand as
reported, and via testing I think one can narrow the problem
down to *some* AppleTalk aarp packets not getting past the
nge(4) interface. ipfw interference was ruled out by adding
a single default allow rule, then comparing  performance
against an re(4) card and an rl(4) card with the same set of
rules. Both of these cards performed as expected. Multiple
nge(4) cards ( of the same make) were tried.
This particular FreeBSD installation is back in production
service, but as time and resources permit, I will be happy
to try to provide additional information. It should be noted
that my own vendor of this particular nge(4) card ( Asante
1032TA Giganix) says the card is no longer in production so
it *may* be a moot exercise to pursue this if other nge(4)
cards don't show this behavior.

Thanks
-Guy <gfb at vta.com>