Sanity Check on Mac Mini

[Yonghyeon PYUN]

On Sun, Jul 07, 2013 at 05:56:09PM -0700, Doug Hardie wrote:
> As I previously indicated, I have tested a couple more Minis and updated the instructions with what I learned.  Here is the revised version:
> 

[...]

> 2.12.3	Rebuilding the kernel to support the Ethernet Interface
> 
> Once the system has been rebooted, you will notice that ifconfig may not show the ethernet interface.  There are at least two different chips being used for that interface.  Some of the units work right out of the box.  Others do not.  I have two units and the only visible difference is the Part No.  Part Nu. MC815LL/A appears to be the older unit and the bge interface worked on install.  Part No MD387LL/A is newer and has the newer chips that require the driver update.
> 
>  If the bge interface does not show, then the bge driver needs to be updated to recognize the NIC.  Mount the second memstick with the files retrieved earlier and move them into the kernel source.  I used the following commands:
> 
> cp -p brgphy.c /usr/src/sys/dev/mii
> cp -p if_bgereg.h /usr/src/sys/dev/bge
> cp -p if_bge.c /usr/src/sys/dev/bge
> 
> then rebuild the kernel.  Note the instructions here are for GENERIC, but you can use KERNCONF to specify a custom kernel.
> 
> cd /usr/src
> make buildkernel
> make installkernel
> 
> Reboot the server as before.  Now ifconfig will show bge0 and it will work.  The mini is now running a useable version of 9.1-Release.  There are still some items remaining to be resolved:  Updating the kernel with the recent security patches, Disabling Bluetooth and Wireless to save power, and unattended rebooting.  These issues are still being addressed.
> 

I'm not sure whether this bge(4) controller is sitting behind
TB(Apple Thunderbolt) bridge. The Apple TB bridge has known
performance issue and some BCM controllers have a work-around to
mitigate it. The work-around is not enabled by default so I'm
interested in bge(4) performance numbers on your box. If you can't
get more than 920 ~ 930Mbps(950Mbps or higher with jumbo frame)
please let me know.
I didn't enable the work-around yet since it will hurt other BCM
controllers when TB bridge is absent.