StarFive VisionFive 2 v1.2a board: no networking after ISL

[Robert Lipe]

I have a StarFive VisionFive 2 v1.2a board and used the ubuntu-23.04-preinstalled-server-riscv64+visionfive2.img.xz to install. I'd noticed the end of the release notes at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RISC-V/StarFive%20VisionFive%202 and have performed those steps.

However, networking does not work. (I'm not alone in this observation; there's another report of this on the rvspace forum.)

The red light near the power connector is lit. Only the orange light on the network connector (the one near the edge) is flashing.

Henrick advised 'ip -a' but that's not recognized. In my original message, I offered:

$ sudo ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: end0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether XXX39 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet6 XXX39/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: end1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether XXX:3a brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

root@ubuntu:/etc/netplan# ip -a
Usage: ip [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }
       ip [ -force ] -batch filename
where OBJECT := { address | addrlabel | amt | fou | help | ila | ioam | l2tp |
                   link | macsec | maddress | monitor | mptcp | mroute | mrule |
                   neighbor | neighbour | netconf | netns | nexthop | ntable |
                   ntbl | route | rule | sr | tap | tcpmetrics |
                   token | tunnel | tuntap | vrf | xfrm }
       OPTIONS := { -V[ersion] | -s[tatistics] | -d[etails] | -r[esolve] |
                    -h[uman-readable] | -iec | -j[son] | -p[retty] |
                    -f[amily] { inet | inet6 | mpls | bridge | link } |
                    -4 | -6 | -M | -B | -0 |
                    -l[oops] { maximum-addr-flush-attempts } | -br[ief] |
                    -o[neline] | -t[imestamp] | -ts[hort] | -b[atch] [filename] |
                    -rc[vbuf] [size] | -n[etns] name | -N[umeric] | -a[ll] |
                    -c[olor]}

As advised, USB is not working, so the WiFi card isn't recognized, of course. I don't know how a normal person would attach a keyboard if not through a USB/Serial bridge as I have, but that's not very satisfactory in X due to the absence of things like modifier keys. That's a different problem for now.

I think the rare case here is 1.2a - these earlybird boards must be uncommon. The list isn't being stormed with reports, so the 1.3 boards must be succeeding. Reports of this issue on rvspace are getting no answers.

I've swapped network cabling and am sure the cable works and is plugged into a functional network.

I've re-installed from media twice. There are no actual prompts to mess up, so I'm a bit baffled.

I suspect DT isn't identifying the hardware correctly somehow, but I lack the device tree mojo to stare that down.

Troubleshooting advice welcome.

# lsb_release -rd
No LSB modules are available.
Description: Ubuntu Lunar Lobster (development branch)
Release: 23.04

Filing it as a bug and not a support question because a fresh install to hardware of a relatively known/limited hardware options like this should result in at least minimally working networking. That's just table stakes in modern times.
Expected: Glorious networking flowing freely over the wires.
Observed: Not even a DHCP grant requested.

Thank you!

[scottfk (scottfk)]

What do you see in lshw and in dmesg?

I have the v1.3b board working just fine, and here's what I see:

lshw
<snip>
  *-network:0
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 3
       logical name: end0
       serial: 6c:cf:39:00:37:bd
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       capabilities: ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=st_gmac driverversion=6.2.0-19-generic duplex=full ip=192.168.1.24 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 4
       logical name: end1
       serial: 6c:cf:39:00:37:be
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       capabilities: ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=st_gmac driverversion=6.2.0-19-generic link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
</snip>

dmesg
<snip>
[ 40.919585] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: Register MEM_TYPE_PAGE_POOL RxQ-0
[ 40.923734] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: PHY [stmmac-1:00] driver [YT8531 Gigabit Ethernet] (irq=POLL)
[ 41.159305] dwmac4: Master AXI performs fixed burst length
[ 41.159338] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: No Safety Features support found
[ 41.159368] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: IEEE 1588-2008 Advanced Timestamp supported
[ 41.159668] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: registered PTP clock
[ 41.160249] starfive-dwmac 16040000.ethernet end1: configuring for phy/rgmii-id link mode
[ 41.167687] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: Register MEM_TYPE_PAGE_POOL RxQ-0
[ 41.175364] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: PHY [stmmac-0:00] driver [YT8531 Gigabit Ethernet] (irq=POLL)
[ 41.175408] dwmac4: Master AXI performs fixed burst length
[ 41.175426] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: No Safety Features support found
[ 41.175454] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: IEEE 1588-2008 Advanced Timestamp supported
[ 41.175762] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: registered PTP clock
[ 41.176338] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: configuring for phy/rgmii-id link mode
[ 44.237549] starfive-dwmac 16030000.ethernet end0: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx
[ 44.237599] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): end0: link becomes ready
</snip>

[scottfk (scottfk)]

This looks related:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-riscv/+bug/2017357

Is grub pointing to the correct DTB for your board?