Hi,

Thanks for your efforts with this issue, however we're still experiencing problems with the newest kernel. Sorry about missing the patch-testing-window, we should have been there for you :)

After only 20 minutes of runtime with the new kernel, we saw the following, and networking is basically useless:

[    2.410644] i40e: Intel(R) Ethernet Connection XL710 Network Driver - version 1.4.25-k
[    2.419791] i40e: Copyright (c) 2013 - 2014 Intel Corporation.
[    2.483362] i40e 0000:02:00.0: fw 5.40.47690 api 1.5 nvm 5.40 0x80002d35 18.0.16
[    2.896678] i40e 0000:02:00.0: MAC address: 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0
[    2.903768] i40e 0000:02:00.0: SAN MAC: 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e1
[    3.189818] i40e 0000:02:00.0: PCI-Express: Speed 8.0GT/s Width x4
[    3.193934] i40e 0000:02:00.0: PCI-Express bandwidth available for this device may be insufficient for optimal performance.
[    3.202198] i40e 0000:02:00.0: Please move the device to a different PCI-e link with more lanes and/or higher transfer rate.
[    3.241095] i40e 0000:02:00.0: Features: PF-id[0] VFs: 64 VSIs: 2 QP: 4 RX: 1BUF RSS FD_ATR FD_SB NTUPLE DCB VxLAN Geneve PTP VEPA
[    3.279202] i40e 0000:02:00.1: fw 5.40.47690 api 1.5 nvm 5.40 0x80002d35 18.0.16
[    3.531346] i40e 0000:02:00.1: MAC address: 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e2
[    3.539557] i40e 0000:02:00.1: SAN MAC: 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e3
[    3.761719] i40e 0000:02:00.1: PCI-Express: Speed 8.0GT/s Width x4
[    3.765721] i40e 0000:02:00.1: PCI-Express bandwidth available for this device may be insufficient for optimal performance.
[    3.773539] i40e 0000:02:00.1: Please move the device to a different PCI-e link with more lanes and/or higher transfer rate.
[    3.812022] i40e 0000:02:00.1: Features: PF-id[1] VFs: 64 VSIs: 2 QP: 4 RX: 1BUF RSS FD_ATR FD_SB NTUPLE DCB VxLAN Geneve PTP VEPA
[    3.855168] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: renamed from eth2
[    3.895278] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: renamed from eth0
[    7.205832] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: already using mac address 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e2
[    7.208378] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: NIC Link is Up 10 Gbps Full Duplex, Flow Control: None
[    7.208401] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e2 vid=0
[    7.208453] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: set new mac address 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e2
[    7.217191] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: NIC Link is Up 10 Gbps Full Duplex, Flow Control: None
[    7.217215] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e2 vid=0
[    7.240919] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: set new mac address 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0
[    7.252720] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: returning to hw mac address 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0
[    7.324791] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[    7.324798] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1109.574733] i40e 0000:02:00.1: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1110.011152] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1110.011155] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1110.013749] i40e 0000:02:00.1: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1110.013773] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: speed changed to 0 for port p1p2
[ 1110.013954] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p2
[ 1110.983823] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1110.983825] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1110.985836] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p2
[ 1111.432231] i40e 0000:02:00.0: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1111.981828] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1111.981835] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1111.984816] i40e 0000:02:00.0: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1111.987007] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p1
[ 1112.981796] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1112.981803] i40e 0000:02:00.0 p1p1: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1112.985812] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p1
[ 1114.204548] i40e 0000:02:00.1: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1114.983686] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1114.983688] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1114.985692] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p2
[ 1115.752686] i40e 0000:02:00.1: TX driver issue detected, PF reset issued
[ 1116.985619] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=0
[ 1116.985624] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: adding 3c:fd:fe:1a:b5:e0 vid=5
[ 1116.988361] i40e 0000:02:00.1 p1p2: speed changed to 0 for port p1p2
[ 1116.989607] bond0: link status up again after 0 ms for interface p1p2

# uname -a
Linux lb05 4.4.0-97-generic #120-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 19 17:28:18 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# modinfo i40e
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-97-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.ko
version:        1.4.25-k

As a workaround we're using i40e driver v2.0.30 via dkms, which does works fine without any issues so far, but it would be nice to have this problem fixed properly :-)

If we're going about this in the wrong way, and our problem is not applicable to this fix, please let us know. We're happy to test new patches if there are any. 

We're gonna test the HWE 4.10 kernel mentioned and see how that behaves.