[Banana BPI-R4] SFP Status

For Developers
1

Hi,
I would like to probe the community to see if any of you successfully managed working links using SFPs

Here's my current configuration
OS : OpenWRT 24.10.1 (Bpi-R4 from FW Selector)
Main board : BPi-R4 V1.1
PHY SFP : GSFP-10G-T 10G SFP to RJ45
SFP Chipset : Marvell 88E1111
Added packages : kmod-phy-marvell, kmod-phy-marvell10g
Deleted packages : none (perhaps kmod-phy-realtek, installed at some point)

Current Status :
OpenWRT detects the SFP but with a Realtek RTL8261N chipset instead

rroot@OpenWrt:~# dmesg | grep sfp
[   13.416057] sfp sfp1: Host maximum power 3.0W
[   13.420975] sfp sfp2: Host maximum power 3.0W
[   13.733801] sfp sfp1: module OEM              SFP-10G-T        rev 1    sn E202411050011    dc 241104
[   13.754507] sfp sfp2: module OEM              SFP-10G-T        rev 1    sn E202411050012    dc 241104
[   50.227076] Realtek RTL8261N i2c:sfp2:11: rtkphy_config_init:69 [RTL8261N/RTL826XB] phy_id: 0x1CCAF3 PHYAD:17
[  667.820263] mtk_soc_eth 15100000.ethernet eth1: PHY [i2c:sfp2:11] driver [Realtek RTL8261N] (irq=POLL)
[  674.433150] Realtek RTL8261N i2c:sfp1:11: rtkphy_config_init:69 [RTL8261N/RTL826XB] phy_id: 0x1CCAF3 PHYAD:17
[ 1291.895056] mtk_soc_eth 15100000.ethernet eth2: PHY [i2c:sfp1:11] driver [Realtek RTL8261N] (irq=POLL)

It also reports a S/N different from the one printed on the devices but from a software point of view, everything else seems fine and active, painfully long IP negotiation with the upstream router (10.0.0.X) without successfully establishing a link (after a mere 10+ minutes PER SFP)

I've read here that due to shared I2C pins, there could be a conflict if the M.2 slot is populated, which was at some point but then unpopulated without making a difference.

It was suggested somewhere I just can't find anymore that the br-wan could be causing the SFP not to work and th iface should be directly pointing to eth2

Of course, none of the suggestions worked
ethtool report the link as active.

EDIT :

root@OpenWrt:~# ethtool eth1
Settings for eth1:
        Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
        Supported link modes:   100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
                                10000baseT/Full
                                2500baseT/Full
                                5000baseT/Full
        Supported pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
        Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
        Supported FEC modes: Not reported
        Advertised link modes:  100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
                                10000baseT/Full
                                2500baseT/Full
                                5000baseT/Full
        Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
        Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
        Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
        Link partner advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                             100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                             1000baseT/Full
                                             2500baseT/Full
        Link partner advertised pause frame use: No
        Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
        Link partner advertised FEC modes: Not reported
        Speed: 2500Mb/s
        Duplex: Full
        Port: Twisted Pair
        PHYAD: 17
        Transceiver: external
        Auto-negotiation: on
        MDI-X: Unknown
        Current message level: 0x000000ff (255)
                               drv probe link timer ifdown ifup rx_err tx_err
        Link detected: yes

Note that partner is only compatible with up to 2.5G

According to this Banana Pi R3 - Enable SFP to RJ45 Adapters with OpenWRT both interfaces should be up and running, but despite ethtool message, according to this guy Gigabit SFP module shows link up with correct rate, but doesn't receive any octets/packets · Issue #34 · Aquantia/AQtion it might be a driver compatibility problem.

Any Insights?

Thanks

2

How do you know it has a Marvell chip inside?

3

I'm assuming it's a marvell chip inside according to the Aliexpress listing (see below). I've contacted the supplier to double check the veracity of their statement. That said, I'm skeptical as it is recognised as a Realtek based SFP

image
image950×965 132 KB

4

The chip from Marvell according to the documentation is gigabit, you bought supposedly 10gb and it reports as 5gb.
I bet there is a Realtek inside, disassemble the SFP and confirm it yourself.

5

That is a very fair point. I'll look into it (no puns intended)

6

20250504_030813
20250504_0308131440×4000 393 KB

yep, indeed Realtek

1 Like
7

For copper, I ended up using the SFP-10G-T from the Sinovoip store. After installing kmod-phy-aquantia, the phy is exposed and it's been running great so far. Link negotiation is working at least down to 1GbE.

1 Like
8

I have various issues related to sfp with rtl8261n

  • freeze after a while
  • did not detect be14 wireless card

In all that situation, sometimes just preset reset button (or unplug for a while) works, but it was a case that... Nothing helps. After doing all crazy things I spotted that... Choosing reset settings in UART (when nand reset in nand, when SD card reset emmc, when emmc reset emmc) helped... That was very very strange and still dunno what was the main issue. What I know, that since few weeks where I do not install kmod-phy-realtek in the images, it works normally.
BPI r4 is a mistery :slight_smile:

9

Do you mean the kmod-phy-realtek causes issues and should not be installed? I noticed the drivers for the RTL8261N come with an other package, not sure which.
Thanks

10

FWIW I use https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NW1VBX6?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 They are nice because they can auto negotiate any speed up to 10Gbps. I also got them in a 2 pack so one for wan and one for lan... They work great and don't break the bank too much.

11

dang,i paid 5bucks for optical one on aliexpress :sweat_smile:

12

optical ones seem to be cheaper the dang Ethernet ones are typically super expensive.