---
name: "bnx"
section: "4"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/bnx"
---

# bnx(4)

Broadcom NetXtreme II 10/100/1Gb Ethernet device

## NAME

**bnx** – Broadcom NetXtreme II 10/100/1Gb Ethernet device

## SYNOPSIS

**bnx\* at pci?** **brgphy\* at mii?**

## DESCRIPTION

The **bnx** driver supports Broadcom's NetXtreme II product family which is made up of the BCM5706, BCM5708, BCM5709, and BCM5716 Ethernet controller chips. Products using these controller chips include:

- HP NC370F PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit server adapter (1000baseSX)

- HP NC370T PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP Dual NC370i Multifunction Gigabit embedded server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP NC373F PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit server adapter (1000baseSX)

- HP NC373i PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit embedded server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP NC374m PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit embedded server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP NC373T PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP NC380T PCI Express Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

- HP NC382T PCI Express Dual Port server adapter (10/100/1000baseT)

The NetXtreme II product family is composed of various Converged NIC (or CNIC) Ethernet controllers which support a TCP Offload Engine (TOE), Remote DMA (RDMA), and iSCSI acceleration, in addition to standard L2 Ethernet traffic, all on the same controller. The following features are supported in the **bnx** driver under OpenBSD:

```
IPv4 receive IP/TCP/UDP checksum offload
IPv4 transmit TCP/UDP checksum offload
VLAN tag insertion and stripping
interrupt coalescing
10/100/1000Mbps operation in full-duplex mode
10/100Mbps operation in half-duplex mode
```

The **bnx** driver supports the following media types:

- **autoselect**

  Enable autoselection of the media type and options. The user can manually override the autoselected mode via [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md).

- **10baseT/UTP**

  Set 10Mbps operation. The [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md) **mediaopt** option can also be used to select either **full-duplex** or **half-duplex** modes.

- **100baseTX**

  Set 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) operation. The [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md) **mediaopt** option can also be used to select either **full-duplex** or **half-duplex** modes.

- **1000baseT**

  Set 1000baseT operation over twisted pair. Only **full-duplex** mode is supported.

- **1000baseSX**

  Set 1000Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) operation. Only **full-duplex** mode is supported.

- **2500baseSX**

  Set 2500Mbps operation. Only **full-duplex** mode is supported.

The **bnx** driver supports the following media options:

- **full-duplex**

  Force full duplex operation.

- **half-duplex**

  Force half duplex operation.

For more information on configuring this device, see [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md).

## FILES

The adapter needs firmware files to run, which are loaded on demand by the driver when the device is attached:

- */etc/firmware/bnx-b06*

  - */etc/firmware/bnx-b09*

  - */etc/firmware/bnx-rv2p*

  - */etc/firmware/bnx-xi-rv2p*

  - */etc/firmware/bnx-xi90-rv2p*

  ## SEE ALSO

[arp(4)](/arp/4.md), [brgphy(4)](/brgphy/4.md), [ifmedia(4)](/ifmedia/4.md), [intro(4)](/intro/4.md), [netintro(4)](/netintro/4.md), [pci(4)](/pci/4.md), [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md), [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **bnx** device driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.0.

## AUTHORS

The **bnx** driver was written by David Christensen ⟨*davidch@broadcom.com*⟩ and ported to OpenBSD by Brad Smith ⟨*brad@openbsd.org*⟩.