Buggy Realtek Semiconductor RTL8111/8168B driver ?

Joseph_sys

I have Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
with: Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) chip

The kernel-3.1.5-gentoo I'm using is loading:

bjlockie · Veteran Joined: 18 Oct 2002 Posts: 1186 Location: Canada

I've been using it for years with no dropped connections.
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)

What happens if you run dhcpcd manually?

Joseph_sys · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:59 pm Post subject:

Joseph_sys · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:07 pm Post subject:

Ho to emerge this driver "net-misc/r8168"

agent_jdh · Veteran Joined: 08 Aug 2002 Posts: 1783 Location: Scotland

emerge -f r8168

While you have a working ethernet connection; that will download the files required for the ebuild. Then rebuild your kernel (or just delete the .ko file if it's a module), reboot, and emerge r8168.
_________________
Jingle Jangle Jewellery

Joseph_sys · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:42 pm Post subject:

agent_jdh · Veteran Joined: 08 Aug 2002 Posts: 1783 Location: Scotland

Try it and see - I use the kernel r8169 module and it autoloads fine without having to specify it in /etc/conf.d/modules. YMMV.
_________________
Jingle Jangle Jewellery

Joseph_sys · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:13 pm Post subject:

Joseph_sys · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:59 am Post subject:

Do I need to black list the "r8169" if so how?

I've installed: net-misc/r8168-8.026.00
but: lspci -v
still keep showing me I'm using: "Kernel driver in use: r8169"

j_c_p · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:41 am Post subject:

cach0rr0 · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:28 pm Post subject:

I have experience with only one system that uses r8169, a server rented from Hetzner (EQ4)

However it does not like hardened newer than 2.6.34. I know of at least one other Gentoo user who has had this same problem (he actually warned me about the issue). I thought it was supposed to be fixed with 3.x kernel, but I guess not.

This sort of thing sometimes happens, I remember sky2 (Syskonnect Yukon 2) drivers caused a kernel panic a while ago. I think I saw a thread about e1000 having the same thing, but I have seen many threads over the years and my memory could betray me.

Either way, I know 2.6.34-hardened seems to work ok with r8169, have not tried anything newer since I need this server for work.
_________________
Lost configuring your system?
dump lspci -n here | see Pappy's guide | Link Stash

Gusar · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject:

Hmm, this is just a guess, but... Do you guys have the linux-firmware package installed? It contains firmware for these cards in the rtl_nic directory. If the driver is compiled as a module, this firmware will get loaded. Might help. I have a "rev 03" of this card and I never had any issues.

bjlockie · Veteran Joined: 18 Oct 2002 Posts: 1186 Location: Canada

bjlockie · Veteran Joined: 18 Oct 2002 Posts: 1186 Location: Canada

ycUygB1 · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:21 am Post subject:

The Realtek 8168 does not use the 8169 driver. It uses the driver in http://code.google.com/p/r8168/
which is also in net-misc. Attempts to use the 8169 driver are misguided and will fail in various ways and degrees.

The Gentoo install media does not contain the 8168 driver. Thus, Gentoo cannot be easily installed on new hardware that has only this network card.
One would need network connectivity (which one cannot get) in order to retrieve the correct driver.

Gusar · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:38 am Post subject:

ycUygB1 · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:14 am Post subject:

OK, I stand corrected. The 8168 uses the 8169 driver, but it doesn't work. And the Gentoo install media doesn't recognize the hardware and therefore doesn't load the 8169 driver, which doesn't work anyway unless you happen to be doing an install on old hardware.

Gusar · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:48 am Post subject:

If you have a variant that isn't recognized at all, please post the output of lspci -nn. The -nn is important, it will show the pci-id that I'm interested in.

ycUygB1 · Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 8:11 am Post subject:

I am sorry for the delay. I ordered an e1000 card, and when Amazon delivered it I was able to set up Gentoo.

Gusar · Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:02 am Post subject:

That firmware is in the linux-firmware package, as I indicated a few posts above. My card works without it, so there must be some integrated firmware already on the chip, but this external one possibly improves the functioning of the thing.

What's the kernel on the install media? Maybe it's simply too old to support your card, and a newer kernel works fine.

ycUygB1 · Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:07 am Post subject:

The kernel on the install media is 3.5.7, which has since been marked as unstable. The install media was downloaded this month, not sure of the exact date.