Ethernet card r8169 occasionally not working

[Antonio]

linux-image-2.6.24-19-generic

I have installed Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 on a Dell laptop (Vostro 1310) with a Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller.

When I boot the system the ethernet card does not work most of the time. I have to boot 3 or 4 times before I get it working, by chance.

The lspci line for the eth0 card is:

    07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)

When the card is not working, the following is shown in dmesg:

[ 48.955905] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.2LK loaded
[ 48.957588] r8169: probe of 0000:07:00.0 failed with error -22

On a working boot this looks like:

[ 22.501241] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.2LK loaded
[ 22.502075] eth0: RTL8168c/8111c at 0xf8866000, 00:1c:23:56:05:55, XID 3c2000c0 IRQ 218

With the kernel 2.4.24-18 the card never worked. I updated the kernel to 2.4.24-19 downloading it to an usb key and the card started working, but only sometimes.

Furthermore, when the card does not work, if I unload and then reload the r8169 module I get this message on the system log:

    eth0: no IPv6 routers present
    ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:07:00.0 disabled
    r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.2LK loaded
    ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
    PCI: cache line size of 32 is not supported by device 0000:07:00.0
    ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:07:00.0 disabled
    r8169: probe of 0000:07:00.0 failed with error -22

During these unlucky boots I can't see any "eth0 link up" or "eth0 link down" message.

I attach the full lscpi -v output, lsmod output, dmesg output of a non-working boot and dmesg output of a working boot.

[djmaze (maze)]

I'm experiencing the same problem with an integrated RTL8139. Powering off the notebook before booting Linux helps.

Seems to be a driver problem:

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Realtek_8169_Driver_Problem

[Antonio (tritemio)]

Thanks for your comment.

Although I have windows in dual boot I never boot it. I always boot the same ubuntu version and I experience this problem nonetheless.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[Antti Kaijanmäki (kaijanmaki)]

The issue still remains with alpha5 2.6.27-2. I will try to provide more information later.

[Antti Kaijanmäki (kaijanmaki)]

OK, my problem might not be the same as the original bug:

    r8169 0000:02:00.0: unknown MAC (37a00000)

I have to investigate this further.

[Antonio (tritemio)]

I'm testing the 2.6.27-3-generic kernel on hardy (2.6.27-2 crashed too often to be used for testing) for a few days and I haven't encountered the bug anymore.

I'll report if I'll encounter the bug in the next days.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Per Antonio's last comment and since he is the original bug reporter, I'm marking this Fix Released for Intrepid. @Antti, if you still are experiencing issues, please open a new bug report. Thanks.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.