Network hangs

[Gavin Chappell]

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.15-22-686

I have a Toshiba Tecra A5, with onboard Marvell 88E8036 network adapter, using the sky2 driver. If I try to SCP a file to a remote host, it will copy a few megabytes and then all network activity will stop (SSH connections into the box get disconnected, my Kopete sessions stop, the SCP reports "- stalled- k"

If I stop the SCP, run "ifdown eth0; ifup eth0" then it will try to get a DHCP address, but never succeeds. If I tail the logs on the DHCP server, then I see

May 15 16:20:18 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0
May 15 16:20:18 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on www.xxx.yyy.zzz to 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0
May 15 16:20:29 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0
May 15 16:20:29 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on www.xxx.yyy.zzz to 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0
May 15 16:20:42 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0
May 15 16:20:42 DHCPSERVER dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on www.xxx.yyy.zzz to 00:0f:b0:86:37:79 via eth0

so the DHCP server is working and handing out IPs as normal, but the laptop won't pick up on this and eventually will timeout. Sometimes, doing "ifdown eth0; rmmod sky2; modprobe sky2; ifdown eth0; ifup eth0" will restore connectivity but mostly it doesn't, and I have to reboot.

There is nothing in /var/log/messages related to this driver apart from the normal messages when I remove and insert the kernel module. Is there any way I can reinstall the sk98lin driver easily (I know this used to be the default driver in Breezy/early Dapper, as I spent a while trying to find a way to get it to work with various HAL things as the driver/hardware didn't support MII correctly).

Note that this doesn't seem to affect downloads, I've been happily dist-upgrading my machine presumably since before the sk98lin/sky2 change (at far more than a few megs a go), but this is the first time I've tried to send a large file as I'm trying to get a backup of the documents etc on the laptop.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Beginning with the Hardy Heron 8.04 development cycle, all open Ubuntu kernel bugs need to be reported against the "linux" kernel package. We are automatically migrating this linux-source-2.6.15 kernel bug to the new "linux" package. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Also, if you would be interested in testing the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release, it is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . Please let us know your results. Thanks!