3com NIC stops working after some time

[Balaam's Miracle]

In my PC i have 2 NICs, on eth0 i have a built-in NIC of an unknown brand/type and on eth1 i have a 3Com 3C900b-TPO.
Eth1 connect to the internet, eth0 is the LAN.

The problem is with eth1. Since my upgrade to Feisty "the internet" stops responding.
At first i thought it was a DNS issue, but discarded that idea after i've found that IP addresses outside my LAN couldn't even be pinged at that time.

I've tried restarting networking by executing "/etc/init.d/networking restart" but that didn't help.
Restarting the PC helped for a while, but that is hardly a solution to the problem since i am running a shoutcast server and an FTP server which i really want to keep available at all times.

I've found the following in /var/log/syslog:

[ 2442.499383] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
[ 2442.499396] eth1: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status 8601.
[ 2442.499405] diagnostics: net 0cc8 media 8880 dma 0000003a fifo 8800
[ 2442.499410] eth1: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
[ 2442.499517] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 169764(4) current 169764(4)
[ 2442.499521] Transmit list 00000000 vs. dfa4e480.
[ 2442.499526] 0: @dfa4e200 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499529] 1: @dfa4e2a0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499533] 2: @dfa4e340 length 8000002a status 8001002a
[ 2442.499536] 3: @dfa4e3e0 length 8000002a status 8001002a
[ 2442.499539] 4: @dfa4e480 length 80000036 status 00010036
[ 2442.499543] 5: @dfa4e520 length 8000004a status 0001004a
[ 2442.499546] 6: @dfa4e5c0 length 8000004a status 0001004a
[ 2442.499549] 7: @dfa4e660 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499552] 8: @dfa4e700 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499555] 9: @dfa4e7a0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499559] 10: @dfa4e840 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499562] 11: @dfa4e8e0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499566] 12: @dfa4e980 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499569] 13: @dfa4ea20 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499572] 14: @dfa4eac0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499576] 15: @dfa4eb60 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[ 2442.499580] eth1: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.

The times of these entries coincide with the times that the NIC stops responding.

The problems started after upgrading the kernel to 2.6.20. I'm currently running the 2.6.17 kernel without problems so i've ruled out the option of it being a hardware issue.
The driver used in both kernels is 3c59x, which suprized me since the 3c59x line was an ISA card and the 3c90x is a (non-wireless) PCI card.

[Edit 05-05-2007]
See also http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=417032
Bug seems to be related to having 2 NICs in one system.
[/Edit]

[Rodrigo Donado (frezeeer)]

I have the same problem, I can reproduce the problem by starting any bittorrent program and waiting, I think its related to the kernel, this is a copy of the kern.log:
May 1 13:35:14 enterprise kernel: [67280.876000] eth1: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] eth1: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status 8601.
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] diagnostics: net 0cd8 media 8880 dma 0000003a fifo 0000
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] eth1: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 250909(13) current 250909(13)
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] Transmit list 00000000 vs. dfd24a20.
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 0: @dfd24200 length 8000006b status 0c01006b
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 1: @dfd242a0 length 8000013f status 0c01013f
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 2: @dfd24340 length 8000006b status 0c01006b
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 3: @dfd243e0 length 80000143 status 0c010143
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 4: @dfd24480 length 8000006b status 0c01006b
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 5: @dfd24520 length 80000143 status 0c010143
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 6: @dfd245c0 length 8000006b status 0c01006b
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 7: @dfd24660 length 80000046 status 0c010046
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 8: @dfd24700 length 8000003e status 0001003e
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 9: @dfd247a0 length 8000008f status 0c01008f
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 10: @dfd24840 length 8000008f status 0c01008f
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 11: @dfd248e0 length 8000008f status 8c01008f
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 12: @dfd24980 length 8000003a status 8c01003a
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 13: @dfd24a20 length 8000006b status 0c01006b
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 14: @dfd24ac0 length 80000068 status 0c010068
May 1 13:35:25 enterprise kernel: [67290.876000] 15: @dfd24b60 length 8000013f status 0c01013f

and this is my card, from lspci:
 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 30)

Any help would be really appreciated

[Ph0B1uS (bjorn-thoor)]

I have the same problem with my 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 78).

May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] eth0: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status e681.
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] diagnostics: net 0ccc media 88c0 dma 0000003a fifo 8800
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] eth0: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 163142(6) current 163142(6)
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] Transmit list 00000000 vs. dfcaf5c0.
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 0: @dfcaf200 length 80000047 status 0c010047
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 1: @dfcaf2a0 length 8000004a status 0001004a
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 2: @dfcaf340 length 8000004a status 0001004a
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 3: @dfcaf3e0 length 8000004d status 0c01004d
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 4: @dfcaf480 length 80000047 status 8c010047
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 5: @dfcaf520 length 80000047 status 8c010047
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 6: @dfcaf5c0 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 7: @dfcaf660 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 8: @dfcaf700 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 9: @dfcaf7a0 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 10: @dfcaf840 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 11: @dfcaf8e0 length 8000003c status 0c01003c
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 12: @dfcaf980 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 13: @dfcafa20 length 8000003c status 0c01003c
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 14: @dfcafac0 length 80000047 status 0c010047
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] 15: @dfcafb60 length 80000042 status 00010042
May 1 13:51:40 phobius-desktop kernel: [ 6883.076000] eth0: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.

It seems as if the problem is related to the amount and speed of data transmitted/recieved.
I can go to as many web sites as I like, stay online for hours on numerous IM services but as soon as I try to download something that's +100MB the problem occurs.

I've never had this problem until I upgraded to fiesty, I ran edgy since the release until about a week back when I upgraded.

I can't really go back to using the older kernels as the nvidia module won't compile because of differing gcc-versions so it seems like I'm stuck with this problem until
I bake my own kernel or downgrade.

I haven't tried it but would it be possible to use the old code for the 3C905/509-drivers to make a module or compile it into the kernel?

[Rodrigo Donado (frezeeer)]

Yes I think it is related to the speed, or size, with small files no problem it can run for days, and when I use it as a "normal" user nothing happens, the minute I try to download something big, it stops, I need to reboot, the network monitor seems fine, but the internet doesnt work.

[Balaam's Miracle (balaam-balaamsmiracle)]

Changed status to "Confirmed" and assigned to "ubuntu-core-dev".

[Balaam's Miracle (balaam-balaamsmiracle)]

Last night i've installed the kernel update from 2.6.20.15.14 to 2.6.20.16.28.1, but the problem persists.

[Slight Slightly (slight--deactivatedaccount)]

Same problem here. Happened after I moved the HDD to a new box.

dmesg:

[36487.119709] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
[36487.119717] eth0: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status 8601.
[36487.119723] diagnostics: net 0cfa media 8880 dma 0000003a fifo 8000
[36487.119726] eth0: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
[36487.119829] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 3775454(14) current 3775454(14)
[36487.119832] Transmit list 00000000 vs. f7d67ac0.
[36487.119836] 0: @f7d67200 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119838] 1: @f7d672a0 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119840] 2: @f7d67340 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119843] 3: @f7d673e0 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119845] 4: @f7d67480 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119848] 5: @f7d67520 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119850] 6: @f7d675c0 length 80000036 status 00010036
[36487.119852] 7: @f7d67660 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119855] 8: @f7d67700 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119857] 9: @f7d677a0 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119859] 10: @f7d67840 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119862] 11: @f7d678e0 length 8000004e status 0001004e
[36487.119864] 12: @f7d67980 length 80000042 status 80010042
[36487.119867] 13: @f7d67a20 length 8000004e status 8001004e
[36487.119869] 14: @f7d67ac0 length 80000042 status 00010042
[36487.119872] 15: @f7d67b60 length 800005e2 status 000105e2
[36487.119876] eth0: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.

uname:
Linux rogue 2.6.20-16-generic #2 SMP Wed May 23 01:46:23 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb Host Bridge (rev a1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb LPC Bridge (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce 250Gb PCI System Management (rev a1)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK8S USB Controller (rev a1)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK8S USB Controller (rev a1)
00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce3 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev a2)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK8S Parallel ATA Controller (v2.5) (rev a2)
00:0a.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK8S Serial ATA Controller (v2.5) (rev a2)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb AGP Host to PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb PCI-to-PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV44A [GeForce 6200] (rev a1)
02:07.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] (rev 08)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 74)
02:09.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 74)
02:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Lt...

[Bart Kroon (bart-kroon)]

I have the same problem.

kern.log excerpt:
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] eth1: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status e601.
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] diagnostics: net 0cc8 media 8880 dma 0000003a fifo 0000
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] eth1: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 826375(7) current 826375(7)
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] Transmit list 00000000 vs. dfd2c660.
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 0: @dfd2c200 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 1: @dfd2c2a0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 2: @dfd2c340 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 3: @dfd2c3e0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 4: @dfd2c480 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 5: @dfd2c520 length 8000002a status 8001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 6: @dfd2c5c0 length 8000002a status 8001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 7: @dfd2c660 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 8: @dfd2c700 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 9: @dfd2c7a0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 10: @dfd2c840 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 11: @dfd2c8e0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 12: @dfd2c980 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 13: @dfd2ca20 length 8000002e status 0001002e
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 14: @dfd2cac0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] 15: @dfd2cb60 length 8000002a status 0001002a
Jun 23 07:51:06 myhost kernel: [199555.063000] eth1: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.

uname -a:
Linux scatology 2.6.20-16-lowlatency #2 SMP PREEMPT Thu Jun 7 20:23:03 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb Host Bridge (rev a1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb LPC Bridge (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce 250Gb PCI System Management (rev a1)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK8S USB Controller (rev a1)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK8S USB Controller (rev a1)
00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce3 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev a2)
00:05.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK8S Ethernet Controller (rev a2)
00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce3 250Gb AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a1)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK8S Parallel ATA Controller (v2.5) (rev a2)
00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK8S Serial ATA Controller (v2.5) (rev a2)
00:0a.0 IDE interface: nVidia ...

[Mirar (launchpad-sort)]

Same problem here. Very annoying, this 3c905 has been working perfectly for around 10 years...

[ 41.193933] 3c59x: Donald Becker and others. www.scyld.com/network/vortex.html
[ 41.193938] 0000:05:01.0: 3Com PCI 3c905 Boomerang 100baseTx at 000000000001b000.

...
[404126.567091] 15: @ffff810059798b60 length 8000002a status 8000002a
[404126.567096] eth0: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.
[404136.556391] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
[404136.556401] eth0: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status e000.
[404136.556410] diagnostics: net 0cc0 media 8802 dma 00880021 fifo 8800
[404136.556418] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 16(0) current 32(0)
[404136.556422] Transmit list 59798200 vs. ffff810059798200.
[404136.556427] 0: @ffff810059798200 length 80000099 status 00000099
[404136.556431] 1: @ffff8100597982a0 length 8000018a status 0000018a
...

Anyone knows which kernel to revert to to avoid this problem?

[Balaam's Miracle (balaam-balaamsmiracle)]

After months, bug was not assigned to anyone. Assigning it to ubuntu-kernel-team

[dm (jan-rauberg)]

I have also a 3Com PCI 3c905 Boomerang and it is the same problem. My PC runs 24h 7d a week. Sometimes after 5, sometimes after 1 day it stop working due to this behavior. Everytime I have to reboot because my home directory is remote. All I need is a stable machine.

[112118.321845] eth1: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.
[112128.313970] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
[112128.313977] eth1: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status e000.
[112128.313986] diagnostics: net 0cc0 media 8802 dma 00a00021 fifo 8800
[112128.313993] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 6832974(14) current 6832990(14)
[112128.313997] Transmit list 37f36ac0 vs. ffff810037f36ac0.
[112128.314002] 0: @ffff810037f36200 length 80000092 status 00000092
[112128.314006] 1: @ffff810037f362a0 length 80000092 status 00000092

[hex (studentenpack)]

Same problem here. But I also experienced the problem with my onboard Marvell Yukon network controller. After I had trouble with this controller I switched to my 3com 905 100mbit controller and the problem still appears.

[18587.644000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth2: transmit timed out
[18587.644000] eth2: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status 8601.
[18587.644000] diagnostics: net 0ccc media 8880 dma 0000003a fifo 8000
[18587.644000] eth2: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by anothe
r device?
[18587.644000] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 368610(2) current 368610(2)
[18587.644000] Transmit list 00000000 vs. c1b8b340.
[18587.644000] 0: @c1b8b200 length 80000107 status 8c010107
[18587.644000] 1: @c1b8b2a0 length 800000e7 status 8c0100e7
[18587.644000] 2: @c1b8b340 length 80000042 status 00010042
[18587.644000] 3: @c1b8b3e0 length 8000005c status 0c01005c
[18587.644000] 4: @c1b8b480 length 8000005c status 0c01005c
[18587.644000] 5: @c1b8b520 length 80000052 status 0c010052
[18587.644000] 6: @c1b8b5c0 length 80000052 status 0c010052
[18587.644000] 7: @c1b8b660 length 80000056 status 0c010056
[18587.644000] 8: @c1b8b700 length 80000056 status 0c010056
[18587.644000] 9: @c1b8b7a0 length 80000052 status 0c010052
[18587.644000] 10: @c1b8b840 length 8000005c status 0c01005c
[18587.644000] 11: @c1b8b8e0 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[18587.644000] 12: @c1b8b980 length 8000002a status 0001002a
[18587.644000] 13: @c1b8ba20 length 80000107 status 0c010107
[18587.644000] 14: @c1b8bac0 length 80000056 status 0c010056
[18587.644000] 15: @c1b8bb60 length 800000e7 status 0c0100e7
[18587.644000] eth2: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.

[Balaam's Miracle (balaam-balaamsmiracle)]

The following WORKAROUND works for me. I've performed these steps 3 days ago and my machine have been running non-stop, using the latest Feisty kernel (2.6.20-16-386):

Open menu.lst with:
   sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

Using Ctrl+W, Find the line that says:
   # defoptions=quiet splash

and change it to:
   # defoptions=quiet splash irqpoll

Close nano with Ctrl+X and confirm saving of file.

Next, enter:
   sudo update-grub

After a reboot, both NICs worked for me and kept working.
However, and i want to stress this: This is only a workaround, not a fix as a fix would make this workaround redundant.
I hope this works for other people as well.

Good luck everyone!

[Bart Kroon (bart-kroon)]

I read about this workaround before.

For me this workaround made the NIC stop working halfway opening my homepage
in Firefox.

2007/7/8, Balaam's Miracle <email address hidden>:
>
> The following WORKAROUND works for me. I've performed these steps 3 days
> ago and my machine have been running non-stop, using the latest Feisty
> kernel (2.6.20-16-386):
>
> Open menu.lst with:
> sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst
>
> Using Ctrl+W, Find the line that says:
> # defoptions=quiet splash
>
> and change it to:
> # defoptions=quiet splash irqpoll
>
> Close nano with Ctrl+X and confirm saving of file.
>
> Next, enter:
> sudo update-grub
>
> After a reboot, both NICs worked for me and kept working.
> However, and i want to stress this: This is only a workaround, not a fix
> as a fix would make this workaround redundant.
> I hope this works for other people as well.
>
> Good luck everyone!
>
> --
> 3com NIC stops working after some time
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/109629
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
----------------------------
Bart Kroon
Sint Jansstraat 24
5507 ND Veldhoven (Oerle)
msn: <email address hidden>
Tel.: [phone]
GSM: [phone]
http://bartkroon.eu

[john_coach (john-coach)]

Hi,

I've just had a similar problem, so I thought I'd let you know what mine was,
just in case its similar and helps you.

I'm a RedHat user, 7.2, Fedora Core 1, and now CentOS 5.

My hardware has been the same for the past 5 to 7 years (same NIC's), and always
worked without problems.

My NIC's are :-

3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 74)

In switching to CentOS 5, I've also just got a new ISP, which means a new cable
modem box.

With this cable modem box, my NIC eth0 gets an autoneg config of 10/half,
which is wrong, it should be 100/full.

My other NIC eth1, connects into a NetGear switch and gets an autoneg config
of 100/full, which is correct.

So there is something about this particular link of the NIC and the cable modem
box that was not autoneg'ing correctly.

The result was that the link appeared to work, but could be slow, and from
time to time would simply drop out completly for a few seconds, then come
back.

It looked like a DNS problem to start with, and its taken me hours of trying
all combinations of 3 PC boxes (with different NIC's) and 2 ISP lines (ie. two
seperate modem boxes) to narrow it down to this problem.

Setting the NIC config to 100/full manually fixed the problem.

NB. the kernel driver is '3c59x' - so its not exactly the correct driver for my
NIC's, but it's been working for years.

If this is a related problem, and the autoneg gets fixed, please let me know.

Yours,
John.

[Mirar (launchpad-sort)]

This bug is apparently not very important. Anyone knows which kernel/dists that *do* work? I can't run much longer with this...

Now the network timeout halted the system long enough to shut down my raid:

[608679.074481] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
[608679.074490] eth0: transmit timed out, tx_status 00 status e000.
[608679.074499] diagnostics: net 0cc0 media 8802 dma 00a00021 fifo 8800
[608679.074507] Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 40617982(14) current 40617998(14)
[608679.074511] Transmit list 7bea4ac0 vs. ffff81007bea4ac0.
...
[608679.074571] eth0: Resetting the Tx ring pointer.
[608680.580930] ata7.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xef)
[608680.580943] ata7.01: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x4)
[608680.580948] ata7.01: disabled
[608681.084387] ata7: EH complete
[608681.088767] VFS: busy inodes on changed media.
[608681.089671] VFS: busy inodes on changed media.
[608687.622840] ata5.00: qc timeout (cmd 0x27)
[608687.622851] ata5.00: ata_hpa_resize 1: sectors = 976773168, hpa_sectors = 0
[608687.622863] ata5.00: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40)
[608687.622867] ata5.00: disabled
[608688.126318] ata5: EH complete
[608688.126382] sd 4:0:0:0: SCSI error: return code = 0x00040000
[608688.126386] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 862369017
[608688.126397] md: super_written gets error=-5, uptodate=0
[608688.126402] raid1: Disk failure on sdc3, disabling device.
[608688.126404] Operation continuing on 1 devices
[608688.126431] sd 4:0:0:0: SCSI error: return code = 0x00040000
[608688.126434] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 10312065
[608688.126520] EXT3-fs error (device md0): read_inode_bitmap: Cannot read inod
e bitmap - block_group = 28, inode_bitmap = 917505
[608688.127978] sdc : READ CAPACITY failed.
[608688.127980] sdc : status=0, message=00, host=4, driver=00
[608688.127983] sdc : sense not available.
[608688.128338] sdc: Write Protect is off
[608688.128341] sdc: Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[608688.128575] sdc: asking for cache data failed
[608688.128578] sdc: assuming drive cache: write through
[608688.148540] RAID1 conf printout:
[608688.148546] --- wd:1 rd:2
[608688.148549] disk 0, wo:1, o:0, dev:sdc3
[608688.148552] disk 1, wo:0, o:1, dev:sda3

Arrrg!

[john_coach (john-coach)]

I never managed to fully determin what the problem was, so I decided to
replace it with another one.

I choose the Netgear FA311v2. quite cheap, auto detected and working well.

John.

[Mirar (launchpad-sort)]

I compiled and installed a plain 2.6.22.1, lets see if the problem remain.

[Mirar (launchpad-sort)]

Nope, 2.6.22.1 didn't solve the problem. I give up now, as well.

[Nekomancer (jborden)]

2.6.23-rc3 fixed the issues for me. Several changes have been made to the genirq code, which I'm guessing is what fixed it.

[Bart Kroon (bart-kroon)]

For me the whole problem appears to be an IRQ problem because I noticed that:

 - disabling the other network card helped
 - using the graphics card & network at the same time made it worse: i.e: play video in firefox
 - Windows XP Home has strikingly similar symptoms

I can't remember I ever had a problem since I switched from Ubuntu Studio Feisty i386 to Ubuntu Studio Gutsy x86_64 so maybe it is now solved.

Linux ****** 2.6.22-14-rt #1 SMP PREEMPT RT Sun Oct 14 22:53:32 GMT 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux

           CPU0
  0: 364 IO-APIC-edge timer
  1: 44726 IO-APIC-edge i8042
  6: 2 IO-APIC-edge floppy
  7: 0 IO-APIC-edge parport0
  8: 0 IO-APIC-edge rtc
  9: 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi acpi
 14: 1554265 IO-APIC-edge ide0
 16: 8106765 IO-APIC-fasteoi eth0, nvidia
 19: 3 IO-APIC-fasteoi ohci1394
 20: 689244 IO-APIC-fasteoi sata_nv
 21: 13 IO-APIC-fasteoi ohci_hcd:usb3
 22: 48440513 IO-APIC-fasteoi ohci_hcd:usb2, NVidia CK8S
 23: 336645 IO-APIC-fasteoi ehci_hcd:usb1, sata_nv
NMI: 0
LOC: 180847496
ERR: 0

[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 bug to the new "linux" package. However, development has already began for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. It would be helpful if you could test the upcoming release and verify if this is still an issue - http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . If the issue still exists, please update this report by changing the Status of the "linux" task from "Incomplete" to "New". We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Thanks!

[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.

[john_coach (john-coach)]

I'm not running Ubuntu, but if you really need this tested, let me know and I
can get a test install done (please send me a link to download ISO's) on a
spare machine.

If you have people in the UK, the problem I had was with connecting this
NIC to the cable modem from the Virgin ISP. I've seen the same 'box' in
the USA, but you would need to check out the exact details to see if they
match.

John.

> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:09:37 +0000
> Subject: [Bug 109629] Re: 3com NIC stops working after some time
>
> 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.
>
> ** Tags added: cft-2.6.27
>
> --
> 3com NIC stops working after some time
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/109629
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

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[Steven Flintham (saf)]

As requested I have upgraded to the following kernel:

Linux riemann 2.6.27-2-generic #1 SMP Thu Aug 28 17:20:02 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

and have not seen the problem. I also never saw it with the previous kernel, vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic. I did experience it earlier, apologies for not immediately reporting this when I upgraded to whichever precise kernel fixed it but since I never saw a notice claiming the bug was fixed I forgot about it.

Thanks.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Per the last comment I'm marking this "Fix Released". 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.