Network manager says my USB-based ethernet devices are not supported, though I can connect manually

[Piotr Kołaczkowski]

I have a Dell Precision 5520 laptop with a Thunderbolt USB 3.1 type C port that I connect to a Dell TB15 docking station connected with an Ethernet cable.

Network manager section for ethernet connections is all grayed out, and it says "device unsupported".

USB subsystem seems to detect the device just fine:

```
$ lsusb
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0424:5537 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 046d:c31f Logitech, Inc.
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:4014 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0424:2137 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52f Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1bcf:2b95 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
```

```
$ sudo lsusb -v -d 0bda:8153
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Device Descriptor:
  bLength 18
  bDescriptorType 1
  bcdUSB 3.00
  bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass 0
  bDeviceProtocol 0
  bMaxPacketSize0 9
  idVendor 0x0bda Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
  idProduct 0x8153
  bcdDevice 30.01
  iManufacturer 1 Realtek
  iProduct 2 USB 10/100/1000 LAN
  iSerial 6 000001000000
  bNumConfigurations 2
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 2
    wTotalLength 57
    bNumInterfaces 1
    bConfigurationValue 1
    iConfiguration 0
    bmAttributes 0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower 64mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 0
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 3
      bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol 0
      iInterface 0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval 0
        bMaxBurst 3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval 0
        bMaxBurst 3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes 3
          Transfer Type Interrupt
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0002 1x 2 bytes
        bInterval 8
        bMaxBurst 0
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 2
    wTotalLength 98
    bNumInterfaces 2
    bConfigurationValue 2
    iConfiguration 0
    bmAttributes 0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower 64mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 0
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 1
      bInterfaceClass 2 Communications
      bInterfaceSubClass 6 Ethernet Networking
      bInterfaceProtocol 0
      iInterface 5 CDC Communications Control
      CDC Header:
        bcdCDC 1.10
      CDC Union:
        bMasterInterface 0
        bSlaveInterface 1
      CDC Ethernet:
        iMacAddress 3 D481D773B38D
        bmEthernetStatistics 0x00000000
        wMaxSegmentSize 1514
        wNumberMCFilters 0x0000
        bNumberPowerFilters 0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes 3
          Transfer Type Interrupt
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0010 1x 16 bytes
        bInterval 8
        bMaxBurst 0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 1
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 0
      bInterfaceClass 10 CDC Data
      bInterfaceSubClass 0 Unused
      bInterfaceProtocol 0
      iInterface 0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 1
      bAlternateSetting 1
      bNumEndpoints 2
      bInterfaceClass 10 CDC Data
      bInterfaceSubClass 0 Unused
      bInterfaceProtocol 0
      iInterface 4 Ethernet Data
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval 0
        bMaxBurst 3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval 0
        bMaxBurst 3
Binary Object Store Descriptor:
  bLength 5
  bDescriptorType 15
  wTotalLength 22
  bNumDeviceCaps 2
  USB 2.0 Extension Device Capability:
    bLength 7
    bDescriptorType 16
    bDevCapabilityType 2
    bmAttributes 0x00000002
      Link Power Management (LPM) Supported
  SuperSpeed USB Device Capability:
    bLength 10
    bDescriptorType 16
    bDevCapabilityType 3
    bmAttributes 0x02
      Latency Tolerance Messages (LTM) Supported
    wSpeedsSupported 0x000e
      Device can operate at Full Speed (12Mbps)
      Device can operate at High Speed (480Mbps)
      Device can operate at SuperSpeed (5Gbps)
    bFunctionalitySupport 2
      Lowest fully-functional device speed is High Speed (480Mbps)
    bU1DevExitLat 10 micro seconds
    bU2DevExitLat 2047 micro seconds
Device Status: 0x0010
  (Bus Powered)
  Latency Tolerance Messaging (LTM) Enabled
```

The driver kernel module is loaded and seems to be working:

```
$ sudo lshw -C network
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Wireless 8265 / 8275
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlp2s0
       version: 78
       serial: 00:28:f8:9a:bd:3e
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.11.0-041100-generic firmware=22.391740.0 ip=192.168.0.59 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:145 memory:edc00000-edc01fff
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 2
       logical name: eth0
       serial: d4:81:d7:35:8c:11
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       capabilities: ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8152 driverversion=v1.08.9 duplex=full link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=1Gbit/s
```

```
$ lsmod | grep r8152
r8152 49152 0
mii 16384 2 usbnet,r8152
```

The ethernet device is created, but DOWN:

```
ifconfig -a

eth0: flags=4098<BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
        ether d4:81:d7:35:8c:11 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
        TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
```

Manually setting up connection works:
```
$ sudo ifconfig eth0 up
$ sudo dhclient eth0
$ ifconfig -a
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.0.213 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255
        inet6 fe80::d681:d7ff:fe35:8c11 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether d4:81:d7:35:8c:11 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
        RX packets 255 bytes 154738 (154.7 KB)
        RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
        TX packets 260 bytes 77762 (77.7 KB)
        TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

...

pkolaczk@p5520:~$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
default gateway 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0

$ ping ubuntu.com
PING ubuntu.com (91.189.94.40) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from ovinnik.canonical.com (91.189.94.40): icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=42.5 ms
64 bytes from ovinnik.canonical.com (91.189.94.40): icmp_seq=2 ttl=47 time=42.8 ms

```

Additionally, I noticed a Huawei E3272 LTE modem USB dongle also doesn't work exactly *the same way*.

When I insert the dongle, its LED turns on after a few seconds, indicating the modem initialized properly. The network interface (enx582c80139263) is created, but in a down state. Then if I manually make it UP and run dhclient, I get Internet connectivity just fine.

Ubuntu 17.04, all updates applied as of today.
I tried purging network-manager package and installing again but it didn't help.

[Piotr Kołaczkowski (pkolaczk-u)]

To make my workaround permanent, I tried adding the following lines to /etc/network/interfaces:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Weirdly, this hosed my system to the point it could no longer boot to login screen. It got totaly stuck at configuring eth0 (no matter if the cable was connected or not).

[Piotr Kołaczkowski (pkolaczk-u)]

Ok, I found a workaround here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/865945/after-upgrade-to-16-10-ethernet-stopped-working

sudo touch /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/10-globally-managed-devices.conf

Magic! Worked for me!
But there seems to be a bug anyway.