kernal loads wrong driver for Realtek rtl8111/8168b

[Benchrest]

Linix mint olivia 15 cinnamon
kernal 3.8.0-19-generic

Failure to boot, three symtoms:
1. screen is filled with messages with the last saying r8169 no connection (will add test shortly)

something like the messages I get with number 2. I will test some more tomorrow.
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977005] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977013] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977050] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977268] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready

2. grub screen with no timer. If select normal wonders off to no where. Select recovery mode and after awhile get chance to pick normal boot and it completes.

3. boots up normal

Normally with this variation I would suspect hardware problem. But Ubuntu and Linux Mint load the realtek driver R8169. Going to the Realtek web site they say R8168 is the correct driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B. Also there are many entries on the web for downloading and installing the R8168 driver from Realtek to fix many problems with the RTL8111/8168. My problem is I am not tech heavy enough to understand how to do it and besides the kernal should load the correct driver. Also of the many problems identified with the wrong driver being loaded, my symptoms don't match any of those reported. Nobody reports unable to boot.

I have a syslog trace of number two above, it is long. I will attempt to insert part of it showing the failure and then the recovery. Search on R8169 in the log to find the entries.

Jun 4 12:47:15 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): new Ethernet device (driver: 'r8169' ifindex: 2)
Jun 4 12:47:15 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): exported as /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0
Jun 4 12:47:15 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): device state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed') [10 20 2]
Jun 4 12:47:15 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): bringing up device.
Jun 4 12:47:15 desktop3 dbus[1507]: [system] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.ColorManager' (using servicehelper)
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): preparing device.
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): deactivating device (reason 'managed') [2]
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Added default wired connection 'Wired connection 1' for /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/net/eth0
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <warn> /sys/devices/virtual/net/lo: couldn't determine device driver; ignoring...
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977005] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977013] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977050] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 kernel: [ 153.977268] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <warn> /sys/devices/virtual/net/lo: couldn't determine device driver; ignoring...
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Using config file /etc/colord.conf
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Using mapping database file /var/lib/colord/mapping.db
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Using device database file /var/lib/colord/storage.db
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: loaded plugin libcd_plugin_scanner.so
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: plugin /usr/lib/colord-plugins/libcd_plugin_sane.so not loaded: plugin refused to load
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: loaded plugin libcd_plugin_camera.so
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Daemon ready for requests
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 dbus[1507]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.ColorManager'
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Profile added: icc-f5cf9cb1331928471dbcd67d7229aff5
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Profile added: icc-e9984ac92492c61ae319f57aa7cbb102
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Profile added: icc-dff20c58ed34af3a30bc97b2b2a1b6c5
Jun 4 12:47:16 desktop3 colord: Profile added: icc-709099b11b3ec2828a314682a3c09f75

Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful.
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) scheduled.
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) started...
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> (eth0): device state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none') [50 70 0]
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 kernel: [ 155.739824] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link up
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 kernel: [ 155.739833] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Beginning DHCPv4 transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> dhclient started with pid 2017
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Beginning IP6 addrconf.
Jun 4 12:47:17 desktop3 NetworkManager[1573]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) complete.

[Benchrest (benchrest)]

It took 35 minutes of retrying to finally get the system booted this morning. I am going to try and install r8168 driver before rebooting again as I am afraid that sooner or later it just will not boot. As a side note I have another machine that is nearly identical running Nadia 14 cinnamon that does not have any trouble booting. Although it has the same motherboard and also has the onboard Realtek rtl8111/8168b it is not connected as I have a wireless card for that machine. But it does boot ok even though it also loads the r8169 driver.

[Benchrest (benchrest)]

Cannot install r8168 on my system. Get error messages from the make command. Think I am doing it right. So I am still stuck with boot failures 2 out of 3 attempts aprox.

[Benchrest (benchrest)]

User had enough of taking so many retries to get Olivia to boot. So I installed Nadia as it is working on another identical machine. After three days and a dozen boots no failures. So I don't think it is a hardware problem. Wether Olivia has an issue or files got corrupted or I screwed up the install I have no idea. So far I know of no one else having this issue. However I still maintain loading the driver r8169 is wrong per Realtek. r8168 is the reccomend driver and it would also take advantage of the hardware capability of running faster than 100mb.