r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C

The same problem with Realtec 8111c in the GIGABYTE 945GCM-S2L in ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04
I try with 7.04 its work

Thank you for the reply!

I don't know if you tried it with GbE and if you also tried to actually transfer files. On my two GA-G31M-S2L boards (RTL8111C), it does NOT work 99% of the time. Very rarely, I can DHCP and I get an address assigned. When I try to browse my network, it gets very slow, and then no longer works on Ethernet. No other symptoms, other than the Ethernet quits working. Try to disable/enable by clicking on the button in the network icon, and it cannot DHCP again after quitting.

This is the same behavior as with my Ubuntu 7.10. I fixed it and made it 100% reliable with the Realtek driver. Ubuntu/Linux Kernel 2.6.24 is not using the correct driver for this chip. By the way, FreeBSD also has the same problem.

Summary, it works fine in Windows XP, and it works fine with the updated Realtek drivers. It does NOT work in Ubuntu 7.10 or 8.04 beta with the distribution driver for this NIC.

Dean

 -------------- Original message from sasha <email address hidden>: --------------

> The same problem with Realtec 8111c in the GIGABYTE 945GCM-S2L in ubuntu
> 7.10 and 8.04
> I try with 7.04 its work
>
> --
> r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24
>
> The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard. Ubuntu
> 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it does, it stops
> working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in earlier versions
> (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel (2.6.24). Workarounds are
> available by recompiling with the correct Realtek Linux driver (from their
> website) however, these are wiped out with every application of the Ubuntu
> Update Manager.
>

Hi Dean I whant to try install proper driver from Realtek but I have not enougf experiments with LINUX.Do you can support me with this procedure?

 Sasha,
See:
http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?searchid=38352049

 -------------- Original message from sasha <email address hidden>: --------------

> Hi Dean I whant to try install proper driver from Realtek but I have
> not enougf experiments with LINUX.Do you can support me with this
> procedure?
>
> --
> r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24
>
> The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard. Ubuntu
> 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it does, it stops
> working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in earlier versions
> (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel (2.6.24). Workarounds are
> available by recompiling with the correct Realtek Linux driver (from their
> website) however, these are wiped out with every application of the Ubuntu
> Update Manager.
>

Hi Dean. your link
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

 Sorry. Pasted wrong link...
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=671614

 -------------- Original message from sasha <email address hidden>: --------------

> Hi Dean. your link
> Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.
>
> --
> r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24
>
> The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard. Ubuntu
> 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it does, it stops
> working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in earlier versions
> (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel (2.6.24). Workarounds are
> available by recompiling with the correct Realtek Linux driver (from their
> website) however, these are wiped out with every application of the Ubuntu
> Update Manager.
>

Hi Dean,

Do you know if there have been any efforts to get the working driver pushed upsteam into the mainline vanilla kernel. It is a lot of extra work for the Ubuntu kernel team to maintain out of tree patches. As such they usually require evidence of upstream submission before considering to maintain community patches locally. Thanks.

 Hi, Leann!
Thanks for the reply. I don't know if there have been any attempts to fix this in the mainline kernel. I have seen reports of this by people using several different Linux distributions (FreeBSD, too!) for close to a year, now. I am a newbie, so I don't really know the way to push this or with whom to do so. I just am having trouble finding ANY recent GbE motherboards (many of which use this NIC family) which work with something other than Windows. I use both Ubuntu and FreeBSD, and both have a problem with their r8169 drivers. It's as if whoever maintains the ethernet driver code thinks these are done and compatible, but they are not.

What can I do to help?
Thanks,
Dean
 -------------- Original message from Leann Ogasawara <email address hidden>: --------------

> Hi Dean,
>
> Do you know if there have been any efforts to get the working driver
> pushed upsteam into the mainline vanilla kernel. It is a lot of extra
> work for the Ubuntu kernel team to maintain out of tree patches. As such
> they usually require evidence of upstream submission before considering
> to maintain community patches locally. Thanks.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24
>
> The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard. Ubuntu
> 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it does, it stops
> working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in earlier versions
> (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel (2.6.24). Workarounds are
> available by recompiling with the correct Realtek Linux driver (from their
> website) however, these are wiped out with every application of the Ubuntu
> Update Manager.
>

Hey, check this out.

http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24/+bug/212497

I think it is fixed in the Ubuntu 8.04 RC version. Could you guys also test it so that we can make it sure whether it is actually solved or not.

There's no page with this address in Launchpad.

Check that you entered the address correctly.

Return to the Launchpad front page

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Blade II
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:09 PM
To: Sasha Lanis
Subject: [Bug 205374] Re: r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C

Hey, check this out.

http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-ubuntu-

modules-2.6.24/+bug/212497

I think it is fixed in the Ubuntu 8.04 RC version. Could you guys also

test it so that we can make it sure whether it is actually solved or

not.

--

r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C

https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374

You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber

of the bug.

Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: Triaged

Bug description:

Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24

The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard.
Ubuntu 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it
does, it stops working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in
earlier versions (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel
(2.6.24). Workarounds are available by recompiling with the correct
Realtek Linux driver (from their website) however, these are wiped out
with every application of the Ubuntu Update Manager.

************************************************************************
************

This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by

PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals &
computer viruses.

************************************************************************
************

Hey, sasha.

The link is broken in the email so you need to manually copy and paste the URL to the navigation toolbar of your web browser. You need to copy from 'http://' to '/212497' and paste all in one line.

Otherwise you can come to the bug report post, where I'm writing this comment, to get the correct link, and this is the easiest way to get the correct link.

Just come to the link below and check out the comment.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/205374

Regards,
Kevin

 I will be happy to check, but I won't be able to do it before Sat, 26 April.
Dean
 -------------- Original message from Blade II <email address hidden>: --------------

> Hey, sasha.
>
> The link is broken in the email so you need to manually copy and paste
> the URL to the navigation toolbar of your web browser. You need to copy
> from 'http://' to '/212497' and paste all in one line.
>
> Otherwise you can come to the bug report post, where I'm writing this
> comment, to get the correct link, and this is the easiest way to get the
> correct link.
>
> Just come to the link below and check out the comment.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/205374
>
> Regards,
> Kevin
>
> --
> r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24
>
> The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard. Ubuntu
> 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it does, it stops
> working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in earlier versions
> (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel (2.6.24). Workarounds are
> available by recompiling with the correct Realtek Linux driver (from their
> website) however, these are wiped out with every application of the Ubuntu
> Update Manager.
>

I posted a reply on the other link. In a nutshell, 8.04RC still does not work with the Realtek PCI-express 8111C.

Dean, I'm not sure if you had chance to read my reply on the other post you've mentioned. Anyway, after I read your comment, I found that Realtek released the new version of RTL8111B/RTL8168B/RTL8111/RTL8168/RTL8111C ethernet card driver for Linux three days ago.

I think the new one maybe solves the problem as the one, released in January this year, solved the same problem, which occurred in Ubuntu 7.10. However, I haven't tested so it is just a guess.

Please check this out.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#2

Regards,
Kevin

Kevin,
I saw you message, but it does not good that Realtek released the driver.
Their previous driver worked fine with the current version of Ubuntu. The
problem is that if you patch the kernel with Realtek's new driver, your
patch will only work until the next Ubuntu update. At that point, it will
be wiped out and you will resort to the old driver and have to start all
over again.

The driver updates by Realtek need to be incorporated in the linux kernel
driver for the 8111 chip set. And I'm afraid that is beyond the Ubuntu
team's ability to control. Until it gets into the kernel, it the problem
will continue to return over and over again. That is why I am trying to
find out (I'm a newbie) exactly how, and to whom, to report this problem to
get if fixed in the linux kernel. If you know, or anyone who reads this
knows, please speak up and explain where to report this, and how to get it
the attention it needs from the linux driver software engineer(s).

Thanks,
Dean

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Blade II
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 5:01 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 205374] Re: r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C

Dean, I'm not sure if you had chance to read my reply on the other post
you've mentioned. Anyway, after I read your comment, I found that
Realtek released the new version of
RTL8111B/RTL8168B/RTL8111/RTL8168/RTL8111C ethernet card driver for
Linux three days ago.

I think the new one maybe solves the problem as the one, released in
January this year, solved the same problem, which occurred in Ubuntu
7.10. However, I haven't tested so it is just a guess.

Please check this out.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid
=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#2

Regards,
Kevin

--
r8169 Driver not stable with Realtek 8111C
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/205374
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.

Status in Source Package "linux" in Ubuntu: Triaged

Bug description:
Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24

The Realtec 8111C is integrated in the Giga-Byte G31M-S2L motherboard.
Ubuntu 8.04 beta will usually not find the Ethernet interface. When it
does, it stops working with any traffic. This bug has been reported in
earlier versions (Gutsy) and persists, even in the newer Linux kernel
(2.6.24). Workarounds are available by recompiling with the correct Realtek
Linux driver (from their website) however, these are wiped out with every
application of the Ubuntu Update Manager.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/226026 was marked as a duplicate of this one, however, in my case, the card is always discovered and has an IP address assigned using DHCP but fails to work, same thing happens if I manually configure it. I believe my system has been fixed, however, simply by disabling IPv6. Unfortunately, due to the intermittent nature of the fault I'm unable to say either way with any certainty. I would be interested to find out if IPV6 has only been introduced since Hardy or if it is implemented differently.

If you want to try disabling IPV6, the instructions are here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WebBrowsingSlowIPv6IPv4?action=show&redirect=DisableIPv6

r8169 is also broken for me. I have a Realtek PCI-E 8111C, integrated into a Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L. The bug, for me, has manifested itself differently, and more subtly.

My problems are: 1) I have intermittent trouble acquiring an IP via DHCP in Hardy, 2) Networking is completely broken in Fedora 9, and 3) Avahi service discovery doesn't work, except locally, although other computers can see my published Avahi services.

Jameson's patch & install script for the Realtek-supplied driver (http://www.jamesonwilliams.com/hardy-r8168.html) works great for me. Installing r8168 solves at least #1 and #3 above.

Bug #141343 seems to related to this.

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.

Last Sunday on 2008-08-21, I performed an upgrade to 8.10 alpha6 on my newest workstation (I think a lot of bugs are hardware related and the older machines are running fine).

So after booting a couple of times, I didn't notice any failure of the Realtec 8111C chips and I hope it will stay that way.

With 8.04.1, the problem always occurred in combination with Bug #185157. And although I did not see this specific error the login process still takes some awfully long minutes. If I can pinpoint this later problem I will fill a bug report.

If you need more information, don't hesitate to ask.

Sorry, my last Sunday was 2008-09-21!

@deanfred, since you are the original bug reporter, can you confirm if this is still an issue for you with Intrepid? Thanks.

Leann,
I do NOT believe this has been fixed. I downloaded the 8.10 live session CD and booted from it. I have exactly the same problem. On *some* boots, I can get an I.P. address assigned through DHCP. Some times it will fail to DHCP. In either case, pings to my internal network result in 100% loss. I do not believe this problem has been fixed in the Intrepid beta release. Is there anything in my previous (8.04) installation that could be interfering with the boot from the Live CD? I would think that any blacklisted drivers, etc., will be ignored when booting off the Live beta CD.

I've had the same problem with 8.10 (both LiveCD and dual boot with WinXP) on a Gigabyte GA-MA74G-S2H motherboard with 8111C chip. After running lshw -C Network, it says Eth0 is disabled. Even after enabling Eth0 (not quite sure how, tried ~3 pages of commands!), removing Network Manager and editing the Interfaces file to Auto Eth0 and Auto inet Eth0 (I think, off the top of my head), still can't connect to the internet. DHCP, IP and MAC addresses assigned fine - doing it manually makes no difference. Yet to try the most recent Realtek Linux driver though.

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.

I'm having the same problem on a gigabyte board with built-in realtek nic. I've found numerous bugs for the same issue, not sure which is the main one and if ubuntu team is checking for duplicates.

I have created a script on another machine that emails me when the link is down. I then crosschecked against all my logs and could not find anything related to the network going down.

This problem seems to be happening since 2.26.24 on r8169 (as per bugs I found).

My machine has two cards (second is a different brand), only the Realtek stops working.

==============================================================================

OS: Ubuntu Intrepid AMD64

Problem:
Card stops working for a period of time (usually 5-15 minutes)

Bugs I found: 76489, 212497, 256331, 286489, 293661, 205374, 141343

=>lspci -vvv | less
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device e000
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 2300
        Region 0: I/O ports at c000 [size=256]
        Region 2: Memory at f6000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at fa100000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
        Kernel modules: r8169

=>cat /proc/version_signature
Ubuntu 2.6.27-7.16-server

=>ifconfig
RX bytes:10506838810 (10.5 GB) TX bytes:1987163061 (1.9 GB)

=>dmesg
[169782.011271] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[169782.011278] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-2.6.27/net/sched/sch_generic.c:219 dev_watchdog+0x272/0x280()
[169782.011281] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0 (r8169): transmit timed out
[169782.011283] Modules linked in: vmnet vmci vmmon ipt_MASQUERADE iptable_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 xt_state nf_conntrack ipt_REJECT xt_tcpudp bridge stp kvm ppdev ipv6 iptable_filter ip_tables x_tables ac lp loop snd_hda_intel parport_pc snd_pcm snd_timer pcspkr snd evdev shpchp iTCO_wdt parport intel_agp button soundcore iTCO_vendor_support pci_hotplug snd_page_alloc ext3 jbd mbcache sr_mod cdrom ata_generic sd_mod crc_t10dif pata_jmicron sg ata_piix pata_acpi pata_it821x via_rhine mii libata r8169 scsi_mod dock ehci_hcd uhci_hcd usbcore raid10 raid456 async_xor async_memcpy async_tx xor raid1 raid0 multipath linear md_mod dm_mirror dm_log dm_snapshot dm_mod thermal processor fan fbcon tileblit font bitblit softcursor fuse [last unloaded: vmnet]
[169782.011353] Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not tainted 2.6.27-7-server #1
[169782.011355]
[169782.011356] Call Trace:
[169782.011358] <IRQ> [<ffffffff8024e91c>] warn_slowpath+0xbc/0xf0
[169782.011366] [<ffffffff803a23ba>] ? __next_cpu+0x1a/0x30
[169782.011371] [<ffffffff8024535c>] ? find_busiest_group+0x1dc/0x970
[169782.011375] [<ffffffff80219d26>] ? read_tsc+0x16/0x40
[169782.011380] [<ffffffff80273f44>] ? timer_stats_update_stats+0x24/0x370
[169782.011383...

Hi guys... this worked like magic for me:

http://www.jamesonwilliams.com/hardy-r8168.html

Hope it helps!!!

This bug was reported a while ago but there hasn't been any recent comments or updates. Is this still an issue with the latest pre-release of Jaunty 9.04? Refer to https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2009-April/000121.html. Please let us know.

This appears to finally be fixed in 9.04. I tested it on the RC and then let the machine update (through ethernet). After reboots and power-downs, it is still working on one of the test platforms.

Hello,

It seams to me I have the same problem, but with the latest 9.04. It worked under 8.10, but since it has been upgraded the eth0 goes down and come up again automatically on heavy traffic (eg. I want to backup the harddisk over the lan). On "normal" use (SSH, updates, web server access) it just works fine.

I wanted to replace the driver with the one from Realtek (just as it is described here: http://acm.cse.lehigh.edu:8080/~jhw204/hardy-r8168), but Make modules says "No rule to make target 'modules'. Stop.". So I will have to find the reason for that first :) and I am not a Linux guru at all.
I have an Intel Dual Atom matherboard with Realtek Gigabit ethernet (Realtek RTL8111/R8168B PCI express GIgabit Ethernet Controller (rev 02).

@Brad Figg

I did not have this problem since I upgraded from 8.04 to 8.10. Also 9.04 is running fine here.

Since deanfred is the original bug reporter, based on his comment https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/205374/comments/28 I'm going to close this as Fix Released against the latest Jaunty 9.04 kernel. It's not likely to qualify for a Stable Release Update for Intrepid or Hardy. If anyone else is still experiencing issues, please open a new bug report as you are likely experiencing a slightly different issue. Thanks.