Internet connection work for 5 min get slow and stop
 

Hi,
I just a got a thinkpad t23. I just installed gentoo linux on it. But I am having a really annoying problem with my internet connection. I use kde konqueror to browse the net but the same problem happens when I am using mozilla, giFT, etc... or any of my software trying to access internet.
In fact after about 4 to 5 min browsing, my connection get quickly slow and stop.
I have to type "/etc/init.d/net.eth0 restart" to get it to work again. And it is so annoying, since I cannot download any big file off internet.
I have tried to recompile my entire computer with a newer gcc with -02 optimization thinking that it could have been a mistake done by too much optimization, since I had that optimization option set up to -0s in my /etc/make.conf
But know had improved after about a day and 5 hours of compilation.

Please I really need help on that.

Thanks to the great linux community.

does it also happen if you use a live cd such as knoppix??

No it doesn't do the same thing when I use livecd. I have a gentoo livecd and I used it to install gentoo linux on my computer and everything went just fine.
Today in class, I was talking to class mate who sugest me to change dhcpcd by another dhcp client. I will be trying it and see what it does. Or I will try first to assign myself and static ip and see what happen.
But if you have any suggestion, please let me know.

Not sure about gentoo.. but does your router or modem change your /etc/resolv.conf nameservers to some internal addresses? its something to do about dhcp lease time..

I just try disabling dhcpcd and I try to set up my ip manually, but it still do the samething. I am really running out of solution. I have also set up all the right dns nameserver in my /etc/resolv.conf.
If it wasn't setup right I wouldn't be even able to browse internet for the few minute that i can before it stops. So I do not think the problem comes from that. I was thinking it was dhcpcd, but nope.
I hope there is somebody out there who can help me.

Thanks again to the great linux community...

what does "lsmod" look like before and during the problem??

I had a problem once with an a-link modem/router which overrided the dns-server with 10.0.0.2, it was extremly slow but worked tho.. i had to set up my dns servers statically.

before after the problem there is no other modules added. I have compiled most of kernel code as modules to be sure that there was no other unused module that could be affecting my network card. I am going to check on that dns think. Thanks guys. Wonderful linux comunity, you don't get the samething with micro$oft.

Here below is what I get with lsmod:

af_packet 13320 2
pcmcia 32556 4
firmware_class 8192 1 pcmcia
crc32 4096 1 pcmcia
yenta_socket 25484 4
rsrc_nonstatic 12288 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 35856 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
snd_pcm_oss 49824 0
snd_mixer_oss 17408 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_oss 31872 0
snd_seq_midi_event 5888 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 48272 4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 7052 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_intel8x0 29468 2
snd_ac97_codec 93472 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_ac97_bus 1920 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm 80392 4 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer 20996 3 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 45540 11 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd _timer
soundcore 7392 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 8712 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
rtc 10292 0
e100 35716 0
mii 5120 1 e100
unix 22448 196

I have also realized that when it stops before I type "/etc/init.d/net.eth0 restart" to restart it, everything work slow, just like there was a process that was taking most of the processor throughtput. I was listing to music with xmms and it stopped saying that it couldn't open the aRts something, I guess the sound server that I use with kde. I must be a process that is running bad, but I can't tell with one.
Concerning the dns overiding, how I can disable it, if it is the case.
Thanks again.

yes, of course... but what i wanted to see was whether the module for your NIC stopped being used when the problem kicked-in... in order to see this i would need a before and after snapshot... :)

either way, is your NIC's module the "e100"?? cuz the lsmod output you posted says it's not being used, which is what i feared:

have a "top" running in an xterm while the problem occurs, it should show you which process, if any, is eating away at your cpu cycles...

also, does anything get output to your logfiles when the problem accurs??

the e100 35716 0 is always like that, before it starts acting like that and after it start acting weird. I think that the 0 at the end mean that there is not external module using the e100, probably an internal kernel module. In that case it is count when writting lsmod.
When I was install gentoo, I did not install anything for log, because I was thinking that it was going to eat up cpu cycles for something that i do not read often. But i am installing syslog-ng to see what is going on, I do not have much choice right now.
Thank you for all your help, I will appreciate more suggestion, and I will keep y'all inform of what is going on.

i'm not so sure about this... it sounds very strange, i would expect the 0 to be a 1 if the module is being used... much like the e100 module in the lsmod example over here: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...l-modules.html

BTW: could you post the output of lspci please??

BTW2: have you tried the eepro100 module to see if it makes any difference??

Sorry for my late response.
Syslog-ng did not seem to know what was going on at all. I had alread tried the eepro100 module and I remember that it was doing the samething, I am going to try again and see, and see if building them directly in the kernel change something to the outcome.
This is what I have with lspci -v
Thanks again.

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82830 830 Chipset Host Bridge (rev 02)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information
Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82830 830 Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 96
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64
Memory behind bridge: c0100000-c01fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: e0000000-ebffffff

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #1) (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1800 [size=32]

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #2) (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #3) (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1840 [size=32]

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 41) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=08, sec-latency=64
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00006fff
Memory behind bridge: c0200000-cfffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: f0000000-f7ffffff

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 01)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 (rev 01) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at <ignored>
I/O ports at <ignored>
I/O ports at <ignored>
I/O ports at <ignored>
I/O ports at 1860 [size=16]
Memory at 20000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM SMBus Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1880 [size=32]

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 (2647-4MG) or A30/A30p (2652/2653)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1c00 [size=256]
I/O ports at 18c0 [size=64]

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: S3 Inc. SuperSavage IX/C SDR (rev 05) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 (2647-4MG)
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
Memory at c0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
Memory at e4000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at e2000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [80] AGP version 2.0

02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 (2647-4MG)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Bus: primary=02, secondary=03, subordinate=06, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: f0000000-f1fff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: c2000000-c3fff000
I/O window 0: 00002000-000020ff
I/O window 1: 00002400-000024ff
16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 (2647-4MG)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
Memory at 51000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Bus: primary=02, secondary=07, subordinate=0a, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: f2000000-f3fff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: c4000000-c5fff000
I/O window 0: 00002800-000028ff
I/O window 1: 00002c00-00002cff
16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

02:02.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems WinModem 56k (rev 01)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. IBM ThinkPad T23 (2647-4MG)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
Memory at c0201000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
I/O ports at 6440 [size=8]
I/O ports at 6000 [size=256]
Capabilities: [f8] Power Management version 2

02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 41)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 11
Memory at c0200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
I/O ports at 6400 [size=64]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2

isn't it odd to have so many different components (including your NIC) using IRQ 11??

i really think you should look into that... :)