Linux fails to detect the ethernet

RohitBhosale · 06-27-2009, 07:39 PM

Lately I have realized that my eeepc 1008ha has stopped showing Ethernet Connection. I always connected over wireless however never really bothered about it. Today when I see from Linux (Ubuntu 9.04) - I found that it only showed the wireless card and connected to Wireless network but no eth0!

If I switch to Windows XP/ Win7, I see wired as well wireless connection and both work fine. However Linux only shows one - wireless.

How do I get the Ethernet thingie back??? I remember distinctly that it used to work earlier. Not sure from when it stopped working.

Code:

$ lspci -v | grep Network
01:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

$ cat /etc/network/interfaces 
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

Do you see any problem here?

michaelk · 06-27-2009, 08:14 PM

Not enough information provided. Why do you think that your ethernet adapter is no longer being recognized? Have you tried using it? I assume you have looked at the entire output of the lspci command.

For example my Eee PC 900:
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wirele ss PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Corp. L2 100 Mbit Ethernet Adapter (rev a0)

What does the output of the ifconfig command show:
ifconfig -a

LeeDaugherty · 06-27-2009, 11:04 PM

Ditto on Michael's ifconfig -a ... run that and post...especially the 'eth0' section...

Possibilities (listed most probable to oh crap...)
1) DHCP Turned Off
2) eth0 NetworkManager deleted or misconfigured (similar to 1)
3) Driver / Module disappeared or failed to load
4) Other miscellaneous 'user error' - Bad Cable, Hub/Switch, etc...

Since Ubuntu almost solely uses NetworkManager (Gnome) to "Just Work" the networks...most configuration will be done out of it. You will find your config options by right-clicking on your "wireless strength bars" up by your clock (since you've said your wireless is working. Go down to "Edit Connections" a window will come up. By default under the tab 'Wired' it should have 'auto eth0' listed. If not...you need to add it back in. Click '+ ADD'. If it exists, click it to highlight then 'Edit' off to the right. Enter your "sudo" password. To make life easier make sure "Connect Automatically" is checked, your MAC Address, and MTU is automatic...click IPv4 Settings Tab..."Automatic DHCP" in the first box should be selected unless you have a better plan in mind or received instructions from your network admin otherwise. If everything already matches the above, post back. If you had to create a new "auto eth0" then click apply and try to plug your cat5 cable in again.
When you plug (and unplug) your cable you should see some OSD (on-screen display / messages) saying auto eth0 connected etc...Link active etc... By default NetworkManager favors wired connections, so if it works it should "switch" to your eth0 in favor of wlan0 you might have running.

RohitBhosale · 06-28-2009, 12:33 PM

Thanks for replying folks.

michaelk ... here is the output you requested.

Code:

$ lspci -v | grep Ether
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Attansic Technology Corp. Device 1062 (rev c0)

In Windows, both Wired and Wireless lan are by Atheros - not sure what is this!

Code:

$ ifconfig -a
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:457 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:457 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:13377 (13.3 KB)  TX bytes:13377 (13.3 KB)

pan0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 26:cc:88:da:91:29  
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:25:d3:09:19:ca  
          inet addr:192.168.0.199  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::225:d3ff:fe09:19ca/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:11206 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:11146 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:7738764 (7.7 MB)  TX bytes:2338230 (2.3 MB)

wmaster0  Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-25-D3-09-19-CA-39-63-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  
          UP RUNNING  MTU:0  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

LeeDaugherty ... I did not see any "auto eth0" and also while adding it manually I do not know the MAC. How do I find that?

michaelk · 06-28-2009, 01:13 PM

It appears with a little googling that this adapter uses the atl1e module.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/wal2/atheros_attansic.html

LeeDaugherty · 06-28-2009, 06:38 PM

The atl1e module comes with Jaunty...

Rohit post a "lsmod | grep atl"

Let's make sure the Atheros (the company/brand name) driver is loaded up.

RohitBhosale · 06-28-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

It appears with a little googling that this adapter uses the atl1e module.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/wal2/atheros_attansic.html

This was useful but hasn't yet solved my problem. I followed all the steps mentioned on the link above. I see the following now

Code:

$ sudo dmesg|grep Atheros
[   12.339094] phy0: Atheros AR9285 MAC/BB Rev:2 AR5133 RF Rev:e0: mem=0xf7fc0000, irq=18
[   13.234518] Atheros(R) AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Network Driver - version 1.0.1.0
[   13.234529] Copyright (c) 2007 Atheros Corporation.

$ sudo modprobe -l atl1e
kernel/drivers/net/atl1e/atl1e.ko

However my ifconfig doesn't show any MAC address for Ethernet connection. The output is all same as I had posted in the earlier post. Is there anymore step missing?

LeeDaugherty ... here is ther output you requested ... I think it has loaded up the driver.

Code:

$ lsmod | grep atl
atl1e                  39956  0

RohitBhosale · 06-28-2009, 07:45 PM

how do I find out if there is any eth0 or anything? I see the same error message as shown below for eth0, eth1, ath0, ath1 ...

Code:

$ sudo ifconfig eth0 up
eth0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

ifconfig doesn't list any eth0!

farslayer · 06-29-2009, 08:23 AM

you probably need to add a line for eth0 to your /etc/network/interfaces configuration file.

Code:

# The primary network interface
iface eth0 inet dhcp

then once you load the module the interface can come up..

RohitBhosale · 06-29-2009, 10:40 AM

I have it ... still my ifconfig -a doesn't show eth0!

Code:

$ cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

farslayer · 06-29-2009, 01:32 PM

Maybe it's not being detected as eth0...

cat /var/log/dmesg | grep -i eth

RohitBhosale · 06-29-2009, 02:15 PM

as mentioned earlier, I see the following. Were you asking for the same?

Code:

$ sudo dmesg|grep Atheros
[   12.339094] phy0: Atheros AR9285 MAC/BB Rev:2 AR5133 RF Rev:e0: mem=0xf7fc0000, irq=18
[   13.234518] Atheros(R) AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Network Driver - version 1.0.1.0
[   13.234529] Copyright (c) 2007 Atheros Corporation.

If not, then I shall run the command tonight again and post the update.

farslayer · 06-29-2009, 03:45 PM

You greped for the Atheros driver.. I wish to see if it tied any driver to eth0, eth1, other... so yes please run the new command.

RohitBhosale · 06-29-2009, 11:02 PM

here you go ...

Code:

$ cat /var/log/dmesg | grep -i eth
[    2.382359] Driver 'sd' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
[    2.382383] Driver 'sr' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
[   11.250378] eeepc: Get control methods supported: 0x101703
[   12.897748] Atheros(R) AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Network Driver - version 1.0.1.0
[   20.816962] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3

seems the driver is loaded ... rt?

LeeDaugherty · 06-30-2009, 01:02 AM

If you are using NetworkManager in Gnome in Ubuntu...(which you are) you do NOT need to put the eth0 clause in your interfaces file...delete it! It will confuse NetworkManager...its the (stupid) but weird thing about Ubuntu (Gnome)...it wants control...conf file will only confuse it....Your interfaces file should ONLY have 'lo' under Ubuntu Gnome...welcome to the "NEW" Linux...Ok...soap box for a second...at What Point....do we give way to learning...and make things "Easy" for people...I'm not saying make everyone hit conf files for a hobby, but geez people....NetworkManager is a PRIME example of making things "Just Work"....since when is that the goal in life...since when is that the goal in Linux? I hand out Ubuntu keys everyday to everyone I meet...and I say "It's time to learn something new...and be safer while you do it"...By no means is this a motto...but when will developers stop cow-towing to beginners? They have their place, and that's fine, I was one once, and that's why we help them out...but applications like NetworkManager piss me off, they make things TOO easy...which makes them simply...more complicated. And the long-standing bugs speak highly of this program (2 min roaming...which STILL happens...we have ALL learned DON'T ROAM and we have a WAP...hell there is 14K in NYC alone). Off soap-box...sorry for breaking the rules...it's just my two cents...I've seen Linux go down a very welcomed....but troublesome in some ways path...I challenged all users and moderators: Don't just say the answer...Say Why! That's why we are here...Tell us Why in the forums...is users don't read it...that's their problem...I learned from asking why? instead of how...