thanks guys for your suggestions and interest...
I think I've made progress. Here are some edited current lsmod, ifconfig and dmesg printouts after a fresh reboot - below. I think I've got the new driver in there working - have I?? In which case, maybe I 'm up to configuring my network connection? if so can I get ubuntu 12.04 to set up my connection automatically?
john@Computer-i7:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
nls_iso8859_1 12617 1
nls_cp437 12751 1
vfat 17308 1
fat 55605 1 vfat
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 31775 4
rfcomm 38139 0
bnep 17830 2
bluetooth 158438 10 rfcomm,bnep
parport_pc 32114 0
ppdev 12849 0
snd_hda_codec_realtek 174222 1
ext2 67987 1
snd_hda_intel 32765 5
snd_hda_codec 109562 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25424 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_pcm 80845 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
serio_raw 13027 0
snd_seq 51567 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 62064 20 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_rawmidi,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 14635 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 14108 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
mac_hid 13077 0
mei 36570 0
lp 17455 0
parport 40930 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
dm_crypt 22528 2
usbhid 41906 0
hid 77367 1 usbhid
r8168 235186 0
floppy 60310 0
nouveau 712356 3
ttm 65344 1 nouveau
drm_kms_helper 45466 1 nouveau
drm 197692 5 nouveau,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13199 1 nouveau
mxm_wmi 12859 1 nouveau
wmi 18744 1 mxm_wmi
video 19068 1 nouveau
usb_storage 39646 1
john@Computer-i7:~$
john@Computer-i7:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr f4:ec:38:80:cb:df
inet addr:192.168.178.31 Bcast:192.168.178.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::f6ec:38ff:fe80:cbdf/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1375 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:116 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:159400 (159.4 KB) TX bytes:16875 (16.8 KB)
Interrupt:50 Base address:0x8000
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:549 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:549 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:44640 (44.6 KB) TX bytes:44640 (44.6 KB)
john@Computer-i7:~$
dmesg
..[ 0.994915] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem 0xe8000000-0xe807ffff pref]
[ 0.994916] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01-01]
[ 0.994918] pci 0000:00:01.0: bridge window [io 0xe000-0xefff]
[ 0.994920] pci 0000:00:01.0: bridge window [mem 0xf6000000-0xf9ffffff]
[ 0.994922] pci 0000:00:01.0: bridge window [mem 0xe0000000-0xefffffff 64bit pref]
[ 0.994925] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem 0xdf800000-0xdf81ffff pref]
[ 0.994926] pci 0000:00:1c.0: PCI bridge to [bus 02-02]
[ 0.994929] pci 0000:00:1c.0: bridge window [io 0xd000-0xdfff]
[ 0.994933] pci 0000:00:1c.0: bridge window [mem 0xfbd00000-0xfbdfffff]
[ 0.994936] pci 0000:00:1c.0: bridge window [mem 0xdf800000-0xdf8fffff pref]
[ 0.994941] pci 0000:00:1c.7: PCI bridge to [bus 03-03]
[ 0.994945] pci 0000:00:1c.7: bridge window [mem 0xfbe00000-0xfbefffff]
[ 0.994963] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 0.994966] pci 0000:00:01.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 0.994970] pci 0000:00:1c.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 0.994973] pci 0000:00:1c.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 0.994980] pci 0000:00:1c.7: PCI INT D -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[ 0.994983] pci 0000:00:1c.7: setting latency timer to 64
[ 0.994986] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 4 [io 0x0000-0x0cf7]
[ 0.994987] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 5 [io 0x0d00-0xffff]
[ 0.994989] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 6 [mem 0x000a0000-0x000bffff]
[ 0.994990] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 7 [mem 0x000c0000-0x000dffff]
[ 0.994991] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 8 [mem 0xdf800000-0xfebfffff]
[ 0.994993] pci_bus 0000:01: resource 0 [io 0xe000-0xefff]
[ 0.994994] pci_bus 0000:01: resource 1 [mem 0xf6000000-0xf9ffffff]
[ 0.994995] pci_bus 0000:01: resource 2 [mem 0xe0000000-0xefffffff 64bit pref]
[ 0.994997] pci_bus 0000:02: resource 0 [io 0xd000-0xdfff]
[ 0.994998] pci_bus 0000:02: resource 1 [mem 0xfbd00000-0xfbdfffff]
[ 0.994999] pci_bus 0000:02: resource 2 [mem 0xdf800000-0xdf8fffff pref]
[ 0.995001] pci_bus 0000:03: resource 1 [mem 0xfbe00000-0xfbefffff]
[ 0.995023] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[ 0.995059] IP route cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
[ 0.995150] TCP established hash table entries: 131072 (order: 8, 1048576 bytes)
[ 0.995294] TCP bind hash table entries: 65536 (order: 7, 524288 bytes)
[ 0.995355] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 131072 bind 65536)
[ 0.995356] TCP reno registered
[ 0.995357] UDP hash table entries: 512 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[ 0.995361] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 512 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[ 0.995396] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[ 0.995410] pci 0000:00:1a.0: PCI INT C -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
[ 1.009610] pci 0000:00:1a.0: PCI INT C disabled
[ 1.009624] pci 0000:00:1d.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 23 (level, low) -> IRQ 23
[ 1.025565] pci 0000:00:1d.0: PCI INT A disabled
[ 1.025583] pci 0000:01:00.0: Boot video device
[ 1.025599] pci 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[ 1.025620] pci 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[ 1.025624] PCI: CLS 4 bytes, default 64
[ 1.026052] audit: initializing netlink socket (disabled)
[ 1.026058] type=2000 audit(1362890831.804:1): initialized
[ 1.044268] highmem bounce pool size: 64 pages
[ 1.044272] HugeTLB registered 2 MB page size, pre-allocated 0 pages
[ 1.053687] VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.5.2
[ 1.053730] Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
[ 1.054034] fuse init (API version 7.17)
[ 1.054086] msgmni has been set to 1517
[ 1.054296] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 253)
[ 1.054314] io scheduler noop registered
[ 1.054315] io scheduler deadline registered
[ 1.054318] io scheduler cfq registered (default)
[ 1.054375] pcieport 0000:00:01.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 1.054394] pcieport 0000:00:01.0: irq 40 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.054509] pci_hotplug: PCI Hot Plug PCI Core version: 0.5
[ 1.054523] pciehp: PCI Express Hot Plug Controller Driver version: 0.4
[ 1.054571] intel_idle: MWAIT substates: 0x1120
[ 1.054572] intel_idle: v0.4 model 0x2A
[ 1.054573] intel_idle: lapic_timer_reliable_states 0xffffffff
[ 1.054635] input: Power Button as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0C:00/input/input0
[ 1.054638] ACPI: Power Button [PWRB]
[ 1.054667] input: Power Button as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXPWRBN:00/input/input1
[ 1.054669] ACPI: Power Button [PWRF]
[ 1.058795] ERST: Table is not found!
[ 1.058797] GHES: HEST is not enabled!
[ 1.058838] isapnp: Scanning for PnP cards...
[ 1.058843] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 32 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[ 1.079177] serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
[ 1.200656] Freeing initrd memory: 20196k freed
[ 1.410441] isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
[ 1.449009] 00:08: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
[ 1.496372] Linux agpgart interface v0.103
[ 1.497305] brd: module loaded
[ 1.497738] loop: module loaded
[ 1.497813] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: version 3.0
[ 1.497822] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: PCI INT B -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[ 1.497853] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: irq 41 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.497876] ahci: SSS flag set, parallel bus scan disabled
[ 1.512188] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: AHCI 0001.0300 32 slots 6 ports 6 Gbps 0x3f impl SATA mode
[ 1.512190] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: flags: 64bit ncq sntf stag pm led clo pmp pio slum part ems apst
[ 1.512193] ahci 0000:00:1f.2: setting latency timer to 64
[ 1.552337] scsi0 : ahci
[ 1.552386] scsi1 : ahci
[ 1.552430] scsi2 : ahci
[ 1.552471] scsi3 : ahci
[ 1.552513] scsi4 : ahci
[ 1.552554] scsi5 : ahci
[ 1.552641] ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc100 irq 41
[ 1.552643] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc180 irq 41
[ 1.552645] ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc200 irq 41
[ 1.552646] ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc280 irq 41
[ 1.552648] ata5: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc300 irq 41
[ 1.552650] ata6: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m2048@0xfbffc000 port 0xfbffc380 irq 41
[ 1.552865] Fixed MDIO Bus: probed
[ 1.552875] tun: Universal TUN/TAP device driver, 1.6
[ 1.552876] tun: (C) 1999-2004 Max Krasnyansky <maxk@qualcomm.com>
[ 1.552904] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[ 1.552960] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[ 1.552970] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: PCI INT C -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
[ 1.552979] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 1.552981] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: EHCI Host Controller
[ 1.553005] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 1.553023] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: debug port 2
[ 1.556890] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: cache line size of 4 is not supported
[ 1.556901] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: irq 18, io mem 0xfbffe000
[ 1.571991] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[ 1.572065] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.572067] hub 1-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 1.572105] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 23 (level, low) -> IRQ 23
[ 1.572113] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 1.572115] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: EHCI Host Controller
[ 1.572141] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[ 1.572157] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: debug port 2
[ 1.576032] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: cache line size of 4 is not supported
[ 1.576042] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: irq 23, io mem 0xfbffd000
[ 1.587946] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[ 1.588005] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.588007] hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 1.588043] ohci_hcd: USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver
[ 1.588049] uhci_hcd: USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver
[ 1.588068] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[ 1.588078] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 1.588081] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[ 1.588105] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
[ 1.588259] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 19, io mem 0xfbefe000
[ 1.588314] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 42 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588317] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 43 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588321] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 44 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588325] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 45 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588328] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588332] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 47 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588336] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 48 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588339] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: irq 49 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 1.588470] xHCI xhci_add_endpoint called for root hub
[ 1.588472] xHCI xhci_check_bandwidth called for root hub
[ 1.588486] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.588491] hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 1.588524] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[ 1.588547] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
[ 1.591618] xHCI xhci_add_endpoint called for root hub
[ 1.591619] xHCI xhci_check_bandwidth called for root hub
[ 1.591632] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.591637] hub 4-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 1.655767] usbcore: registered new interface driver libusual
[ 1.655795] i8042: PNP: PS/2 Controller [PNP0303:PS2K] at 0x60,0x64 irq 1
[ 1.655796] i8042: PNP: PS/2 appears to have AUX port disabled, if this is incorrect please boot with i8042.nopnp
[ 1.655931] serio: i8042 KBD port at 0x60,0x64 irq 1
[ 1.655989] mousedev: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
[ 1.656081] rtc_cmos 00:04: RTC can wake from S4
[ 1.656165] rtc_cmos 00:04: rtc core: registered rtc_cmos as rtc0
[ 1.656189] rtc0: alarms up to one month, 242 bytes nvram, hpet irqs
[ 1.656222] device-mapper: uevent: version 1.0.3
[ 1.656263] device-mapper: ioctl: 4.22.0-ioctl (2011-10-19) initialised:
dm-devel@redhat.com
[ 1.656280] EISA: Probing bus 0 at eisa.0
[ 1.656281] EISA: Cannot allocate resource for mainboard
[ 1.656282] Cannot allocate resource for EISA slot 1
[ 1.656283] Cannot allocate resource for EISA slot 2
..[ 1.656289] Cannot allocate resource for EISA slot 8
[ 1.656290] EISA: Detected 0 cards.
[ 1.656295] cpufreq-nforce2: No nForce2 chipset.
[ 1.656415] cpuidle: using governor ladder
[ 1.656611] cpuidle: using governor menu
[ 1.656612] EFI Variables Facility v0.08 2004-May-17
[ 1.656723] TCP cubic registered
[ 1.656792] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 1.657045] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 1.657048] Registering the dns_resolver key type
[ 1.657061] Using IPI No-Shortcut mode
[ 1.657132] PM: Hibernation image not present or could not be loaded.
[ 1.657139] registered taskstats version 1
[ 1.666111] Magic number: 5:389:767
[ 1.666212] rtc_cmos 00:04: setting system clock to 2013-03-10 04:47:12 UTC (1362890832)
[ 1.667599] BIOS EDD facility v0.16 2004-Jun-25, 0 devices found
[ 1.667600] EDD information not available.......
[ 3.849313] r8168 Gigabit Ethernet driver 8.035.00-NAPI loaded
[ 3.849328] r8168 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 3.849353] r8168 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 3.849445] r8168 0000:02:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 3.850466] eth%d: RTL8168B/8111B at 0xf8418000, f4:ec:38:80:cb:df, IRQ 50
[ 3.852448] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Attempting to load BIOS image from PRAMIN
[ 3.853085] input: HID 062a:0000 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb1/1-1/1-1.4/1-1.4:1.0/input/input3
[ 3.853309] generic-usb 0003:062A:0000.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [HID 062a:0000] on usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.4/input0
[ 3.853325] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 3.853326] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[ 3.873763] r8168: This product is covered by one or more of the following patents: US5,307,459, US5,434,872, US5,732,094, US6,570,884, US6,115,776, and US6,327,625.
[ 3.873765] eth0: Identified chip type is 'RTL8168B/8111B'.
[ 3.873767] r8168 Copyright (C) 2012 Realtek NIC software team <nicfae@realtek.com>
[ 3.873767] This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details, please see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
[ 3.873768] This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
[ 3.874451] FDC 0 is a post-1991 82077
[ 3.948542] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: ... appears to be valid
[ 3.948544] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: BIT BIOS found
...
] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: PMFB1_SUBP1: 0x037f0040
[ 2232.393509] r8168: eth0: link down
[ 2233.378111] r8168: eth0: link down
john@Computer-i7:~$