Intel PRO 1000 MT stuck at 100Mb/s

Funx_88 · 08-14-2005, 08:05 AM

I've got a problem with the Intel PRO 1000 MT Gigabit network adapter.

It's installed fine, the system boots and recognises the card:

Code:

Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Driver - version 6.0.54-k2-NAPI
Copyright (c) 1999-2004 Intel Corporation.
PCI: Found IRQ 10 for device 0000:00:0a.0
e1000: eth0: e1000_probe: Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection

ifconfig seems happy too:

Code:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:07:E9:09:DD:D2
          inet addr:192.168.0.8  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::207:e9ff:fe09:ddd2/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3092 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:3380 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:339994 (332.0 KiB)  TX bytes:1055694 (1.0 MiB)
          Base address:0xd000 Memory:db800000-db820000

However the card is only running at 100Mb/s even though 1000 is advertised in the negotiation.

Here's the ethtool output:

Code:

Settings for eth0:
        Supported ports: [ TP ]
        Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
        Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
        Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
        Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
        Speed: 100Mb/s
        Duplex: Full
        Port: Twisted Pair
        PHYAD: 0
        Transceiver: internal
        Auto-negotiation: on
        Supports Wake-on: umbg
        Wake-on: g
        Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
        Link detected: yes

My gigabit NIC in my windows box quickly brings up a gigabit link with the switch but when I connect the two machines directly (with a CAT 6 cable) for testing purposes, only 100Mb/s is established.

I've also tried forcing the card to only advertise gigabit speeds but then the switch just constantly tries and fails to negotiate to that speed.

This leads me to believe it's something with the driver and the Linux kernel however other people have it working fine!

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Funx_88 · 08-23-2005, 01:26 AM

stumped everyone so easily?

pveeneman · 09-07-2005, 06:45 PM

I believe that a standard CAT6 cross-over cable between two end-nodes is not sufficient because of the conductors usedby the 802.3 Copper Gigabit specifications. If you google "gigabit cross-over cable pinout" you will find the the pinouts for terminating a copper gigabit cable for CAT5 or CAT6. 100MB cross-over cables only use 1-2, 3-6 but 1000MB cross-over uses other pins as well.

Tis would also explain why the card "autos" properly when connected to the switch.

Hope this helps,

-Paul

Funx_88 · 10-01-2005, 07:48 PM

Thanks for the reply Paul,

Even when the Linux box is plugged into the swicth it's only negotiating 100Mb/s (even with a proper cat 6 cable).

I think I'll try chucking the card into another linux box to see if I can get it going.
Maybe I should try with a different distro just in case.
I've got a debian box here I could try...

Funx_88 · 10-25-2005, 08:24 AM

Now I've tried the card in Fedora, Debian and RedHat 9 all of which are trying the full speed but then falling back to 100Mb with the switch.