"dead" Realtek ethernet PCI express adapter RTL8168B/8111 - no network
 

I can't cofigure the network adapter to working properly and I have no network. Everything under WinXP is fine. Any ideas?

More hardware information:
Mainboard - http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...0&maincat_no=1

Network adapter: Realtek RTL8168B/8111 PCI Express fast ethernet adapter (I think it's PCI Express x 1)

I think it's good idea to mention from the beginning that I have a bt878 TV card in another PCI slot (that was the another theory in my mind - irq 17 conflict between the cards)

BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. v02.57 (another theory that I tried- PnP/PCI Configurations settings)

What kind of information do You like to see and from where should we begin?

I forgot to mention that Slackware loading the driver r8169 (the card is 8168B!).

I have the ethtool, but when I try to configure the eth0 device (the problem card) there is no change in its settings at all! The green indicator of the card back on the PC is not turning on.

I have DHCP router, which should be give to me IP (so it is in Windows XP and works).

I can't really think of a reason why it wouldn't work. I have one of those and it works with everything from windows over Unix to Linux. It sounds to me as if your machine is incorrectly configured.

As for it loading 8169, that isn't necessarily an error, there are other distributions that work just fine if they use 8169 instead of r1000.

OK.
When I start the PC in Linux, the green indicator of the network adapter not light on. What this means; Where and what should I look and check first? (under WindozXP everything is fine - the indicator is on and there is Internet without any settings from me!)

Have you run netconfig?

try this...

unplug the tv card, boot the computer and run netconfig...
once the eth0 is up, shutdown and install tv card, then bootup again and check settings...
if you have a card conflicting with another, it pays to boot with only one card and set this up then install the other and boot up and then check, and install if everything was working...sometimes you have to place the cards in the otherway around, as in the tv card first then eth0...

Yes ... I run netconfig so many times ... but there is no connection to my DHCP router, because the card not work now, i think.

The problem is that my PC is new and has warranty. If I remove the box, warranty voids ... Please give another solutons - can't touch the cards for the moment. If there is nothing else to do, I will remove the TV card at least - I will have no choice, but for now I won't to do that ... :(

Is there any way to take a look that there is conflict between the cards?
For example in WindozXP I see that they sharing one IRQ (IRQ 17) in the section System Information --> Sharing and conflict. But they working perfect. How can I check this in Slackware 12.0?

And is there an option to shut down at all that TV card temporarly with some kind of software method and reboot to see how the system will find the eth0?

On CMOS ( bios ) setup please set to none windows or non plug n play O/S so the system can load it on the correct IRQ. open a terminal and type dmesg and look for your card failure message.

I can't see this option in my CMOS Setup Utility.
Uf, I made a picture "CMOS Setup Utility.JPG", but I don't know how to paste it here ...

In PnP/PCI Congurations there is:
Primary Graphic's Adapter [PCI-E]
PCI latency Timer [64]
PCI Slot 1 IRQ [Auto]
PCI Slot 2 IRQ [Auto]
> IRQ Resourse Setyp [Press enter] ---> where are IRQ3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11,14, and IRQ15 [Available].

In Power Management Setup there is:
ACPI Function [Enabled]
ACPI Standby State [S3]
Re-call VGA BIOS from S3 [disabled]
(...)
> Wakeup Event Setup [Press enter] --> where are
(...)
Resume by PCI Device (PME#) [disabled]
Resume by PCIE Device [disabled]
(...)

I'm now not sure what to do here. Could You be more specific?

Hi,

I "had" a similar problem with a Realtek chip (sorry, not at home now, so I'm not sure it is the exact same chip). I would play in Windows, then hibernate, boot to Linux, and had no network (driver loaded, but no activity... same symptoms as yours).

I found out that the problem was with hibernation: There is "something" Windows does that prevents Linux from activating the network card if the computer hibernates. The card will work fine (on Linux) if I reboot but without using hibernation. Could that be your situation also?

Unfortunately I haven't found a solution for this (I just do not hibernate after playing with Windows).

HTH!

Have you looked at ifconfig and iwconfig output to see if the configuration settings are correct?

And lsmod and lspci to see what modules are being loaded?

Here are some commands without touching the CMOS (BIOS) yet:

root@automat:~# dmesg | grep eth0

eth0: RTL8168b/8111b at 0xf8cd4000, 00:19:db:8e:df:ad, IRQ 17
r8169: eth0: link down
r8169: eth0: link down
r8169: eth0: link down

root@automat:~# dmesg | grep r8169

r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.2LK loaded
r8169: eth0: link down
r8169: eth0: link down
r8169: eth0: link down

root@automat:~# ethtool eth0
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: Unknown! (0)
Duplex: Half
Port: Twisted Pair
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Supports Wake-on: pumbg
Wake-on: g
Current message level: 0x00000033 (51)
Link detected: no

I looked - I have no check in "Enable Hybernation" in WindozXP - I work on it without hybernation. But thanks for the idea; I was never heard something like this. Only theories, that I must not allow the Windoz to turn off the adapter to safe power. This is already done in my PC - nothing changed - still no network adapter.

root@automat:~# ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:DB:8E:DF:AD
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:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:17 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: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)

root@automat:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
03:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Video Capture (rev 11)
03:01.1 Multimedia controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Audio Capture (rev 11)

root@automat:~# lsmod
Module Size Used by
snd_seq_dummy 6788 0
snd_seq_oss 32896 0
snd_seq_midi_event 10112 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 50640 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 10508 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 42784 0
snd_mixer_oss 18048 1 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6 254496 18
bt878 12728 0
pcmcia 34988 0
pcmcia_core 36500 1 pcmcia
capability 7304 0
commoncap 9344 1 capability
lp 13736 0
parport_pc 27812 1
parport 34760 2 lp,parport_pc
pcspkr 6528 0
psmouse 39048 0
serio_raw 9220 0
bttv 173620 1 bt878
video_buf 24068 1 bttv
ir_common 33796 1 bttv
compat_ioctl32 5248 1 bttv
btcx_risc 8072 1 bttv
tveeprom 17552 1 bttv
videodev 29184 1 bttv
v4l2_common 18688 2 bttv,videodev
v4l1_compat 17668 2 bttv,videodev
snd_hda_intel 20248 0
snd_hda_codec 209152 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm 72068 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_timer 22532 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 47204 9 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm,snd _timer
soundcore 9824 1 snd
r8169 29832 0
sg 30364 0
snd_page_alloc 11528 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
evdev 11904 1
shpchp 33172 0
iTCO_wdt 12964 0
iTCO_vendor_support 7172 1 iTCO_wdt
i2c_i801 11408 0
ata_generic 9220 0
intel_agp 25116 1
agpgart 31432 2 intel_agp

You can see that the driver r8169 is loaded.
eth0 has no IP. The green indicator back on the PC is not light on - "dead" network adapter.

Maybe you should not use dhcp if you have a router. As I said, I have the same chip and it works fine with almost everything but not FreeBSD, which will only work if I use a fixed address. I guess this has nothing to do with the realtek chip itself but with my router. Since Slackware is more like FreeBSD than Linux in some respects, it may be interesting to see whether you can get it working by setting a fixed address.

I tried with a fixed address, given me from my ISP (Internet Service Provider) to probe, nemask, gateway, nameservers ... but the situation is the same - no connection. When I set fixed IP, the eth0 device accept it. Then when I make a ping, I have ping to myself (127.0.0.1), but no to anything other IPs.
I remind you - the device is freezing or sleeping, its indicator not lights on. In Windows is green and another yellow indicator is blinking when have connection.

type in a terminal as root ifconfig eth0 up. the the right module is loaded it will be up. in kde go to you little gui interface control pannel and go to net work settings tell it you are using slack 10.2 and then configure it to boot dhcp good luck. if you type ifconfig eth0 up and it says device not found then modprobe the driver type ifconfig eth0 up. good luck. this all is done as root.

Thanks Drakeo. To do that I have a question. How can "say" to the PC in the network settings interface window, that I have a Slackware 10.2?

I forgot to tell something!
When I installed the Slackware 12.0, then he didn't recognize my network device. When I went to the Settings --> Network settings, it appeared a window "Your platform is not compatible! Please choose from the following distro's one, that You are SURE that works:"
And I choosed Ubuntu 7.10, because somewhere in the netforums I had read that this distibution supports this card ... But I think (this is my opinion - but i'm newbie!) that this choice is meaningless. Then this windows not appears any more. How can return it? Maybe exact there I can "lie" the PC that I have Slackware 10.2?

OK, Drakeo,
I reinstalled the Slackware to make it again be able to see this window "uncompatible platform".
I choosed "Slackware 10.2.0"; configured dhcp.
Nothing has changed. No network. No light on network adapter.

But before make the installation this time, I probed with the installation DVD that my network adapter use protocol r8169 successfully. Now I'm sure that the driver r8169 would be able to work.

And now I'm in the begining again ... :(
How can I make this adapter to "wake up" and start networking?

All you should do to enable your network adapter in GNU/Linux is to boot into Windows and in network card properties (My computer - Manage - Network cards - ...) enable "Wake on LAN".

HA HA HA!!!
You are great!!!
Now works and I have internet!!!

So people! There is the simply solution ---->

If anyone have this problem, do what zoranp said!
Go to windoz --> right click My comuter --> manage --> in the network adapter Properties set "Wake on shutdown" to ENABLE!
Now everything is fine - when boot in Linux the green light of the adapter is ON and the network is there, whitout any settings!!! The dhcp gave all the needed information to the system :)))))

I think this is the happy end of this thread!

I think I will soon start a new one - the bt878 card and the tvtime - I have still problems with it and can't watch tv, but first I'll enjoy surfing in internet :)))