/etc/modprobe.conf

[shurkes]

hello
i am new with linux and in the forum.
recently i bought net book and installed ubuntu.
right now i am not able to connect wireless. the wireless card is from realek. i asked them to send me the driver for this card and they sent it with explainations.
they wrote that i have to edit "/etc/modprobe.conf" in order to install.
i don't have this file in my machine.
what shall i do?
thanks

[unutbu]

Any file in /etc/modprobe.d will be read and interpreted like /etc/modprobe.conf.
So you could for example create a file in /etc/modprobe.d called realtek and put the commands in there. You will need administrator privileges to create a file in /etc/modprobe.conf. You do this by opening a terminal (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and typing


gksu gedit /etc/modprobe.d/realtek

[sgosnell]

Or just type gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/conf. If the file doesn't exist, it will be created. /etc/modprobe.conf is not the proper filename.

[shurkes]

hi and thanks for the responses.
i'd copied the text file that i received withe the driver package and its below.
when i am checking if the built in driver is installed, i see:" r8169 33156 0"
i think that i have it.
when i try to uninstall, it tells me operation not permitted. i tried to make a modprobe.conf and still can't uninstall.

does anyone can help?


<Linux device driver for Realtek Ethernet controllers>

This is the Linux device driver released for RealTek RTL8101E, RTL8102E(L) and RTL8103E(L), the Fast Ethernet controller with PCI-Express interface.

<Requirements>

- kernel source tree (supported Linux kernel 2.6.x and 2.4.x)
- For linux kernel 2.4.x, this driver supports linux kernel 2.4.20 and latter.
- compiler/binutils for kernel compilation

<Quick install with proper kernel settings>
Check whether the built-in driver, r8169.ko (or r8169.o for kernel 2.4.x), is installed.
# lsmod | grep r8169

If it is installed, please remove it.
# rmmod r8169
note: If the built-in driver cannot removed by rmmod, please edit /etc/modprobe.conf and comment 'alias eth0 r8169'. Then, remmove it again or reboot your computer.

Unpack the tarball :
# tar vjxf r8101-1.aaa.bb.tar.bz2

Change to the directory:
# cd r8101-1.aaa.bb

If you are running the target kernel, then you should be able to do :

# make clean modules (as root or with sudo)
# make install
# depmod -a
# insmod ./src/r8101.ko (or r8101.o for kernel 2.4.x)

You can check whether the driver is loaded by using following commands.

# lsmod | grep r8101
# ifconfig -a

If there is a device name, ethX, shown on the monitor, the linux
driver is loaded. Then, you can use the following command to activate
the ethX.

# ifconfig ethX

,where X=0,1,2,...


<Set the network related information>
1. Set manually
a. Set the IP address of your machine.

# ifconfig ethX "the IP address of your machine"

b. Set the IP address of DNS.

Insert the following configuration in /etc/resolv.conf.

nameserver "the IP address of DNS"

c. Set the IP address of gateway.

# route add default gw "the IP address of gateway"

2. Set by doing configurations in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
/ifcfg-ethX for Redhat and Fedora, or /etc/sysconfig/network
/ifcfg-ethX for SuSE. There are two examples to set network
configurations.

a. Fixed IP address:
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
TYPE=ethernet
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=192.168.1.1
GATEWAY=192.168.1.254
BROADCAST=192.168.1.255

b. DHCP:
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes

<Modify the MAC address>
There are two ways to modify the MAC address of the NIC.
1. Use ifconfig:

# ifconfig ethX hw ether YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY

,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.

2. Use ip:

# ip link set ethX address YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY

,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.

<Force Link Status>

1. Force the link status when insert the driver.

If the user is in the path ~/r8101, the link status can be forced
to one of the 4 modes as following command.

# insmod ./src/r8101.ko speed=SPEED_MODE duplex=DUPLEX_MODE autoneg=NWAY_OPTION

,where
SPEED_MODE = 100 for 100Mbps
= 10 for 10Mbps
DUPLEX_MODE = 0 for half-duplex
= 1 for full-duplex
NWAY_OPTION = 0 for auto-negotiation off (true force)
= 1 for auto-negotiation on (nway force)
For example:

# insmod ./src/r8101.ko speed=100 duplex=0 autoneg=1

will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Half-duplex(nway force).

2. Force the link status by using ethtool.
a. Insert the driver first.
b. Make sure that ethtool exists in /sbin.
c. Force the link status as the following command.

# ethtool -s ethX speed SPEED_MODE duplex DUPLEX_MODE autoneg NWAY_OPTION

,where
SPEED_MODE = 100 for 100Mbps
= 10 for 10Mbps
DUPLEX_MODE = half for half-duplex
= full for full-duplex
NWAY_OPTION = off for auto-negotiation off (true force)
= on for auto-negotiation on (nway force)

For example:

# ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg on

will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Full-duplex(nway force).

<Jumbo Frame>
RTL8101E, RTL8102E and RTL8103E do not support Jumbo Frame.

[unutbu]

Often when the computer complains that a command is not permitted, it means you need to prefix the command with sudo (for text-based commands) or gksu (for graphical apps). So try


sudo rmmod r8169

or


sudo modprobe -r r8169

In general, try each command without sudo since it is good to use root powers as sparingly as possible. Soon you will learn which commands require sudo.

[shurkes]

thanks
i am getting an empty line, nothing in fact.

[unutbu]

An empty line as response is fine. It means the r8169 module was successfully removed from the kernel. You can continue with the rest of the instructions. :)

[shurkes]

but when i am doing:
lsmod | grep r8169

it tells me aggain:
r8169 33156 0


doesnt it mean that it is still there?

[unutbu]

Hm. In that case, perhaps try blacklisting the module so the kernel does not load it a boot time:


gksu gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Add a line at the bottom which says


blacklist r8169

Save the file, reboot, and test that r8169 is not loaded:


lsmod | grep r8169