11.4 Ubuntu Realtek Ethernet Fix

[zxkelxz]

Ubuntu 11.04 - the Natty Narwhal

A few weeks back I had my on board Realtek PCI express go out. I thought the onboard chip had fried so I installed another Ethernet card a ENLGA-1320 all was well until around 12:00pm today and then flop, no Internet connection from it either. So I started my decent into Google and finally got it working 5 hours later.

Here's what didn't work, but things you may try to get it up and working...for it seemed it was working for some just not for me.

A cold start which info was gathered from this thread on it. http://www.uluga.ubuntuforums.org/sh....php?t=1436667

Giving that forum credit by linking it, I will supply the info below:

Cold Start Instructions:

1. Shut down the machine
2. Unplug all cables from the tower(The power cable especially)
3. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds Then Release
4. Press the button a good time or two for good measure, wait 3 minutes.
5. Plug all cables back up and press the power button
6. Internet may or may not be active now.

This didn't work for me, and if it did not for you lets continue on. This is another post located in the thread linked above, ones again I'll sum it up. Open a terminal and do the following.

1. Check the model number of your Ethernet controller:

   :~$ lspci | grep Realtek
   02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express

2. Check the driver your kernel is loading:

   :~$ lsmod | grep r816*
   r8169 36489 0
   mii 4425 1 r8169

3. Download the 8168 Linux drivers from RealTek: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...Cbr%3ERTL8105E
4. cd to the directory you downloaded the realtek driver:

   :~$ cd Downloads

5. extract the files:

   :~$ tar -xvf r8168-8.020.00.tar.bz2

6. cd to the newly extracted folder:

   :~$ cd r8168-8.020.00

7. Auto compile the driver:

   :~$ sudo ./autorun.sh

8. I highly doubt this is needed, because at this point my machine restarted its network connection on its own. However I will still include the optional commands to test the driver.

   :~$ sudo rmmod r8169

   :~$ sudo modprobe r8168

   :~$sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

9. At this point your network should be up and running, if not do not take the following next two steps.
10. Blacklist r8169:

    :~$ sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

11. Append the following lines:

    #Blacklist Realtek RTL8111/8169 gigabit driver

    blacklist r8169

12. Save and quit
13. Update driver cache:

    :~$ update-initramfs -u

14. Reboot, and see if correct driver has loaded:

    $ lsmod | grep r816*

    r8168 91629 0

Ok so if that worked for you cool, however for me I was ones again met with dismay and had to find another solution. This time around I'm desperate this is my development box, but also sort of mad and just going to do what it takes to get it up and running,

http://www.webupd8.org/2009/06/how-t...our-wired.html

The link above is where most/parts of the following instructions came from, must give credit where credit is due.

1. Remove any drivers/modules installed i had both r8169 and r8168 installed so in terminal write

   :~$ sudo rmmod r8169

   sudo rmmod r8168

2. So now I have no eth0 at this point.
3. Remove network manager:

   sudo apt-get remove network-manager-gnome network-manager

4. now in terminal type:

   :~$ ifconfig

   all I saw was lo listed and not eth0, again I was lost but I thought what the hey might as well continue on with the instructions that were provided by the link mentioned above.
5. Set up manually the /etc/network/interfaces in terminal type:

   gksu gedit /etc/network/interfaces

6. I set up a static IP and even though All that was in the file was

   auto lo

   iface lo inet loopback

   I still appended the following to that file:

   auto eth0

   iface eth0 inet static

   address 192.168.1.10

   netmask 255.255.255.0

   gateway 192.168.0.1

   Change eth0, address, and gateway to your own network values. Save the file and close it.
7. For the static IP It needed to find the domain name servers(DNS). This is the function of the /etc/resolv.conf file so you need to edit it. If the file doesn't exist, create it.
8. In terminal:

   gksu gedit /etc/resolv.conf

9. In that file place the following:

   nameserver 208.67.222.222

   nameserver 208.67.220.220

   Replace these values with your own DNS values. I just used googles DNS

   nameserver 8.8.8.8

   nameserver 8.8.4.4

   Save and close the file.
10. Download the 8168 Linux drivers from RealTek: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...Cbr%3ERTL8105E
11. cd to the directory you downloaded the realtek driver:

    :~$ cd Downloads

12. extract the files:

    :~$ tar -xvf r8168-8.020.00.tar.bz2

13. cd to the newly extracted folder:

    :~$ cd r8168-8.020.00

14. Auto compile the driver:

    :~$ sudo ./autorun.sh

15. Now restart the network in terminal :

    :~$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Ok at this point my pc fully black screened after resetting the network, it was on but no body was home. So I shut it down manually by holding the power button cut it back on and eth0 works perfect now, and that's the built in one that went out on the mother board first.

[felixrising]

Thanks so much for the work-around!

I also have this issue with the onboard nic on my gigabyte board, I've currently got an intel nic installed so I don't have to fix it every time the kernel is updated..

The thing that bugs me though, is that a bug report has been logged for this issue back in September 2007*! and its STILL PENDING!

There are numerous posts with work-arounds to this known problem around the intar-webs but for some reason the root cause is not being addressed....

How do we go about fixing the root cause? Does anyone know how we can get this silly annoying bug fixed once and for all?

*https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...22/+bug/141343

[CurtisB]

I spent days trying to get my Internet working. I found your post, and 5 minutes later there are no problems. Thank you so much!

[durpadurpdurp]

I just wanted to add, again: THANK YOU SO MUCH! If went CRAZY over this problem. Thanks a million!!

[kvk]

I'm still a bit stuck on this one. I've removed and blacklisted the r8169 driver, and installed the r8168 driver.

dmesg | grep r816*

produces

r8168   182616  0

so that all seems in order. However, the wired net connection isn't initiated by the system (DHCP), and under the Network icon there are two connections listed, both grayed out:

Wired Network (Intel 82579V Gigabit)
disconnected

Autho Ethernet (in white - selecting attempts connection but terminates)

Wired Network (Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller)
disconnected

/etc/network/interfaces

contains only:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

I added:

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

but to no avail.

I'm rather confused by the dual Wired Network entries...

[rony123]

Hey buddy, I am very much new to Ubuntu. I tried all the ways posted by you but none worked for me. My Laptop is ACER Aspire 5610. I don't know the name of the manufacturer of my ethernet.
Kindly let me know how can I solve the problem?? I am really fed up of this problem. Please Help

[zxkelxz]

Hey buddy, I am very much new to Ubuntu. I tried all the ways posted by you but none worked for me. My Laptop is ACER Aspire 5610. I don't know the name of the manufacturer of my ethernet.
Kindly let me know how can I solve the problem?? I am really fed up of this problem. Please Help

Head over to ACERS website and look up your model laptop, it should list specifications(which include your Ethernet card model so you can find your correct driver).

I also went ahead and saved you the time of looking it up so heres a link, https://support.acer.com/acerpanam/n...e5610sp2.shtml

Modem specs:
10/100 Fast Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
WLAN: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG dual-band tri-mode 802.11a/b/g

The first is the onboard while the second is your wireless.

Now the question is do either one of your connections work? If not do they work with another operating system such as Windows?

[zxkelxz]

I'm still a bit stuck on this one. I've removed and blacklisted the r8169 driver, and installed the r8168 driver.

dmesg | grep r816*

produces

r8168   182616  0

so that all seems in order. However, the wired net connection isn't initiated by the system (DHCP), and under the Network icon there are two connections listed, both grayed out:

Wired Network (Intel 82579V Gigabit)
disconnected

Autho Ethernet (in white - selecting attempts connection but terminates)

Wired Network (Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller)
disconnected

.

Looks like you made a small error here. You have two wired connections both grayed out. The first connection was the original. Look closely at its name "Intel", you have an Intel Ethernet card installed not a Realtek. Now if my judgment is in error then look up the specifications for your desktop or laptop on the manufactures website and post what it should be. You can always type "lspci -v" into terminal and get specifications that way.

In terminal write

lspci -v

You'll get a huge list of information, the only part your interested in is the "Ethernet Controller" which is wired connections.

My wired Ethernet controller(card) shows up as:

04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8039 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 14)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 30cd
Physical Slot: 3
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 44
Memory at f4200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: sky2
Kernel modules: sky2

Run that and post what you get. Also does your card work with other operating systems such as Windows?

[Yudley]

Hey guys, just wanted add a fix to this fix for oneiric (kernel 3.0 not 2.x):

the fix is here

don't know the rules of this forum, lemme know if I should post it here instead of just putting a circular link, thx

[ponilitiza]

I had essentially this same problem on my Dell Vostro 3700 laptop running 10.04, and tried many of the steps above to no avail.

I would like to warn others to be careful about the "apt-get remove network-manager" step above -- I had been using network manager to enable wireless to continue searching for a solution to my wired card not working. When you uninstall network manager, you just shot yourself in the foot, unless you know how to manually enable your wireless.

However, after reading dozens of forum articles, it seemed like the problem is that the RealTek driver doesn't reset the NIC internal configuration upon reboot. I disconnected the charger from my laptop, popped out the battery, pressed the on button a few times (to drain residual charge in capacitors), put it back together, rebooted, and it worked fine.

Even on a desktop, where the NIC is powered when the machine is off (necessary for wake-on-lan functionality), you can reboot until the cows come home, and the NIC internal settings may not be reset. You have to disconnect the power cable to de-power the NIC. My problem surfaced while running Windows 7, but once it happened, rebooting numerous times in Windows 7 or Ubuntu 10.04 did not resolve the problem. Downgrading to r8168, as described in this article did not resolve the problem.

So, my suggestion is to try the simple workaround of disconnecting power from the machine before subjecting yourself to the trauma of all the procedures listed above.

Good luck....