Realtek Ethernet card disconnnects randomly

Question

My laptop has a Realtek RTL8168 Ethernet card, which works pretty well. Except at some times, where the connection just gets dropped and I have to un- and replug the cable in order to reset the connection.

I've tried the preinstalled r8169 module, but now I'm using the r8168 module built with the source from Realtek's website. The problem occurs with both driver modules.

$ lspci | grep Ethernet
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0c)

$ dmesg
#stops working, no reports
#unplugging
[ 9324.277753] r8168: eth0: link down
[ 9328.636380] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
#replugging
[ 9334.316610] r8168: eth0: link up
[ 9334.316744] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
#Working again

PS: With grep NetworkManager /var/log/syslog, I've fould the following, around the time such a connection interruption happened:

#EDIT:These messages are printed when I plug out the cable. Before, there is nothing
Jan 28 23:40:31 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): carrier now OFF (device state 100, deferring action for 4 seconds)
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): device state change: activated -> unavailable (reason 'carrier-changed') [100 20 40]
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): deactivating device (reason 'carrier-changed') [40]
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): canceled DHCP transaction, DHCP client pid 6975
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <warn> DNS: plugin dnsmasq update failed
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> Removing DNS information from /sbin/resolvconf
Jan 28 23:40:35 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> NetworkManager state is now DISCONNECTED
#replug
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): carrier now ON (device state 20)
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): device state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'carrier-changed') [20 30 40]
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> Auto-activating connection 'Wired connection 1'.
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> Activation (eth0) starting connection 'Wired connection 1'
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> (eth0): device state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none') [30 40 0]
Jan 28 23:40:40 dracarys NetworkManager[912]: <info> NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING

And then it worked again

Any ideas on how to fix this? Let me know if you need additional information.

EDIT: $ modinfo r8168

filename:       /lib/modules/3.13.0-37-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/realtek/r8168.ko
version:        8.038.00-NAPI
license:        GPL
description:    RealTek RTL-8168 Gigabit Ethernet driver
author:         Realtek and the Linux r8168 crew <netdev@vger.kernel.org>
srcversion:     7600C3366E422907A1D79F1
alias:          pci:v00001186d00004300sv00001186sd00004B10bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000010ECd00008168sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends:        
vermagic:       3.13.0-37-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           eee_enable:int
parm:           speed:force phy operation. Deprecated by ethtool (8). (ushort)
parm:           duplex:force phy operation. Deprecated by ethtool (8). (int)
parm:           autoneg:force phy operation. Deprecated by ethtool (8). (int)
parm:           aspm:Enable ASPM. (int)
parm:           s5wol:Enable Shutdown Wake On Lan. (int)
parm:           rx_copybreak:Copy breakpoint for copy-only-tiny-frames (int)
parm:           timer_count:Timer Interrupt Interval. (int)
parm:           debug:Debug verbosity level (0=none, ..., 16=all) (int)

Answer 1

N.B : This answer is by no means final. I've came up with a couple possible solutions based on some research online as well as personal suggestions from experience.

Replace Kernel Module

From researching online, it appears that frequently the best solution is to replace the r8168 module that comes with Ubuntu installation, with a newer , updated version. For instance, this crunchbang post.

This Ubuntu Forums post from 2012 documents a script for a newer, updated version of the r8168 module. You can do sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) or sudo apt-get install --reinstall linux-headers-$(uname -r) , and then follow matera.ttp's instructions. Praseonym, who also posted there, suggests installing the driver with dkms , which is supposed to rebuild modules for each kernel update. Now, you should have dkms already installed, and you could check it with which dkms . So you could either use Praseonym's instructions or matera.ttp's . The idea is the same.

Tweak Module Settings

For many network issues tweaking the module configurations could help solve the issues, but frankly I doubt it's an issue, since you've used r8169 with same effect. Nonetheless , give it a try.

In the /etc/modprobe.d/ directory, create r8168.conf file. In that file, write:

options eee_enable=1

Save and reboot.

Now, you could do very much same thing with other options. For instance, my first guess was to add options timer_count=3600 to the r8168.conf file. Why 3600 ? Assuming that the parameter deals with time, then it's most likely seconds.

I've found a case where it actually didn't work, and the problem was bios related. Refer to this page: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2138125&page=2

If everything else fails

I've mentioned on other posts as well, that sometimes hardware is the issue and no matter how much tweaking you do - it won't help. In personal experience , I've dealt with two rtl8192 wireless chipsets, one of which was giving weird sound bug, but the other works almost flawlessly.

I suggest you explore possible replacements for your ethernet card. My suggestion would be portable usb hub with ethernet slot, much like these

Answer 2

A few days ago I found a new release of the driver (8.039.900) on Realtek's website. I downloaded, compiled and installed it, and never experienced any connection drops since.

Update r8168:

The most current driver source can be downloaded here.

Extract the downloaded archive and run

sudo make

in the extraction folder. After compilation, the currently installed r8168 module will be automatically replaced by the new version (which in my opinion should only happen when running make install)

To load the new version, run

sudo modprobe -r r8168 && sudo modprobe r8168

---

PS: Don't use the installation script which comes with this driver. It will uninstall the old module (no matter whether r8168 or r8169) before even attempting to compile the new one. If the compilation fails, you're left without internet, if you don't have WiFi or another Ethernet card.

Answer 3

I think, you need to install more stable official driver for Realtek (RTL8111/RTL8168) ethernet card.

1. Get root privileges

Get root privileges, while typing “su” or (when you use Ubuntu) “sudo -s” in a terminal.

2. Get the requirements

To build and install the driver, we need the kernel headers and the build tools like gcc. To get them, just easily type in a terminal:

apt-get install build-essential

3. Get the driver

Now, go to the official download page from Realtek for the Linux/UNIX Driver for the RTL8111/RTL8168 ethernet card and download the latest driver version.

Link: Realtek Download Page

4. Untar the archive

The driver is compressed to an archive. So uncompress it with the following command:

tar xfvj r8168-8.025.00.tar.bz2

NOTE: Please do not forget to replace the “r8168-8.025.00.tar.bz2″ with the driver version which you have downloaded!

5. Blacklist old driver

We have to blacklist the old driver (r8169) to prevent the system to load it. To do this, easily set a new entry in “/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf” which is called:

blacklist r8169

or just enter in the terminal again

echo “blacklist r8169″ >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

to do this in only one command.

6. Build and install the new driver

Now, the whole requirements to install the new driver are done. Let us now change in the driver directory, which we have uncompressed in a few steps before:

cd r8168-8.025.00

NOTE: Again, please do not forget, to change “r8168-8.025.00″ to the version which you have downloaded.

The only think we have to do now is, to build the driver and install it. To build it, just type:

make clean modules

after a few secondes (depending on your CPU), the driver is build and you can install it with:

make install

7. Welcome r8168

One of our last steps is, to let the system know about the r8168 driver. With the command

depmod -a

you rebuild the kernel module dependencies and with an

insmod ./src/r8168.ko

you insert the new kernel module (the driver) into the kernel.

8. Make it available for boot

To always use the new module, you have to make a new initrd boot file. Just do

mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrd.img-`uname -r` `uname -r`

in a terminal. Here we make the initrd file with the help of the “uname -r” command, which allows us to get the version of the actually running kernel.

At least, you have to add in the “/etc/modules” file a new entry, which is called “r8168″, to get the driver automatically loaded after boot. As an alternative you can do the last step again with only one command:

echo “r8168″ >> /etc/modules

That’s it! After a reboot you should have the best possible performance with the RTL8111/RTL8168 and additionally no other network problems should be available anymore (no break down).

After the reboot you can check if the right driver is loaded with this command:

lspci -v

with this command you should find your RTL8111/RTL8168 network card in a list and the additional command “Kernel driver in use: r8168″.