linux-kernel - Re: Realtek 8168D: no active link (2.6.29.2)

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Date:	Fri, 15 May 2009 08:52:19 +0930 (CST)
From:	Jonathan Woithe <jwoithe@...sics.adelaide.edu.au>
To:	dave@...dillows.org (David Dillow)
Cc:	jwoithe@...sics.adelaide.edu.au (Jonathan Woithe),
	romieu@...zoreil.com (Francois Romieu),
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Realtek 8168D: no active link (2.6.29.2)

Hi

> On Thu, 2009-05-14 at 21:38 +0930, Jonathan Woithe wrote:
> > Hi again
> >
> > Following up on my previous email, it seems that the stock kernel r8169
> > driver is now working with the card in this machine ever since I tried the
> > Realtek driver version 8.012.00.  It's almost as if the Realtek driver
> > "unlocked" something on the chip (eg: activated the PHY), the status of
> > which is remembered across reboots and hard powercycles.
> 
> It's worth noting that a power cycle may not clear everything out, as
> there is likely standby power being supplied even with you have the
> machine off.

Absolutely, that's why I went on to say that I did what I call a "hard power
cycle", which involves removing mains power from the PC for a minute or so. 
As previously advised, the adapter kept working even after this.

> You can be sure by disconnecting the mains power to the power supply for
> 30 seconds or so -- I've seen some motherboards with large caps that take
> a while to drain.

Indeed.  To follow up on this, as per my earlier email I left the machine
disconnected from the mains all night - so it was truly "off" for about 9
hours.  Just before coming to work I flicked it on and the "link" LED lit
almost immediately.  So whatever the Realtek driver did, the resulting
status would appear to be stored in some kind of non-volatile memory.  While
it would appear that this has worked around the problem for me, it would be
nice if the mainline driver could do this itself.

> It would be interesting to see if your problems come back after doing
> this.

As per my previous email and the above extended test, the problems do not
seem to return - there doesn't appear to be any way to make the problem
return in fact (at least under Linux).

> Also, if you have another machine on the gigabit network, it would
> be interesting to do 'nc -l 9000 > /dev/null' and 'nc target 9000
> < /dev/zero' on the other and see if a ping between the machine
> eventually stops working. This reliably hangs my 8168d card at home, but
> it comes back with an ifdown/ifup sequence.

This is obviously a separate issue but I will test this when I get home
tonight and report back.

Regards
  jonathan
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