[PLUG] Network issues

Larry Brigman larry.brigman at gmail.com
Thu Jan 21 20:41:07 UTC 2010


On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 11:46 AM, Denis Heidtmann
<denis.heidtmann at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 10:19 AM, drew wymore <drew.wymore at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 10:09 AM, Denis Heidtmann
>> <denis.heidtmann at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 6:50 AM, Steve D... <blitters at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 10:38 PM, Denis Heidtmann
>>>> <denis.heidtmann at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I had previously posted this:
>>>>> 00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP78S [GeForce 8200]
>>>>> Ethernet (rev a2)
>>>>>        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 82f2
>>>>>        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 2300
>>>>>        Memory at fcf7c000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
>>>>>        I/O ports at c880 [size=8]
>>>>>        Memory at fcf7f400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
>>>>>        Memory at fcf7f000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16]
>>>>>        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
>>>>>        Capabilities: [50] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask+ 64bit+ Queue=0/4 Enable+
>>>>>        Capabilities: [6c] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping Enable+ Fixed+
>>>>>        Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
>>>>>        Kernel modules: forcedeth
>>>>>
>>>>> This tells me the driver name.  It is not clear to me what to do with
>>>>> this information.
>>>>
>>>>  It sounds like you may have a flaky kernel module for that ethernet
>>>> chip.  The command "modinfo forcedeth" will show you the module
>>>> version.  You can check if the motherboard or chipset manufacture has
>>>> a more recent module available.  You will probably need to install the
>>>> kernel source code and software build tools to compile the new module.
>>> ...
>>>> Steve D...
>>>
>>> I found this: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1095682
>>> I do not know if it relates to my issue.
>>>
>>>
>>> parents at R2D4:~$ modinfo forcedeth
>>> filename:       /lib/modules/2.6.28-17-generic/kernel/drivers/net/forcedeth.ko
>>> license:        GPL
>>> description:    Reverse Engineered nForce ethernet driver
>>> author:         Manfred Spraul <manfred at colorfullife.com>
>>> srcversion:     9C1164A059BC26160F21FCA
>>> alias:          pci:v000010DEd00000AB3sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>>> ... (long list)...
>>> alias:          pci:v000010DEd000001C3sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
>>> depends:
>>> vermagic:       2.6.28-17-generic SMP mod_unload modversions
>>> parm:           max_interrupt_work:forcedeth maximum events handled
>>> per interrupt (int)
>>> parm:           optimization_mode:In throughput mode (0), every tx &
>>> rx packet will generate an interrupt. In CPU mode (1), interrupts are
>>> controlled by a timer. (int)
>>> parm:           poll_interval:Interval determines how frequent timer
>>> interrupt is generated by [(time_in_micro_secs * 100) / (2^10)]. Min
>>> is 0 and Max is 65535. (int)
>>> parm:           msi:MSI interrupts are enabled by setting to 1 and
>>> disabled by setting to 0. (int)
>>> parm:           msix:MSIX interrupts are enabled by setting to 1 and
>>> disabled by setting to 0. (int)
>>> parm:           dma_64bit:High DMA is enabled by setting to 1 and
>>> disabled by setting to 0. (int)
>>> parm:           phy_cross:Phy crossover detection for Realtek 8201 phy
>>> is enabled by setting to 1 and disabled by setting to 0. (int)
>>>
>>> I do not see a module version in a form that is familiar to me.
>>>
>>> It occurred to me that since the machine supports wake-on-lan, that as
>>> long as there is power to the box the network "card" must be active.
>>> This could explain why a change in state only occurs through a
>>> power-off cycle.  Does this help?
>>>
>>> -Denis
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> PLUG mailing list
>>> PLUG at lists.pdxlinux.org
>>> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>>
>>
>> I would give the command that was used in that post you linked a try
>> and see what happens, it can't hurt.
>>
>> I would try:
>>
>> ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg off
>>
>> You can also try the suggestion of adding to rc.local since it seem so
>> to be a transient error that clears itself on reboot if I recall you
>> wrote correctly.
>>
>> What kernel version are you using? It might be possible to grok the
>> mod version of the NIC module from knowing what kernel it was built
>> into.
>>
>> Drew-
>
> parents at R2D4:~$ uname -a
> Linux R2D4 2.6.28-17-generic #58-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 1 21:27:25 UTC
> 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
>
> This is also in the modinfo's first line.
>
> Since the failures occur much less frequently than proper operation, a
> trial such as "ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg off"
> would take a long time to prove anything.
>
> A string of commands to try when the network has failed at least gives
> immediate feedback.  Is network restart a possible candidate?  Do I
> need to rmmod as well?  If I remove the module, what puts it back? The
> modprobe man page seems to have some errors in it, so I am reluctant
> to experiment.  (BTW, my system has no such command as "network").
>

You will probably need to rmmod the driver.  The process of bringing
up the interface
will load the module (or at least should).

For the network, it would be:
sudo service networking stop
sudo service networking start



More information about the PLUG mailing list