Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Joseph <syscon780@×××××.com>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: kernel 3.8 and external drivers
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:12:48
Message-Id: 20130311181308.GC1672@syscon7.inet
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] Re: kernel 3.8 and external drivers by Nikos Chantziaras
1 On 03/11/13 01:34, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
2 [snip]
3 >>>>> config R8169
4 >>>>> tristate "Realtek 8169 gigabit ethernet support"
5 >>>>>
6 >>>>> Say Y here if you have a Realtek 8169 PCI Gigabit
7 >>>>> Ethernet adapter.
8 >>>>>
9 >>>>> To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the
10 >>>>> module will be called r8169. This is recommended.
11 >>>>>
12 >>>>
13 >>>> oh great, so I actually mixed it up…
14 >>>> the 8169 is in the Kernel yes, but what i need is the 8168
15 >>>
16 >>> The in-kernel drive (supposedly) supports 8168:
17 >>>
18 >>> r8169.c: RealTek 8169/8168/8101 ethernet driver.
19 >>
20 >> Thanks for encouraging me, the in-kernel driver actually works.
21 >
22 >Note that you also need to emerge sys-kernel/linux-firmware. The driver
23 >will work without it, but the ethernet connection can hang after an hour
24 >or so.
25 >
26 >You can verify whether you need to install the firmware or not by
27 >inspecting the kernel log:
28 >
29 > dmesg | grep -i firmware
30 >
31 >This should show the kernel trying to load the firmware for your R8168
32 >chip but failing.
33
34 I had my share of problems with recent kernels and Realtek 8168 so I went and bought and internal network card:
35 Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection card.
36
37 I did know that I'm suppose to install "sys-kernel/linux-firmware"
38 I just did (just in case) but running: dmesg | grep -i firmware
39
40 doesn't show that kernel is trying to load anything.
41
42 --
43 Joseph