Ethernet suddenly quit

[NickS]

I got my ethernet connection working at the right gig speed by going back to the previous driver version and it worked fine for a couple of days but this morning it quit. Wifi is working fine and the ethernet works fine if I reboot into windows.

This is what lshw said

*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Ethernet controller
product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 16
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: ioport:4000(size=256) memory:a0604000-a0604fff memory:a0600000-a0603fff

Not sure what UNCLAIMED means. Does it mean the driver quit?

If so, how do I get it back?

[zabadabadoo]

Quick test: Try booting with previous kernel. Just in case a kernel update occurred.
grub>Additional options for Zorin>previous kernel generic.
If no better, it will go back to the other kernel next boot.

[NickS]

I went back to 6.08 and the connection is there but it was working OK on 6.12 earlier today until it just quit.

I can try 6.12 again and see if it goes away again but, if it does, how do I make 6.08 the default again?

[NickS]

Yes 6.08 it's there and 6.12 it isn't though 6.12 was changed a few days ago as a test to get sound card working. It turned out that wasn't the sound card problem.

How do I make 6.08 the default?

[NickS]

Or maybe something else changed and going back to 6.08 is changing that back too. I says something about RAMdisk when I do something other than the default so maybe it is pulling up an archived set of all settings not just the old kernel.

[Forpli]

Here is a guide how to set an older kernel to default boot:

[HOW TO] set an older kernel to default boot

You may need to use an earlier kernel than the current kernel used by Zorin. This method allows you to set the kernel that you will boot into by default. To set the new kernel to default: Boot into the kernel you wish to be Saved. Open terminal and run: sudo nano /etc/default/grub Change GRUB_DEFAULT=0 to GRUB_DEFAULT=saved Hit enter to drop down a line. Add GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true ctrl+x to exit, then the y key to say yes to save, then the enter key to save as current configuration. Ru…

[NickS]

Thanks. And if I recall from making other changes I need to do ctl-o to overwrite before exiting the edit screen.

[Forpli]

Both should work, as described here or you press ctrl+o, enter, ctrl+x

[Aravisian]

Let's recall this post:

Intel tiger lake H sound card has N/A driver

changing to acpi=noirq allowed booting and I seem to have the headphones output device. Now I need to look up how to make the change permanent.

This can affect PCI devices including networking cards.

What is your terminal output for

sudo dmesg | grep r816

Edit: adding is some boot parameters for you to test - able to boot, have sound, have Ethernet:
pci=noacpi
acpi_osi=
pci=nomsi

Yes, the middle one is +(blank) - try each one at a time.
All of these tell me that this is very likely a Firmware ACPI Tables issue. Is your PC either Very new or has never had a BIOS update?

[NickS]

This is the output under the 6.08 kernel setup.

nick@nick-HP-ENVY-TE01-2xxx:~$ sudo dmesg | grep r816
[sudo] password for nick:
[ 1.001286] r8168: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[ 1.001291] r8168: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[ 1.002146] r8168 Gigabit Ethernet driver 8.049.02-NAPI loaded
[ 1.002165] r8168 0000:01:00.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A; please try using pci=biosirq
[ 1.018966] r8168: This product is covered by one or more of the following patents: US6,570,884, US6,115,776, and US6,327,625.
[ 1.020981] r8168 Copyright (C) 2021 Realtek NIC software team nicfae@realtek.com
[ 1.431873] r8168 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: renamed from eth0
[ 13.819866] r8168: enp1s0: link up
nick@nick-HP-ENVY-TE01-2xxx:~$

R8168 is the driver I went back to after R8169 caused the extreme slowness of the ethernet card.

I'll do the same under 6.12 after I reboot.

I wonder if going back to the 6.08 set up also reverted to the acpi=off setting. Is that even possible? I do still have sound.

[NickS]

In 6.12 the dmesg doesn't return anything. Is that a surprise?

[Aravisian]

@NickS

I wonder if going back to the 6.08 set up also reverted to the acpi=off setting. Is that even possible? I do still have sound.

Switching kernels will not change the Boot Parameters that you add.

@NickS

[ 1.001291] r8168: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel

You have Secure Boot enabled?

That is a module that is not signed by Microsoft - so Secure Boot will block it.

@NickS

[ 1.002165] r8168 0000:01:00.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A; please try using pci=biosirq

This shows that the ACPI Tables lack the IRQ, so the kernel could not assign one. This returns us to my earlier question:

@Aravisian

All of these tell me that this is very likely a Firmware ACPI Tables issue. Is your PC either Very new or has never had a BIOS update?

The Motherboard vendor shipped this out with incomplete ACPI tables (This is actually not unusual... They often reuse the same tables across devices to save money).

[NickS]

pci=noacpi took me to a screen in BusyBox and asked me to enter help for a list of commands

The other two took me to a black screen

Looks like the reversion to 6.08 with the noirq is the best thing.

I can go edit the default grub after I get back from the appointment I'm just heading to in a few minutes.

[Ponce-De-Leon]

@NickS

In 6.12 the dmesg doesn't return anything. Is that a surprise?

Try sudo dmesg | grep r8168 and another Thing: sudo modprobe r8169

[NickS]

No SEcure Boot I killed it way back.

My computer is 3 years old and there is no available Firmware update.

[NickS]

I have to head out but will try rebooting to 6.12 and running those two sudos in an hour or so.

[NickS]

Both returned nothing.

I now notice that the ethernet connection has come back under 6.12 so who knows.

Perhaps it is something someone mentioned elsewhere about one coming and going.

I think for now I'll stick with 6.12 but know how to reboot to 6.08 if it goes away again.