[H-GEN] Problems with Realtek 8169 network adapter

[Mark Ellem]

Hi,

> lspci says it's a "Realtek ... Unknown device 8167".
> dmesg says it's part of the "Realtek TRL 8169/8110 family".

That sounds like an issue with the device not being included in the kernel PCI 
ID database. If it's not listed, it'll come up with 'Unknown device' and the 
device ID like above. Also, and separate from this, the driver module 
included as standard with Linux (r8169 in your case) like most drivers has 
the PCI ID's hard coded into it and will simply not see a compatible device 
like yours. This can be changed by altering the source but for the non 
technical user this is not ideal. Only choice in this situation is to check 
if more recent kernels support the device.

> My problem is problem is NOT making the card work, my
> problem is that many times it is not visible at all. I've worked
> out that the problem is warmbooting. On a complete cold
> start the card comes up every time. On a warmstart the card
> never shows.  Why?

If the on-board LAN has been enabled in the BIOS then this should not happen. 
Firstly, try updating the BIOS to the most recent version and see it if fixes 
the problem. If it doesn't I'd be suspecting there is a fault in the 
motherboard and the best action is to return the board to where you bought it 
for RA.

> FWIW, I have downloaded, compiled and installed the
> latest driver (r10001.05) from Realtek and when it's up
> this works fine.

This confirms the PCI ID issue explained above.

> ...and, most importantly, can this be fixed without changing
> the mobo? 

The driver PCI ID's, yes. The warm booting issue, probably not. If the above 
fails, return it. Most likely event for RA is you will get a new identical 
board.

Mark.