[clug] Ethernet problem: NIC Link goes down regularly on
ThinkPad X60s
Lachlan Rogers
lachlan at rogers.name
Wed Jul 25 22:48:26 GMT 2007
Hi,
I'm just wanting to clarify if anyone with a ThinkPad X60 (or similar) that has Windows on their drive would be willing to lend me their hard disk for a few minutes at the meeting tonight. I'm wanting to boot my laptop in Windows to see if my ethernet problem persists - I now suspect it to be a hardware issue.
I've tried installing Windows on my own drive, but it hasn't worked. I can backup my Gentoo installation, remove it, put Windows on, test, and then restore Linux - but if anyone already has Windows on a similar system it would certainly save me lots of time and bother.
Thanks,
Lachlan
On Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:14:59 +1000
"Boyd Wilding" <boydwilding at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm not trying to take the piss here, so please don't hurt me.
>
> In all seriousness, try this:
>
> Install windows and do some testing, eg stitch the port at 100mb full duplex
> and see what happens. Also under windows, try to set to Autonegotiate and
> see what happens (AFAIK I don't believe you can stitch it/lock it hard to
> gigabit).
> This will tell you in short order where the problem lies - OS/driver, or
> hardware.
>
> Then again it might just be a link negotiation problem, but try it and see.
>
> Heck, if you are dualbooting at the moment, even better, less hassle for
> you...windows is already there for you to experiment with and more quickly
> enable you to determine the root cause by quickly seeing where the
> consistency of the problem lies.
>
> Another possibility is to quickly borrow a HDD from the same model X60 at
> the next CLUG meeting, that has windows on it already...if they are willing
> to play around and if there is a network available to test with in the
> meeting room where CLUG is. Laptop HDDs in thinkpads are fairly easy to swap
> as long as you know how to operate a phillips screwdriver.
>
> Failing that I have a T60 with a 60gb SATA disk with windows and suse on it
> that might be free during the next CLUG meeting.
>
> PS BIOS upgrades are done easy enough, punch in your machine/model type into
> the IBM/Lenovo website and you should be able to find either windows based
> packages or extractable DOS diskette versions of BIOS updates...which would
> require a USB floppy drive to update, obviously, but those are the only 2
> options they provide, I believe.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> On 7/10/07, Lachlan Rogers <lachlan at rogers.name> wrote:
> >
> > Hi everybody,
> >
> > I am running Gentoo linux on my new IBM ThinkPad X60s and am having
> > problems with the ethernet connection dropping out. I've been along to two
> > CLUG meetings now, and have seen at least 2 people with ThinkPad X60
> > laptops. I am wanting to determine if my problem is simply a Linux driver
> > issue or whether it is hardware that should be fixed while under warranty.
> >
> > I have had this problem with numerous kernels (I keep trying new releases
> > to see if it is fixed), and am currently using the e1000-7.5.5 driver from
> > sourceforge with a 2.6.21.5 kernel.
> >
> > The relevant lspci output is:
> >
> > 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit
> > Ethernet Controller
> >
> > When the connection drops out, I get the following dmesg output:
> >
> > e1000: eth0: e1000_watchdog_task: NIC Link is Down
> >
> > and the green connection indicator on the ethernet plug goes out. When
> > the connection comes back up (just as randomly as dropping out) I get the
> > following dmesg output:
> >
> > e1000: eth0: e1000_watchdog_task: NIC Link is Up 1000 Mbps Full
> > Duplex, Flow Control: RX/TX
> >
> > and the green indicator light comes back on.
> >
> >
> > While trying to diagnose the problem, I found ethtool and installed
> > it. While the ethernet connection is operating correctly, I get the
> > following ethtool output:
> >
> > Settings for eth0:
> > Supported ports: [ TP ]
> > Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
> > 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
> > 1000baseT/Full
> > Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
> > Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
> > 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
> > 1000baseT/Full
> > Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
> > Speed: 1000Mb/s
> > Duplex: Full
> > Port: Twisted Pair
> > PHYAD: 1
> > Transceiver: internal
> > Auto-negotiation: on
> > Supports Wake-on: umbg
> > Wake-on: g
> > Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
> > Link detected: yes
> >
> >
> > While the connection is down, I get the following ethtool output:
> >
> > Settings for eth0:
> > Supported ports: [ TP ]
> > Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
> > 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
> > 1000baseT/Full
> > Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
> > Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
> > 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
> > 1000baseT/Full
> > Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
> > Speed: Unknown! (65535)
> > Duplex: Unknown! (255)
> > Port: Twisted Pair
> > PHYAD: 1
> > Transceiver: internal
> > Auto-negotiation: on
> > Supports Wake-on: umbg
> > Wake-on: g
> > Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
> > Link detected: no
> >
> >
> > In my searches I found reference to a similar looking problem at
> > http://lkml.org/lkml/2006/1/5/379, and the follow up emails in this thread
> > suggest that heat is a problem. Obviously, it is not possible to install
> > additional cooling utilities in my laptop.
> > Since finding this thread at LKML, I have tried to diagnose whether my
> > problem is linked to the heat of my laptop. I have not noticed any
> > definitive trend.
> >
> >
> > This problem first appeared as short periods of down time in the
> > connection. For unknown reasons it often now manifests itself as prolonged
> > periods of down time interspersed with only short bursts of the link being
> > up. It is essentially unusable, and I would greatly appreciate any
> > assistance in finding a solution.
> >
> > I sent this to the e1000 driver mailing list, and it was suggested that I
> > upgrade BIOS. However, I have not found a way to do this yet (any help here
> > would be appreciated also).
> >
> > I'm keen to hear any ideas.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Lachlan
> > --
> > linux mailing list
> > linux at lists.samba.org
> > https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux
> >
>
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