[clug] Ethernet problem: NIC Link goes down regularly on ThinkPad X60s

[Lachlan Rogers]

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