[clug] Ethernet problem: NIC Link goes down regularly on ThinkPad
X60s
Boyd Wilding
boydwilding at gmail.com
Fri Jul 27 23:36:39 GMT 2007
Sorry, I fully intended to come to this, but it ended up conflicting with a
childbirth education class...bad timing!
On 7/26/07, Lachlan Rogers <lachlan at rogers.name> wrote:
>
> 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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