Re: [gentoo-user] Re: kernel 3.8 and external drivers

[Joseph <syscon780@gmail.com>]

On 03/11/13 01:34, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
[snip]
>>>>> config R8169
>>>>>          tristate "Realtek 8169 gigabit ethernet support"
>>>>>
>>>>>           Say Y here if you have a Realtek 8169 PCI Gigabit
>>>>> Ethernet adapter.
>>>>>
>>>>>            To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the
>>>>> module will be called r8169.  This is recommended.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> oh great, so I actually mixed it up…
>>>> the 8169 is in the Kernel yes, but what i need is the 8168
>>>
>>> The in-kernel drive (supposedly) supports 8168:
>>>
>>> r8169.c: RealTek 8169/8168/8101 ethernet driver.
>>
>> Thanks for encouraging me, the in-kernel driver actually works.
>
>Note that you also need to emerge sys-kernel/linux-firmware.  The driver
>will work without it, but the ethernet connection can hang after an hour
>or so.
>
>You can verify whether you need to install the firmware or not by
>inspecting the kernel log:
>
>   dmesg | grep -i firmware
>
>This should show the kernel trying to load the firmware for your R8168
>chip but failing.

I had my share of problems with recent kernels and Realtek 8168 so I went and bought and internal network card:
Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection card.

I did know that I'm suppose to install "sys-kernel/linux-firmware"
I just did (just in case) but running: dmesg | grep -i firmware

doesn't show that kernel is trying to load anything.

-- 
Joseph