[gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[Peter Humphrey]

Hello list,

I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on my 
Intel NUC server. I found <https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed to tell me all I needed to know.

I got this result after installing sys-apps/fwts and running it:

---------------------
Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.

ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that 
BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified some
capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
---------------------

The BIOS offered two choices: 

PCIe ASPM support	enable/disable
Native ACPI OS PCIe Support	enable/disable

I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same 
result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't 
be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a coder's 
assumption from the inability to load the module.)

The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not 
controlled by the kernel.

Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with 
life?

-- 
Regards,
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[Michael]

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On Saturday, 5 August 2023 14:40:00 BST Peter Humphrey wrote:
> Hello list,
> 
> I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on
> my Intel NUC server. I found
> <https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed
> to tell me all I needed to know.
> 
> I got this result after installing sys-apps/fwts and running it:
> 
> ---------------------
> Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
> PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.
> 
> ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that
> BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified
> some capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
> ---------------------
> 
> The BIOS offered two choices:
> 
> PCIe ASPM support	enable/disable
> Native ACPI OS PCIe Support	enable/disable
> 
> I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same
> result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't
> be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a
> coder's assumption from the inability to load the module.)
> 
> The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not
> controlled by the kernel.
> 
> Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with
> life?

I don't have the same hardware to know how it is meant to behave, but it is 
reasonable to assume fwts will try to load/unload the driver to test it.  What 
do you get when you compile the driver as a module, to give a chance to the 
fwts to do its thing?

NOTE: I don't have the same hardware to know how it is meant to behave.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[ralfconn]

On 8/5/23 15:40, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> Hello list,
>
> I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on my
> Intel NUC server. I found <https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed to tell me all I needed to know.
>
> I got this result after installing sys-apps/fwts and running it:
>
> ---------------------
> Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
> PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.
>
> ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that
> BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified some
> capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
> ---------------------
>
> The BIOS offered two choices:
>
> PCIe ASPM support	enable/disable
> Native ACPI OS PCIe Support	enable/disable
>
> I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same
> result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't
> be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a coder's
> assumption from the inability to load the module.)
>
> The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not
> controlled by the kernel.
>
> Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with
> life?
>
I have the same module here but built into the kernel (no loadable 
module support) with no problems.

lspci | grep -i eth
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 
2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)

Regarding ASPM the syslog reports:

acpi PNP0A08:00: _OSC: OS supports [ExtendedConfig ASPM ClockPM Segments 
MSI HPX-Type3]
pci 0000:00:03.1: ASPM: current common clock configuration is 
inconsistent, reconfiguring

And for r8169:

Loading firmware: rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw
RTL8226B_RTL8221B 2.5Gbps PHY r8169-0-500:00: attached PHY driver 
(mii_bus:phy_addr=r8169-0-500:00, irq=MAC)

What is the error you get loading the r8169 module?

raffaele

Re: [gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[Peter Humphrey]

On Saturday, 5 August 2023 14:40:00 BST I wrote:

> I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on
> my Intel NUC server.

Please ignore that. I think I'm getting too old for this young person's game 
(I had a major birthday last week).   :-(

-- 
Regards,
Peter.