[gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[Alexander Puchmayr]

Hi there

I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel 5.4 
(sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel. 
After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no 
network interface eth0.
Dmesg says
[    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs to be 
added to initramfs?
[    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2

After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be loaded 
first.

Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe r8169 
works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.

Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it has to 
be configured in initrd somehow.
So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
I need to add something like this

cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek 
Softdep r8169 pre: realtek

How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?

Thanks in advance
	Alex

PS 
Profile:
default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd

Relevant packages:
sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
sys-apps/systemd-244.3
sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28

Lspci
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 
PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)

Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[William Kenworthy]

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Easiest would be to put it in /etc/conf.d/modules and rebuild the
initrd.  Genkernel picks it up from there.  You could also ask genkernel
to add all built modules to the initrd via its config file.

BillK


On 17/5/20 4:07 pm, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
> Hi there
>
> I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel 5.4 
> (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel. 
> After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no 
> network interface eth0.
> Dmesg says
> [    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs to be 
> added to initramfs?
> [    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2
>
> After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
> The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be loaded 
> first.
>
> Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe r8169 
> works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.
>
> Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it has to 
> be configured in initrd somehow.
> So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
> I need to add something like this
>
> cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek 
> Softdep r8169 pre: realtek
>
> How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?
>
> Thanks in advance
> 	Alex
>
> PS 
> Profile:
> default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
>
> Relevant packages:
> sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
> sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
> sys-apps/systemd-244.3
> sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
> sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28
>
> Lspci
> 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 
> PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)
>
>
>
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[Victor Ivanov]

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Hi Alexander,

A while back I had the exact same issue with a remote machine that I am
managing. It has an Asus B45-M mobo with an r8169 chipset. Ever since
the 5.2.x kernel family - where it last used to work - it has been a pain.

Initially I added a manual "soft" dependency in "/etc/conf.d/modules" as
William has suggested to you with "realtek" appearing first in the list.
But this stopped working following an update to 5.4.x and is still the
case today with the 5.6.x family (I keep testing it once in a while).

I then decided to build both realtek and r8169 modules into the kernel:

    REALTEK_PHY=y
    CONFIG_R8169=y

It did require a bit of faff as the whole chain of dependencies from
REALTEK_PHY had to be built in as well, but I think that was about 5-6
kernel options in total.

Adding it to the ramdisk as William suggests might work too. In my case
I didn't bother trying this due to the fact that every failed attempted
required manual intervention by someone to get the machine booted with
working kernel.

I have a gut feeling that tells me adding it to the initrd probably
won't work. But if you're planning on trying it, please keep us posted.
I would be very interested in hearing your solution.

Regards,
V

On 17/05/2020 09:07, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
> Hi there
> 
> I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel 5.4 
> (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel. 
> After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no 
> network interface eth0.
> Dmesg says
> [    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs to be 
> added to initramfs?
> [    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2
> 
> After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
> The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be loaded 
> first.
> 
> Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe r8169 
> works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.
> 
> Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it has to 
> be configured in initrd somehow.
> So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
> I need to add something like this
> 
> cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek 
> Softdep r8169 pre: realtek
> 
> How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 	Alex
> 
> PS 
> Profile:
> default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
> 
> Relevant packages:
> sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
> sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
> sys-apps/systemd-244.3
> sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
> sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28
> 
> Lspci
> 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 
> PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)
> 
> 
> 
> 


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Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[Alexander Puchmayr]

Am Sonntag, 17. Mai 2020, 10:24:00 CEST schrieb William Kenworthy:
> Easiest would be to put it in /etc/conf.d/modules and rebuild the
> initrd.  Genkernel picks it up from there.  You could also ask genkernel
> to add all built modules to the initrd via its config file.
> 

Whats the format of that file?

Alex



> BillK
> 
> On 17/5/20 4:07 pm, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
> > Hi there
> > 
> > I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel
> > 5.4
> > (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel.
> > After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no
> > network interface eth0.
> > Dmesg says
> > [    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs
> > to be added to initramfs?
> > [    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2
> > 
> > After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
> > https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
> > The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be
> > loaded first.
> > 
> > Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe
> > r8169
> > works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.
> > 
> > Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it
> > has to be configured in initrd somehow.
> > So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
> > I need to add something like this
> > 
> > cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek
> > Softdep r8169 pre: realtek
> > 
> > How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?
> > 
> > Thanks in advance
> > 
> > 	Alex
> > 
> > PS
> > Profile:
> > default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
> > 
> > Relevant packages:
> > sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
> > sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
> > sys-apps/systemd-244.3
> > sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
> > sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28
> > 
> > Lspci
> > 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
> > RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)


-- 
Dipl. Ing. Alexander Puchmayr
Grundbachstraße 36
4060 Leonding, Österreich

Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[William Kenworthy]

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Here is one of mine: its part of openrc -  if you don't have it you
might be using systemd which should have something similar.

moriah ~ # cat /etc/conf.d/modules
# Linux users can define a list of modules for a specific kernel version,
# a released kernel version, a main kernel version or all kernel versions.
# The most specific versioned variable will take precedence.
# FreeBSD users can only use the modules="foo bar" setting.
#modules_2_6_23_gentoo_r5="ieee1394 ohci1394"
#modules_2_6_23="tun ieee1394"
#modules_2_6="tun"
#modules_2="ipv6"
#modules="ohci1394"

# Linux users can give modules a different name when they load - the new
name
# will also be used to pick arguments below.
# This is not supported on FreeBSD.
#modules="dummy:dummy1"

# Linux users can give the modules some arguments if needed, per version
# if necessary.
# Again, the most specific versioned variable will take precedence.
# This is not supported on FreeBSD.
#module_ieee1394_args="debug"
#module_ieee1394_args_2_6_23_gentoo_r5="debug2"
#module_ieee1394_args_2_6_23="debug3"
#module_ieee1394_args_2_6="debug4"
#module_ieee1394_args_2="debug5"

# You should consult your kernel documentation and configuration
# for a list of modules and their options.

modules="forcedeth nouveau"

On 17/5/20 7:29 pm, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 17. Mai 2020, 10:24:00 CEST schrieb William Kenworthy:
>> Easiest would be to put it in /etc/conf.d/modules and rebuild the
>> initrd.  Genkernel picks it up from there.  You could also ask genkernel
>> to add all built modules to the initrd via its config file.
>>
> Whats the format of that file?
>
> Alex
>
>
>
>> BillK
>>
>> On 17/5/20 4:07 pm, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
>>> Hi there
>>>
>>> I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel
>>> 5.4
>>> (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel.
>>> After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no
>>> network interface eth0.
>>> Dmesg says
>>> [    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs
>>> to be added to initramfs?
>>> [    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2
>>>
>>> After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
>>> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
>>> The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be
>>> loaded first.
>>>
>>> Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe
>>> r8169
>>> works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.
>>>
>>> Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it
>>> has to be configured in initrd somehow.
>>> So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
>>> I need to add something like this
>>>
>>> cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek
>>> Softdep r8169 pre: realtek
>>>
>>> How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance
>>>
>>> 	Alex
>>>
>>> PS
>>> Profile:
>>> default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
>>>
>>> Relevant packages:
>>> sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
>>> sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
>>> sys-apps/systemd-244.3
>>> sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
>>> sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28
>>>
>>> Lspci
>>> 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
>>> RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[Alexander Puchmayr]

Am Sonntag, 17. Mai 2020, 14:52:32 CEST schrieb William Kenworthy:

Thanks for the example, but it does not work. 
I added 

Modules="realtek"

The called genkernel initramfs, and rebooted.

The module realtek gets loaded, but obviously too late, I get the same error 
message in dmesg and not eth0.

However, I extracted the produced initrd to tmp and made a "grep -r realtek" 
on this directory. After removing the audio-realtek related lines, this has 
has been found:
...
/lib/modules/5.4.28-gentoo/modules.dep:kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/realtek/
r8169.ko: kernel/drivers/net/phy/libphy.ko
...
./lib/modules/5.4.28-gentoo/modules.softdep:softdep r8169 pre: realtek
./lib/modules/5.4.28-gentoo/modules.order:kernel/drivers/net/phy/realtek.ko
...

There's a softdep-line for r8169 in
./lib/modules/5.4.28-gentoo/modules.softdep inside the initrd, but it seems to 
be ignored.

This lead me to initrd:/sbin/modprobe, which is a link to busybox. And the 
busybox binary embedded here is v1.20, released in 2012 (!). However, 
consulting google yielded that busybox's modprobe implementation does not 
support softdeps, even newer versions:

https://www.element14.com/community/message/234094
https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?107329-Cirrus-Logic-Audio-Card-and-Wolfson-support-in-PCP-3-20

It seems as if I get stuck here,  pre-loading required modules won't work as 
long this is not supported by busybox, which is a topic that the devs of 
busybox and genkernel have to solve.

I will have to switch to Victor's method of building the driver directly into 
the kernel and not as module.

Thanks
	Alex



>  Linux users can define a list of modules for a specific kernel version,
> # a released kernel version, a main kernel version or all kernel versions.
> # The most specific versioned variable will take precedence.
> # FreeBSD users can only use the modules="foo bar" setting.
> #modules_2_6_23_gentoo_r5="ieee1394 ohci1394"
> #modules_2_6_23="tun ieee1394"
> #modules_2_6="tun"
> #modules_2="ipv6"
> #modules="ohci1394"
> 
> # Linux users can give modules a different name when they load - the new
> name
> # will also be used to pick arguments below.
> # This is not supported on FreeBSD.
> #modules="dummy:dummy1"
> 
> # Linux users can give the modules some arguments if needed, per version
> # if necessary.
> # Again, the most specific versioned variable will take precedence.
> # This is not supported on FreeBSD.
> #module_ieee1394_args="debug"
> #module_ieee1394_args_2_6_23_gentoo_r5="debug2"
> #module_ieee1394_args_2_6_23="debug3"
> #module_ieee1394_args_2_6="debug4"
> #module_ieee1394_args_2="debug5"
> 
> # You should consult your kernel documentation and configuration
> # for a list of modules and their options.
> 
> modules="forcedeth nouveau"

Re: [gentoo-user] Realtek r8169 realtek.ko not loaded.

[Alexander Puchmayr]

Am Sonntag, 17. Mai 2020, 13:09:44 CEST schrieb Victor Ivanov:
> Hi Alexander,
> 
> A while back I had the exact same issue with a remote machine that I am
> managing. It has an Asus B45-M mobo with an r8169 chipset. Ever since
> the 5.2.x kernel family - where it last used to work - it has been a pain.
> 
> Initially I added a manual "soft" dependency in "/etc/conf.d/modules" as
> William has suggested to you with "realtek" appearing first in the list.
> But this stopped working following an update to 5.4.x and is still the
> case today with the 5.6.x family (I keep testing it once in a while).
> 
> I then decided to build both realtek and r8169 modules into the kernel:
> 
>     REALTEK_PHY=y
>     CONFIG_R8169=y
> 

This worked, and as I found out in an answer for William's mail, it seems to 
be a problem with genkernel's way to create initrds with embedded busybox. It 
seems as if busybox does not support softdeps.

Regards
	Alex






> It did require a bit of faff as the whole chain of dependencies from
> REALTEK_PHY had to be built in as well, but I think that was about 5-6
> kernel options in total.
> 
> Adding it to the ramdisk as William suggests might work too. In my case
> I didn't bother trying this due to the fact that every failed attempted
> required manual intervention by someone to get the machine booted with
> working kernel.
> 
> I have a gut feeling that tells me adding it to the initrd probably
> won't work. But if you're planning on trying it, please keep us posted.
> I would be very interested in hearing your solution.
> 
> Regards,
> V
> 
> On 17/05/2020 09:07, Alexander Puchmayr wrote:
> > Hi there
> > 
> > I just upgraded an older notebook with r8169 network chip to new kernel
> > 5.4
> > (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28) with genkernel.
> > After booting the new kernel the network adapter was not initialized, no
> > network interface eth0.
> > Dmesg says
> > [    6.390973] r8169 0000:08:00.0: realtek.ko not loaded, maybe it needs
> > to be added to initramfs?
> > [    6.392864] r8169: probe of 0000:08:00.0 failed with error -2
> > 
> > After searching with google I found a thread in the kernel mailing list
> > https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=204343
> > The cause is a soft depencency to module realtek.ko, which needs to be
> > loaded first.
> > 
> > Doing this manually, i.e. rmmod r8169 && modprobe realtek && modprobe
> > r8169
> > works fine; network interface eth0 gets configured and is operating.
> > 
> > Since the kernel loads the network module before systemd is running, it
> > has to be configured in initrd somehow.
> > So, the final question is, how to get that into initrd with genkernel?
> > I need to add something like this
> > 
> > cat /etc/modprobe.d/realtek
> > Softdep r8169 pre: realtek
> > 
> > How do I get this into initrd with genkernel-next?
> > 
> > Thanks in advance
> > 
> > 	Alex
> > 
> > PS
> > Profile:
> > default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
> > 
> > Relevant packages:
> > sys-apps/gentoo-systemd-integration-7
> > sys-apps/kmod-26-r5
> > sys-apps/systemd-244.3
> > sys-kernel/genkernel-next-69
> > sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-5.4.28
> > 
> > Lspci
> > 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
> > RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 03)