Solved Gigabit NIC connects at 100Mb

balanga · Dec 16, 2017

I'm running a computer with a Realtek rtl8111 Gigabit network controller. On FreeBSD 11.1 it connects at 100Mb. Using Linux Mint on the same system it connects at 1000Mb.

Are there any magic incantations I need to give FreeBSD to connect at the higher rate?

tingo · Dec 17, 2017

No, it should just work. Are there anything interesting in the log files about this re network chip or the connection? Or even in the verbose logs?

Snurg · Dec 17, 2017

Look at the ifconfig output, particularly the media field.
If you aren't satisfied with that, use man to learn which media types the driver supports.
Then change that to your liking, using ifconfig.

shepper · Dec 17, 2017

In Debian linux, gigabyte speeds require the installation of realtek firmware. Without the firmware, it functions at 100mbps.
rtl8111 is also a FreeBSD issue: Thread 55861

balanga · Dec 18, 2017

shepper said:
In Debian linux, gigabyte speeds require the installation of realtek firmware. Without the firmware, it functions at 100mbps.
rtl8111 is also a FreeBSD issue: Thread 55861

Actually, I'm not sure if it is an RTL8111 or RTL8168....

This is from lspci -nn (all on Ubuntu):-

Code:

01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06)

ifconfig enp1s0

Code:

enp1s0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 50:af:73:1e:a8:7d 
          inet addr:192.168.1.71  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: 2a01:113f:40e3:8200:cd06:8907:1a63:a943/64 Scope:Global
          inet6 addr: fe80::b235:f878:76b8:31d2/64 Scope:Link
          inet6 addr: 2a01:113f:40e3:8200:7d2c:33e2:4cec:4828/64 Scope:Global
          inet6 addr: 2a01:113f:40e3:8200:d4e8:54b9:e54:bc86/64 Scope:Global
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:169578 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:68376 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:73848614 (73.8 MB)  TX bytes:9275001 (9.2 MB)

 

 dmesg |grep enp1s0

Code:

[   17.105748] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: renamed from eth0
[   81.561281] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0: link is not ready
[   81.685188] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: link down
[   81.685378] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0: link is not ready
[   81.711404] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: link down
[   83.282606] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: link up
[   83.479161] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): enp1s0: link becomes ready

Strange that it does not display connection speed.

SirDice · Dec 18, 2017

Yeah, one of my pet peeves with Linux, ifconfig doesn't show anything. Use ethtool to see what the connection speed is.

balanga · Dec 19, 2017

Snurg said:
Look at the ifconfig output, particularly the media field.
If you aren't satisfied with that, use man to learn which media types the driver supports.
Then change that to your liking, using ifconfig.

ifconfig

Code:

re0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
   options=8209b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC,LINKSTATE>
   ether 50:af:73:1e:a8:7d
   hwaddr 50:af:73:1e:a8:7d
   inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
   nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
   media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
   status: active

dmesg

Code:

re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F/G PCIe Gigabit Ethernet> port 0xe000-0xe0ff mem 0xd0304000-0xd0304fff,0xd0300000-0xd0303fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
re0: Using 1 MSI-X message
re0: Chip rev. 0x2c800000
re0: MAC rev. 0x00100000
miibus0: <MII bus> on re0
rgephy0: <RTL8169S/8110S/8211 1000BASE-T media interface> PHY 1 on miibus0
rgephy0:  none, 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 10baseT-FDX-flow, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 100baseTX-FDX-flow, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-master, 1000baseT-FDX, 1000baseT-FDX-master, 1000baseT-FDX-flow, 1000baseT-FDX-flow-master, auto, auto-flow
re0: Using defaults for TSO: 65518/35/2048
re0: Ethernet address: 50:af:73:1e:a8:7d
re0: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256

How do I use man to learn which media types the driver supports?
And how do I tell which driver is being used?

Snurg · Dec 19, 2017

Regarding your questions, the logs you posted appear to answer them already.
What does happen when you utter this at the console as root?

Code:

ifconfig re0 media 1000baseT

balanga · Dec 19, 2017

shepper said:
In Debian linux, gigabyte speeds require the installation of realtek firmware. Without the firmware, it functions at 100mbps.
rtl8111 is also a FreeBSD issue: Thread 55861

I had a look through but got lost after about 30 posts... the last one said:

New driver version 1.93 seems to include patches required for FreeBSD 11.

..so I'm not sure what to make of that.
In my searches I came acrossrsu(4)() which seems like the sort of thing I'm looking for...

I didn't realise that Realtek NICs were such a PITA.

balanga · Dec 19, 2017

Snurg said:
Regarding your questions, the logs you posted appear to answer them already.
What does happen when you utter this at the console as root?

Code:

ifconfig re0 media 1000baseT

Code:

status: no carrier

Snurg · Dec 19, 2017

The issue with the firmware is old.
This was already common with their first ethernet cards.
I had to preboot in DOS to put the card into a NE2000 mode, so I could boot it afterwards with being recognized by ***x.
I guess you will avoid Realtek in future, too

Regarding the <no carrier> :
Please make sure that the device on the other end of the cable is also in 1000T mode.
Some devices and network cards show by LED color whether 100 or 1000 mode.
Maybe you have to pull the cable for a short moment to make the device recheck what kind of connection.

balanga · Dec 19, 2017

Snurg said:
I guess you will avoid Realtek in future, too

I didn't realise I had a Realtek NIC. I had heard about their reputation but this is the first time I have had first hand experience of using them. I bought a used Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180, and have always used Lenovo (ex-IBM) and they seem to have always used Intel NICs so am a little surprised with what I got.

Snurg · Dec 19, 2017

I hope it works now?
If it does, you might have to add the media option in the ifconfig_re0=... line in /etc/rc.conf to have this permanent.

balanga said:
...a used...

Selling them in used PCs is always a good way to get rid of them :beer:

SirDice · Dec 20, 2017

Auto-config (speed/duplex) is mandatory on gigabit networks. Setting it to 1000Mbps just won't work at all.

I've had many issues with Realtek network cards. Some worked, some didn't, some where dodgy. The ones that worked performed like crap. A few years ago I had enough of it and bought a bunch of cheap Intel Pro 1000 cards. Never looked back.

balanga · Dec 26, 2017

How do I identify the exact Realtek NIC I have and which device driver and version number is used by FreeBSD and where should I look for a possible update?
This is what I see when running dmesg :-

Code:

re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F/G PCIe Gigabit Ethernet> port 0xe000-0xe0ff mem 0xd0304000-0xd0304fff,0xd0300000-0xd0303fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
re0: Using 1 MSI-X message
re0: Chip rev. 0x2c800000
re0: MAC rev. 0x00100000
miibus0: <MII bus> on re0
rgephy0: <RTL8169S/8110S/8211 1000BASE-T media interface> PHY 1 on miibus0
rgephy0:  none, 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 10baseT-FDX-flow, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 100baseTX-FDX-flow, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-master, 1000baseT-FDX, 1000baseT-FDX-master, 1000baseT-FDX-flow, 1000baseT-FDX-flow-master, auto, auto-flow
re0: Using defaults for TSO: 65518/35/2048
re0: Ethernet address: 50:af:73:1e:a8:7d
re0: netmap queues/slots: TX 1/256, RX 1/256

How else can I glean any more info about my NIC?

scottro · Dec 27, 2017

FreeBSD's equivalent of lspci is pciconf -lv but I'm not sure if it will give you anymore useful information.

balanga · Dec 27, 2017

pciconf -lv

Code:

re0@pci0:1:0:0:   class=0x020000 card=0x363c17aa chip=0x816810ec rev=0x06 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.'
    device     = 'RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet

balanga · Dec 30, 2017

How do I found out if anyone is using the same Realtek NIC on FreeBSD at Gigabit speed?

balanga · Jan 15, 2018

I booted up my Lenovo ThinkCentre Q180 today with a different LAN cable today and....

Code:

media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseTX <full-duplex>)
   status: active

Sorted!!! The end of another wild goose chase...

nxjoseph · Jun 11, 2024

~~I've installed net/realtek-re-kmod and got 1000baseT.~~

Code:

re0@pci0:3:0:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x15 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x10ec device=0x8168 subvendor=0x1043 subdevice=0x8677
    vendor     = 'Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.'
    device     = 'RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller'
    class      = network

~~It turns out that problem caused by another thing. I was connected a megabit device to the gigabit router and that caused all ports to stuck too 100mb/s.~~(?)

It turns out that my ethernet cable is damaged...

Solved Gigabit NIC connects at 100Mb

balanga

tingo

Snurg

shepper

balanga

SirDice

Administrator

balanga

Snurg

balanga

balanga

Snurg

balanga

Snurg

SirDice

Administrator

balanga

scottro

balanga

balanga

balanga

nxjoseph