This bug has a long and sad history; see Ubuntu bug 141343 from 2007 for instance. This bug is also reported in every other Linux system I've looked for; the problem seems to be in the Linux kernel, not any specific distribution. My understanding is that the right driver is being installed, in that the r8169 driver is all that's in the Linux sources. But that driver has problems with this card. In my case, the bug I see is that eth0 doesn't come up until 10-200 seconds after system boot. Other people report packet loss, slow network, etc.
One frequently proposed solution is to try Realtek's r8168 driver from their site. I just tried that without success, but others say it works for them (I tried Realtek version 8.027.00, Linux 3.0.0-15-server). Another proposed solution is to enable Wake-on-LAN via Windows, which somehow keeps the card active on reboot. I don't have Windows to try it, but enabling WOL via ethtool did not solve my problem. My conclusion is this card is cursed and if the bugs bother me, I need to get a different ethernet adapter. It's a shame because it's a very common motherboard Ethernet chip. And Realtek contributes to driver development; it seems like it should be a solvable problem. Links: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/141343 http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false http://nelsonslog.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/realtek-ethernet-drivers-r8169-vs-r8168/ -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/864196 Title: Realtek RTL8111/8168B: Wrong driver module is loaded To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/864196/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
